Münster University currently has archaeological field research projects in Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Israel, Turkey, Iraq and Sudan.
Reports and photos from this year's campaigns will be posted here.
Where did you go? We travelled to Artaxata/Artashat in Armenia and stayed in the excavation house in Lusarat at the foot of Mount Ararat. The campaign lasted just over a month this year, from 10 September to 12 October 2024.
Who was part of the team? The team consisted of ten people from Münster, seven of whom were students. From the Armenian side, two members of the National Academy of Sciences and seven excavation assistants from Lusarat and the surrounding villages took part this year. In addition, Valeska Becker was on site again this year to analyse the animal bone finds, as well as Christoph Forster for database administration.
What was the aim of the 2024 summer campaign? Based on the results of the geophysical prospection in spring 2024, we uncovered parts of a large octagonal building this year. Based on the floor plan and the results of the 2023 summer campaign, the working hypothesis was that it could be a very early church. The aim was therefore to understand the floor plan and the design of the building in more detail in order to critically test this hypothesis. Such an early church is also of particular significance as the Khor Virap monastery is located not far from the excavation site. According to legend, Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned there for twelve years in a deep hole by King Tiridates III with the aim of turning him away from the Christian faith. However, Gregory is said to have cured the king of an incurable illness, whereupon he had himself and his people baptised. Armenia is therefore considered to be the first state to adopt Christianity as its state religion. The monastery and therefore also our excavation site represent a central place in early Christianity.
What was special about this campaign? In this campaign, we worked with almost completely digitalised documentation and find processing for the first time. Each excavation team was equipped with tablets that were connected to a printer in the field. The ‘archaeoDB’ database provided by Datalino was used to create feature descriptions, finds and sketches directly in digital form. Finds were also processed in the excavation house by entering them into the tablets.
What were the challenges? The technical equipment and the extended work with the database were a new challenge. In some cases, minor changes and improvements had to be made at the same time. Although the changeover to the new way of working was challenging, it went very well overall. The shortened campaign was also a challenge this year. As we were on site for six weeks in previous years, but only four and a half this year, there was greater time pressure. This was particularly challenging as the building had burnt down and collapsed on site, meaning that only a slow approach was possible. In total, thousands of roof tile fragments, hundreds of nails and numerous fragments of charred roof beams were carefully removed.
What technical equipment was used? This year, our technical equipment again included a total station (Leica FlexLine TS07) for measuring finds. A DGPS system (emlid Reach RS3) was trialled for the first time, which should simplify surveying in the future. Photogrammetries of the various sections were also created this year (Agisoft Metashape). In addition to the conventional hand-held camera, a drone was used for the first time (DJI Mavic III Classic). The laser aided profiler was also used this year to process the ceramics. Special finds were captured in three dimensions. For the first time, we used tablets and a battery-powered printer to work in the field and process finds in the excavation house.
What was the highlight of the 2024 campaign? The surroundings of our excavation site in particular are a great highlight every day! Ararat at sunrise and sunset is always impressive and the proximity to the Khor Virap monastery is also a highlight. Against this backdrop, the findings - the oldest archaeologically verifiable church in Armenia - are outstanding and their significance for research into ancient Armenia can hardly be overestimated. In terms of finds, the wooden beams are particularly interesting, as they can be dated to C14 and serve as the basis for the creation of a tree-ring chronology at the DAI Berlin. Equally important is a large quantity of marble, which was imported from the Mediterranean and decorated the church. Various floors that we have found, mainly made of mortar, some with terracotta slabs, also provide important clues for understanding the design of the building.
When was the team on site? We were there from mid-July to mid-August.
Who is part of the team? In addition to the Münster team, the team was made up of our Greek project partner and two colleagues from France and Italy. There were six archaeology and history students from Münster, as well as other students from Italy and France. Dr Volkmar Schmidt and two students from the Institute of Geophysics at our university were also involved.
What was the aim of the 2024 summer campaign? The aim was to investigate the area around the Apollo sanctuary of Amyklai, where we had already been involved in a geophysics project for the last two years, for traces of human activity. We carried out an archaeological survey in the approximately 0.7 km2 area and also carried out geophysical surveys in selected areas.
