The 90-year archive of American archaeologist Carl Blegen, one of the prominent figures working in the ancient city of Troy, which has been excavated for more than 150 years in the borders of Tevfikiye village, in central Çanakkale, has been made available to researchers digitally.
Following Wilhelm Dörpfeld, Blegen became the excavation director in 1932 in the ancient city of Troy, which was first excavated by Frank Calvert in 1863 and official excavations were started by Heinrich Schliemann in 1871.
Continuing the excavations until 1938, Blegen created the first high-resolution photographing and imaging archive in Troy.
On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the excavations, Blegen was also commemorated with a special exhibition by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism at the Troy Cultural Road Festival events. In the exhibition titled "I Blegen, I Come From Digging Troy," digital copies of photographs and images, originals of which were found at the University of Cincinnati in the U.S., were exhibited in the excavation house used as the "Blegen House."
Researchers who are currently conducting studies on the excavation will be able to benefit from the archive.
Troy Museum Director Rıdvan Gölcük told Anadolu Agency (AA) that Carl Blegen was a very important scientist for the ancient city of Troy.
Emphasizing that Blegen, who conducted scientific research in the area after Schliemann's destruction and used the best techniques of archiving about the period, is important for all Aegean archaeology, Gölcük said: "The artifacts unearthed during the seven seasons of excavations of Blegen were taken to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum in 1938. While the Troy Museum was opening, only a small part of the artifacts returned here. But not only the artifacts but also the archive that Blegen left behind are very important treasures for us."
Gölcük stated that Blegen not only excavated the great ancient city of Troy but also in the area known as the "Lower City" outside the acropolis.
Noting that these excavations unveiled ruins from the Roman and Byzantine periods, Gölcük said: "Of course, the mosaic from the Byzantine period is extremely striking here, and every frame of the mosaic was photographed by Blegen. You can see a water bird in these photographs. In another scene, there is a gladiator scene. These are very beautiful. It's well archived. These mosaics take their place in our archives thanks to these shots by Blegen."
Rıdvan Gölcük reported that Blegen was conducting this work on behalf of the University of Cincinnati when he started excavations in 1932.
"The team photographed the area very well. Although 1932 can be considered early, very successful videos were shot, also meticulous documentation. Besides, each member of the excavation team had a notebook, the Turkish ministry representative included. They kept daily notes on the excavations. They record how much they excavated every day and what happened at the points they dug. When we look at the notebook of Blegen we can see the number of wages that were paid to each worker and each visitor who came to the ancient city that day was noted. He recorded all of them. For example, he wrote in his notebook that Governor Kazım Pasha visited them one day. Therefore, the Blegen archive is very important for Troy. It is extremely important for understanding Troy," he added.
Stating that after Blegen passed away at the age of 84 in 1971, Gölcük stated that all information and documents remained at the University of Cincinnati and that they received copies of the archive digitally from this university last year.
Explaining that this archive was made open source by the university at the museum's request, Gölcük said: "The archive in the Blegen archive, which contains mostly private information about daily life, is located in Athens. A part of that archive there has taken its place in the museum. The Museum of Troy is not only a museum where artifacts are exhibited but also a place that claims to be the memory of the region. Therefore, to strengthen this memory, we continue to keep and archive everything from the Ottoman archives to the Blegen archives."
