Mudbrick is a challenging material to interpret, maintain, and preserve in terms of planning and ... more Mudbrick is a challenging material to interpret, maintain, and preserve in terms of planning and treatment decision-making—especially when recovered during archaeological excavation. Further challenges exist where mudbrick remains have been exposed and abandoned, as interactions with the environment (especially water and wind) introduce additional dissolution and damage of the resource. In this paper, we present multidisciplinary research focused on the interpretation and preservation of ancient and vernacular mudbrick architecture in the Marmara Lake Basin in western Turkey. Of interest is the preservation of mudbrick and stone foundations at Kaymakçı, a Middle to Late Bronze Age, ridge-top citadel. We demonstrate that utilizing multiple lines of evidence, including macromorphological, mineralogical, and chemical studies interpreted within the context of extant vernacular traditions in the region, produces a nuanced understanding of the archaeological evidence. Further, ethnographi...
Stable carbon isotope (δ13C) analysis of archaeobotanical remains from Bronze Age Kaymakçı (western Anatolia) to investigate crop management
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
Here we present the results of stable carbon isotope (δ13C) analysis on charred crop seeds from t... more Here we present the results of stable carbon isotope (δ13C) analysis on charred crop seeds from the Bronze Age site of Kaymakçı in western Anatolia. The δ13C data, in conjunction with some 14C-dated seeds, allows for insights into the water availability for crops and a comparison among taxa, enabling a relatively high-resolution investigation of field agriculture,crop cultivation, and crop and field management around the site. From this data, we discuss agroeconomic structures and local paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic conditions in the local micro-region, as well as more generally for western Anatolia. A total of 35 single carbonized seeds were analysed, including seeds of wheat, barley, bitter vetch, pulses, andgrape. Almost all samples date to the first half of the second millennium BC, based on radiocarbon dating of 24 seeds from the sample assemblage. The δ13C data demonstrates that crops at Kaymakçı were generally moderately to well-watered,and water availability was likely not a limiting factor for growth. This water availability is unlikely to result from artificial and man-made irrigation systems, however, but rather crop-management and field-location choices, taking advantage of the humid conditions along the shores of Lake Marmara and in surrounding wetland environs. A seeming paradox is the ubiquity of risk buffering crops (barley and bitter vetch) despite a supposed abundance of water availability. This evidence for mixed approaches further underlines the importance of versatility in local agricultural systems and their underlyingstructures, favored and implemented by local communities.
Ottoman Lakes and Fluid Landscapes: Environing, Wetlands and Conservation in the Marmara Lake Basin, Circa 1550–1900
Environment and History
The study of Ottoman lakes and wetlands from the perspective of management and conservation is an... more The study of Ottoman lakes and wetlands from the perspective of management and conservation is an emerging field. Scholars have explored Ottoman strategies for managing agricultural and extractive landscapes, yet detailed investigation of socio-political responses to dynamic wetlands, particularly during periods of drastic climate shifts, requires deeper investigation. Our research on wetlands and lakes moves from the purview of waqfs (pious foundations) to the emergence of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration (OPDA). By examining the shifting perspectives of institutional authority and community responses to it from the early modern period to the nineteenth century, we discuss the complexities of wetland management in the Marmara Lake Basin within the sancak of Saruhan (contemporary Manisa) in western Anatolia. We argue that intimate knowledge of this specific ecosystem played a critical role in mitigating attempts at reclamation and land grabbing and ultimately in developing leg...
Gediz Vadisi'nde Bir Orta ve Geç Tunç Çağı Kalesi: Kaymakçı
Arkeoloji dergisi, 2018
New deals for the past: the Cold War, American archaeology, and UNESCO in Egypt and Syria
History and Anthropology, 2020
From the 1930s to the late 1970s, American archaeologists pursued a paired agenda of science and ... more From the 1930s to the late 1970s, American archaeologists pursued a paired agenda of science and salvage such that their focus on logical positivism converged with US foreign policy towards interna...
Application of Architectural Energetics Models to the Iron Age Tumuli of Bin Tepe in Lydia, Western Turkey
Agropastoral Economies and Land Use in Bronze Age Western Anatolia
Environmental Archaeology, 2021
The Middle and Late Bronze Ages of western Anatolia (modern Turkey) remains poorly understood in ... more The Middle and Late Bronze Ages of western Anatolia (modern Turkey) remains poorly understood in comparison with its Mycenaean and Hittite neighbours, especially in agricultural economies and land ...