What was special about this campaign? The special thing was that although we were in an area that is already mentioned by Homer, archaeologically it must be considered terra incognita. We were therefore the first to systematically search for traces of the human past there.
We were therefore the first to systematically search for traces of the human past there.
What are the current challenges? This year we were there again at the height of summer, so it was the very high temperatures in particular that caused us problems. Sometimes the technical equipment even went on strike in the heat.
What technical equipment was used? Geophysical measuring instruments (georadar, geomagnetics, geoelectrics) as well as surveying equipment and mobile phones for paperless documentation in the field.
What was the highlight of the 2024 campaign? The highlight was the many unexpected finds and findings, which we will analyse in more detail over the next few months!
When and where did you excavate? This year, our first excavation campaign of the ‘Amman Archaeological Project’ (ammap) took place at the Amman Citadel from 21 April to 6 June. It marks the start of a new archaeological cooperation project between the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), the University of Münster, the German Protestant Institute for Classical Studies Amman (DEI) and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan (DOA). Under the direction of Zeidan Kafafi, Brita Jansen and myself, an international team of archaeologists, including students from Münster, Austria and Jordan, took part in the excavations.
What is the aim of your project? The Iron Age kingdom of Ammon, whose capital was Rabbot-Ammon (modern-day Amman with its impressive citadel), played a central role in the political and cultural landscape of the southern Levant. The region was strongly influenced by close ties to the neighbouring kingdoms, Phoenicia and above all the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which is impressively reflected in its architecture, art and material culture.
What have you already achieved in this first campaign? Our excavations on the lower terrace of the citadel have yielded significant new insights into the building history and monumental architecture of the Ammonite capital. Our initial hypothesis, based on earlier excavations at this site, that a building found there was the Ammonite royal palace, has been provisionally confirmed. We were thus able to establish that the building complex under investigation comprises far more construction phases than previously assumed and existed from the late Iron Age until at least the Persian period. Thanks to the extensive collection of short-lived C14 samples, we expect a precise sequencing of the building phases, which will give us a detailed insight into the development of the complex. In addition, we were able to identify an older predecessor building, which is also a monumental building. We still have no clues as to the age of this building, we can only state that it is far more monumental than the Iron Age building above it. This finding indicates ongoing monumental building activity in this part of the citadel and emphasises the importance of the site.
What was the highlight of the campaign: The highlight of our campaign was the sensational discovery of two Iron Age female double-faced statue heads, which were probably part of the palace architecture. A total of seven such heads are now known from the Amman Citadel. The conservation of the two new finds was successfully completed in August. The statues are to be exhibited in the Citadel Museum, which will be a valuable addition to the region's cultural heritage.
The website will go online soon: ammap.org
Where are you travelling to? We are flying to Armenia and working in the ancient city of Artaxata, at the foot of Mount Ararat.
Are you taking students with you, who else is part of the team? We are travelling with a total of 10 people from Münster, including seven students. In Armenia, we will be working together with our Armenian cooperation partner and two doctoral students from the Armenian Academy of Sciences. For the first time, we also have an anthropologist with us who will take a closer look at the burials found last year. We also left a grave unopened last year, which we will then excavate together. An archaeozoologist will also be looking at the animal bones. The team also includes our driver, the cook, the caretaker and local workers with whom we have been working for years. Back in Germany, other scientists will then be involved, for example to look at the plant remains.
What is the goal of the 2023 summer campaign? This year, we will leave Mound XIII, which we have explored intensively in recent years, and dedicate ourselves to the southern Lower Town. A vessel burial that we were unable to work on last year will be excavated on Mound XIII. At the same time, work will begin on Mound XVII, a previously unexplored area of the city. The aim is to gain an impression of the buildings there. Surface finds indicate that this area dates somewhat later than the findings on Mound XIII, so the aim is also to take a look at the general development of the city. At the beginning of the campaign, the burials found last year will be examined anthropologically in order to complete the work there.
