Afghan War Rugs a Conservation Program at Gordion in Search of San Pietro D’Asso Archaeology and Shipwrecks

SPRING 2011 THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA VOLUME 53, NUMBER 1 MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY ExpedWWW.PENN.MUSEUM/EXPEDITIONition

AFGHAN WAR RUGS A CONSERVATION PROGRAM AT GORDION IN SEARCH OF SAN PIETRO D’ASSO ARCHAEOLOGY AND SHIPWRECKS

spring 2011

contentsVOLUME 53, NUMBER 1

features

AFGHAN WARS, ORIENTAL CARPETS, 11 AND GLOBALIZATION By Brian Spooner

RESURRECTING GORDION: 21 PRESERVING TURKEY’S PHRYGIAN CAPITAL By Frank G. Matero and C. Brian Rose

11 IN SEARCH OF SAN PIETRO D’ASSO 30 By Stefano Campana, Michelle Hobart, Richard Hodges, Adrianna de Svastich, and Jennifer McAuley

ARCHaeometry AND SHIPWRECKS: 36 A REVIEW ARTICLE From Mine to Microscope: Advances in the Study of Ancient Technology 21 By James D. Muhly departments 2 From the Editor 3 From the Director 4 From the Archives—Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King 7 What in the World—Telmu and Petrui: 30 A Rediscovered Romance?

9 From the Field—Guerilla Fashion: Textiles in Motion Push Change in Indian Art

45 Museum Mosaic—People, Places, Projects

on the cover: Detail from Afghan war rug shown on page 13. Amanullah Khan, depicted here, helped lead Afghanistan to 36 independence in 1919. Photo by Textile Museum of Canada.

We welcome letters to the Editor. Expedition® (ISSN 0014-4738) is published three times a year by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-6324. ©2011 University of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved. Expedition is a Please send them to: registered trademark of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. All editorial inquiries should be addressed to the Editor at the above Expedition address or by email to [email protected]. Subscription price: $35.00 per subscription per year. International subscribers: add Penn Museum $15.00 per subscription per year. Subscription, back issue, and advertising queries to Maureen Goldsmith at publications@museum. 3260 South Street upenn.edu or (215)898-4050. Subscription forms may be faxed to (215)573-9369. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. www.museum.upenn.edu/expeditionPhiladelphia, PA 19104-6324 1 Email: [email protected] welcome From the Editor

the williams director Richard Hodges, Ph.D. ver the last several decades, Afghanistan has suffered from williams directors emeritus invasion, revolution, and civil war. Although we frequently Robert H. Dyson, Jr., Ph.D. Jeremy A. Sabloff, Ph.D. read about the suffering experienced by the Afghan people, we rarely see firsthand the lasting impact of continuous con- deputy director C. Brian Rose, Ph.D. flict. Our first feature article focuses on one aspect of Afghan culture that reflects its recent history: war rugs. These rugs will be featured in chief operating officer O Melissa P. Smith, CFA Battleground: War Rugs from Afghanistan, a new exhibition which opens at the chief of staff to the williams director Penn Museum on April 30, 2011. The 63 rugs in the exhibition do not depict James R. Mathieu, Ph.D. the traditional designs of oriental carpets; instead they include images of war— director of development tanks, fighter jets, helicopters, land mines, and guns. Amanda Mitchell-Boyask The next two articles describe aspects of current archaeological projects asso- mellon associate deputy director Loa P. Traxler, Ph.D. ciated with the Penn Museum. Frank G. Matero and C. Brian Rose write on efforts undertaken by Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, and merle-smith director of community engagement the University of Pennsylvania to develop and implement a preservation plan Jean Byrne for Gordion. This is followed by a two-part article on recent work in San Pietro director of exhibitions d’Asso, Italy; the first section chronicles the results of the 2010 excavation sea- Kathleen Quinn son, followed by a description of what it was like, from the perspective of Penn director of marketing and communications undergraduates, to spend a month working and living in Tuscany. Our fourth Suzette Sherman feature is a review article by Penn Professor Emeritus and former Editor of associate director Expedition, James D. Muhly. Jim reviews a recent festschrift published in honor for administration Alan Waldt of Michael Tite and discusses current scholarship on copper oxhide ingots and bronze artifacts discovered on shipwrecks off the coast of Turkey. expedition staff Several short articles are also included in this issue. In “From the Archives,” editor Jane Hickman, Ph.D. Alessandro Pezzati describes the lives of two people associated with the Penn associate editor Museum in the mid-20th century: Jim Thompson, the “Thai Silk King,” and his Jennifer Quick friend and colleague, Elizabeth Lyons. Jean Turfa tells the unusual story behind assistant editor Emily B. Toner two clay urns in the Etruscan collection. And Lucy Fowler Williams describes subscriptions manager the intersection between Native American culture and contemporary fashion. Maureen Goldsmith The Museum has had a busy winter, as evidenced by the expanded “Museum editorial advisory board Mosaic” section. Fran Barg, Ph.D. We are planning several special themed issues for the next two years: a Clark L. Erickson, Ph.D. James R. Mathieu, Ph.D. Summer 2011 issue on excavations in Italy, and 2012 issues that celebrate the Naomi F. Miller, Ph.D. Museum’s 125th anniversary and a new exhibition on the Maya. As always, we Janet M. Monge, Ph.D. Theodore G. Schurr, Ph.D. welcome your feedback on Expedition. Robert L. Schuyler, Ph.D. design Anne Marie Kane Imogen Design www.imogendesign.com FPO jane hickman, ph.d. printing Editor C&B Graphics www.cnbgraphics.com

2 volume 53, number 1 expedition

from the director Penn Museum and Afghanistan

by richard enn museum has long had a part in revealing Afghan hodges archaeological history. In 1953, at Director Froelich Rainey’s instigation, Rodney PYoung, Curator of the Mediterranean Section and Director of the Gordion excavations, conducted excavations at the ancient city of Bactra, modern-day Balkh. Young was drawn to the site because the great city on the Oxus had featured in Alexander the Great’s eastern adventures, before becoming the capital city of the Euthydemids in Hellenistic times, and then, according to the Romans, a fabulously rich place in the centuries after Christ. Young’s excavations enabled him to phase the topographic outlines of the city, which he concluded were “three times as big as Gordion…and ten times as big as the mound of Troy, a city…not entirely without reputation” (American Journal of Archaeology 59 [1955]:267-276). Balkh-Bactra is but one small glimpse of the extraordinary archaeology of Afghanistan, a country that was for millennia an interface between East and West. Froelich Rainey (on camelback) in Afghanistan, 1952. The Afghan war rugs from the Textile Museum of Canada, UPM Image # 48652 featured in the Penn Museum’s new exhibition Battleground: War Rugs from Afghanistan (April 30–July 31, 2011), affirm the axiomatic place of this troubled country as a bridge history and culture of this country. Iconographically—as I between East and West, but from the standpoint of our era. believe all visitors to this exhibition will agree—these war rugs These extraordinary rugs tell an indigenous story through are masterpieces by peoples who have for the most part been their vivid and harrowing iconography of invasions over the “without history” (i.e. unable to comment themselves in writ- past 30 years. What was once an uncomfortable story for ten texts) but continue to play an important role in on-going British colonial forces in the earlier 20th century has become East-West relations. in modern times uncomfortable for first the Soviet Union, then, since 2001, for the coalition of NATO countries now entangled in a complicated struggle. These exquisite objects invite us to reflect, of course, on this struggle, but our greater hope is that this exhibition, like Rodney Young’s excavations, richard hodges, ph.d. will encourage our audiences to consider the extraordinary The Williams Director Penn Museum

www.penn.museum/expedition 3 from the archives Buddhist priests blessed Jim Thompson’s Thai house in Bangkok, 1959. UPM Image # 194079.

Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King

by alessandro ounger generations may Thailand was never colonized, and, though ostensibly

pezzati not know Jim Thompson an ally of Japan during the war, it did not participate in (1906–1967?), but in the the fighting and suffered little damage. Upon his arrival, 1950s and 1960s he was Thompson was immediately enchanted by the country’s famous throughout the unique character and by the city of Bangkok, with its peo- Yworld as Thailand’s “Silk King,” and as ple and their art. He also saw business opportunities. His an arbiter of international taste. Born passion was taken by Thai silk, a local tradition he helped of a wealthy Delaware family, Thompson graduated from revive, creating a demand all over the world. He formed Princeton and attended the University of Pennsylvania School the Thai Silk Company in 1951 and, with a keen sense of Architecture. Though he never completed his degree, he of color and indefatigable salesmanship, became extremely became an architect nonetheless, designing houses as well as successful. His creations became famous—worn by celeb- landscapes and interiors. By his mid-thirties, however, he had rities and socialites—and were even used in the 1956 film grown dissatisfied with his life as a carefree bachelor and had The King and I. In addition to silk, Thompson’s passions begun to alienate his family with his increasingly liberal politi- included collecting antiquities from temples and caves cal views. World War II prompted him to quit his job and around the country, and the house he built to display them enlist. He traveled to North Africa, Italy, and France before and entertain his constant stream of guests. That house is now being sent to Thailand. a museum. Penn Museum

4 volume 53, number 1 expedition Penn Museum the victim’sshoulderuntilsheturnedaround…andshrieked. every time she looked his way. Or, when everyone’s attention was diverted he would sneak along the back of chairs and then quietly wait by chuckle maniacal menacing, a giving and her on fixed eyes his keeping by simply evening woman’s poor the ruin would He it. sense would he and birds about phobia a with room the in someone be there Let jokes. practical for taste low a had he that admit must I dinner…And after liquor of nips steal didn’t he that watch to had you and moment; a for even company good leave to hate did he since window open an both heads turning to the welcoming hosts. By and large, Cocky’s party manners were perfect although it was well to see that he was close to level, same the on ones black round little and eyes blue shoulder, his on bird white the jacket, dinner black a in man the room, a into came and defecatedintothegarden. tail his lifted around, turned had he chairs our of out get to us took it time the in but him, after scrambled we lost, be and night the into off that wassuchaparodyofthehundredsdinnerconversationswehadknown… a puppy. and both would flee or go into hysterics if you came close to them. But this bunch of feathers on my shoulder was actually nuzzling me like cages, in canaries and trees, the in singing ones wild birds, of kinds two only were there knew I as far As act. to bird a for way unnatural an his beak over my ear and ran cheek, pressing his head to slowly mine. I wasn’t sure I liked and it. Not that the feathered shoulder caress was unpleasant, but I thought my it to up he…climbed wrist; my on him set and hands both with him lifted Jim arm. my out held gingerly I J Excerpts from“Cockatoo”byElizabethLyons(1980s) Cocky became a great social prize as a guest and was invited all over town. He and Jim looked like a couple out of a Cocteau film as they take to going was he that Horrified window. the to flapped and steps few a ran table, the onto chair the from hopped bird the Suddenly Cockatoo talked a great deal, sometimes clearly verbal phrases in an unknown tongue, but mostly a chuckling, twittering stream of sound Fascinated bythetamenessofsuchalargebird,butlittlefrightenedthosestrongclawsandespeciallythatTurkishscimitarbeak, of reminiscences of her time in Thailand. The following are excerpts from “Cockatoo,” about Jim Thompson’s inseparable companion. called mystery murder unpublished an as such writings, her of number a includes Archives, Museum the in available collection, manuscript Lyons’ Lisa Thailand. in colleagues and friends were lyons (lisa) elizabeth and thompson im www.penn.museum/expedition www.penn.museum/expedition , and a set a and Case, Bangkok The UPM Image # 194077. # Image UPM Cockatoo. companion, frequent his with Thompson Jim 5

In 1967, Thompson disappeared suddenly while visiting friends in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia, a mountainous region covered by intractable jungle. Search parties set out to look for him—including 325 Malaysian police, British soldiers on leave, 30 aboriginal trackers, and a number of psychics, including Peter Hurkos, who had helped with the Boston Strangler case. Thompson was never found. Many explanations were given for his disappearance, including theories that he was kidnapped by Communists, killed during a CIA mission, or eaten by a tiger. No one could explain, though, why he left the cottage without taking his cigarettes or his pills for gallstone pain. The mystery was compounded after his sister was murdered in her house in Delaware six months later by an unknown assailant.

Elizabeth (Lisa) Lyons appeared on Japanese television to discuss Asian art, 1956. UPM Image # 194047. The discovery of the site of Ban Chiang brought Lyons to the Penn Museum as Assistant Curator of the In 1955, Thompson met Elizabeth Lyons, an art historian Asian Section in 1968, a year after Thompson’s disappear- from Michigan who had studied at Columbia University, ance. She then spent five years (1971–1975) administering the with stints in Paris and Brussels. At the time of their meet- Ford Foundation program in Southeast Asian art and archae- ing, Lyons had been appointed cultural attaché at the U.S. ology. She later returned to the Penn Museum as Keeper State Department, touring an exhibition of modern American of the Asian Section Collections in 1976. She co-curated Art around South and Southeast Asia and acting as a cultural the Buddhism exhibition as it appears today and eventually ambassador in the region. When she originally applied for the donated her own collection, which included some pieces job, she had not been considered a serious candidate, since the given to her by Thompson, to the Museum. Her papers, State Department wanted a man. But as no men applied, it was including her unfinished monograph on Thai painting, a she who was selected. stash of letters from Thompson, and a number of reminis- Lisa Lyons and Jim Thompson became fast friends, and cences from her Thailand days, are now available in the Penn were also briefly lovers. They shared an intense interest in the Museum Archives. art of Southeast Asia. Lyons planned to write a monograph In his letters to Lyons, Thompson writes most of all about on Thai painting, as she continued to lecture for the State traveling around Thailand to collect antiquities and the prob- Department in the ensuing years. She also curated exhibitions, lems arising from the building of his grand house. Though the worked on an archaeological survey of Thailand, and assisted disappearance of the “Thai Silk King” remains shrouded in with the opening of the new National Museum in Bangkok mystery, these records reveal something about his passion for in 1967, as well as in planning provincial museums. It was in Southeast Asian art and the history of his collections. part through the efforts of Thompson and Lyons that art from Southeast Asia is much more highly prized today. alessandro pezzati is the Senior Archivist at the Museum. Penn Museum

6 volume 53, number 1 expedition what in the world Telmu and Petrui: A Rediscovered Romance?

by jean ome rare evidence for social (patterned on Etruscan law) the freed person had limited civil change in ancient Etruria rights, but his or her children would be citizens. One hotly macintosh reposes in the Penn Museum’s disputed right was legal marriage with free-born citizens. In turfa Mediterranean Section, in two some cities, freed persons could co-habit, but their children large ovoid urns inscribed with could not inherit the family’s hard-earned property. In 264/3 EtruscanS names. Even empty, the vases tell BC, Volsinii (the modern city of Orvieto) was destroyed by a an unusual story about life in Etruria during war over these rights. the Roman takeover (ca. 350–100 BC). The Iron Age tradition of using the family’s water jars for burials was a comforting reminder of the way ancestors had lived. Both pottery shape and the incised lettering on the urns may be traced to 2nd to early 1st century BC Tarquinia, the great maritime city north of Rome. The names on the vases tell us more. The inscrip- tions read caes∙v∙v∙telmu (“Vel Caes Telmu, freedman of Vel”) and petrui telmus (“Petrui [wife] of Telmu”). Caes is the Etruscan version of an old Latin name, Gaius, and V. stands for Vel, a favorite Etruscan given name. The formula V.V.—an abbreviation of Vel Velus or “Vel, son of Vel”—is similar to the Roman formula for manumission, or the freeing of one’s slaves. The freed slave took his master’s name and received a business, farm, or other type of invest- ment to sustain himself and his future family. In Roman law

Left, this map shows the Italian region of Tarquinia in ancient Etruria, where urns that once contained the remains of a married couple —Telmu and Petrui—were found. Right, Urn of Telmu, MS 3428; H. 37.6 cm. 2nd to 1st century BC, UPM Image # 5117. Emily Toner (map), Penn Museum

www.penn.museum/expedition 7 8 was likely a freeborn Etruscan woman who married a former a married who woman Etruscan freeborn a likely was freedwoman called Petrui appearing in epitaphs, so our Petrui freedwoman of X, wife of Y.” There is no record of any slave or “Petrui, name: master’s her see to expect would we enslaved, been had she If before. surname a used not had who moner com a was Petrui Presumably name. maiden their to name husband’s their added usually women aristocratic when time a at surname, new husband’s her took woman Etruscan This as completed labor clearly paid off in his freedom. physical hard Telmu’s so, If origin. Greek of slave brawny a for name of choice deliberate a was this if wonder may One strongman Ajax and uncle of Achilles) was changedthe to Telmu. of (father Telamon name Greek famous the so let “O,” the ter use not does language Etruscan name. slave Greek himselfforfamilynewname, a “Telmu,” formedfromoldhis

The second urn has a shorter inscription, an abbreviation an inscription, shorter a has urn second The creating by gentry the imitated Caes Vel slave former The volu me 53, number 1 expedition 1 number 53, me r Ptu, em’ wife.” Telmu’s “Petrui, or puia Telmus Petrui - - en m jean betters in dressing the urns for their final rest. their of tradition the emulated have freebornto seems his wife, Etruscan and slave former the Petrui, and Telmu of ily fam The jewelry. or clothing, helmets, with “dressed” were that urns in buried often common were slaves—citizens urban and classes, elite, ruling stratified—with grew society woven of finely spun thread of linen or wool. garment a or cover simple a case this in cloth, disintegrated of form the preserves that deposit fossil-like a textile: eralized min a of traces ample bears urn Petrui’sdealer. century 19th a by vigorouslyscrubbed was which urn, Telmu’s on remains discoloration slight Only surfaces. the on patterns raised in replicated lime. are cloth the of fibers of and folds the of patterns The coating a with sealed bowl a with place in tamped and inside tucked then rim, the over pulled was that cloth in wrapped was vase each buried, and cremated were wife and have seen their lives change dramatically during this time. Italy and Rome’s foreign conquests, thousands of people must entry into Etruscan society as a slave. After all, with the wars in original Telmu’s by embarrassed not were and life in ceeded suc had Petrui and Telmu that assume may we So ordinary. the above cut a thus literate, them—were buried who dren poorpeople. Also,the“occupants” theurns—andof thechil of acquisitions random the not are urns couple’s The slave. Pennsylvania MuseumofArchaeologyandAnthropology. of author is She Museum. Penn the of Section Mediterranean the # 151976. 151976. # Image UPM 1124. MS urn, Petrui’s of surface the on impression textile mineralized showing detail Above, 151986. # Image UPM BC, century 1st to 2nd cm. 31.9 H. 1124; MS Telmu, of wife Petrui, of Urn Left, aaou o te tucn alr o te nvriy of University the of Gallery Etruscan the of Catalogue Duringcenturies7thIron(8ththeAgeto Etruscan BC),as man when preserved: been has condition curious Another ac i ntosh turfa s Rde S Yug elw in Fellow Young S. Rodney a is - - - -

Penn Museum from the field Guerilla Fashion

textiles in motion atricia michaels is not new to fashion, but she push change in is new to Santa Fe’s cele- indian art brated Southwest Indian by lucy fowler Art Market, a proving ground for Native American artists, williams P which takes place in August of each year. Michaels made her mark at last year’s 88th show with “Weathered Text: No Trespassing by the Taos War Chief,” a stunning, provocative non-traditional piece that took first prize in the textile class. The meticulously tailored jacket made of hand-painted silk and velvet, in hues of purple, blue, and Patricia Michaels reddish brown, stood out among the more familiar Navajo rugs and embroidered Pueblo mantas. It surprised and inspired judges and audience alike in its ability to transcend Michaels is from Taos Pueblo, a Native American com- familiar concepts of Indian art. munity and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in northern New Mexico. She speaks the Tiwa language fluently and is immersed in the traditions and values of her Pueblo culture. This year Patricia Michaels’ woman’s jacket entitled Michaels joins her community in celebrating the 40th anniver- “Weathered Text: No sary of the return of Taos’ sacred Blue Lake and surrounding Trespassing by the lands, the successful result of a 64-year struggle with the U.S. Taos War Chief” won first prize in the Textile Government to reclaim religious freedom and protection of Classification at the 2010 sacred places. I spoke with her during Market, and she offered Santa Fe Southwest the following words: Indian Art Market.

At Taos, the way we live allows us to see that the envi- ronment is always changing, and we are always adapt- ing to those changes. We truly do live with nature, and this fundamental idea is alive in my work. To create “Weathered Text: No Trespassing by the Taos War Chief” I took a photograph of a No Trespassing sign, a manmade thing. Nature had found its way to alter and affect and destroy the text of the sign. In addition to the rust and weather-beaten qualities, hunters had shot at the sign, frustrated they could not hunt on our land. Here we see that the nature of human beings is to destroy and fight. As an artist I do not do that.

Patricia Michaels’ interest in bringing change to Indian art is part of her activism and ongoing contribution as an America Indian. In her own words: Julien McRoberts

www.penn.museum/expedition 9 Taos Pueblo fashion designer Patricia Michaels put her award-winning designs into motion on the streets of Santa Fe at this year’s Southwest Indian Art Market in a classic “guerilla fashion show” to boost change and support of Indian art. Her jacket is worn by the model on the right.

Native Americans are too often equated with a few her stunning eagle feather cape evokes the majestic bird’s ideas and images, such as sitting on a buffalo robe or wingspan in flight. smoking an Indian pipe. But native people are so much The fashion industry is always changing as it defines and more than that. So much thought goes into how we live our lives and how we preserve our culture. Those responds to current trends. Patricia Michaels has deliberately are the moments I want my work to be about. We are chosen the artistic medium of fashion as a metaphor that embod- perceived as still living like the famous photographs ies a fundamental Pueblo cultural theme of movement. For hun- by Ansel Adams or Joseph Sharp or a mannequin of a dreds of years, basic tenants of Pueblo cosmology, religion, and Native American with a panoramic prairie in the back- art have emphasized movement, change, and the breath of life. ground. We are so much more than those romantic After receiving her award, Michaels initiated a classic “guerilla images. When I do my work I try to represent those other moments or little vignettes or scenarios of the fashion show” to make a statement and to encourage change richness of our culture. Mother Nature is so strong, and in Indian art. Her entourage of 18 tall and slender black-haired that gives me strength in my design work. As a female, I models donned her jacket and some of her other clothing designs want to show the nurturing side along with the strength and literally stormed the Santa Fe Plaza en parade. In motion on of women. Silk is a natural, soft, beautiful and delicate the runway, whether in Santa Fe, at her home studio in Taos, or fabric, yet it is the strongest fabric there is. This is why I use it in my work. in New York City’s fashion houses, Michaels’ designs embody her message that Native Americans have always had to embrace Michaels grew up in Santa Fe where she trained at the change in order to survive. In so doing, she wants to encourage Institute of American Indian Art. She studied fashion design Pueblo arts that thrive and change. That creative energy is her at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and worked sanctuary. Art and fashion express her creativity; she is not going in collections at the Field Museum. She apprenticed with to let others trespass into her world. the Santa Fe Opera where she learned to design clothes that Additional award winners in the Textile Division included move with the body, and lived in Italy for two years where Diné artists D.Y. Begay, Alberta Henderson, Charlene she trained with an Italian designer to learn sophisticated Laughing, Mona Laughing, TaNibaa Naataanii, Barbara construction techniques. Most recently, Patricia has worked Ornelas, Michael Ornelas, Sierra Teller Ornelas, and Penny with the Kellogg Foundation to support indigenous fashion Singer; Pueblo embroiderer Isabel Gonzales; and Haida fash- designers in Santa Fe and South Africa. ion designer Dorothy Grant. Her newest line for Fall 2010, which debuted at New York City’s Fashion Week, takes the bald eagle as its central theme. lucy fowler williams is the Jeremy A. Sabloff Keeper of Symbols of strength and connection to the spirit world, American Collections at the Penn Museum. A specialist in tex- eagle feathers play a role in many Native American and tiles, she served as one of three textile judges at the 2010 Santa Fe Pueblo religious practices. On the runway, her printed feather Indian Art Market. Williams is working on Native American Julien McRoberts images on silk layer and cascade in empire dress forms, and Voices, a new exhibition at the Penn Museum.

