Abteilung Istanbul

The surveying, analysis and documentation of ancient infrastructures or settlement sites are often carried out by the additional use of geoinformatic software and tools, i.e. embedded in geoinformation systems (GIS). Since these GIS-methods are usually adjusted to the local use case, the spatial dimensions, coordinates, map projections and file formats differ significantly between individual survey sites and/or archaeological focus. Consequently, the interdisciplinary digital fusion and interactive analysis of such regional varying geodata by collaborating teams of archaeologists are often a quite cumbersome procedure. Alternatively, new web-based GIS online technologies offer a unique opportunity to quickly visualize thematic maps, location metadata and find details of archaeological objects in a standardized way, also allow the upload of individual geodata from any local client via the internet. Hence individual scientists can contribute information to the documentation and spatial relation of these objects not only by mail or data attachments (GeoArchaeology Web 1.0) but also by directly integrating their standardized geodata using an online webserver-portal (GeoArchaeology Web 2.0). The aim of this study is to assess the potential use of the open source GeoServer software and related web-applications to generate a new archaeological perspective on geospatial data with different scales, resolutions, thematic focus and information depths. Therefore, the two case studies range from a small scale, large regional scope (Sudan) to scales of local conventional excavations (Turkey). Both surveys provided various datasets (i.e. base maps, UAS aerial images, terrain models, photographs, attribute and GPS data, field observations, etc.) which were combined in an interactive web-based geoportal with global range and minimum scale limitations since the service was based on a WGS84 map projection. The embedded archaeological data follows accepted Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards which are available in every GIS. This particular archaeological data infrastructure enables not only the publication and visualization of archaeological datasets in a web-based geoportal but also the interactive geospatial interpretation and data extension of the whole available data pool “by third party users” in order to enrich and promote further scientific discussion on archaeological issues of the respective sites.

Dieser Beitrag präsentiert erstmals geschlossen die im Archäologischen Museum der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster verwahrten attisch-schwarzfigurigen Lekythoi, darunter auch etliche unpublizierte Stücke. Die einzelnen Entwicklungsstufen dieser Vasengattung sind an den hier vorgestellten 14 Exemplaren nachzuvollziehen. Die figürlich verzierten Lekythoi zeigen verschiedene Themen, wie Apobatenrennen, Wagenfahrten, Kampfszenen, Szenen aus dem öffentlichen Leben und Taten des Herakles. Neben den figürlich verzierten gibt es auch weißgrundige Lekythoi mit floralem und ornamentalem Dekor.

The »structure from motion« process presented
here, which was employed as part of a showcase study involving large-scale excavations carried out in 2013/2014 at the Philosophikum (Philosophical Seminary) in Münster
by the Münster City Archaeology Department,
allowed the excavators to save time
in compiling their records without any great
technological or financial effort. The process
links up the traditional method of recording
features with digital technology, thus offering
a helpful alternative, particularly for investigations
carried out during ongoing construction work, usually under severe time constraints. The simultaneous creation of 3D models provides the additional option of visualising surfaces and objects.

Seit 2015 steht die in der Südosttürkei am Rande der Metropole Gaziantep gelegene antike Stadt Doliche im Mittelpunkt eines neuen Forschungsprojektes, das von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft gefördert wird. Doliche war in der Antike eine Kleinstadt im Norden Syriens und ist vor allem als Heimat des Iuppiter Dolichenus bekannt. Ziel des Pro­jektes ist es, die urbanistische Entwicklung der Stadt und die Lebenswelt ihrer Bewohner dia­chron zu untersuchen. Ein intensiver Survey und geophysikalische Prospektionen haben das Ziel, erstmals Ausdehnung und Aufbau der Stadt zu erforschen, gezielte Grabungen sollen pa­radigmatisch zentrale Bereiche der Stadt erforschen. Die Grabungsarbeiten konzentrieren sich bislang vor allem auf die Untersuchung einer öffentlichen Badeanlage der römischen Kaiserzeit sowie einer frühchristlichen Basilika.

Ancient seal impressions once employed to seal a variety of objects, particularly different kinds of documents, offer a wealth of information not only about iconography, but also about the dissemination of ideas and beliefs. Their use provides evidence about the continuation, transformation, and mutual influences effecting local traditions, and casts light on administrative and bureaucratic practices. This volume brings together conference papers by twelve specialists focusing on the Hellenistic period (ca. 325-25 BCE), a period still deserving more scholarly attention. The hoards discussed by the various authors include those from Delos, Doliche, Edfu, Kedesh, Pistiros, Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, Selinunte and Uruk. The volume’s themes range from the persistence of Pharaonic imagery on Ptolemaic sealings and Greek influence on Sicilian seals to the survival of Mesopotamian traditions on Parthian clay tablets and the use of Hellenistic iconography on Bactrian finger rings. Ptolemaic and Seleucid seal impressions especially offer clues for identifying royal portraits in other media. The papers contextualize the subject within related fields of glyptics and numismatics, and in so doing elucidate day-to-day realities of social, public and private archival practices beyond political and elite levels of life. In all this publication – the first of its kind in twenty-five years – illuminates aspects of Hellenistic history that have long remained abstruse, ignored or inaccessible without the aid of seal impressions.