As part of the joint research colloquium of the Institutes of Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Near Eastern Archaeology in the summer semester 2026, we cordially invite all students, colleagues and interested parties to the lecture by: 

Andrea Valsecchi Gillmeister (FU Berlin): Thinking Outside the Square. Investigating the Validity of Archaeological Survey at Oymaağaç Höyük (Türkiye).

Abstract

Extensive regional survey is a well-established method in Anatolian archaeology, whereas
excavations often remain limited to a few key sites. This imbalance is particularly evident in the
Central Black Sea region. Here, archaeological reconstructions are frequently pieced together
from scattered survey results, often interpreted through comparative examples from better-
researched areas, such as Central Anatolia, rather than from the local material culture itself.
Consequently, the reliability of modern historiography and archaeological interpretations based
primarily on surface results is called into question. This presentation addresses this
methodological challenge by cross-checking surface pottery collections against subsurface
data, site formation processes, and geophysical prospections. Starting from the multiperiod site
of Oymaağaç Höyük (Samsun, Türkiye), the reliability of legacy survey data is tested at an intra-
site level, tackling the methodological challenges that arise when analysing records
documented during different periods by different specialists. Building on these site-scale
results, the survey record is integrated into a landscape-level analysis to diachronically explore
Oymaağaç Höyük’s position within the wider Central Black Sea region from the late 5th to the 1st
millennium BCE.