What is special about this campaign? This campaign is special in many ways. Due to the large number of skeletons found last year, we will have an anthropologist on the team for the first time, who was only able to support us remotely in 2022. His analysis of the grave finds is of particular importance for the research of Mound XIII. We will also have many students with us this year who are taking part in a (foreign) excavation for the first time. However, we are sure that they will be just as enthusiastic about Artaxata as we have been for many years. The change of location will certainly be particularly exciting. Now that the exploration of the eastern Lower Town has been completed, we move on to Hill XVII in the southern Lower Town in 2023. Although superficially visible walls and finds indicate that we can expect dense development here, it remains to be seen what really awaits us.
What technical equipment will be used? In addition to the essential tools that even digitalisation will never do away with (spade, shovel, pickaxe, trowel, wheelbarrow, etc.), high-tech will be used again. We carry out the topographical survey with a total station (Leica FlexLine TS07). In addition, an Armenian surveying office will set survey points with a DGPS, which will enable us to create a reliable digital elevation model. As every year, we will record the features in three dimensions using structure-from-motion. Selected individual finds are also recorded in 3D. The laser-aided profiler is used to capture the significant pottery fragments. All documentation is recorded in our web-based archaeoDB database.
Where are you going? We are working in south-east Turkey, on the outskirts of Gaziantep, in the ancient city of Doliche.
From when to when will the team be on site? The research will last about two months: from 24 July to 17 September.
Are you taking students with you, who else is part of the team? Our team is very international, about half of the staff are from Turkey. In addition to students and doctoral candidates from various Turkish universities, there is a team of geophysicists from Isparta, Edirne and Bitlis. In addition, there are team members from Pisa, Exeter and Leiden. Eva Strothenke, Dilek Çobanoğlu, Engelbert Winter, Fynn Riepe, Timo Kulartz and Sophie Strauß and myself are participating from the University of Münster. There are also staff from Heidelberg, Cologne, Saarbrücken, Regensburg, Braunschweig, Munich and Berlin. So the team is a colourful mix, with students, experts from very different universities in Germany and abroad. In addition, 15 local excavation assistants are involved in the field work.
What is the goal of the 2023 summer campaign? We have set ourselves the goal of investigating two central buildings of the Roman city of Doliche. One is the city archive, and the other is a large temple that we discovered only two years ago. We have made great progress in each case. The main focus, however, was on the investigation of the finds. Above all, research on ceramics, marble cladding and construction.
What is special about this campaign? It is remarkable that we were able to carry out such an extensive campaign at all, as we are working close to the epicentre of the terrible earthquakes that struck the region in February. Fortunately, the city of Gaziantep and also our excavation site and excavation house got off lightly, but still the impact is considerable and has left deep scars. It is shocking to see the extent of the destruction in the neighbouring cities.
What technical equipment will be used? As usual, structure from motion plays a major role in the day-to-day excavation work in order to generate orthophotos and 3D models. The architects also work with a Leica BLK 360 laser scanner, and we have a drone and total stations for terrestrial surveying. Our excavation database is Adiuvabit from the company Maßwerke.
Where are you going? We are going to Greece to the Peloponnese to the sanctuary of Apollo Amyklaios a few kilometres south of the city of Sparta.
From when to when will the team be on site? We will be on site for four weeks, from 22 July to 18 August.
Are you taking students with you? Who else is part of the team? The Münster geophysics project in Amyklai is a Greek-German cooperation with the Amykles Research Project headed by S. Vlizos from the University of Corfu. Besides my colleague Volkmar Schmidt (Institute of Geophysics) and me, two students from geophysics came along. We were also able to take four students from the subjects of Classical Archaeology and Ancient History, respectively, who took part in the excavation. The excavation project is very international and apart from us, members come from Greece, France and Italy. This year there are also over 30 students from five countries.
What is the aim of the 2023 summer campaign? The aim of the campaign is to review the results of last year's geophysical measurements, both in terms of methodology and content.
What is special about this campaign? On the one hand, what is special is that this year we excavated outside the boundary wall of the sanctuary for the first time, in real terra incognita! On the other hand, it was always exciting to see what was hidden behind the anomalies of the geophysical measurements, so we had the opportunity to check the results through targeted excavations.The cooperation in the very large and international team was also special and a lot of fun.
What technical equipment do you use? In the field of geophysics, we are again taking the measuring instruments for the magnetic, radar and electrical measurements.We also have a device for measuring the susceptibility of rocks and surveying equipment.
Where are you going? I'm going to Luxor in Egypt.
From when to when will the team be on site? 10-15 scientists with different participation periods: July to November, plus about 150 Egyptians, workers and restorers. I myself will be on site in October.
What is the goal of the 2023 summer campaign? The aim of this campaign is to continue the excavation and reconstruction of three major tombs.
What is special about this campaign? That we can continue our work (started in 2006); continuation of the excavation of smaller secondary graves (found so far: 24).
What technical equipment is being used? Apart from the usual excavation material, we use stonemasonry equipment, heavy stone saws, heavy scaffolding, pulleys, stone cutters, rope ladders and an electric winch.
Where are you going? We are in the autonomous region of Kurdistan, Sulaymaniyah province, which is in north-eastern Iraq. Specifically, we are living in the small town of Qaladze and working in the Peshdar Plain at the foot of the chaîne magistrale of the Zagros Mountains.
From when to when will the team be on site? We will be on the ground for just under two months this summer: from 16 August to 12 October.
Do you take students with you, who else is part of the team? The team consists of Prof. Dr. Kreppner (Münster), project collaborator Jens Rohde (Münster/Munich), the students Ellen Coster, Tarik Willis, Stella Rennwanz, Philipp Böhmert, Lukas Egger, Annabel Rieskamp (all Münster), Susanne Weber, Marco Wolf (LMU Munich), Salah Salimi (Sardasht/Iran), Hero Salih Ahmed (Directorate of Antiquities Sulaymaniyah/Iraq), Karwan Abdulrahman (Directorate of Antiquities Rapparin/Iraq), Abubakir Qasim (University of Rapparin, Iraq), driver Aziz Sharif, cook Ibrahim Mulla with Hamrin Ibrahim and 23 workers from Nureddin and Qaladze.
What is the goal of the 2023 summer campaign? In the lower town of the Iron Age Dinka settlement complex, three buildings stand out clearly in size from the other houses. In accordance with our three-year plan, one of these buildings will be investigated in each year. In the 2023 campaign, the approx. 650 sqm large building M will be investigated.
What is special about this campaign? The wonderful national and international team!
What technical equipment will be used? We have a lot of technical equipment with us again in this simmer: a differential GPS for surveying in the excavation, structure from motion based on drone photos for creating orthophotos and 3D models, Artec 3D Scanner Spider for three-dimensional small finds documentation, a laser aided profiler for ceramics documentation, a MySql_database.
Where are you going? The Münster Prehistoric and Early Historic Archaeology team is travelling to southern Bulgaria again. We are researching an early Neolithic settlement with a ditch system near the village of Nova Nadezhda (early 6th millennium BC). Our cooperation partner is the Prehistoric Department of the Archaeological Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The excavation is funded by the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria and the National Research Programme "Cultural Heritage, National Memory and Social Development".
From when to when will the team be on site? We will be on site from 27 August to 24 September.
Are you taking students with you, who else is on the team? Four students from the University of Münster are taking part. Also Lukas Kerk MA, research assistant in our department, and Prof. Dr. Ralf Gleser.
What is the goal of the 2023 summer campaign? We are continuing the excavations of the past years, on the one hand to shed light on the stratigraphic and possibly functional relationships between the Early Neolithic houses and the enclosure ditches to the west of them. For the 2023 campaign, it is planned to further deepen the plana in the houses already excavated, in order to be able to record the earliest phases of the Early Neolithic settlement and to date them using the radiocarbon method. Another aim is to excavate the fill layers in the area of the ditches uncovered last year.
What is special about this campaign? The application of the C14 method in one of the oldest Neolithic settlements north of the Aegean Sea could, if the assumption of high data is confirmed, present the Neolithisation of South-Eastern Europe in a new picture.
