Archaeological Museum Research Articles

The Landscape Design Proposal for the New Archeological Museum of Cyprus

This paper deals with the landscape design strategy that was followed in the proposal that was submitted to the International Architecture Competition of the New Archaeological Museum of Cyprus. The aim of this document is to analyze how landscape and architecture interact. In the author’s design proposal for the New Archaeological Museum of Cyprus, the various “gardens” integrated into the Landscape are analyzed. The concept of landscape design is related to the sacredness of trees to certain gods in Ancient Greece and Greek Mythology. The proposal addresses the symbolic meaning of trees and water. The design triggered the creation of several “gardens”: the “Sacred Garden”, the “Stone Garden”, the “Olive Garden”, the “Sacred Grove”, and the “Public Garden”, combining their soft landscapes with the hard landscape of the “Plaza” and the “Courtyard”. Each figure in the garden has a symbolic meaning that allows for a dialogue between landscape and architectural design. In addition, the findings provide valuable insights into the historical and spiritual value of landscape elements (plants, water) that are also thermal regulators for sustainable urban planning. The research results may be of value to landscape architects, architects, and landscape designers in the Mediterranean region.

Re-evaluation of the Mosaics of the Artemis Bath of Issos-Epiphaneia, Conservation and Exhibition Project

In the ancient city of Issos Epiphaneia in Erzin, Hatay, there is a Roman bath. The bath was unearthed by the Hatay Archaeological Museum. After the excavations were completed, the Artemis mosaic found on the floor of the frigidarium was moved to the Hatay Archaeological Museum and exhibited in the Issos-Epiphaneia section in the Roman Bath animation. After more than 10 years following, the wooden protection roof, which was previously built temporarily, has completely lost its function and has become a threat to the building due to the collapse in some parts. In addition, the walls and some exposed equipment of the building are exposed to the destructive effects of climatic conditions. In this context, within the scope of the project, which primarily aims to build a protective roof for the protection of the building, a plan suitable for visits has also been made in order to bring the area to tourism. It aims to introduce the bath with all its values, especially with the Artemis Mosaic, which is very important in terms of archaeology. In this context, it is aimed to exhibit the mosaic in its original place in the building by making a replica of the mosaic with an application that has no previous example in mosaic art in Turkey.

Fibulae from Nicaea in Bithynia (south-eastern Marmara)

In the last fifty years the Archaeological Museum of İznik (ancient Nicaea) in south-eastern Marmara has acquired 14 new fibulae. Twelve of these fibulae date to the Phrygian period, and two examples are from the Roman period. Among Phrygian fibulae there are several examples of the type Caner 1983 A IV, 3 variant, which are most likely of local production in Bithynia. Two other examples appear to be unique due to their size and the shape of their bow. For the Roman period, one Aucissa fibula and one Zwiebelknopffibel are present, with a pairing that is also found in other Anatolian sites. At the end of the article in the appendix 1 we present a list, updated to the year 2024, of the all Zwiebelknopffibels known from Türkiye. In the appendix 2 we also present a list of all fibulae from the main archaeological fieldworks in Türkiye between 1983 and 2022 after the appearance of Ertuğrul Caner’s publication in 1983.

Undisciplining the Museum: Indigenous Relationality as Religion

What does it mean to decolonize or undiscipline the anthropology museum? What happens when the museum is confronted by Indigenous and descendant communities who demand an ethic of care rooted in relational ontologies and epistemologies? This article features Indigenous creativity as it has disrupted ‘business as usual’ in anthropology museums. This is primarily evidenced by Fork Peck Tribes who confronted the University of Montana to enact a long-overdue repatriation. Additional examples from The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard demonstrate diverse expressions of relationality among Indigenous and descendant communities. These interventions are analyzed through Critical Indigenous Theory to specify the ways in which Indigenous religious traditions refuse the narratives and norms of settler colonial knowledge production and undermine the imperial museological practices of preservation. Instead, relationality is prioritized in the caretaking of and connection with more-than-human entities and materials in the museum. This article emphasizes relationality and repatriation as religious acts that challenge assumptions embedded in imperial and settler colonial approaches to history and science. From various social locations and through multiple strategies, we see the active undisciplining of the museum by Indigenous and descendant communities.

