PHOTOGRAPHY AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS: DOCUMENTING AND ARCHIVING TREASURES OF THE PAST
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-12-13

Photography is a key component of archaeological documentation since the formalization of the discipline in the mid nineteenth century. Carefully developed documentation of archaeological finds as well as photographic archives of excavations offer the opportunity to provide evidence returning an artefact, or a cultural object to its former life.

In recent years, a great number of investment has been made in digitizing photographic collections and excavation documents through initiatives based in museums, libraries and university archives. These digitizing projects brought about an unprecedented access to and interpretation of information. This paper will present case studies from photographic collections of international archaeological excavation projects in Turkey discussing the collection management from a public engagement perspective. What the excavation photographs tell us about the objects that are preserved in the museum collections? What is the story behind them when those significantly precious objects were first discovered in-situ? How these photographs were produced in the field? How they were catalogued and stored in the archives? How they were remediated in the gallery displays when showcased along with historic objects within permanent or temporary exhibitions in museums? What is the role of the photographic archives in cataloging, storing, preserving and displaying the collections? To investigate the listed questions above, this paper will address examples of photography collections of archaeological fieldwork. It will discuss the challenges and share experiences of the international excavation projects held in archaeological sites in Turkey and the relationships between archaeologists, museums, state agencies, archaeological research centers and heritage management organizations.


Author(s): Cetin, Seyda (Koc University‘s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations)