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Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology

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Over thousands of years civilizations in the Middle East have found ways of coping with their environment and climate. One of the most basic ways of protecting themselves from the harsh environment was through careful construction of their homes and cultic buildings using available materials. These practices have been passed down through generations and are still in use today with few modifications to traditional methods. However, more recently, these ancient building practices are being replaced by modern concrete construction popularized by Western influence. Mud-brick structures are built by teams of men that have spent their entire lives perfecting their building skills. The mud-brick structures are extremely resilient and well insulated, keeping inhabitants cool in hot summer months.

Although mud-brick builders can still be found in the Middle East, the German Team excavating the site at Hattusha, in Turkey, decided to rebuild part of the city walls in order to get a better picture of the city’s presence in the landscape. They used local materials and were careful to use only technology that the Hittites used. The construction took several years and allowed those involved to gain haptic knowledge of the ancient capital. The team will observe how the buildings wear down over time. This is an experimental archeological technique and I am interested in exploring the decision to reconstruct an ancient monument. I would like to investigate a few questions: How does the reconstruction affect the current residents of the surrounding area? Has it increased tourism or helped educate the townspeople? How has the reconstruction affected the scenery of the ancient site and tweaked its authenticity? To what extent do excavations and current archaeological techniques shape our current interpretations of the ancient past? I would like to explore the role of the contemporary world with the ancient past in the built environment.

Sources: “Reconstruction of one stretch of the Hittite city walls,” from The Excavations at Hattusha, a project of the German Archaeological Institute. http://www.hattuscha.de/English/citywall.htm, December 2007

The architecture of mud. Anonymous Productions presents a project by Caterina Borelli and Pamela Jerome ; written, produced and directed by Caterina Borelli. Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources, 2004.

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