10 volume 53, number 1 expedition Afghan Wars, Oriental Carpets, and Globalization by brian spooner

he afghan war rugs on exhibit at the Penn Museum from April 30 to July 31, 2011, raise a number of interesting questions—about carpets, TAfghanistan, and the way the world as a whole is changing. These rugs, which come in a variety of sizes and qualities, derive from a tradition of oriental carpet-weaving that began to attract the attention of Western rug collectors in the late 19th century. Unlike the classic museum pieces that were produced on vertical looms in the cities of western Asia for use in palaces and grand houses, war rugs came from horizontal looms in small tribal communities of Turkmen and Baloch in the areas of central Asia on either side of the northern border of Afghanistan—tribal communities that were incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century. The craft of carpet weaving suffered serious disruption in the 1930s as a result of Soviet reorganization of these areas, which led some weavers to migrate into Afghanistan, where the craft revived and expanded through the 1970s. As the rug market grew, so did the purview of Western rug connoisseurship, which led the international trade. As the

This war rug depicts the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989. In the upper left corner, Soviet war machines and helicopters depart from the country while the rest of the landscape remains littered with weaponry (T2008.1.40, 79 cm x 60 cm). Textile Museum of Canada

www.penn.museum/expedition 11 In a rural bazaar, Afghan men look at various oriental rugs. (Daulatabad, Afghanistan, August 1972)

interest of collectors moved down-market, it turned by a brief history of degrees to different types of tribal rugs. When the demand for oriental carpets Baloch rugs began to rise in the 1970s, production spread to Carpet-weaving began at least two and a half millennia ago, other parts of Afghanistan, including cities, and to Pakistan probably in central Asia. The earliest rug that has come and eastern Iran. down to us in any form was excavated at Pazyryk in the Altai Some Baloch weavers adapted both to changes in local Mountains of southern Siberia, preserved in ice in the tomb of conditions and to the changing international market, in which a Scythian prince. This woolen rug, which has over 200 knots novelty carried a premium. New designs began to appear, to the square inch, is dated to the period immediately follow- inspired by the violence of the civil war that began after the ing the Achaemenian Empire (550–330 BC), suggesting royal revolution in 1978. patronage. We know the Achaemenians borrowed designs Cartoons of pastoral life were replaced by a bricolage of war- from the Assyrian Empire, with the craft of making carpets related icons: soldiers (Soviet, American, Afghan), AK-47s, heli- perhaps nurtured for generations in royal workshops. Textual copter gunships, tanks, mujahedeen, and maps of Afghanistan. evidence indicates that production continued at a high level of The resulting war rugs tell us much not only about the oriental patronage under the Sasanian Empire (AD 224–651), through carpet industry and its evolving market, but also about Afghan the Arab conquest and the emergence of Islamic civilization in society today and the way globalization is changing it. the 7th century AD, down to the present time. Mary Martin

12 volume 53, number 1 expedition Textile Museum of Canada appears constantlyinournewspaperheadlines. form ofguerillaactivity,andAfghanistan,barelyknownbymanyintheWestbefore, ing AmericanandNATOmilitarypresencehasmetwithincreasingresistanceinthe technology thananyothercountrysinceWorldWarII.Meanwhile,thecontinu- of over20millionmayhavesufferedmorefromdomesticwarfareanditsmodern the American-ledNATOresponseto9/11.SincethenentireAfghanpopulation but theirregimesoonbecameoppressiveandwasterminatedinNovember2001by rise oftheTaliban(studentsreligiousschools).Thewerewelcomedatfirst, structure resultedinfurthercivilwarwhichwasfinallybroughtundercontrolbythe and inrefugeecampsacrossthebordersofneighboringcountries. invasion in1979.Millionsfledthecountrysidetoseekanewlivelihoodcities was spontaneous.Civilwarhascontinuedsincethattime,exacerbatedbytheSoviet Afghan AirForceofficers,whoinstalledaSoviet-stylecommunistregime.Resistance ing socialandpoliticalchangeendedin1978arevolutionledbySoviet-trained India in1947,AfghanistanemergedwithaseattheU.N.Butperiodofaccelerat- Soviet) Empires,isolatedfromtherestofworld.WhenBritishwithdrew Afghanistan becamesandwichedbetweentheexpandingBritishandRussian(later extending fromCentralAsiatotheArabianSeaandincludingKashmir.Butthen the areain1809,AfghanEmpirewaslargestandstrongestpolityregion, When emissariesfromtheBritishImperialGovernmentinCalcuttafirstarrived southern Afghanistan),takingadvantageofthedeclineMughalEmpireinIndia. and legs destroyed (T2008.1.56, 72 cm x 96 cm). 96 x cm 72 (T2008.1.56, destroyed legs and arms their with child, a and adults three victims, landmine four are Afghanistan of map red a over Right, cm). 95 x cm 148 (T2008.1.70, rug this of center the at shown is conflict, Soviet the during leader military Afghan prominent a Massoud, Shah Ahmad Middle, cm). 58 x cm 85 (T2008.1.99, (1919–1929) years ten for Afghanistan of Emir the as served and 1919 in independence to Afghanistan lead helped here, portrayed (1892–1960), Khan Amanullah Khan.” Amanullah “Ghazi as translate rug war this of center the at words the Top, A War Experience Afghanistan’s The Sovietarmywithdrewin1989,butthedisruptiontocountry’spolitical his AfghangeneralslaunchedanewEmpirefromQandahar(now region, hadbeenassassinatedinMeshed(nownortheasternIran).Oneof fghanistan enteredhistoryin1747.NadirShah,theIranianrulerof www.penn.museum/expedition www.penn.museum/expedition 13 Carpets from Constantinople (modern Istanbul) began to appear in Western Europe through Venetian trade by the 13th century, as we know from contemporary paintings. Since people in medieval Europe ate at tables rather than on the floor, they used the carpets as tablecloths (as shown in the paintings), not as floor coverings. Today the earliest extant carpets (apart from the Pazyryk find) are Ottoman and appear to date from the 15th century. It was not until the 19th century, however, that the European market discovered tribal rugs. Carpets are textiles, and textiles have been one of the most important traded commodities in world history, despite geographical differences in the fibers used. This craft has pros- pered in a variety of social settings, including isolated communities of pastoral nomads, small village oases, agricultural communities in the hinterland of urban market centers, and

Left, this Persian rug, woven around 1920, features a World War I biplane. It is the only known depiction of a warplane in an oriental rug prior to the 1980s (T2008.1.58, 117 cm x 86 cm). Above, the traditional floral patterns of oriental rugs are here transformed into images of Soviet Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters, tanks, fighter jets, and hand grenades (L2008.352, 203 cm x 119 cm). Page 15: Left, this war rug shows an assortment of helicopters, rocket launchers, tanks, and grenades, along with the red outline of Afghanistan (T2008.1.46, 153 cm x 112 cm). Right, at the center of this rug is a butterfly surrounded by weapons. It likely refers to the highly explosive “butterfly landmine,” which can be found at the bottom (T2008.1.13, 90 cm x 63 cm). Textile Museum of Canada

14 volume 53, number 1 expedition urban workshops. Central Asian carpet production ben- passes through a chain of intermediaries from the producer efited from the early availability of wool from domesticated to the consumer. Each intermediary knows only his own sheep. There are various types of rugs, including exquisite particular sources and market opportunities, and cannot pro- large carpets, often with figurative designs, for use in palaces vide information about connections or motivations further or estates—like those on permanent display at the Philadel- up or down the chain. Traditionally, the weaver has known phia Museum of Art—as well as humble prayer rugs with geo- nothing about the international market, and the international metrical designs indicating the direction of prayer. Typical consumer has had no connection to the weaver. With the designs include gardens, hunting scenes, animals, jewelry, appearance of war rugs, this is changing, as weavers respond and, in prayer rugs, an Islamic prayer niche or mihrab. In their to the market. modern form, these carpets represent the continuation of a The earliest war rugs appear to have been designed to sophisticated pre-industrial technology. attract Soviet tourists, but were later adapted for the general War rugs are a new genre of oriental carpet; they symbol- market, and especially the American military, which arrived ize the changing awareness of ordinary men and women in in 2001. The basic, and probably original, style of war rug is one of the poorest parts of the modern world, which has just Baloch, a variety that has generally been produced on a smaller recently been caught up in a variety of globalizing processes. scale, with figurative rather than geometrical designs. But Unfortunately, the civil war in Afghanistan has prevented us more recent examples of war rugs are Turkmen in quality and from studying how these rugs are produced. Do they come weave, and may be financed on a larger scale. Connoisseurs from the initiative of the weavers themselves, or of middlemen classify and evaluate carpets in terms of imputed age, prov- on the lookout for new markets? Tracing the origin of any enance, the quality of materials (including dyes and col- particular oriental carpet has always been difficult. Each rug ors), the design, the “handle” (feel or pliability), condition, Textile Museum of Canada

www.penn.museum/expedition 15 An Afghan woman and young girl work together to weave How to an oriental rug (Qala Nau, Afghanistan, July 1972). Make A Rug

e use the words carpet or rug for any floor covering, especially one with Wpile: that is, an evenly cut surface consisting of densely packed projecting threads, which are the ends of knots. Rugs are woven on looms made of stout wood. Most of the best rugs are made entirely from wool—a fiber that was abundant historically only in Central Asia. Neither cotton nor silk were available in the early days of the industry. When these fibers became available later they were incorporated, but only to a small extent, more for purposes of color and design than for the quality of the fibers. When sheep are sheared, the wool is carded and spun into three different qualities of thread: for the warp, the weft, and the knots that make the pile. The threads spun for each function are so different, even when they origi- nate from the same animal, that non-specialists have difficulty in recognizing them all as the same fiber. For example, the warp thread, which is spun from the longest wool fibers, is as strong as other available non-woolen threads. The wool must then be dyed, often with the use of local plants such as madder, a Eurasian herb. All these materials are well within the reach of an isolated nomadic community, as well as urban workshops. In the weaving process the ends of the warp threads are left to form a fringe at either end of the finished product. The webbing at the beginning and end of the weaving is often simple weft on warp, but may be elaborated by one or another of a number of flat-weave techniques, such as embroidery. The body of the carpet is made by tying rows of knots, one- or two-ply, around pairs of warp threads. Two basic types of knot are used in Afghanistan and the surrounding area, only one of which (the least common) is a true knot; the purpose is not the knot itself but the two protruding ends that form the pile. After each line of knots, one or more weft threads are woven across the loom before the next row of knots. A good-quality carpet may have as many as 400 or more knots per square inch, though a carpet with no more than 100 may still be considered excellent on the basis of other criteria. In order to achieve the desired degree of tightness and evenness of weave, and density of knots, after every few rows of knots, the weaver beats the weft threads and the pile back toward her with a comb-like implement, the teeth of which fit over the warp threads. This action also has the effect not only of tightening the pile but of making it incline permanently in one direction, toward the end the weaver started from. For this reason, throughout the life of a fine carpet, light strikes the ends of the knots at a different angle according to the position of the viewer; in the case of some types of wool, and especially of silk, this makes the colors appear different from various angles. The design of the rug is in the color-patterning of the knots that form the pile. Designs have been traditional within families and tribal communities. As the weaving progresses, after every few inches the ends of the knots are sheared to even out the pile of the carpet at the desired height, which varies from less than 5 mm to 10 mm or more. The closer the ends of the knots are cut to the level of the weft-warp fabric, the finer the eventual product. The higher the number of knots per square inch, the less pliable is the rug. William Irons, an anthropologist who worked among Yomut Turkmen in Iran between the late 1960s and the mid 1970s, calculated that one woman could weave roughly one square foot in a day of heavy weaving, about 12 hours at the loom. Cheap labor has always been the key to the carpet industry—a factor that casts doubt on its future. Mary Martin

16 volume 53, number 1 expedition fineness, and evenness of weave. War rugs in general do not emergence of war rugs rank highly on these criteria. Since the rug trade began to grow several centuries ago, Afghan war rugs receive a very different sort of attention interest in this quintessential oriental furnishing has perco- today compared to Turkmen and Baloch rugs of earlier lated down from the original aristocratic consumers, through periods. Consumers are interested in the novelty of the war various levels of the middle class in the 19th century, to an motifs found on the rugs. Afghan war rugs come from vari- even broader circulation in the late 20th century. Interest has ous parts of the country: from Taimani Baloch in Farah prov- also expanded beyond the early museum pieces into the larger ince in the west, from Baghlan in the north, and more recently array of folk production from widely distributed rural com- from Pashtuns in the south. The more expensive carpets are munities throughout Central Asia. Turkmen tribes in western still from Turkmen communities, mainly in the north. Local Central Asia—between northern Afghanistan and the Aral dealers indicate that most of the weaving is done by women, Sea—led this expansion, but the work of other Turkic tribes but men create the designs. A wide range of sophistication soon became known, as well as that of non-Turkic tribes that in design, workmanship, and size suggests that a large pro- lived among them. Although the Baloch produced rugs that portion of the production probably originates from refugee were less refined than those of the Turkmen, collectors still camps in northern Pakistan. found them interesting and worth buying. While the inspiration for this new genre of rug began in As the age of collecting evolved in the late 19th century, 1978, market interest in war rugs grew slowly. In 1988 an Italian connoisseurship developed in Europe and America. By the rug dealer, Luca Brancati, opened an exhibition of 80 second half of the 20th century, rug societies were formed, and rug journals were launched, such as Hali in Germany in 1978 and the Oriental Rug Review in America in 1981 (see websites at the end of this article). Oriental carpets became a standard stock item in Western department stores. Rug connoisseurship became the search for authenticity. But increasing instability and warfare has changed the market, the trade, and the collecting community. The interesting question now is: how will connoisseurship accommodate the success of the new genre of war rugs? The market for the new rugs, mostly priced between $200 and $1000, has expanded to include a variety of new customers who might not have become interested in oriental rugs per se. Finally, under globalization, the producer has come into a much closer market relationship than was possible earlier—with a new type of consumer.

