Pioneers in the archeology of Anatolia have always had a hard time. If it were not for Heinrich Schliemann, Hugo Winckler, Emil Forrer, Helmuth Bossert and James Mellaart, we might still know virtually nothing about the cultures of Asia Minor before Greek colonization. But instead of gratitude, these explorers received punishment. Most never got a job in academia, or remained as outlaws throughout their…
Few objects in archaeology have been subject to as much controversy as the Phaistos Disc – a 15-cm-diameter disc made of fired clay in which over 240 spirally-arranged motifs were printed with individual stamps. The disc was found on July 3, 1908 during the excavation of the Minoan palace of Phaistos, near the south coast of Crete. It has become notorious, because it appears to…
These days the memory of Troy is inseparably connected with the Iliad of the Greek poet Homer. However, numerous authors in antiquity and up until the Middle Ages provided information on the city and its demise. Under the newly established main navigation item “Sources” on its website, Luwian Studies takes a look at a number of these non-Homeric accounts. Those interested in the events…
In a lecture in Ankershagen, Germany, Dr. Eberhard Zangger, geoarchaeologist and president of the board of Luwian Studies, today described how modern Turkey would benefit economically from enhanced studies into Bronze Age Anatolian societies. In an invited lecture to the Heinrich Schliemann Society, a group of researchers dedicated to the memory of the discoverer of Troy, Zangger said: “Currently, Turkey produces annual revenue of roughly…
We are back from fieldwork in Turkey and bring many exciting results. Follow us now on Facebook – in Turkish.
The Turkish archaeological journal Olba today published an article which claims that the Bronze Age city of Troy has never been found. It lies 5 m deep buried in the Karamenderes floodpain, a few hundred meters west of the site of Hisarlik. Swiss geoarchaeologist Eberhard Zangger and Turkish archaeologist Serdal Mutlu jointly reconstructed the water management system that may have existed at Troy.
Researchers at the newly introduced foundation Luwian Studies have recorded 340 extensive settlement sites dating to the 2nd mill. BCE in western Asia Minor that cannot be attributed to the contemporary Mycenaean or Hittite cultures. They argue that these settlements belonged to the people of the thus far unrecognized Luwian civilization.
The international non-profit foundation Luwian Studies has turned on its extensive website – in Turkish – presenting a new perspective of the Aegean Bronze Age. Luwian Studies’ sole aim is to enhance the research into the 2nd mill. BCE in western Asia Minor. This is the time of the Trojan War. The question is: who were the people fighting alongside with Troy?
