This seminar examines recent developments in survey archaeology in Asia Minor. The seminar will focus on the era extending from the early Iron Age to late antiquity, and on the history of towns throughout the region in this period.

Recent decades have witnessed a remarkable increase in Anatolian survey projects. Reports on 130 separate projects were presented at the most recent official symposium on current archaeology in Turkey (held in Ankara in May 2008). The majority of these were directed by Turkish archaeologists, but teams from many other countries including France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Britain, Canada, and the United States were also represented.

Modern survey archaeology in Turkey originates in many ways with the large-scale salvage projects associated with the construction of large dams in southeastern Anatolia beginning in the 1960s, and many of the current survey projects are rescue operations. But a wide range of other methodologies and diverse intellectual approaches are also represented. Of particular importance for this seminar have been the British projects carried out in Lycia and Pisidia from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s, the German projects carried out in Lycia and Caria, especially since the 1990s, the Belgian expedition to Sagalassos, begun in the early 1990s and still ongoing, the Turkish projects recently initiated at Clazomenai and Erythrai in Ionia, and the ongoing American projects at Sardis and Aphrodisias.

Students will be expected to prepare reports on individual survey projects, as well as to write and present an independent research paper. Toward the end of the academic term, there will be a special workshop at the University of Michigan on the Aphrodisias Regional Survey, and students will also be expected to attend and participate in that workshop.

From traditional architectural and epigraphical surveys to modern projects emphasizing remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems, survey archaeology in Asia Minor is a dynamic field, which has already enriched our understanding of the ancient city in many ways. This course is designed to bring students of archaeology, ancient history, and anthropology together to study both the past accomplishments of this area of research and its future potential.