The text at the top of this rug reads “Afghanistan Welcome to Peshawar,” suggesting that it might have been woven by Afghan refugees in or near the city of Peshawar in Pakistan (T2008.1.23, 77 cm x 61 cm). Textile Museum of Canada

www.penn.museum/expedition 17 Afghan war rugs in Turin. These rugs were inspired by the Even though Afghan war rugs did not please connoisseurs, Soviet occupation and were billed as Russian-Afghan War they gradually began to attract attention among a new audi- Carpets. In 1989, the exhibit traveled to the United States. ence interested in images of war. The representation of war Other similar exhibits followed in Europe and America. in art has a long history. War scenes were painted in medieval Oriental carpets had entered a new arena. The interest they Persian miniatures in representation both of classical themes attracted was very different from that of the oriental car- and, under the Mughal Empire, in praise of the current royal pets of the past. Some saw them as protest art, some as victor. But none of the three Anglo-Afghan wars (1839, 1871, tourist art. How else could we explain the sudden replace- and 1919) was represented in rug design. Now, however, glo- ment of traditional designs with tanks, helicopter gunships, balization has brought a broader awareness of world affairs to kalashnikovs, occupation maps, Soviet soldiers, and GIs? the rural weaver. Even as early as 1973, Turkmen weavers who Although we do not know if this is the case, the idea that visited the Penn Museum for an exhibition of Afghan carpets ordinary people in Afghanistan were protesting against war offered to weave a rug with a portrait of President Nixon in through their carpet weaving was appealing to consumers. the center field. We settled at the time for a small rug with the Penn Museum logo. Afghan war rugs represent the first effort of Afghan weavers to cater directly to an international market. They are looking for ways to earn a living. According to the International Trade Center (affiliated with the U.N.), close to two million hand- made rugs reach the international market every year from the Afghanistan region. The market is saturated, at least with the quality of rug an ordinary weaver can make. Weavers are innovating in order to get an edge on the competition in the international market. Afghans make war rugs because of their continuing experience with war. Their reaction to that experience has changed as they have been caught up more and more in the international economy and the globalizing processes which war has brought to them, undermining their sense of local identity, and the relationships that they relied upon in day-to-day life: family, kinship, gender, village, and tribe. Afghans are looking for new opportunities. They thought to use a representation of what the outside world brought to them as a way of finding a place in the outside world that has taken them over. Why do we buy these rugs? Most who buy war rugs are not traditional ruggists. War rugs constitute a new product, and those who purchase them constitute a new clientele. These rugs challenge us, because they would not be produced, and would not appeal to us today in the way they do, if it were not for the divergence of East and West over the past 300 years. Past identities are being renegotiated. This is not the first time that textiles have led social change. Apart from providing one of the earliest commodities of long- distance trade, the textile industry led the industrial revolu-

This manuscript page, dated to 1530, includes a miniature tion, and more recently the rise of multi-nationals. Now tex- with a typical Persian battle-scene (14.5 x 23.4 cm). tiles are changing the way ordinary Afghans interact with the Brown University Library

18 volume 53, number 1 expedition Textile Museum of Canada 102 cm x 69 cm). 69 x cm 102 (T2008.1.10, out broke war civil of decade a as country the fleeing shown are refugees corner, right lower the In sickle. and hammer a under puppet Soviet a as here depicted is He charge. in Najibullah Muhammad President leaving conflict, of years ten after Afghanistan from withdrew army Soviet the 1989, In www.penn.museum/expedition www.penn.museum/expedition 19 This war rug highlights the global landscape of modern warfare, including references to the Pentagon and the date of September 11th on a computer monitor (T2008.1.110, 86 cm x 58 cm).

world around them, enabling them to cross the boundaries that have isolated them from the modern world over the past For Further Reading century. At the same time, this new genre is breaking down Bonyhady, Tim, and Nigel Lendon. The Rugs of War. Canberra: the boundaries that have separated the carpet industry from Australian National University School of Art Gallery, 2003. other sectors of the Afghan economy, and carpet design from Mascelloni, Enrico. War Rugs: The Nightmare of Modernism. Milano: other art forms. Skira, 2009. On a broader geographical stage the rugs illustrate the changing social organization of trade and economic entrepre- Spooner, Brian. “Weavers and Dealers: The Authenticity of an Oriental Carpet.” In The Social Life of Things, edited by Arjun neurship in marginalized communities, and how the impact Appadurai, pp. 195-235, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. of globalization on poorer parts of the world is disrupting traditional practices and encouraging rural communities to scramble to catch up with the changing world around them. Websites By exhibiting these rugs, the Penn Museum shows also how Hali (rug journal): www.hali.com the role of museums is changing—displaying a new type of material, a century or so after large public museums first pro- Oriental Rug Review: no longer published, but old issues available at www.rugreview.com vided a window onto the material culture of the world beyond our experience. Textile Museum of Canada: www.textilemuseum.ca/apps/index. cfm?page=exhibition.detail&exhId=271

brian spooner is Professor of Anthropology www.spongobongo.com/warguide.htm at the University of Pennsylvania and Curator warrug.com

for Near East Ethnology at the Penn Museum. Textile Museum of Canada (top), Brian Spooner (bottom) He has worked in Afghanistan since 1963 on rug weaving and other traditional technolo- gies. Dr. Spooner curated a 1973 exhibition of Penn Museum thanks the Textile Museum of Canada for providing Afghan carpets at the Penn Museum. images of war rugs included in this article. Text describing each rug was adapted from material provided by the Textile Museum. Special thanks are due to Roxane Shaughnessy, Curator, Collections & Access.

20 volume 53, number 1 expedition Resurrecting Gordion Preserving Turkey’s Phrygian Capital by frank g. matero and c. brian rose

rchaeology and heritage conservation Babylonians, Hittites) have become important partners in the exca- and the west (Greeks, vation, preservation, and display of archaeo- Romans), it occupied logical sites around the world. With rare a strategic position exception, most archaeological sites are cre- on nearly all trade atedA through excavation, and they become “heritage” through routes that linked the a complex process of study, intervention, and visitation that Mediterranean with TURKEY involves a number of disciplines beyond archaeology. It is the Near East. The largely tourism that drives the need to expose and display sites, city became especially which shifts the priorities of archaeological research to man- prominent shortly aging deterioration (as a result of exposure) and interpreting after the Phrygians buildings, features, and site histories. Input from the archae- settled there in the Gordion is located in central Turkey. ologist, conservator, and design professional at the beginning 12th century BCE, of a project determines the success or failure of how a site is and it continued to ultimately preserved, interpreted, and exhibited. be a military and commercial center even after the Persian Beyond this, many archaeological sites have special mean- conquests in the mid-6th century BCE. During the 3rd cen- ing to the local residents, who have claimed these places as tury BCE, the city was settled by the Celts, whose practice of part of their cultural and/or ethnic heritage long before the human sacrifice is documented by new skeletal discoveries. first shovelful of earth has been removed for scientific study. Excavations at Gordion have been conducted by the A new conservation program for the Phrygian capital of University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Gordion, well known in antiquity as well as today for its asso- Anthropology since 1950, and have revealed at least ten occu- ciations with King Midas and Alexander the Great, will safe- pation levels spanning a period of nearly 3,000 years. The guard the extensive yet rapidly deteriorating remains of this Early Phrygian (ca. 950–800 BCE) palaces and public build- great citadel and transform it into a vibrant component of the ings were built primarily of timber and mudbrick on stone region’s economy and identity. foundations, and they contain the earliest known examples of geometric pebble mosaics, the patterns of which suggest gordion—a turkish treasure that the artists were experts in weaving and textile design. The citadel was surrounded by massive stone fortifications whose Located in central Turkey, approximately 70 km southwest early gate is one of the most complete to survive from that of Ankara, Gordion was the center of the Phrygian kingdom period in the ancient Near East, along with sections of stone that ruled much of Asia Minor during the early first millen- fortification walls. The site’s destruction in 800 BCE is one of nium BCE. It was also one of the most important cultural the few in Asia Minor that can be precisely dated, and Gordion and political centers of the ancient world. Located at the therefore serves as an anchor for the chronology of the eastern intersection of the great empires to the east (Assyrians, Mediterranean during the early first millennium BCE. Emily Toner

www.penn.museum/expedition 21 Surrounding the citadel is a rolling landscape dominated by almost 100 elite tombs (tumuli), Famous Rulers most of which date between 900 and 500 BCE. The largest of these tumuli, 300 m in diameter and 53 m in height, has been identified as the at Gordion tomb of Gordias (ca. 740 BCE), the eponymous founder of the city and the father of the legend- s the political and cultural capital of the Phrygians, Gordion ary King Midas (ca. 740–700 BCE). The tomb was one of the most important sites in the ancient Near East, chamber, approximately 5 by 6 m, lay 40 m Abut it is more commonly remembered as the power center of below the surface, and it represents the earliest kings Gordias and Midas (allegedly of the “Golden Touch”), and as known intact wooden structure in the world. the location of an intricate knot that was cut by Alexander the Great. Inside, the tomb contained intricate inlaid Our information regarding the former king is limited: an oracle wooden furniture, bronze vessels, and textile had reportedly informed the inhabitants of Gordion that they should bedding with patterns of purple and brown dyes, acclaim as king a man who entered the city on an ox-cart, and Gordias subsequently analyzed by the Penn Museum’s or his son Midas was the first to do this, thereby earning the right to Applied Science Center for Archaeology. rule. The ox-cart—and the knotted bark attached to it—was subse- Since the initial opening of the site in 1950, quently enshrined within the citadel as an object of reverence. So much for the legend; but Midas was actually an historical char- modest site preservation has protected the acter whose career (ca. 740–700 BCE) is described in contemporary extensive architectural remains from destruc- writing. Greek and Roman authors indicate that he married the tion. In 2006 a new program of site conserva- daughter of the ruler of the Greek city of Kyme and was the first non- tion was launched integrating documentation, Greek to have made a dedication at the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi. analysis, intervention, and interpretation of The most important references to Midas are in the Assyrian the citadel and its surrounding landscape. The Annals, where he is referred to as Mita of Mushki. During the last Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism now quarter of the 8th century BCE, Phrygian control extended over much holds foreign archaeologists responsible for the of central Asia Minor, and Midas’s support against the Assyrians was sites that their institutions have excavated, and increasingly sought by cities in the Upper Euphrates region. Tumulus the Penn Museum has responded through a MM, the largest tomb at Gordion, was once regarded as the tomb of new and aggressive program of site conserva- Midas himself, but it is more likely to have been built by Midas at the tion, research, and maintenance. beginning of his reign to honor his predecessor. The mound was nevertheless just as much a monument to Midas himself in that it was the largest burial mound in Asia Minor, and would remain so until the a plan for conservation construction of the tomb of the Lydian king Alyattes at Sardis nearly In 2007, the Architectural Conservation 200 years later. Laboratory of Penn’s School of Design, under Meanwhile, the famous ox-cart continued to be venerated within Professor Frank Matero, completed a five-year the city long after the Phrygian kingdom had come to an end, and Conservation and Management Plan for the acquired yet another layer of meaning: an oracle prophesied that who- Gordion citadel. The plan and its implementa- ever untied the intricate bark knot attached to the cart would become tion represent Penn Museum’s renewed com- ruler of Asia. When Alexander the Great arrived at the city in 333 mitment to the conservation of the site and BCE, he sliced through the knot when his attempts to untie it were vicinity, recognizing the role of Gordion in unsuccessful, thereby, in a sense, fulfilling the prophecy. This force- any program of sustainable development of the ful action still remains as a common expression in English, wherein region’s cultural heritage in central Turkey. The “cutting the Gordian knot” refers to decisively solving a seemingly intractable problem. current project is based on an integrated and phased program of academic research, site conservation, regional survey, and heritage training.

22 volume 53, number 1 expedition The ancient landscape of Gordion consists of a dominating citadel mound (a) surrounded by a settlement (b), secondary fortifications (c), and a royal cemetery of tumuli including the “Midas Mound” MM (d), as well as the village of Yassıhöyük (e), 1950.