What technical equipment is being used? The excavation has a modern digital standard. Large-scale documentation is carried out with drone aerial photography. However, the delineation of the features and the fine stratigraphic analysis takes a lot of time. Skill and work with fine equipment is required.
Where are you going?
I am already in Sudan, in our (rented) excavation house in Karima in the north of the country. The small town lies directly on Jebel Barkal, the "Holy Mountain" of the kings of the Kingdom of Kush (8th century BC to 4th century AD).
Following the major survey project in Wadi Abu Dom, a valley range in the Bayuda desert in the north of the country, we carried out an excavation on a structure in 2017-19. It is one of the few major stone structures in this desert area. Remains of plaster indicate an elite building that we can date to the 2nd/3rd century AD. There are many cooking sites, animal bones and pottery, suggesting a profane use.
When will you be on site?
It's a very short documentation campaign, I'm only here for a week in November 2022.
Are you taking students with you, who else is on the team?
This time there are no students (I am actually alone), because it is not a regular campaign. We had many students during the survey, and there are usually two during the excavation as well. The team always includes a representative of the Sudanese Department of Antiquities - who is also helpful this time, as I always need a third hand for scanning the large vessels.
What is the goal of the 2022 Autumn Campaign?
We were able to export diagnostic ceramic shards to Germany for processing, but we glued many fragments into large vessels that cannot be transported. In search of new documentation methods, I will try to record them with the laser scanner from our collaborative 3D lab. The endeavour is pilot in nature, so it's only a short mission.
... and I can report that the endeavour was not crowned with success: it takes much longer than analogue drawing and requires far too much memory. Nevertheless, it was good that the scanner was here, because Italian colleagues found two intricately constructed capitals during their excavation, which I was able to scan in half an hour each - a quick help for the documentation.
What is special about this campaign?
What is special is the experimental character under which my short presence stands. It is also special that I am here at the same time as an Italian team - we are using the same excavation house, but at different times.
What technical equipment do you use?
Besides the computer, I have the Artec Spider 3D laser scanner with me. Thanks to the good preparation by the Antiquities Service (papers with important signatures) and the experience and help by the Hotel Acropole - the hotel of all archaeological teams in Sudan - the import was uncomplicated.
Where did you go?
We were in Amyklai, a small town a few kilometres south of Sparta. There is the Agia Kyriaki hill with the sanctuary of Apollo Amyklaios, which is one of the main sanctuaries of ancient Sparta. Since 2005, a systematic excavation, the Amykles Research Project, has been taking place there by Greek archaeologists. Our project, funded by the DAAD and the Greek counterpart IKY, is a German-Greek cooperation in which the immediate surroundings of the sanctuary are investigated using various non-invasive techniques.
From when to when was the team on site?
The 2022 campaign took place for a fortnight in the summer from the end of July to the beginning of August.
Did you take students with you?
The team on the German side consists of archaeologists and geophysicists. This year we were able to take two students, an archaeology student and a geophysics student.
What was the goal of the 2022 summer campaign?
The aim of the summer campaign was to investigate the areas immediately to the west and south of the sanctuary using various geophysical prospection methods. The aim was to investigate the extent to which the sanctuary could be seen to extend beyond the walled core area. The aim was also to identify areas where archaeologically relevant structures could be expected to be excavated in the following years.
What technical equipment was used?
Geophysical measuring instruments from the fields of geomagnetics, geoelectrics and georadar, as well as a differential GPS system.
Where are you going?
We are going to Turkey, more precisely to south-eastern Turkey. On the outskirts of the modern city of Gaziantep lies the urban area of Doliche. This is the name of an ancient city that was founded around 300 BC and was inhabited until the Crusader period, around 1150 AD.
From when to when will the team be on site?
From the beginning of August to the end of September 2022, but not all team members will be on site all the time. Depending on the area of responsibility, the duration of the stay varies between two and eight weeks.
Are you taking students with you? Who else is part of the team?
Students and researchers from Münster form the core of the team. In addition, many team members come from Turkey, but also from the Netherlands, Italy and other German universities. A total of about 30 students and researchers are taking part in the campaign this year, plus 20 local excavation helpers. We are an international excavation, the colloquial language is English.