Beginnings of Polish archaeological museums in the 19th century

The first Polish archaeological museums or those with archaeological departments – institutions dealing withgathering collections, conducting research, organizing exhibitions and publishing works devoted to archaeology, as it was understood at that time – began to be established in the mid-19th century. They were created by scientific societies or on the initiative of private individuals. They were: the Museum of Antiquities of the Kraków Scientific Society, the Museum of Antiquities in Vilnius, the Museum of Polish and Slavic Antiquities in the Grand Duchy of Poznań, the Museum of the Toruń Scientific Society, the Museum of the Lubomirski Princes in Lviv and the Dzieduszycki Natural History Museum in Lviv. The article discusses the beginnings of Polish archaeological museums, their creation, the scope and shape of the collections, methods of obtaining artefacts, the headquarters and the further fate of these institutions.

A superb axe-head of G-type flint from the vicinity of Bronocice as a reason to consider the production of macrolithic four-sided tools in the Eneolithic of Lesser Poland

This article presents the study of a unique artefact in the form of a very large trapezoidal axe-head with rectangular section from Słupów, Lesser Poland, against the background of Eneolithic phenomena occurring in the area. The specimen is in the collection of the Archaeological Museum in Kraków since 1929, but has not been discussed until now. It was made by local communities from flint of the G variety, a raw material exploited by Eneolithic groups in western Lesser Poland. The axe-head from Słupów is one of the largest flint axes to have been discovered on Polish lands. This find provokes a broader discussion of the role of local production of macrolithicfour-sided forms against a wider background.

Investigating the Internal Deterioration of the Auriga Statue of Mozia Island, Sicily, through Ultrasonic and Ground-Penetrating Radar Studies

The Greek marble statue of the Auriga of Mozia Island, in Sicily, is the most important artwork displayed at the Whitaker Foundation Archaeological Museum. It underwent geophysical investigations twice, in 2012 and 2021, to assess the marble’s degradation. The 2012 investigation prepared the statue for transfer to the Paul Getty Museum in New York and repositioning on an anti-seismic pedestal. The 2021 investigation evaluated potential new damage before another transfer. Both investigations utilized 3D ultrasonic tomography (UST) to detect degraded marble areas and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to identify internal discontinuities, such as fractures or lesions, and locate metal pins that were previously inserted to reassemble the statue and its pedestal. Results from the UST indicate an average marble velocity of approximately 4700 m/s, suggesting good mechanical strength, with some areas showing lower velocities (~3000 m/s) within the material’s variability range. The GPR profiles demonstrated internal signal homogeneity, excluding internal fracture surfaces or lesions, and confirmed the presence of metallic pins. This study highlights the effectiveness of integrating UST and GPR for non-invasive diagnostics of marble sculptures, providing detailed insights into the marble’s condition and identifying hidden defects or damage.

An Archaeology of Disability: A Dialogic Essay

An Archaeology of Disability is a research station designed for the Venice Biennale, Architettura 2021 by David Gissen, Jennifer Stager, and Mantha Zarmakoupi and exhibited later at La Gipsoteca di Arte Antica of Pisa in 2022, at the Canellopoulos Museum of Athens in 2023, and at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki in 2024. The research station works with languages and forms used by contemporary disabled people to reproduce elements—a ramp, a seat, an art gallery—from the ancient Acropolis in Athens that vanished long ago and that have little or no extant material forms. Among the many people who contributed to the research station are two performers, Christopher Tester and Pia Hargrove, who performed, respectively, the ekphrastic film and audio description Sēmata (Signs) (2021). The following dialogic essay draws on conversations with the curators and performers led by Brooke Holmes and Pasquale Toscano. This dialogic form surfaces some of the collaborative aspects of the research station to highlight the ways in which such collaboration brings different lenses to antiquity.

Technical examination, elemental analysis and conservation of the arm of a colossal bronze statue from Aegion at the conservation laboratories of the National Archaeological Museum at Athens

The bronze arm, belonging to a colossal statue (presented by A. G. Vordos in this volume), was examined at the Chemical-Physical Research & Archaeometry Laboratory of the National Archaeological Museum (NAM) in Athens. According to prevailing methodology the examination comprised: macroscopic, microscopic and endoscopic examination, elemental analysis p-XRF, X-ray radiography, recording of ancient repairs. It is assumed that the arm was manufactured by the indirect lost wax casting technique and was found to contain an enormous amount of lead (av. 40.15 %), a fact that dates it to the late Hellenistic or Roman period. The arm was consequently conserved at the Metal Conservation Laboratory of the NAM and it has now been returned to the Ephorate of Antiquities of Achaia in Patras