D E

A B C

Gordion’s ancient citadel mound is a distinctive presence on the central Anatolian horizon, representing three millennia of human occupation. The mass and contour of its constructed form, together with associated mound features representing the lower town and outer fortifications nearby, define the ancient Phrygian capital. Since 1950 the citadel mound has been transformed through excavation, which also resulted in the creation of large spoil heaps along its outer slopes. Removal of these deposits to both restore the mound profile and stabi- lize erosion as backfill for eroded excavation scarps and trenches will do much to rein- state Gordion’s largest and most character-

istic feature. Also critical to the stabilization Site plan of phased conservation activities over the next five years. Penn Museum Gordion Archive (top), Architectural Conservation Laboratory (bottom)

www.penn.museum/expedition 23 24

steps, railings, and wayside pavilion design, 2009. 2009. design, pavilion wayside and railings, stone steps, new with circuit visitor Below, 2010. citadel, Gordion of view aerial Above, volume 53, number 1 expedition 1 number 53, volume aiu peetto tcnqe ae under are techniques presentation various Currently, protection. for reburied sequently ments and megaron walls (see pave- below) were sub- stone the as such features some walls), masonry (rubble-core techniques construction and (mudbrick) materials these degraded sure expo- prolonged of years Although spaces. rior exte- and interior differentiated clearly plaster height. Pavements of stone, cobble, mosaic, and in m 1 over cases some in stood they framing, timber heavy of evidence with mudbrick and stone of constructed discernible; readily were walls enclosure and buildings Many landscape. and current the from different very site a reveals 60s 1950s the the from of photographs excavation Examination viewing. for ancient structures displaying and exposing archaeological while future value protecting in balance a find must that term relative a becomes here “Authenticity” fabric. architectural of ervation reestablishment of the overall plan and the pres- the between mediate carefully that guidelines of set a to according interpreted being rently cur- are fabric building and form Architectural simultaneously. implemented been tion—have reconstruc- partial and restoration, bilization, of techniques—including selective reburial, sta- range a buildings, the of stability structural and form architectural the re-establish to order In approaches. presentation past of variety a and deterioration to due illegible currently is which design urban of composition brilliant a in tures fea- these all possessed Gordion and understood. discernible readily are Gordion of areas tion walls, enclosed and open spaces, and paved architectural details that the buildings, fortifica- the in is it however, parts; its of relationship the Middle EastTechnicalUniversity. Museum’s Dr. Naomi Miller and partners from the by development under plan land-use and re-vegetation a of implementation the be will of the mound as well as the surrounding tumuli The perception of any settlement depends on

Architectural Conservation Laboratory Penn Museum Gordion Archive (top), Architectural Conservation Laboratory (middle and bottom) the gate displacement and open wall tops to be to tops wall open and displacement gate the identified have assessments engineering Recent priority. highest the of is importance, historical and architectural enormous of structure stone complete nearly and massive a gate, citadel The material analyses. and imaging, laser 3D by informed Phrygians, research into the construction techniques of the Gordion conservation program, which includes the of focus archi- the currently and are features tectural buildings other and mega- These numerous rons. and Building, Terrace the walls, Phrygian Middle the gate, Phrygian Early the including structures, important of number a of collapse seri- structural for and deterioration potential ous the identified has survey ings, features,andhistory. build- relevant describing signage responding cor- with Falck, Lindsay professor PennDesign augmented by 12 covered pavilions designed by and surrounding landscape, which is now being citadel the of view degree 360 a visitors allows mound the of perimeter the atop circuit A ers. scarps and the poorly delineated trail and barri- threatened by the instability of both the eroding currently is and aspects compelling most site’s the of one remains This landscape. the across have an extraordinary view into the city and out top the from and gate, entrance the at mound unique situation for viewing. Visitors ascend the a created has and BCE), 800 (ca. destruction to prior capital Phrygian ancient the revealed has and itscontributiontotheplan. condition, its feature, the of significance logical lar building or area will depend on the archaeo- will be tested, and their application to a particu- techniques these of Each replication. and tion, encapsula- capping, excavation, by and pavements walls display and reveal to development h rcn bidn ad ie condition site and building recent The mound citadel the within deep Excavation The Gate ( ca. 900 BCE) A B and b) 2009. Below, laser image of the citadel gate and surrounding area, 2009. 2009. area, surrounding and gate citadel the of image laser Below, 2009. b) and 1957 a) east: looking view weathering, site post-excavation comparative Above, www.penn.museum/expedition www.penn.museum/expedition 25 n ohr ciiis Te uvvn soe al, ery com- nearly walls, stone surviving The activities. other and processing, food weaving, of for rooms storage complex and workshops a was Building Terrace eight-room linear The standing walls. the of sections large restore to needed all are and consolidation reintegration, structural shoring, Temporary collapse. and instability to led has walls earlier over superimposition ferent types of stone display a range of deterioration, and their dif- many the however, color; of love Phrygians’ the reveals blocks stone multi-colored the of effect polychromatic The standing. still remains architectural largest the among are and time, over evolution and delineation citadel’s the of ponent com- critical a are walls stone Phrygian Middle and Early The roof technologyandlastyear’sfieldexperiments. green on based tops gate the protect to method low-impact creative, a as installed been have caps “soft” Vegetative eled. tored for movement while test stabilization methods are mod- moni- structurally and shored temporarily be must now that masonry the in instability caused have gate Phrygian Middle later superimposed the from crushing and activity seismic of Centuries structure. the of integrity the to risk a as well as lic pub- visiting the and excavators the to issue safety serious a 26 A

Gate entrance showing Early and Middle Phrygian masonry and trenched later Phrygian fill, view looking west (a) and east (b), 2010. 2010. (b), east and (a) west looking view fill, Phrygian later trenched and masonry Phrygian Middle and Early showing entrance Gate volume 53, number 1 expedition 1 number 53, volume The Terrace Building The Walls tions. More recently, site conservation has benefited from the from benefited has conservation site recently, More tions. institu- academic numerous of involvement the from efited For many years, archaeological fieldwork at Gordion has ben- now fundedbytheJ.M.KaplanFund. is that Museum, Gordion the in currently mosaic, pebble the particular Of interest and importance is the conservation and restoration of reinstated. and conserved features floor and these stabilized, walls their protection, re-excavated, be to need now temporary buildings for Reburied execution. and design exquisite both features which mosaic, pebble complete nificance was the discovery in Megaron 2 of the earliest known sig- unparalleled Of methods. construction their to attested significant wall remains of stone, excavation mudbrick, and timber of clearly time the At interior. and exterior the both on ornamented richly likely most buildings, elite civic were form plat- Building Terrace the flanking megarons principal The tion sectoroftheEarlyPhrygiancitadel. produc- famed the into glimpse a afforded be will visitor the features such as storage bins and hearths have been reinstated, Once pins. and cables steel stainless of “corset” interior tive innova- an using stabilization extensive require plan, in plete B planning andheritagetraining The Megarons

Architectural Conservation Laboratory Architectural Conservation Laboratory

Architectural Conservation Laboratory D A A Work ContinuesatGordion and theSelzFoundation. Project Conservation Citadel Gordion the comes from for the 1984 Foundation, funding Global Heritage Fund Current Preservation Foundation, the Sciences). J. M. Kaplan and Fund, the Storer Arts Foundation, of School (Penn Rose Brian and Design) of School (Penn Matero Frank are project the Overseeing walls. defensive and gate Phrygian great the of collapse the to related supported the current conservation plan. Sponsorship is now urgently needed to begin implementation of the more critical needs work this for funding Previous design. and conservation, ethnography, archaeology, of collaboration simultaneous the involves which approach, integrated its in unique is project The landscape. surrounding the within and citadel great the on University Technical East Middle and Pennsylvania of University the by study planning conservation preliminary a of result direct the is work proposed This citadel. Gordion the for stations wayside and circuit visitor a including interpretation, and conservation, (c) capillary break layer, (d) filter layer, (e) completed “soft” caps, (f) view looking east of completed north gate “soft” wall caps, 2010. 2010. caps, wall “soft” gate north completed of east looking view (f) caps, layer, “soft” protection completed cap (e) “soft” layer, (b) filter (d) intervention, to layer, prior break cap capillary concrete (c) existing (a) complex: gate north on caps “soft” vegetative of Installation project addresses the long-overdue need to put into effect an integrated program of emergency stabilization, building stabilization, emergency of program integrated an effect into put to need long-overdue the addresses project Design at the University of Pennsylvania is currently underway to implement a conservation program for Gordion. This of School the of Laboratory Conservation Architectural the and Museum Penn the of auspices the under project joint B E

C F www.penn.museum/expedition www.penn.museum/expedition 27 A B C

D E F

Terrace Building (TB2), demonstration of various wall masonry conservation techniques: (a) before treatment, (b) stone replacement, (c) drilling for adhesive repair, (d) structural retrofitting, (e) wall capping, (f) after treatment, 2009. Below, documentation of the current display of lifted Megaron 2 mosaic at the Gordion Museum, 2010. participation of students from the University of Pennsylvania and Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara. The number of visitors is likely to increase as the site conservation program accelerates, and in time, Gordion will constitute a substantial income-generating tourist and educational market as required by national and regional authorities. The new Gordion project has also begun to assess the economic and social values of developing the site for tourism through collateral research underway by the Faculty of Architecture at Middle East Technical University and the Penn Museum. Both programs will provide opportunities for training local and American conservators and heritage specialists. As recommended by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, a Conservation Management Plan for Gordion and¸ its environs is being developed by an interdisciplinary Architectural Conservation Laboratory

28 volume 53, number 1 expedition Megaron 2 during excavation and discovery of pebble mosaic pavement, 1956.

team from METU under Professor Evin Erder and Dr. Ayse frank g. matero is Professor of Architecture and Historic Gürsan-Salzmann. In 2007, a GIS database was generated for Preservation, and founder and director of the Architectural Gordion and its near environs. Using the cumulative ethno- Conservation Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania. graphic information as a guideline, the project is surveying c. brian rose is the James B. Pritchard Professor of and documenting all values—archaeological, architectural, Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania, historical, economic, socio-cultural, and ecological—within Deputy Director of the Penn Museum, and co-director of the 2 a 40 km area of Gordion in order to create a vision and Gordion excavations. policies for sustainable development and conservation of the area. In 2008–2009 the focus of the fieldwork was to survey Yassıhöyük, a nearby village with strong ties to Gordion, and the first step was taken toward the systematic recording and analysis of rural communities within the 1st and 3rd degree protected zones at Gordion. Three thousand years after its founding and only 60 years after its excavation by archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania, ancient Gordion will slowly reveal itself, as a multi-disciplinary team of academics and professionals together with local authorities and residents contemplate the

past and future of King Midas’s legendary city. Frank G. Matero and C. Brian Rose. Architectural Conservation Laboratory Penn Museum Gordion Archive (top), Penn Museum (bottom)

www.penn.museum/expedition 29 In Search of San Pietro d’Asso by stefano campana, michelle hobart, and richard hodges

he via cassia was one of the main arteries con- necting Rome to its northwest provinces. It crossed the rolling hills of Tuscany, passing by way of Siena, before veering towards the river Arno and then northwards. With the transformation of Rome into Ta holy city in medieval times, the Cassia became the Via Francigena (the Franks’ way), possibly the most important highway in Christendom. Along it, pilgrims and travelers toiled towards the eternal city. It is no coincidence, then, that as early as the 7th century, monasteries were established to support and, indeed, exploit this traffic. Until recently these monastic houses were poorly known. Instead, archaeologists had concentrated upon understanding the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages from the standpoint of rural settlement, charting the beginnings of Tuscany’s iconic

Students excavate the foundations of an early medieval tower, overlooking the scenic Val d’Asso. Right, Sigeric the Serious, the Archbishop of Canterbury, traveled the Via Francigena to and from Rome. This map shows Sigeric’s itinerary in the 10th century. Penn Museum

30 volume 53, number 1 expedition An aerial view of the hilltop of San Pietro d’Asso was photographed by a robot drone.

This silver coin was found vey of the territory of Montalcino, the discovery of a putative near the hilltop. It was minted hilltop monastery at San Pietro d’Asso—a monastery founded, by Conrad II, founder of the Germanic Salian Dynasty according to an 8th century source, by a mid-7th century (1027–1039). Lombard king—appeared to be geographically at odds with

BACK these other monasteries and an altogether intriguing settlement. The Penn Museum excavation in July 2010, supported by the University of Siena and the Comune of Montalcino, set FRONT out to establish exactly what this hilltop site was.

hilltop towns. But with new excavations beside the river Arno the hilltop at San Genesio—where a monastic community has recently been excavated—and a comparable investigation beside the Sherds of early medieval pottery, including the distinctive river Asso at Pava, the first evidence of the ecclesiastical world green-glazed Forum Ware, were found close to a knoll at the close to the Cassia has come to light. Additionally, 12th cen- north end of the hill, on which traces of a small mortared tury monastic communities, like the abbey at Sant’Antimo, stone building were just visible above the surface. Were these with its distinctive francophone Romanesque architecture, elements of the early medieval monastery mentioned in an AD flourished close to this celebrated pilgrim route. During a sur- 714 dispute between the bishops of Arezzo and Siena? If so, Penn Museum

www.penn.museum/expedition 31 Clockwise, an aerial view of the farmhouse was photographed by a robot drone. Students Jennifer McAuley, James Macrae, and Caitlin Costello excavate one of four graves found in a small cemetery adjacent to the church, and one of the skeletons uncovered. The abbey of Sant’Antimo is shown on the right, with its borgo (village) Castelnuovo dell’Abate in the background. Part of a Romanesque church at the site (interior shown here) was used as a stable in modern times. Penn Museum

