The 2025 reexamination of Pergamon’s ‘Gurnellia’ clarified its Roman Imperial substructures — vaulted terraces, cistern adaptations, and monumental stair elements — by integrating new surveys with early 20th-century plans. Rediscovered arches and detailed documentation now allow coherent reconstruction of this key connecting architectural complex on the city’s southwestern slope.
Last year’s annual meeting of the Mediterranean Geoscience Union (MedGU) took place from 10–12 November in Athens, right across the Aegean Sea from the Pergamon – a perfect opportunity to present results from the Micro-Region in a broader context and make larger-scale comparisons.
Der Methodenkompetenz kommt in der Bauforschung ein großer Stellenwert zu, da diese – ähnlich wie die Archäologie – keine rein theoretische Fachdisziplin ist, sondern zusätzlich auch praxis- und anwendungsbezogene Komponenten aufweist. So bietet das DFG-Langfristprojekt TransPergMikro den einzigartigen wissenschaftlichen Rahmen für die Vertiefung der Methoden und Ziele der Bauforschung als Teil der interdisziplinären und internationalen Kooperation mit der Klassischen Archäologie und Physischen Geographie ab der frühen Karrierephase.
Aus der Fundbearbeitung erzählt Emma Gronwold, die als Bachelorstudentin sechs Wochen vor Ort war; von der Ausgrabung berichtet Luca Pech, ebenfalls Bachelorstudent, der acht Wochen als Schnittleiter tätig war; und Berglind Hatje, Doktorandin im Surveyprojekt, gibt Einblicke in ihre Arbeiten im Rahmen des Projekts.
Five years after the publication of the first Pergamon Digital Map in November 2020, the new Pergamon Digital Map 2 (2025) is now available. This updated and expanded edition represents a major step forward in documenting, visualizing, and sharing the archaeological landscape of ancient Pergamon and its peri-urban area.
The volume brings together sixteen contributions examining funerary landscapes, inscriptions, human remains, and burial practices in Pergamon and the Aeolian cities of Aigai, Kyme, and Elaia, as well as in Mytilene and Antandros.
This season’s fieldwork explored the Selinus Valley upstream of ancient Pergamon, tracing how the river shaped – and was shaped by – human activity. Using geomorphological methods, drilling cores, and pebble counts, the team investigated past fluvial dynamics, flood histories, and modern alterations to understand the evolving relationship between landscape and settlement in the Pergamon Micro-Region.
A new study sheds light on the transformation from the Hellenistic to the Roman Imperial period by demonstrating the impact of increased human activity on soil erosion and alluvial fan growth.
Starke J, Doğan M, Ludwig B, Nykamp M, Schütt B, Becker F (2025): Alluvial fan development mirrors settlement dynamics in the peri-urban surroundings of ancient Pergamon, western Türkiye. Mediterranean Geoscience Reviews
The two-part conference “City and Micro-Region in the Ancient Mediterranean (and Beyond)” explores how city and micro-regional dynamics shaped the ancient Mediterranean world. Following the successful Madrid event in May, the second colloquium in Istanbul (30 October – 1 November 2025) will focus on questions of connectivity and comparison.
In August and September, our team set out once again into the Pergamon Micro-Region. From the valleys around the Selinus River to the slopes of the Geyikli Mountains, we traced ancient estates, fortresses, farmsteads, and cult places. These discoveries bring us closer to understanding how Pergamon’s countryside was organized and lived in during the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial periods.
by Robert Busch A new article from our project was recently published in the journal PLOS One. The article discusses the natural potential for agriculture in the Pergamon Micro-Region between […]
by Robert Busch Im Journal PLOS One ist ein neuer Artikel aus unserem Projekt erschienen, der sich mit dem natürlichen Potenzial für Ackerbau in der Pergamon Mikroregion zwischen 400 v. Chr. und […]
On March 28, the PreDoc-workshop of TransPergMicro brought together early career researchers from across the project to present and discuss their ongoing work related to Pergamon. The workshop was hosted by Freie Universität in the so-called “Holzlaube” and was attended by 18 participants in person and 11 online. The workshop served as a platform to connect the different disciplines involved in TransPergMicro – Physical Geography, Historical Architecture, Classical Archaeology, and Ancient History.
Hidden beneath centuries of history, the Pergamon Amphitheater tells a story of ambition, innovation, and inevitable decline. Once a symbol of Roman grandeur with a capacity of 15,000 spectators, this remarkable structure has now resurfaced in the light of modern archaeological research, revealing secrets long buried under the dust of time.
Yüzyılların tarihini barındıran Pergamon Amfitiyatrosu, ihtişam, yenilikçilik ve kaçınılmaz çöküşün hikâyesini gözler önüne seriyor. Bir zamanlar 15.000 kişilik kapasitesiyle Roma’nın görkeminin bir simgesi olan bu olağanüstü yapı, modern arkeolojik araştırmalar sayesinde gün yüzüne çıkarılarak, zamanın tozu altında uzun süredir gizli kalmış sırlarını ortaya koymaktadır.