The arm of a large-scale bronze statue from Aigion, Achaea, Greece

The arm of the large-scale bronze statue presented in the current research was handed over in 1951 to the Ephorate of Antiquities in Aigio of Achaia and constitutes a typical yet exquisite example of Peloponnesian oversized statuary in bronze. The area where the arm was found coincides with the location of the ancient agora, as well as, according to previous excavation works, the place where the temenos of Zeus Soter, patron deity of the ancient polis of Aigion, is located. Based on the surviving fragment/limb, several issues regarding statue typology are further discussed, while its posture is suggested as ‘standing in grandeur’. The identification of a divine figure, probably that of Zeus, is supported by the location of discovery and the object it was supposedly holding, combined with the numismatic issues of Aigion depicting the same type of statuary of the supreme god. The dating of the statue in mid Hellenistic years onwards agrees with the scientific analysis of the alloy, carried out in the laboratories of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Some Italic Heracles from the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid

The paper presents an archaeometallurgical analysis made on a group of Italic bronze figures from the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid (MAN-Madrid) whose common theme is that they all represent Heracles in different attitudes.

Cultural Heritage Manifestation in Computer Role-Playing Games for Enhancing Museum Experience: A Model Proposal

ABSTRACT This article proposes a model for integrating computer role-playing games with museum experiences to enhance cultural heritage learning with a particular focus on design. Centered at the Izmir Archaeology Museum, the study delves into the design of a serious game aimed at enriching both the educational and experiential facets of museum visits. The model highlights the use of gameplay components and design patterns to manifest tangible and intangible heritage content, thereby promoting visitor awareness and understanding of cultural heritage. Through a provisional game scenario based on the museum's prehistoric artifact exhibition, the study illustrates how a gameplay design approach that is informed by heritage content displayed in the museum can be prototyped. The proposed model not only aims to make museum visits more engaging, but also seeks to contribute to the broader discourse on game design, game-based learning, and museum experience.

Historical research in the tombs of the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum

Historical research in the tombs of the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum

Novos espinhos de nadadeiras de Chondrichthyes fósseis da Bacia do Parnaíba, Formação Pedra de Fogo (Permiano) no Estado do Tocantins, Brasil

New Chondrichthyes fin spines fossils from the Pedra de Fogo Formation (Permian) in State of Tocantins, Brazil. The Parnaíba Basin has a unique fossil record of Chondrichthyes that lived during the Permian period. Within this basin is the Pedra de Fogo Formation, dating from the Cisuralian, which is distributed in parts of the states of Pará, Tocantins, Piauí, Maranhão, Ceará, and Bahia. Due to their cartilaginous skeleton, Chondrichthyes skeletal remains are not prone to fossilization, with teeth, fin spines and dermal denticles being more commonly found. The main objective of this work is to describe new fins spines from the Parnaíba Basin, collected in the State of Tocantins and stored at the Museum of Archeology and Paleontology of the Federal University of Piauí. Six shark spines were identified as belonging to Ctenacanthiformes. A more specific classification at the genus and species level is still uncertain due to the difficulties with the definition of such taxa and incompleteness of the described remains. These occurrences contribute to future research in the area concerning about on fossil fin spines found in the Parnaíba Basin. Keywords: Ctenacanthus, Ctenacanthiformes, paleohistology, Paleozoic.

Decoding Capua’s roof terracotta: A multi-analytical study of the Fondo Patturelli sanctuary and Alveo Marotta furnace (6th century BCE – 1st century BCE)

The main focus of this study was to examine 25 samples of archaeological ceramic materials currently preserved in the Archaeological Museum of the Ancient Capua and Mitreo investigated in the framework of an international project. These samples primarily consist of architectural terracotta from the Fondo Patturelli extra-urban sanctuary, as well as architectural terracotta, pottery and waste material from the nearby Alveo Marotta furnace.To investigate these artifacts, a multi-analytical mineralogical-petrographic approach was performed. Thin section observations revealed that almost all samples exhibit a coarse-grained paste. The fragments were categorized into three petrographic groups based on the type and quantity of temper, which is mostly composed of volcanic grains. They include lithics and juvenile fragments (obsidians and pumices) ascribed to the products of the major Campanian eruptions as detected via FESEM-EDS. Bulk chemical analyses (WD-XRF) show that almost all samples form a homogeneous group made with Ca-rich clayey raw materials, also including three wastes of tiles from the Alveo Marotta. By contrast, other two wastes from Alveo Marotta were produced with Ca-poor clay suggesting the use of a different raw material.From a technological point of view the samples are characterized by a thermal range that varies from 750 to 900 °C, notably different between the earlier and later production periods, with the former fired at lower temperatures.