Archaeology, assistance, and aggression along the Euphrates: reflections from Raqqa
International Journal of Cultural Policy, 2019
ABSTRACT This paper traces the cultural missions and salvage archaeology programs along the Euphr... more ABSTRACT This paper traces the cultural missions and salvage archaeology programs along the Euphrates River around Raqqa from the 1950s onwards. We suggest that the varied investments from international expeditions, conservation programs, and technical assistance in Syria have an important, untold history that is relevant to recent developments and conflicts in northern Syria. We explore the intersecting practices of archaeology and assistance, illuminated by archives drawn from international agencies such as UNESCO, as well as companies, consultants, bureaucrats, and archaeologists. Our focus is upon foreign intervention around imperiled heritage, considering not only internal politics but also UNESCO’s 1960s shift from fully funded campaigns to global appeals reliant on foreign governments, corporations, and universities. The outsourcing of salvage allowed specific patrons – national and international – to privilege particular pasts; and it is these histories and legacies that further require us to reassess the place of Raqqa in the current civil war.
Memory and Meaning in Bin Tepe, the Lydian Cemetery of the ‘Thousand Mounds’ (Plates 183–191)
Space, Politics, Culture and Religion in the First Millennium BC
This paper draws from five years of Central Lydia Archaeological Survey (CLAS) results (2005–2009... more This paper draws from five years of Central Lydia Archaeological Survey (CLAS) results (2005–2009) to reassess the meaning of Iron Age tumuli in central Lydia, western Turkey, and especially in the area of Bin Tepe, thought to be the Lydian royal cemetery. Invoking scholarship on shared and collective mem- ories and citing both the discovery of a Bronze Age kingdom in the basin of the Gygaean Lake (modern Marmara Gölü) and the sacred significance of the area deriving from the cyclic fluctuation of its water bodies, we suggest Lydian kings selected Bin Tepe for burial to associate themselves with and co-opt local memories of heroes and sacred meanings. Thus, the development of Bin Tepe is considered from the perspective of the significance of its natural and conceptual landscapes. The meanings and mem- ories of Bin Tepe in post-Lydian through recent times are assessed briefly, also, stressing its dynamic valuing as it was exploited for treasures and strategic qualities in war, plunder, and agriculture.
Conclusion: The social and cultural contexts of antiquities collecting
... Brodie, N., and Luke, C. (2006) Conclusion: The social and cultural contexts of antiquities c... more ... Brodie, N., and Luke, C. (2006) Conclusion: The social and cultural contexts of antiquities collecting. In: Brodie, N., Kersel, MM, Luke, C. and Tubb, KW (eds.) Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, and the Antiquities Trade. ... Status: Published. Glasgow Author(s): Brodie, Dr Neil. ...
Field archaeology and foreign assistance during the decade of development in Iran and Turkey
History and Anthropology, Sep 27, 2023
During the 1960s, the scope of field archaeology in the Middle East transformed dramatically, dri... more During the 1960s, the scope of field archaeology in the Middle East transformed dramatically, driven by foreign aid funded dam-led regional development projects. The paradigm of riverbasin salvage, intimately connected to dam projects first developed in the US Southeast during the Great Depression, was exported alongside the dam-building expertise, but with unanticipated results. Rather than creating a worldwide system of emergency archaeology to mitigate the threats posed to heritage by the global project of modernization, the Decade of Development resulted in archaeologists becoming consultants in irrigation, education, and financekey prerequisites to the emergence of today's dominant modalities of the linkage between archaeology and development centred on regulatory compliance fieldwork and the encouragement of cultural tourism.
School of Hospitality Administration, Boston University, 2013
is the owner of Pinnacle Advisory Group. She has more than 30 years of experience in hospitality ... more is the owner of Pinnacle Advisory Group. She has more than 30 years of experience in hospitality consulting. Ms. Roginsky is a board member of numerous organizations related to hospitality, is a regular guest lecturer at the Cornell Hotel School, and is co-editor of five leading hotel investment books.