32 volume 53, number 1 expedition where were the potsherds belonging to later phases of settle- had an early medieval precursor. Surveys of the farmhouse ments, leading up until the time San Pietro was taken over revealed remains of other well-preserved buildings of the by neighboring Sant’Antimo in the late 12th century? Were Romanesque era immediately south of the church, while the other buildings—either post-built or of pisé (essentially clay central nave, in a reduced form, was retained as a simple cha- walls), following the early medieval vernacular tradition— pel that was used until comparatively recently. A geophysical somehow concealed in the main body of the long narrow survey of the terrace that the farmhouse occupies indicated hilltop? Excavations on the knoll and on the main body of the presence of major buildings, with some walls plainly evi- the hill soon revealed an entirely different story. Absolutely dent. Traces of skeletal remains on the far northeast edge of nothing was found in the main body of the hilltop. Only the terrace also suggested the presence of a cemetery. on the knoll was there any occupation, and this was not It is most likely that this was a Romanesque monastic monastic in the strict sense. A tower with a north-south axis church that owed its origins to an early medieval founda- measuring 5.10 m by 3.56 m was built to a height of sev- tion. The rich architecture in the surviving details reflects the eral courses, and then altered entirely. The second phase of wealth of connections and support such a pilgrimage church the tower was exactly twice the size of the first, but like the might have enjoyed before its star was eclipsed by its neigh- first, it was aborted after reaching less than 0.6 m high. An bor, Sant’Antimo. unstratified silver denier found close by, minted by Conrad II of Germany (1027–1039), indicated that this foreclosure future research occurred early in the 11th century, a date confirmed by the sherds of cooking pots associated with the small builders’ This season established that the monastery of San Pietro yard on the south side of the tower. It soon became clear that d’Asso occupied a terrace close to the river, not unlike the the monastery of San Pietro d’Asso, ascribed to the 7th cen- broadly contemporary churches at Pava and Sant’Antimo. tury Lombard King Aripert, was most definitely not located Unlike Pava, it outlasted the early Middle Ages and thrived on the hilltop. into the 12th century, before being subsumed under Sant’Antimo. Like Sant’Antimo it embarked upon estab- the farmhouse church lishing its own borgo or village, with a fortified tower—the quintessential hallmark of new towns at this time. But unlike Occupying a terrace immediately below the hilltop, over- Castelnuovo dell’Abate, above Sant’Antimo, which thrives looking the flood plain of the river Asso, is an abandoned today, the castle above San Pietro d’Asso was never finished. farmhouse. This 19th century building incorporated an Why this was the case, as the monastery was on the eve of earlier Romanesque church, the south aisle of which stands its zenith in the Romanesque era, remains intriguing and almost to eaves’ height; this was employed until recently as a unknown. This unexpected story will compel us to look more stable. Clearance followed by limited excavations around the closely at the overall history of ecclesiastical power alongside apsidal end of the building showed that in the Romanesque the Via Cassia, and of course sets the scene for exploring era the church had possessed three apses. The southern and what the first monastery at San Pietro d’Asso looked like. central apses were of a distinctive Romanesque ashlar construction, while the earliest (pre-Romanesque) northern stefano campana is Associate Professor in Landscape apse was constructed with roughhewn rubble, similar in Archaeology at the University of Siena. many respects to the early chapel at nearby Sant’Antimo, michelle hobart is Adjunct Professor of Medieval and not unlike the construction of the hilltop tower. In front Archaeology at Cooper Union in New York. of this earliest apse was a simple cemetery where we uncovered four shallow graves. From unstratified levels in this richard hodges is Williams Director of the Penn area came an early medieval copper alloy tag, lending plau- Museum, and Director of the Institute of World Archaeology, sible weight to the proposition that the Romanesque church UEA, Norwich, England.

www.penn.museum/expedition 33 highest structure in the small town. town. small the in structure highest the is Montalcino in tower bell central The by adrianna de svastich and jennifer mcauley jennifer and svastich de adrianna by Montalcino in Month A 34 volume 53, number 1 expedition 1 number 53, volume school and time spent in the Italian countryside. field in experiences their on reflect students these of the Two 2010. joinedJuly in d’Asso Pietro San at undergraduatesexcavations 14 and Hobart, Campana, Michelle Stefano Hodges, Richard by Led O ging. We spent each day at San Pietro d’Asso hard at work;Pietrod’AssoatSanhard at day spenteach ging.We cornetto (Italian croissant) would fortify us for a day of dig warm and cappuccino frothy a that hoping café, local the up for any passing discomfort. made thanMontalcinomore ofhistory andcharm the that agreed unanimously and friends, became quickly we vacy, pri of luxury the without Yet showers. communal the to down the street wrapped tightly in our towels to gain access trek to had and mirror, single a shared classrooms, in cots be as wondrous as the rest of our surroundings. We slept on school, we soon realized that our living situation would not elementary local the at accommodations our into settled we As sea. the like flow and ebb to seemed that hills gold trysidebelow wasbeyond stunning, withendless green and into the sky. The view from the town into the Tuscan coun from hung vinesbrightly painted windowsills, and the central and bell tower rose flowers streets, winding the lined as we drove through the medieval town: worn cobblestones hilltop town we would be calling home for the next month. picturesque the Montalcino, to unscathed it made all we roll down a steep hill towards a sharp drop-off. Thankfully, calls close many occurred when the stick shift broke in our van, of causing it to One nightmare. navigational a into Every morning we stumbled from our cots at dawn to dawn at cots our from stumbled we morning Every dissolved swiftly Italy in living about had we fears Any have names, and our trip quickly turned quickly trip our and names, have not do roads many that realized soon we step— first the only was Rome to Getting soil. Italian on down touched plane our the began adventures ur moment - - -

Penn Museum the group was divided between the medieval church and the hilltop, where we unearthed a monastic watchtower from the same period. Following a deli- cious lunch of fruit, Italian bread, and prosciutto at the site, we were ready to venture back to Montalcino and looked forward to the prospect of a shower and an afternoon siesta. After a hard day of digging, we would explore the town: the piazza, the cafés, the gelaterias, and the shop windows brimming with bottles of Brunello wine. We came to know the town’s elderly gentlemen who would chat on park benches while their wives aired laundry from open windows. We practiced our Italian with the locals who worked in the shops and restaurants, and even learned how to prepare a traditional Italian meal from our cooks at the school. The smell of fresh pasta, smoky prosciutto, and Tuscan wine seemed to swirl through the air. Even though we were often caught up in the hectic atmosphere of the dig, somewhere along the way we learned to slow down and enjoy the simple pleasure found in new friends, good food, and great wine. We expected to work hard and learn about medieval churches. However, we never anticipated just how much we would learn about the vibrant Tuscan culture.

adrianna de svastich and jennifer mcauley excavated at San Pietro d’Asso during the summer of 2010. They are undergraduates in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jennifer McAuley and Adrianna de Svastich.

Left top, Dr. Michelle Hobart shows student Adena Wayne how to piece together pottery sherds. Left bottom, students of the Penn archaeology field school gath- er for a group photograph at the abbey of Sant’Antimo, Montalcino, Siena. Penn Museum

www.penn.museum/expedition 35 and drawings, $120.00, ISBN 978-1-84217-259-9. ISBN $120.00, drawings, and photographs white and black numerous pp., 230 2009). Books, Oxbow (Oxford: Rehren Thilo and Freestone, C. Technology Ancient of Study the in Advances Microscope: to Mine From muhly d. james by Article Review A Shipwrecks and Archaeometry T of ProfessorTite. supervision the under done degree, DPhil the for authors the by conducted research to back go volume this in essays the of the United Kingdom apart from the career of Mike Tite. Many in research of field this in made progress the imagine to sible Martin pos- not is It science. archaeological of field the in journal ing mentor, his of editor as over took also He Aitken. replacing (1989–2004), Laboratory Research Oxford Hall the at Edward Science the Archaeological of appointed Professor was 1989, in then, and 1989) (1975– Laboratory Research Museum British the of Keeper Aitken. After teaching at the University of Essex, Mike became Martin of supervision the under 1965), Laboratory Research (Oxford DPhil a to led 1960) (Oxford physics in BSc A tury. cen- 20th the of half second the in archaeometry of field the distinguished career of Tite reads very much like the history of The colleague. wonderful a and individual humane most a be 36 volume 53, number 1 expedition 1 number 53, volume work of a superb scholar who also happens to the happens also to who scholar superb tribute a of work fitting a is Michael and of Tite (“Mike”) students former and colleagues by articles of collection important an resents volume he edited by Andrew J. Shortland, Ian Shortland, J. Andrew by edited rep - microscope to mine from , the lead - the Archaeometry,

aits oe f i fre suet. aits et n to on went Maniatis students. former his of one Maniatis, scan- the Yannis with work involving (SEM), microscope electron ning of use the in interest long-standing a to led soon ies al itrs i temlmnsec dtn (TL) dating thermoluminescence in interest early Tite’s Mike Tite doing fieldwork in the Western Desert of Egypt. Egypt. of Desert Western the in fieldwork doing Tite Mike

Andrew Shortland Penn Museum come into being. The important research carried out by Beth by out carried research important The being. into come yet notarchaeometry disciplinehadof the1961, in(MASCA) Archaeology of Center Science Applied Museum the created Rainey FroelichDirector Museum When sites.archaeological ing, a radiometric method used to date organic materials from dat carbon-14 of development the in worked She Associate. 1953, Elizabeth Ralph was hired by In the Museum as a Research science. archaeological in research American of opment devel the in Museum) University the (then Museum Penn the by played role crucial the to tion several important researchprojects. on together working still are scholars two these knowledge my of best the To Greece. for same the did Maniatis and UK, the of in archaeometry importance the expanded greatly Tite Demokritos. as known Research Scientific of Centre National Greece’s of part Science, Materials of Institute the at Archaeometry of Laboratory the play a major role in the development of t s prpit hr t cl atten call to here appropriate is It UPM Image # 63181 63181 # Image UPM Museum. Penn the of Director Associate then II, Kidder Alfred Dr. to tube combustion a out points Stuckenrath Robert assistant Research 1959. MASCA, at laboratory C-14 The - - - ratory she subsequently established at the University Museum with Willard Libby at the University of Chicago, and the labo new approach to archaeological research. Mesopotamia— exciting an in MASCA and of importance the established quickly Egypt in excavations Museum from samples organic of dating C-14 the and (1961–1968) Sybaris ing the use of the proton magnetometer in the search for ancient Ralph as Associate Director of MASCA (1961–1982)—includ ap hd pn sx ek suyn rdoabn dating radiocarbon studying weeks six spent had Ralph www.penn.museum/expedition www.penn.museum/expedition 37 - - was the first one in the world devoted to the radiometric dating of archaeological materials. Two factors were important in making all this possible: a crucial grant from the National Science Foundation and the support of the then president of the University, Gaylord Harnwell, who was himself a physicist. When it became clear that radiocarbon dates had to be “calibrated” because of variations in the production of atmospheric carbon 14, Ralph went to work with Henry Michael, a pioneer in the field of dendrochro- nology. Michael was able to provide the exact dates used to create a calibration curve for radiocarbon dates over a period of some 7,000 years. The result was the publication, in the MASCA Newsletter for 1973, of the famous “MASCA calibration curve,” quickly adopted by scholars all over the world. The career of Mike Tite, especially his work in radiocarbon dating, would not Above, Beth Ralph with combustion tube and equipment used in have been possible without the pioneering research the process of converting organic material to carbon for dating, conducted by MASCA. 1959. UPM Image # 90945. Below, Beth Ralph with an Olmec Head, 1971. The head was discovered by Ralph and her team during In order to give some indication of the riches to be a Cesium Magnetometer Survey at San Lorenzo, Mexico, in 1969. found in the volume under review, we can look at work UPM Image # 180670 being done on objects made of clay, glass, and metal. Work on ancient ceramics has become an essential part of current research in archaeometry. Yannis Maniatis has provided an excellent, detailed summary of what has been learned about the use of fired clay over the past 9,000 years. He argues that “the manufacture of this new material constitutes undoubtedly the first tech- nological revolution in human history” (pp. 11-12). For anyone seeking an understanding of what such research is all about, this essay by Maniatis is the place to begin. The production of glass came much later, long after work in materials such as frit and faience. It was not until the mid-second millennium BC that glass technology developed in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Egypt; the development of that technology seems to have stimulated the contemporary practice of glazing ceramics, but only in Syria and Mesopotamia, according to the essay by S. Paynter (pp. 93-108). In Egypt the practice of glazing ceramics did not develop until the 1st century BC. There seems to be a basic technologi- cal explanation for these differences. In Mesopotamia and Syria both glass and glazed ceramics were made of alkali-fluxed materials, whereas when Egypt finally Penn Museum

38 volume 53, number 1 expedition started to glaze ceramics, it made use of a lead-based technology (pp. 93-94). The reason for this lies in the types of clay that were locally available. In the 14th century BC, however, the Egyptians were already producing master works in glass, especially the famous glass model of a tilapia fish from Amarna, certainly one of the best-known (and most photographed) objects of glass before the Roman period. Found during the British excavations at Amarna in 1921, it is now one of the prized possessions of the British Museum (see essay by A. Shortland, pp. 109-14). The actual technology of glass production is studied in a fine essay Glass bottle in the form of a fish from by J. Henderson (pp. 129-38). el-Amarna, Egypt, 18th Dynasty (ca. Bronze Age glass studies represent a “hot” research topic 1390–1336 BC). Length 14.5 cm. right now. There are two main reasons for this. The first is the recent discovery, at the Egyptian Delta site of Qantir- Jackson and P. T. Nicholson, 2010). There are also a number Piramesses, of the only known Bronze Age primary glass pro- of cobalt blue glass beads from Mycenaean Greece. As these duction site. The evidence for this has now been presented in a beads were certainly of local Mycenaean manufacture, they magnificent publication by E. B. Pusch and Th. Rehren (2007, must have been made of raw glass imported from Egypt, as see full citation at end of article). This two-volume work intro- indicated by the analysis of several of these beads (see M. S. duces a new era in the study of Bronze Age glass but is too Walton, et al., 2009). This certainly implies that at least some recent to be included in From Mine to Microscope, a volume of the blue glass from the Uluburun shipwreck was destined long delayed in production. for markets in Mycenaean Greece. What does this tell us about The second reason concerns recent analytical work on the the nature of the Uluburun ship itself? large number of cobalt blue glass ingots within the cargo of the Uluburun shipwreck. It has now been established that this the conundrum of raw glass, known as cullet, was produced in Egypt (see C. M. the shipwrecks’ cargos