An Analytical Safety Tree for Heritage Buildings: Application to the Archaeological Museum “Domenico Ridola”, Matera (Italy)

ABSTRACT Historical masonry construction is a significant architectural typology that represents the cultural identity of Western Europe. Exposure to seismic events seriously compromises the conservation of architectural heritage, as evidenced by recent earthquakes. In this context, the process of knowledge acquisition, vulnerability evaluation, and planning interventions becomes fundamentally important to identify and implement maintenance and conservation strategies. Safety trees, never used for seismic engineering purposes, are particularly effective in making safety-related decisions in potentially hazardous or complex situations. This paper proposes an analytical framework to evaluate the structural safety of cultural heritage buildings, using an analytical safety tree. This instrument is here applied to assist safety assessments, risk management, and process optimization. Specifically, the proposed tree encompasses a multi-step procedure characterized by three possible vulnerability assessments, with the advantage of providing an overview of the knowledge state, detected pathologies, and analysis of a heritage building, outlining a path to follow to ensure the safety of built heritage. The work first formalizes this new tool, starting from the classical theory of safety decision trees. Secondly, to demonstrate the potential of the approach, the decision tree is developed and applied to the safety assessment of the Archaeological Museum “Domenico Ridola” in Matera, Italy.

The Hypogeous Roman Archeological Museum of Positano: Study of the Evolution of Biological Threaten and Development of Adequate Control Protocols.

Hypogea are natural or artificial spaces located underground often of great interest from an anthropological, archeological, religious, artistic, or historic point of view. Due to their features, these environments usually present conservative problems and biological colonization could be considered as one of the main threats. The present three-year study was carried out by specialists of the Central Institute for Restoration of Rome (ICR) in the hypogeous site preserved in the Roman Archeological Museum of Positano (Positano MAR) and focused on characterizing biological alterations present on the mural paintings; setting up efficient strategies and protocols for biodeterioration control; and monitoring the efficacy of direct and indirect interventions. Patinas with different morphologies were analyzed through microscopic observations, cultural analyses and next-generation sequencing. The results proved that the alterations comprised a great variety of microorganisms forming very distinct communities, differently distributed over space and time. The main taxa represented were bacteria of phyla Pseudomonadota and Actinomycetota, fungi belonging to the genus Fusarium and Gliocladium, and algae of the genus Chlorococcum. Preservation protocols were set up considering the alterations' composition and included the application of biocides, limiting daily temperature changes, decreasing illuminance values on painted surfaces, and the screening of natural light sources.

Scientific investigation on the provenance of marble of free-standing sculptures from the archaeological museum of Kavala/northern Greece

Scientific investigation on the provenance of marble of free-standing sculptures from the archaeological museum of Kavala/northern Greece

Amphorae discovered in the port area of Callatis (Mangalia, Romania) in the 1960s-1970s

The present paper deals with a whole series of ceramics from a private collection belonging first to Vasile Cosma and then sold in 1976 and in 2009 to the National Museum of History and Archaeology of Bucharest (MNIR). These objects, essentially amphora, come from late sixties-early seventies underwater discoveries, in the Mangalia harbor, 2 May village and Constanța harbor areas.

Grylloi: A Being with Mixed Depictions from Konya

This study is based on a mixed figure on a ring stone from the Roman period (1st - 2nd. century AD) preserved in the Konya Archaeology Museum. This figure is seen as a combination of four elements: a horse protome, a Silenus mask body, rooster feet and a ram's head. This depiction, which is encountered in different typologies in Antiquity, is called Grylloi. A Greek-Roman word, widely used on ring stones since the 1st century BC, this depiction is also known by other names such as mask-animal, multi-headed creatures and fantastic concoction. These beings, usually depicted on oval rings with easily workable jasper stones, were thought to be worn as talismans or amulets with an apotropaic function. In this way, they were probably intended to ward off evil, possibly as amulets.