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A real archaeological puzzle: Germans reassemble ancient sculptures destroyed in WWII

Lion relief tell halaf restored and pre destructionAfter nine years of shifting through WWII bombing debris, restoration experts have puzzled back together over 30 Aramaean sculptures and reliefs. Watch the slideshow.

When in November 1943 an air raid on Berlin destroyed the Tell Halaf Museum and its contents, it was thought one of Germany’s most important Near Eastern collections was lost forever. A year later more than 27,000 fragments were recovered from the museum’s ruins and taken to the cellars of the Pergamon Museum for storage. Luckily, archaeologists never throw something away. Restoration of the 3000-year-old sculptures and bas-reliefs eventually started in 2001. Now, after almost a decade, the team is near finished and over 30 Aramaean artefacts are ready to go on display again.

The Ancient City of Tell Halaf

Tell Halaf, in the Syrian desert, was discovered by Max von Oppenheim in 1899, but he did not start excavating until 1911. From 1911 to 1913 and after the First World War, from 1927 to 1929, the mission unearthed a citadel containing two palaces, an inner and outer city wall, gate complexes, several tombs and the so-called ‘cult-room’.

It would be great, if the individual pieces could be brought to the Staatlichen Museen, to be reassembled later. – Max von Oppenheim, 1944

The ancient settlement is dated to the second millennium BC, when after the fall of the Hittite empire, Aramaean tribes crossed the Euphrates and moved into northern Syria, founding small independent Kingdoms.Tell Halaf became the city-stateof Guzana, or Gozan.

Inscriptions found by Oppenheim at Tell Halaf say the Western Palace was constructed by Aramaean ruler Kapara, of the house of Bachiani, probably around the 9th century BC.

Yet, the site was inhabited even earlier. Oppenheim’s team discovered painted pottery, now dated to the sixth and fifth millennium BC.

New excavations at the archaeological site started in 2006.

Click images for a larger version

The Tell Halaf Museum

Oppenheim brought many of the artefacts to Berlin. Yet, the Berlin Royal Museums could not afford purchasing them and the Aramaean treasures were not housed in the Pergamon Museum as originally planned. Instead, they got their own dedicated museum, a converted machine shop in Berlin-Charlotteburg.

The Tell Halaf Museum opened in 1930 and its monumental reconstruction of the Western Palace’s faade was the focus of national and international attention at the time.

World War IIDestruction

In 1943, the museum was hit by a World War IIphosphor bomb, triggering a huge fire. The blaze destroyed all wooden and limestone artefacts, as well as the plaster casts.

The basalt rock statues and bas-reliefs withstood the scorching heat, but not the temperature shock caused by the cold water used in an attempt to extinguish the fire. The surviving Aramaean artefacts shattered in thousand pieces.

Oppenheim did not give up, and envisioned a rescue attempt. It would of course be truly wonderful if the smashed fragments of the stone images could somehow be gathered together and brought to the Staatlichen Museen and reassembled at a later date, Oppenheim requested in 1944.

So it happened. Nine truckloads of debris were gathered and taken to the Pergamon Museum for storage.

Restoring and Reassembling

Only after the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification, the Cologne-based Oppenheim Foundation got access to the Tell Halaf fragments, kept in wire baskets on pallets in the museum’s basement. A first survey in 1933 raised the hopes that restoration of at least a few pieces such asthe two large lions from the entrance to the West Palace, the head of a sphinx and the torso of a big bird would be possible. Negotiations between the Max Baron von Oppenheim Foundation, owner of the valuable debris, and the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage commenced.

In 2001, the basalt fragments were brought to their sorting hall, and the tedious reassembly and restoration work started. About 27,000 fragments were spread out on more than 200 wooden palettes, and the pieces that could be identified separated.

Almost ten years later, archaeologists and restorers have reassembled more than 90% of the archaeological collection, with only about 2,000 unidentified fragments left.