When the Turkish government asked Froelich Rainey, back in 1958, if the University Museum had someone who could excavate what seemed to be an important shipwreck recently discovered off the southern coast of Turkey, Rainey did not hesitate to accept the offer. He then told George Bass, a young graduate student in Classical Archaeology at the University, that he was to be in charge of the project. Lack of diving experience was no excuse; the YMCA was offering lessons in scuba diving, using their swimming pool. This was the beginning of Bass’ remarkable career in nautical archaeology, first at Penn and then at Texas A & M University (see article by George Bass in Expedition 49(2):36-44). Bass’ skill in fundraising was instrumental in the creation of a magnificent facility in Bodrum, Turkey, from which it The earliest intact glass ingots of a disc shape found at the was possible to organize a series of important excavations of Uluburun shipwreck, Turkey. Chemical analyses have revealed the shipwrecks from all periods, but all in Turkish waters. The use of cobalt (on left) and copper (on right) as coloring agents. 1960 excavation of the Late Bronze Age Cape Gelidonya © Trustees of the British Museum (top), Uluburun project, INA (bottom)

www.penn.museum/expedition 39 These are the conclusions of Zofia A. Stos. There is no doubt that her contribution has to be seen as the most important article in this volume in honor of Mike Tite (pp. 163-80). Furthermore, it has to Nautical archaeologist be evaluated within the context of two takes notes underwater, other contributions to this volume, by A. using a grid system to record finds, at the M. Pollard (pp. 181-89) and by Noël H. site of Cape Gelidonya, Gale (pp. 191-96). All three contributions Turkey, 1960–1961. deal with the highly controversial subject UPM Image # 148806 of establishing metal provenance based upon the results of lead isotope analysis (LIA). They, in turn, hark back to a semi- nal essay by our honoree (“In defence of lead isotope analysis,” Antiquity 70 [1996]: 959-62). It is the LIA of the copper ingots from both shipwrecks that has propelled the study of the Gelidonya and Uluburun shipwrecks into the fore- front of current research in Bronze Age Mediterranean archaeology. When George Bass put out his final publication of the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck, in 1967, he was already very much aware of the special importance of the curious “oxhide”-shaped ingots included in the cargo of the wreck. Within the following forty-some years that importance shipwreck was a pioneering effort, carried out by a group of has escalated dramatically. The Gelidonya ship was carrying enthusiastic amateurs. By the early 1980s, with the discovery a cargo of 34 complete copper oxhide ingots, plus numerous of a new Bronze Age shipwreck in much deeper water, the fragments, and a small number of very corroded tin ingots. field of nautical archaeology had developed in remarkable This was, at the time, the largest assemblage of such ingots ways, due mainly to the work centered in Bodrum and carried ever discovered. The Uluburun ship, on the other hand, out by what is now known as INA, the Institute of Nautical had a cargo that included 360 copper ingots and 160 tin Archaeology. ingots, weighing in total some 12 tons. This was a cargo This new shipwreck, designated first as the Kas¸ wreck and of raw metal unlike anything ever seen before in Bronze then as the Uluburun shipwreck, electrified the archaeologi- Age archaeology. Hardly surprising that the discovery of cal world because of its amazingly rich cargo. The important the Uluburun shipwreck has totally revised all thinking thing is that both ships were carrying cargo that included regarding the scope of the Late Bronze Age metals trade in the ingots of copper and of tin. There is now general agreement eastern Mediterranean. that the Uluburun ship, dating to ca. 1300 BC, was carrying The copper used to make the oxhide ingots, and also the a cargo meant as a gift for a king, whereas the cargo of the associated bun ingots, seems to have come from several cop- Gelidonya ship, dating to ca. 1200 BC, was to be seen as the per mines on the island of Cyprus, a country long famous as stock-in-trade of a sailing smithy. a source of copper for the ancient world. No one really knows Penn Museum

40 volume 53, number 1 expedition Above, at the end of the excavation at the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck, workers loaded copper ingots onto a dinghy to be delivered eventually to Bodrum. Below left, archaeologist C. Peachy is shown restoring and consolidating damaged ingots at the Uluburun shipwreck using an underwater curing epoxy and plaster. Below right, two women hold a typical copper ingot of “oxhide” shape from the Uluburun shipwreck. Cape Gelidonya project, INA (top), Uluburun project, INA (bottom)

www.penn.museum/expedition 41 Lavrion Copper

hanks to a recent paper by N. H. Gale, M. Kayafa, and Z. A. Stos-Gale, it has now become necessary to re- evaluate the question of copper from Lavrion. Published in 2009, their paper from the Proceedings of the 2nd TInternational Conference on Archaeometallurgy in Europe, held in Aquileia, Italy, in June of 2007, entitled “Further evidence for Bronze Age production of copper from ores in the Lavrion ore district, Attica, Greece,” presents, for the first time, very convincing geological evidence for the existence of massive copper deposits in the Lavrion area, especially in the region known as Kamariza. In the oral presentation of this paper, in Aquileia, the authors showed many wonderful color photographs of some of these deposits. Most of this new evidence comes from a special issue of a German periodical called Lapis (vol. 24, nos. 7-8 for July-August 1999), devoted to “Lavrion, Griechenland.” Problems remain, including the lack of extensive deposits of copper-smelting slag and the absence of any archaeological evidence for Late Bronze Age mining activity, but Lavrion is an area where mining activity, especially for silver-bearing lead ores, has been carried out from the fourth millennium BC down into the early 20th century AD. All traces of Bronze Age mining and smelting activity could well have been destroyed or buried by later workings in the area. The authors of this paper also claim that there are now 11 ingots made of Lavrion copper, including 3 from LM IB Mochlos, 3 from the Uluburun shipwreck, and 3 from the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck. The problem is that none of these ingots are in the characteristic oxhide shape; they tend to be either so-called bun or slab ingots. The two slab ingots from Tiryns are actually made of high-tin bronze and must represent material destined to be cast in object form. It is still true, therefore, that there are no oxhide ingots made of Lavrion copper. Nevertheless, serious attention must now be given to the existence of massive deposits of copper ore, still to be found at present-day Lavrion.

Above, Noël H. Gale, Zofia A. Stos-Gale, and Stavros Papastavros (IGME) were shown copper deposits underground in 1987 in the Christiana region (Kamareza, Lavrion) by an old mining engineer of the Compagnie Française des Mines du Laurium, who used his old acetylene lamp to illuminate the copper ores (azurite and malachite) in the walls of the gallery. Noël H. Gale and Zofia A. Stos-Gale

42 volume 53, number 1 expedition where the tin came from; its origin remains one of the as copper from Lavrion (southern Attica) or even cop- great enigmas of the Bronze Age world. Sources as far per from the Taurus Mountains in southeastern Turkey. away as Central Asia are now being seriously considered, So what happened to all the Cypriot copper? Where did but more for the Early Bronze Age than for later periods. it go? What was it used for? Many attempts have been Stos deals not only with the LIA of the ingots but also made to answer these questions, most recently by Stos that of the bronze artifacts from both shipwrecks, and this (pp. 176-77), but as yet, no convincing explanation has is where everything starts to get complicated and contro- been proposed. versial. First of all, copper oxhide ingots are known from The very existence of so-called Lavrion copper has contexts far beyond the cargo of the two shipwrecks. been called into question. Lavrion was, in ancient times, They have been found all over the Mediterranean world, famous as a source of lead and silver. The existence of the including Cyprus, Crete, Greece (mainland and islands), Athenian Empire, in the 5th century BC, was based upon South Italy, Sicily (including the island of Lipari), the wealth derived from the silver mines of Lavrion. No Sardinia, Corsica, and the south coast of France. Such ancient author ever refers to Lavrion as a source of copper. ingots, whole or in fragments, have also been found in Moreover, if large amounts of copper were being smelted Germany, the western shore of the Black Sea, on the coast from Lavrion ores in the Late Bronze Age, then where are of southeastern Turkey, in Egypt, and even at the site of the inevitable heaps of copper-smelting slag? Nothing of the Kassite capital Dur-Kurigalzu, near Babylon. A frag- the sort has ever been found at Lavrion. In other words, ment was found at the site of Emporio on the island of there seems to be a major disconnect between analytical Chios, just opposite the Turkish mainland. They have interpretation and archaeological evidence. We now have not been found in the northeastern Aegean (Samothrace, hundreds of analyzed ingots and hundreds of analyzed Limnos, Lesbos, the Troad) or along the Aegean coast of artifacts, but the two bodies of evidence seem to exist in Anatolia (Panaz Tepe, Liman Tepe, Çesme), and there separate worlds of reality. No one ever imagined, follow- must be a reason for this. ing some 30 years of very intensive analytical, geological, In almost all cases copper oxhide ingots have been and archaeological research, that we would find ourselves found at coastal sites, clearly implying a distribution at such an impasse. via maritime trade. The Uluburun and Cape Gelidonya The cargo of the Uluburun ship provides an excellent shipwrecks clearly document such a trade, but a crucial example of the problems outlined above. The copper question remains unanswered: how frequently did such ingots seem to be made of Cypriot copper but most of voyages take place? It would be nice to be able to answer the bronze tools and weapons are said to be made of cop- that question. Clearly we are dealing here with interna- per from the Taurus Mountains (Stos, pp. 172-73). Here tional trade on a grand, probably unprecedented scale. is a ship carrying a cargo of copper and tin ingots, the Zofia Stos regards the Late Bronze Age as representing raw materials for making bronze, but the bronze artifacts “the earliest European industrial network” (p. 163). The from the wreck were made from an unrelated type of vast majority of these oxhide ingots do seem to be made copper. Why? What did the captain of the Uluburun ship of Cypriot copper, even those from Sardinia, an island plan to do with his metal cargo? Such Cypriot copper, on with its own copper deposits. This use of Cypriot cop- the basis of present interpretations of the LIA evidence, per started early, at least by the late 16th century BC, as does not seem to have been used by the metalworkers of demonstrated by the recent finds from the Cretan site of Minoan Crete or Mycenaean Greece. Mochlos. Were the ingots destined to serve as a royal gift, a form Almost all the artifacts from Late Bronze Age sites in of royal gift exchange, but, for some reason, never meant the Aegean, on the other hand, seem to be made not of for actual use? Such a proposal seems too bizarre to be Cypriot copper but of what the Gales have long identified taken seriously. The cobalt blue glass ingots seem to have

www.penn.museum/expedition 43 served, at least in part, as raw material for the Mycenaean to port, carrying their own raw materials and metalwork- glass industry. Why not a useful purpose for the copper and ing tools with them in order to supply the local inhabitants tin ingots? The earlier metal hoard from Late Minoan IB who no longer possessed the skills necessary to fulfill their Mochlos (ca. 1525–1450 BC) shows the same pattern: ingots own needs. of Cypriot copper but artifacts of Lavrion and Taurus copper The interpretation of the Cape Gelidonya and Uluburun (Stos, pp. 173, 176). The cargo of the Cape Gelidonya, on the shipwrecks given here is by no means an orthodox one. It is other hand, presents a very different pattern, with both the very different from that proposed by George Bass himself, ingots and the artifacts made of Cypriot copper? Why? over the past 40 years. It does, I would argue, satisfy both the What then are we to make of these two remarkable ship- archaeological and analytical evidence and reflects the grow- wrecks? They are obviously very different in character, and ing recognition of the importance of Cyprus in the interna- one of the explanations must be found in the difference in tional world of the eastern Mediterranean during the Late date. The Uluburun cargo, ca. 1300 BC, has to be seen within Bronze Age. Everyone who has dealt with the complexities the context of the wealth of Mycenaean Greece in the 14th and ambiguities inherent in lead isotope analysis, including century BC. This is a merchant ship, most likely of Cypriot Mike Tite and the contributors to From Mine to Microscope, origin, on a voyage destined for ports on the Greek main- will appreciate that we are still a long way from final state- land, especially the Argolid. I see the Uluburun ship as rep- ments on almost all the issues that make the scholarship of resenting the activities of a rich merchant, probably residing this period such a challenge. These are exactly the types of at Enkomi. His business was based upon his ability to sup- problems to which Mike Tite has devoted a long and illustri- ply the wealthy princes of Mycenaean Greece with necessary ous career. raw materials, thus making possible their opulent life style. The ill-fated voyage—that has provided archaeologists with james d. muhly is Professor a lifetime of material for research—must have been but one Emeritus of Ancient History in of many. The copper and tin ingots must have served as raw the Department of Near Eastern material for the Mycenaean bronze industry, however one is Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania, to explain the seemingly contradictory results of LIA. and former Director of the The Cape Gelidonya ship, dating to ca. 1200 BC, con- American School of Classical tained a crew of itinerant metalworkers. Unlike the Studies at Athens. From 1973 Uluburun ship, the Gelidonya ship was carrying a cargo of to 1978, Professor Muhly was raw materials, together with a magnificent collection of met- Editor of Expedition. alworking tools, all to be put to practical use. With the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces, in the late 13th century BC, Professor James D. Muhly the palatial workshops went out of existence. Knowledge For Further Reading of metalworking skills was in serious decline on the Greek Jackson, C. M., and P. T. Nicholson. “The Provenance of mainland, but not in Cyprus. There, metalworking skills Some Glass Ingots from the Uluburun Shipwreck.” Journal of continued to flourish during the course of the 12th century Archaeological Science 37 (2010): 295-301.