What is the goal of the 2022 summer campaign?
The focus of this year's work is the investigation of a large temple of the Roman Imperial period, which we discovered last year. The structure is about 40 m wide and probably 70 m long. Although the temple has been heavily destroyed, targeted excavations will enable us to determine its shape and hopefully also its exact function.
What is special about this campaign?
Having the opportunity to investigate a monumental temple that was completely unknown until now is a very special chance. It should also be emphasised that only very few inner-city temples from the Roman period are known and researched in the entire region. So we can do basic work here and discover something new.
What technical equipment will be used?
Various digital methods of documentation are used in the excavation, and we have also acquired a drone. Thanks to a handheld laser scanner and a laser aided profiler - a device that can draw ceramics with the help of a laser - we also have a drone for processing finds in the excavation house this year. Both devices were purchased thanks to the "Archäologie Diagonal" network for archaeological projects at Münster University. In addition, we have had a facility built to slurry soil samples and thus isolate remains of plants and other organic remains. We also have a well-equipped restoration workshop.
Where are you going?
We are going to Israel to work on Tel Iztabba. This hill is home to a settlement from the Seleucid period, which we are exploring. The city is mentioned in the Bible under the name Beth She'an and is called that again today.
From when to when will the team be on site?
Our excavation takes place in the Jordan Valley, which is why we prefer to dig during the non-lecture period following the winter semester: from the beginning of February to March. This is a time of year when it is not as warm as in the summer months. Only in 2019 did we exceptionally work there from September to October.
Do you take students with you, who else is on the team?
Students from Münster and Tel Aviv are an integral part of our excavation! Otherwise, the team consists of the two project leaders, Achim Lichtenberger and Oren Tal, two research assistants, Philip Ebeling and Meir Edrey, and the registrar Tamar Harpak from the Israel Antiquities Authority.
What is the goal of the 2022/23 campaign?
The goal of the next campaign is to better understand the infrastructure of the ancient settlement. For example, we would like to understand in more detail how and where the different terraces were connected to each other, how roads were laid out and how the fresh water and sewage supply systems worked, for example.
What is special about this campaign?
This will be the first campaign since we successfully applied for funding from the DFG. It is our third campaign after a two-year break in excavation due to Corona and the end of funding by the German-Israeli Foundation (GIF).
What technical equipment will be used?
Pickaxe, trowel, dental tools if necessary, and brushes! Apart from that, we use a levelling device and the technical tools that other scientific visitors bring with them. These always include a drone with a photo camera and a total station. In addition, a metal detector and much more can be used if needed.
Where are you going? We are in the autonomous region of Kurdistan, Sulaymaniyah province, which is in north-eastern Iraq. Specifically, we are living in the small town of Qaladze and working in the Peshdar Plain at the foot of the chaîne magistrale of the Zagros Mountains.
From when to when will the team be on site? We will be there for two months this summer: from 16 August to 14 October.
Do you take students with you, who else is part of the team?
The team consists of Prof. Kreppner (Münster), project staff member Jens Rohde (Münster/Munich), WIMI Jana Richter (Münster/Munich), students Ellen Coster, Tarik Willis, Noah Rothe, Stella Rennwanz, Philipp Böhmert, Sandra Hein (all Münster), Malte Loetz (Tübingen) and Cajetan Geiger (Bochum), PhD student Zahra Golmohammadi (Münster), postdoc Mohammad Masoumian (Marivan, Iran), Hero Salih Ahmed from the Directorate of Antiquities Sulaymaniyah/Iraq, Abubakir Qasim (University of Rapparin, Iraq) driver Aziz Sharif, cook Ibrahim Mulla with Hamrin Ibrahim as well as 23 workers from Nureddin and Qaladze. Our cooperation partners Prof. Karen Radner from the Department of Ancient History at LMU Munich and Prof. Eileen Eckmeier from the Institute for Ecosystem Research at CAU Kiel were also temporarily on site.
What is the goal of the 2022 summer campaign?In the lower town of the Iron Age Dinka settlement complex, three buildings stand out clearly in size from the other houses. According to our three-year plan, one of these buildings will be investigated in each year. In the 2022 campaign, the 280 square metre building K will be explored.
