Category: Building Archaeology

February 19, 2026

Focus-fire on wood: Assessing resource use and especially wood consumption in the Pergamon Micro-Region during the annual project meeting

The annual TransPergMicro meeting, held on February 6–7 at Freie Universität Berlin, brought researchers together at the historic Engler Villa despite wintry conditions. Over two days, participants exchanged interdisciplinary perspectives on resource use in the Pergamon Micro-Region, advanced collaborative discussions, and mapped out future work, resulting in a highly productive and engaging workshop.
February 2, 2026

Lost and found again: Rediscoveries extending the knowledge on the substructures of the ‘Gurnellia’ in Pergamon

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.
January 2, 2026

Wie lernen wir voneinander? Lernen und Lehren aus der Sicht der Bauforschung im Langfristprojekt TransPergMikro

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.
May 19, 2025

Exchange, Connections and Collaborations: The TransPergMicro PreDoc Workshop 2025

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.
May 12, 2025

İhtişamdan Çöküşe: Disiplinlerarası Araştırma, Pergamon’un Unutulmuş Amfitiyatrosunun Hikâyesini Anlatıyor

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.
January 21, 2025

Patience, Precision, and Pavonazzetto: An Intern’s Story from Pergamon

I’m Yaren Esen, an architecture student at İzmir Institute of Technology, and I had the opportunity of joining the 2024 Pergamon Excavation campaign as an intern with the Historical Building Research Team from the Berlin Technical University. Led by the PhD-candidate Léa Geisler, the team has been focusing on the East Baths of the Gymnasium in Pergamon. During my internship, I learnt the different methods of documenting and cataloging the building parts.

January 21, 2025

Bergama’da Bir Stajyerin İzlenimleri: Sabır, Detay ve Pavonazzetto

Ben Yaren Esen, İzmir Yüksek Teknoloji Enstitüsü’nde mimarlık öğrencisiyim ve 2024 Bergama Kazı kampanyasına Berlin Teknik Üniversitesi Tarihi Yapı Araştırma Ekibi ile stajyer olarak katılma fırsatı buldum. Bulunduğum ekibe doktora adayı Léa Geisler liderlik etti ve çalışmalarımızın odak noktası Bergama’daki Gymnasium’un Doğu Hamamı’ydı. Staj sırasında yapı parçalarının belgelenmesi ve kataloglanması için kullanılan farklı yöntemleri öğrendim.
January 14, 2025

Exploring Social Metabolism: Insights from the 2nd TransPergMicro Milestone Workshop in Istanbul

The 2nd Milestone Workshop of the TransPergMicro project, held on January 10-11, 2025 at the Orient-Institut in Istanbul, brought together an interdisciplinary range of scholars to explore the concept of social metabolism in historical contexts. The event was intended as a further ‘milestone’ in advancing our understanding of material and energy flows between societies and their environment, with a particular emphasis on the project’s research focus, i.e., the Pergamon Micro-Region between the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial periods.