BC, as confirmed by such masterpieces of bronze casting as Pusch, Edgar B., and Thilo Rehren. Hochtemperatur-Technologie the Horned God and the Ingot God, both from Late Cypriot in der Ramses-Stadt: Rubenglass für den Pharao, Parts 1 and IIIB Enkomi. 2. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 2007 (Die Grabungen des Pelizaeus- As new markets for metalwork opened up across the Museums Hildesheim in Qantir–Pi-Ramesse, Vol. 6). eastern Mediterranean, the Cypriot craftsmen seized the Walton, M. S., et al. “Evidence for the Trade of Mesopotamian and initiative. The Gelidonya ship has to be seen within such a Egyptian Glass to Mycenaean Greece.” Journal of Archaeological context: itinerant Cypriot metalworkers sailing from port Science 36 (2009): 1496-1503. Lina Kassianidou

44 volume 53, number 1 expedition museum mosaic People, Places, Projects

Penn Museum Hosts International Workshop on Digitizing Artifacts and Documentation from Sir Leonard Woolley’s Excavations at Ur

Representatives from the Penn, British, and Iraq National museums gathered in Philadelphia on January 26 and 27, 2011, at a workshop made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation, to discuss digitizing the more than 21,000 objects excavated at Ur by Sir Leonard Woolley in the 1920s and 30s. The goal of the joint project is to eventually make the entire collection, currently housed among the three museums, available to the public online. A second key project goal is digitization of the documentation of the excavation, including Woolley’s field notes, architectural plans, and reports, which not only tell us Front row, left to right: Philippe de Montebello, Special Advisor, Leon what he was excavating at a particular point in time, but also Levy Foundation; Judith Dobrzynski, Senior Consultant, Leon Levy give us insight into his initial interpretation of his discoveries Foundation; Donny George, Visiting Professor, SUNY Stony Brook and his evolving understanding of what he was doing. and former General Director, National Museum of Iraq; C. Brian Rose, Deputy Director, Penn Museum; Sarah Collins, Assistant Keeper, Early Iraq’s Ancient Past, the Penn Museum’s long-term exhibi- Mesopotamia Collections, The British Museum; Shelby White, Trustee, tion showcasing objects from Ur, will reopen April 30, 2011, Leon Levy Foundation; Ali Khadim Ghanim, Inspector for Ur Province, on the third floor of the West Wing following renovations and Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage; John Collins, Keeper of the the installation of climate control in the gallery as part of the Middle East Collections, The British Museum. Back row, left to right: Richard Zettler, Associate Curator-in-Charge, Near East Section, Penn West Wing Renovation Project. Museum; William Hafford, Consulting Scholar, Penn Museum; Stephen Tinney, Associate Curator-in-Charge, Babylonian Section, Penn Museum; Alessandro Pezzati, Senior Archivist, Penn Museum; John Bernstein, President and CFO, Leon Levy Foundation; Richard Hodges, Williams Grant from 1956 Otto HaAs Trust Director, Penn Museum; Abdulamir Hamdani, doctoral candidate, SUNY Stony Brook, former Director of Antiquities, Dhiqar Province, Iraq. Enables Expansion of Museum’s Conservation Program

A generous grant from the 1956 Otto Haas Charitable Trust tions. Nina’s arrival marks the beginning of the Conservation has made possible the expansion of the Penn Museum’s Department’s planned expansion. In the fall of 2011, two Conservation staff. Nina Owczarek recently joined the interns will join the Conservation staff to spend an academic Museum’s Conservation Lab as Assistant Conservator. Nina year getting practical experience in a museum setting. These graduated from New York University’s program in Art internships are the latest installment of the Department’s dis- Conservation in 2005. Since then she has undertaken several tinguished history in conservation education. Conservation’s project-based contracts with museums in the U.S. as well as expansion will enable the Museum to better fulfill our stra- one contract in Morocco. Nina worked previously at the Penn tegic goal of being a world-class museum that stewards and Museum from January to November 2009, treating objects exhibits its collections to contemporary international museo-

Penn Museum for the Painted Metaphors and Iraq’s Ancient Past exhibi- logical standards.

www.penn.museum/expedition 45 museum mosaic

Tom Tartaron (Assistant Professor, Classical Studies), and New Archaeological Dr. Joyce White (Director, Ban Chiang Project, and Associate Ceramics Lab Opens Curator for Asia). Penn graduate students were the first to A new ceramics laboratory opened in January 2011, funded by use the lab to perform petrographic and other archaeometric Dr. Charles K. Williams II as part of the Penn Museum’s West analyses on Ban Chiang pottery. Petrography is a core analyti- Wing Renovation Project. This lab launches the Museum’s cal technique whereby the minerals in thin sections of pottery commitment to a new suite of conservation and archaeologi- vessels can be optically identified using a polarizing micro- cal laboratories. The ceramics lab will support the University scope. This kind of sophisticated study assists archaeologists of Pennsylvania’s archaeological curricula as well as research in determining manufacturing processes as well as trade pat- programs of in-house and visiting archaeologists. The catalyst terns of ancient societies. for the creation of the ceramics lab was the Ban Chiang Project’s Concurrently, the lab is supporting the special study of Ban Year of Ceramics, part of a four-year Luce Foundation grant to Chiang ceramics on loan from the Thai government since the the Penn Museum to strengthen collaborative archaeological Museum’s excavations in the 1970s and the analysis of Middle research in Southeast Asia. During the Spring 2011 semester, Bronze Age pottery from the sites of Kirrha and Orchomenos, the lab is being used for a Penn seminar course, Introduction Greece, by Dr. Tom Tartaron and Dr. Marie-Claude Boileau. to Archaeological Ceramics, co-taught by Dr. Marie-Claude Boileau (visiting post-doctoral scholar, Penn Museum), Dr. Exhibitions Open in Renovated and Climate-Controlled Galleries Thanks to West Wing Renovation Project

Thanks to leadership support from A. Bruce and Margaret Mainwaring and Dr. Charles K. Williams II, and with generous additional support from Barbara and Michael J. Kowalski, the Frederick J. Manning Family, Diane von Schlegell Levy and Robert M. Levy, and the 1956 Otto Haas Charitable Trust, the three exhibitions currently or soon to be on display in the Museum’s West Wing—Secrets of the Silk Road, Battleground: War Rugs from Afghanistan, and Iraq’s Ancient Past—will open in newly refurbished and climate-controlled galleries. The first phase of the West Wing Renovation Project also included the creation of a teaching laboratory for ceramic petrography. Later phases will add a state-of-the-art suite of conservation labs and workspaces, several additional teaching and research labs, and the restoration of the historic and architecturally unique Widener Lecture Hall, which will return to its original function as an academic or public event space after several decades of use as a behind-the-scenes preparation area for exhibitions. The addition of climate control throughout the wing, together with replacement of the windows with historically accurate but Dr. Marie-Claude Boileau (left) and student Griselle Rodriguez-Gonzalez airtight and energy-efficient versions, will significantly enhance examining ceramic thin sections using the ceramic lab’s new polarizing the Penn Museum visitor experience and provide greater pro- microscope. Dr. Boileau is team leader for the study of Ban Chiang archaeological ceramics during the Year of Ceramics. tection and stability for the artifacts on display. Beth Van Horn

46 volume 53, number 1 expedition museum mosaic

The West Wing Renovation Project is designed by Samuel Voices from Indian Country Anderson Architects of New York City, noted for their work in museums and libraries, with a specialty in conser- With support from the Annenberg Foundation, the Penn vation labs, with general contract management by Hunter Museum is developing a new exhibition entitled Native Roberts Construction Group; mechanical design by McClure American Voices. In preparation, exhibition curator Lucy Engineering of St. Louis, MO; structural engineering by Fowler Williams is working together with a host of native spe- Severud Associates of New York City; lighting design by cialists from across the country to identify important issues in Jeffrey Nash Lighting Design of New York City; and project Indian country today and to relate these to the Museum’s out- management by the University of Pennsylvania’s Facilities and standing collections from this diverse region. She is working Real Estate Services. particularly closely with Hopi journalist Patty Talahongva and her Phoenix-based film crew to record video interviews with native artists, scholars, and activists. The team has worked in New Mexico, Alaska, and Washington, D.C. Generous Underwriters Support Secrets of the Silk Road and Related Programming

When Secrets of the Silk Road opened at the Penn Museum in February 2011, it was thanks to the hard work of an enormous number of people and generous support from a wide range of individuals, corporations, educational centers, foundations, and media sponsors. Penn Museum grate- fully acknowledges exhibition support from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation; A. Bruce and Margaret Mainwaring; Lois and Robert M. Baylis; the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the Selz Foundation; Cummins Catherwood, Jr. and Susan W. Catherwood; Alexandra and Eric J. Schoenberg, Ph.D.; Tiffany & Co.; Winnie Chin and Michael Feng; Gretchen R. Hall, Ph.D.; Host Hotels and Resorts; and Titan. Media partnership support was provided by NBC 10 and the Philadelphia Inquirer/philly.com. Penn Museum extends thanks also to Annette Merle-Smith for underwrit- ing educational materials associated with Secrets of the Silk Road, and to PNC Foundation, Subaru of America, and the Wachovia-Wells Fargo Foundation for supporting the “Sponsor a School Group” program and making it possible for more than 600 inner city public school children to see Secrets of the Silk Road and experience related educational programming free of charge. The international sympo- Native American Voices exhibition curator Lucy Fowler Williams and film sium “Reconfiguring the Silk Road: New Research on East- crew with Tlingit wood carver Tommy Joseph (center), at Sitka, Alaska’s West Exchange in Antiquity,” held at the Penn Museum on National Historical Totem Pole Park. The Park was established in 1904 March 19, 2011, was made possible by generous underwrit- to remember the 1804 Battle of Sitka, a major armed resistance by the Tlingit people to Russian colonization. Joseph carved the pole in the ing from the Henry Luce Foundation and the University of background, which was raised in 2004 to honor the Tlingit Kiks.ádi clan Pennsylvania’s Center for Ancient Studies. and celebrate the battle’s 200th anniversary. Mary Wheeler

www.penn.museum/expedition 47 museum mosaic

Philadelphia University, the University of Sciences, the Art Institute of Philadelphia, and as far as away as Bucknell University came to experience the festivities and make friends from around the world.

Cartifacts: Informal Learning in the Penn Museum’s Galleries

Touch, ask, explore: these are the main goals of the Community Engagement Department’s newest educational initiative, Cartifacts. Cartifacts is an in-gallery, hands-on experience for all Penn Museum visitors. Each day from 12 pm to 3 pm, one or more carts are offered in the Museum’s galleries. Current topics

Mayor Michael A. Nutter (second from right) with Williams Director include “Daily Life in Ancient Rome,” “Mummification in Richard Hodges (right), and Penn Museum Program Manager of Outreach Ancient Egypt,” and “Textiles.” Trained facilitators engage Prema Deshmukh (in sari), with international guests. visitors in conversation related to a cart’s theme and its accom- panying objects. All objects can be handled by visitors who can experience writing with a wax tablet and stylus, opening a Annual Welcoming Reception canopic jar to find a facsimile of a corresponding organ inside, at the Penn Museum making thread with a drop spindle, and much more. During The 41st Welcoming Reception for International Students the Secrets of the Silk Road exhibition, Cartifacts is tailored to and Scholars hosted by the Penn Museum’s International show connections between the Silk Road and the Museum’s Classroom program was an astounding success, attended long-term galleries. Stop by the Penn Museum to try them out by more than 1,200 international guests from 104 countries for yourself! as far flung as Moldova, Tanzania, Uruguay, and Senegal. Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Penn Museum’s Williams Director Richard Hodges, and several officials from consulates in Philadelphia and New York took part in the event. The reception included the volunteer efforts of 30 students from the Philadelphia High School for Girls, dance performances by Penn and LaSalle students, and the generous donation of refreshments from program volunteers and supporters Josephine Klein and Nada Miller. The goals of the Reception are to welcome international students and scholars to the Philadelphia area and help them network by bringing together 65 colleges, universities, and international programs, as well as hundreds of volunteers, performers, museum staff, and city and state officials. The Reception is considered a national model among international educators and is the only city-wide event of its kind. Students from the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, Widener University, The Cartifact experience is now available in Museum galleries from 12 to 3 pm every day. Penn Museum

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