What is special about this campaign? The large group from Münster!
What (special) technical equipment is being used? We have some technical equipment with us: a differential GPS for surveying, structure from motion based on drone photos for orthophoto and 3D model, a Laiser Aided Profiler for ceramic documentation, a MySql_database.
Where do you go?
A team from the Institute of Classical Archaeology has been travelling regularly to Artaxata-Artashat in the Ararat Plain (Armenia) since 2018. We will be there again this year.
From when to when will the team be on site?
We arrived on 29 August and will be working until 8 October.
Are you taking students with you, who else is on the team?
One doctoral student from Yerevan, two doctoral students from Münster, four Bachelor's and Master's students from Münster, one Master's student from Frankfurt. The project is headed by Achim Lichtenberger, Torben Schreiber and Mkrtich Zardaryan.
What is the goal of the 2022 Summer Campaign?
The goal of this year's summer campaign is the final exploration of Mound XIII as well as further excavation work in the area of the "Urartian structure".
What is special about this campaign?
It is the final campaign of the first funding phase by the DFG and thus the prelude to further, fruitful years of research at the foot of Mount Ararat.
What (special) technical equipment is being used?
First of all, a lot of women's and men's power from a very dedicated team is being used. We are once again documenting our sections using "structure-from-motion" so that the excavation is fully documented in three dimensions.
Where do you go?
The Münster Prehistoric and Early Historic Archaeology team is travelling to southern Bulgaria again. We are conducting a cooperation with the Prehistoric Department of the Archaeological Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The excavation is again funded by the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria and the National Research Programme "Cultural Heritage, National Memory and Social Development". It is about the exploration of an early Neolithic settlement with a ditch system near the village of Nova Nadezhda.
From when to when will the team be on site?
28 August to 25 September 2022.
Are you taking students with you, who else is on the team?
Four students will take part in the excavation, as well as Prof. Dr. Ralf Gleser and Dr. Jan Miera.
What is the goal of the 2022 summer campaign?
The excavated area in the southern sector was already extended by a new section in 2021 in order to shed light on the stratigraphic and possibly functional relationships between the Early Neolithic houses and the enclosure ditches to the west of them. For the 2022 campaign, the continuation of this work is planned, as well as the lowering of the plana in the houses already excavated, in order to be able to record the earliest phases of the Early Neolithic settlement.
What is special about this campaign?
We are excavating in the area of one of the oldest peasant settlements north of the Aegean (early 6th millennium B.C.) and also hope to gain new aspects on the Neolithic settlement.
Arrival: The team led by Prof. Dr Achim Lichtenberger and Dr Torben Schreiber arrived in Artaxata on 30 August and will be there for six weeks - until 8 October. Seven students from Münster are travelling with them and two doctoral students from the Armenian side are involved in the project.
General information: Artaxata was the capital of the Armenian kingdom of the Artaxid dynasty. Founded by Artaxias I (189-160 BC), it developed into an important metropolis in Hellenistic times. The ancient city was located about 10 km south of present-day Artashat on 14 hills near the monastery of Khor Virap. So far, only selective excavations have been carried out in the city area in the 1970s and 1980s. However, important questions concerning urbanistics, the cultural profile of the city and questions of epoch boundaries still remained open. For example, it remains to be clarified how long "Hellenism" lasted in Armenia and to what extent processes of "Romanisation" can be grasped in terms of cultural history. Since 2018, a team of Armenian and German scholars has been researching the urbanistics and material culture of the city of Artaxata from its Hellenistic foundation to the post-Christian centuries. The project is intended to contribute to a cultural-historical classification of the city.
Goal of the 2021 summer campaign: The goal of this year's summer campaign is to complete the work on the so-called Hill XIII. There, two larger house compartments were built in the past two years.
further information can be found in German
Arrival: On 13 August, the team led by Prof. Dr Janoscha Kreppner arrived in Qaladze, a district town in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan in north-eastern Iraq. The town is located in the impressive landscape of the Zagros Mountains. Jana Richter (research assistant), Jens Rohde (project staff) and three students from the University of Münster are with us.