Place-Making, Erasure, and the Death of Kingship at the Ancient Maya Site of Pacbitun, Belize
The 86th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2021
Alternative Futures
A Pearl in Peril, 2019
This chapter explores heritage landscapes through the lens of extractive economies and jurisdicti... more This chapter explores heritage landscapes through the lens of extractive economies and jurisdiction of forests and archaeological zones. This new body politic rallies around economic profit that is bolstered by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, which enhance opportunities for social mobility and higher standards of living. Case studies explore the industries of marble and gold in the context of intangible and tangible heritage. Willful ignorance gives tacit approval for continued environmental degradation and erasure of archaeological heritage under the rhetoric of economic security. The evidence is contemporary, drawing from international fairs, ethnographic research, and the bureaucracies of heritage statecraft.
Open Intelligence
A Pearl in Peril, 2019
From the League of Nations’ International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC) to the urb... more From the League of Nations’ International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC) to the urban and rural planning of Le Corbusier and his colleagues, governments explored modernist templates and programs of social engineering, such as those presented in the Russian five-year plans and the United States Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). In this chapter, I investigate interwar and Cold War heritage through the lens of Izmir’s Kültürpark and the technopolitics of the Aegean-TVA. Grafted onto the face of the Gediz basin, the industrial heritage of the Demirköprü hydroelectric dam and irrigation infrastructure represents a window into the strategic nature of US foreign assistance to Turkey. Pivotal figures such as Ismet Inönü, Fezvi Lufti Karaosmanoğlu and Süleyman Demirel are discussed, as is the American consulting firm Tippetts, Abbett, McCarthy, and Stratton (TAMS).
From Boston to the Balkans: Olmsted’s Emerald Legacy
This article explores the legacy of landscape architect Fredrick Law Olmsted on modern cultural t... more This article explores the legacy of landscape architect Fredrick Law Olmsted on modern cultural tourism policies. The author explains the involvement of Olmsted in the founding of Yosemite National Park, and describes the influence of this experience on his later work on the Emerald Necklace parks project in Boston. This became a model for natural and cultural corridors worldwide, including those in the Balkans and Turkey.
Heritage interests: Americanism, Europeanism and Neo-Ottomanism
Journal of Social Archaeology, 2018
The district of Novi Pazar in southwestern Serbia offers an ideal case study to explore heritage ... more The district of Novi Pazar in southwestern Serbia offers an ideal case study to explore heritage and diplomacy. By analyzing processes of Europeanization and perceptions of Neo-Ottomanism in heritage practices, the article demonstrates how past, present, and future plans for South East Europe are embroiled in development trajectories that encompass partners from not only Europe and Turkey but also the United States, Asia, and the Middle East. The World Heritage Center at UNESCO and its partner organization, International Council on Monuments and Sites, hold firm commitments to the Christian identities of Stari Ras and Sopoćani and legacies of medieval Raška as well as the legacies of Imperial Rome. Yet, they operate in a vacuum, neglecting to consider the hyper-connectivity that is transforming not only the physical landscapes of the region and the revitalization of Sandžak and Islamic identities but also the corporate and diplomatic spheres of transnational and multidimensional int...
Ancient DNA (aDNA) extraction and amplification from 3500-year-old charred economic crop seeds from Kaymakçı in Western Turkey: comparative sequence analysis using the 26S rDNA gene
Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 2019
Ancient DNA (aDNA) from 3500–4000 years old seeds of Triticum aestivum L. or Triticum durum Dest.... more Ancient DNA (aDNA) from 3500–4000 years old seeds of Triticum aestivum L. or Triticum durum Dest., Vicia ervillia (L) Willd., Cicer arietinum L. and Vitis vinifera L. excavated from the archaeological site of Kaymakçı was successfully extracted using various isolation methods. The genomic DNA of each species was amplified with respect to the 26S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene further using the aDNA of the seeds. The reasons for successful DNA extraction and amplification are likely due to (1) preservation of certain ancient seed specimens in good conditions and (2) use of improved DNA extraction and amplification methods. The results indicate that all seeds were identified correctly by the DNA sequence data from the 26S rDNA gene. Specifically, a morphologically unidentified wheat seed from Kaymakçı was characterized by DNA sequence data as bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). Comparative sequence analysis revealed that specific base positions in the ancient 26S rDNA gene were either lost or substituted with different DNA bases in contemporary seeds, most likely due to continued domestication and breeding activities. Attaining high amounts and a good quality of amplified genomic DNA from ancient seeds will further allow the investigation of the extent of genetic change between ancient seeds and their contemporary species in genetic diversity studies.
Uploads
Papers by Christina Luke