General info: Since 2015, an international and interdisciplinary team under the project management of Prof. Dr. Karen Radner (LMU Munich) and the excavation management of Prof. Dr. Florian Janoscha Kreppner (formerly LMU-Munich, since 10/2018 WWU-Münster) has been investigating this large-scale settlement site in the Peshdar Plain of the Zagros Mountains. The excavations and geophysical prospections, which were started as rescue excavations due to modern construction and agricultural activity, have brought to light a settlement of about 60 ha. A settlement development from the 11th to the 8th/7th century BC from a small Early Iron Age village to an urbanised settlement can be traced here. The aim is to investigate the eastern border of the Assyrian empire in the region of northern Iraq at the interface of Mesopotamian and Iranian cultural development, which has hardly been studied in recent decades due to the Gulf wars, and to analyse globalisation phenomena versus the preservation of local cultural traditions in greater detail.
Aims of the 2021 summer campaign: We are investigating a c. 60 ha Iron Age settlement on the eastern border of the Assyrian Empire (c. 1000-600 BC). The site is divided into a citadel and a lower town. The aim of this year's campaign is to obtain information about the function of these buildings for the lower city by excavating three large detached buildings in the lower city. In addition, we want to become better acquainted with the indigenous Early Iron Age Zagros Iron Age culture, which has hardly been explored so far, and learn what changes took place during the integration of the Peshdar Plain into the Assyrian Empire.
Special features: It is a special challenge to carry out an archaeological excavation in Iraq in times of a pandemic and tense political situation. The team expects to find interesting features just below the surface of the site, as test cuts already indicate. They are looking forward to undisturbed spatial inventories that will provide information about how people lived 2800 years ago on the eastern border of the Assyrian Empire! The 3D scanner from the University of Münster is to be brought to us in Iraq at the beginning of September. The project has also developed a digital documentation system that makes it possible to do "archaeology in real time", i.e. to publish the excavation results in a monograph as early as the following year. That is really incredibly fast!
Arrival: This year, covering the 4500 km from Münster to Doliche in a van was already the first challenge. For each country that was crossed, numerous documents had to be filled out. But this was the only way to bring the necessary equipment to Turkey. Fortunately, most of the group arrived by plane from Germany. At the beginning of August, everyone arrived safely at the excavation house.
General information: Doliche is located in eastern Turkey, close to the Syrian border. The area is overlooked by the summit of Dülük Baba Tepesi, on which the temple of Iuppiter Dolichenus, the most important sanctuary of the city, was located. In ancient times, Doliche was a place of supra-regional importance. The discovery of temple complexes at the foot of Keber Tepe in 1997 and 1998 initiated the beginning of systematic historical-topographical and archaeological investigations. From 1998 to 2000, excavations were carried out in the so-called mithraea, after which research concentrated on the sanctuary of Iuppiter Dolichenus. In 2010 and 2011, test excavations were carried out in the city area for the first time. Subsequently, a concept for the exploration of Dolichen was developed. It includes geophysical and archaeological surveys as well as excavations in the residential area of the southern slope and in the public space (agora). The project has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) since 2015 and is managed by the Research Centre Asia Minor under the direction of Prof. Dr Engelbert Winter.
Aims of the 2021 summer campaign: This year's campaign has set itself several goals: In addition to the continuation of geophysical prospections in the ancient city area, the uncovering work in the area of the hillside church of Doliche and the Roman thermal complex are to be completed in particular. In addition, excavation work can be carried out for the first time in newly developed areas in the ancient city centre, which should provide further information about the public buildings.
Special features: As part of a newly established cooperation with the UNESCO Chair for Cultural Heritage and Digital Memory at Baskent University in Ankara, which was set up in 2020, a complete terrestrial laser scan of the hillside church of Doliche will be carried out. The 3D scanner of the University of Münster will also be used. It will be used to document the seals recovered from the municipal archives of Doliche in recent years, which now number over 4000 pieces.
And what else: Current impressions are provided by the "Doliche Diaries" - a blog directly from everyday excavation work.
further information can be found in German