After 68 Years, On Display Again

Starting next year, 68 years after their destruction, the restored treasures will again be shown to the public, in an exhibition that willrival the dislay of the Armanaean collection at the Aleppo Museum. A specially designed lighting concept will help present the monumental sculptures and relief panels in their original glory – without covering up their scars and wounds. Accompanying theartefacts will be information on the restoration process, as well as original film footageand photographs from Max von Oppenheim’s excavations.Alongside the now completed restoration project, the excavations that recommenced at Tell Halaf in 2006 will also be presented to the public in the exhibition.

From January 28 to August 14 2011, the artefacts will be shown in the North Wing of thethe Pergamon Museum, in ‘Die geretteten Gtter aus dem Palast vom Tell Halaf‘,after whichthe artefacts will be integrated into the new entrance to the museum’s Near East department.

Prehistorical Burial Mounds and WWII Defense Systems Mapped at New Forest

Backley Holmes oak silhouetteA Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) pilot survey at the New Forest National Park has revealed previously unknown features to archaeologists. The data, from a a 34 square kilometres section of the New Forest between Burley and Godshill, has allowed researchers to identify a wide range of features, from Iron Age field systems and Bronze Age burial mounds (known as barrows) to anti-glider obstacles, a practice bombing range and a searchlight position from World War II.

Normally archaeologists rely on lengthy and labour-intensive field surveys to uncover such features, but airborne Lidar helps speed up the process.

Tom Dommett, carrying out the historic landscape research for the National Park Authority says: One of Lidars greatest benefits in the Forest is its ability to penetrate all but the densest vegetation like conifer or holly. It reveals very subtle features which are difficult to see on the ground and are even more difficult to map accurately, particularly in woodland.

At the current rate of survey carried out in the National Park it would take roughly 200 years to obtain a full understanding of the archaeological resource, Dommett adds, but with Lidar we will hopefully be able to do it in 10 years.

Airborne Lidar is a ‘remote sensing technology’ that uses the time delay between transmission of a pulsed laser beam from a light aircraft and the detection of the reflected signal to measure up to 100,000 points per second, building a detailed model of the landscape and the features upon it.

But no technology is perfect. As Lidar is indiscriminate in what it shows, the date sometimes has to be backed up by a targeted field survey, known as ‘ground-truthing’.

This is where the involvement of the wider volunteering community has been really helpful and the New Forest History and Archaeology Group have already made an invaluable contribution, says Dommett.

Originally developed for submarine detection Lidar has only become popular with archaeologists in the last decade. Being a huge time-saver, it has become more and more common in ‘modern’ archaeology. It is mainly used to survey possible excavation sites (its ability to penetrate forest canopy reveals features that are invisible on satellite images) but also for mapping ancient structures themselves.

An example is recent research at the ancient Maya site of Caracol, where the laser survey covered a 200 square kilometre radius in four days and revealed several unknown terraces, hidden caves and roads. Archaeologists estimate it would have taken them 25 years of machete-wielding to gather the same data.

Closer to home, laser scans are being used to map Rome’s ancient catacombs and Scottish heritage sites such as the Antonine Wall, New Lanark, the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh and the island of St Kilda.

Glasgow Battlefield Archaeology Department Should Deploy Time Team Celebs to Help Stop Closure

Plans to close the University of Glasgows Centre for Battlefield Archaeology as part of funding cuts have been met with strong criticism from prestigious quarters since coming to light earlier this month. The centre, part of Guard and the Department of Archaeology, is an arm of the university which offers archaeological services to external organisations. Its biggest claim to fame is its work supporting Channel 4s Time Team programme. The Director of the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology, Dr Tony Pollard, has appeared on some of the Time Team programmes, including excavation of a WWII bunker in Ypres, Belgium, and even co-presented Two Men in a Trench – a BBC series on battlefield archaeology. But can the centre’s media credentials help save it from closure?

The Battle Commences

There’s a lot at stake if the centre closes. It also offers a MLitt/PgDip in Battlefield and Conflict Archaeology, and carries out research projects around the world, instigating new techniques such as metal detector survey and geophysics on battlegrounds and sites in France, Belgium, Libya, South Africa and South America, as well as publishing the Journal of Conflict Archaeology.

East Lothian PyramidA recent project revealed that the Battle of Prestonpans – between the Jacobites and Hanovians in 1745 – was actually around 500 metres east of where it was previously thought to have happened. A pyramid-shaped vantage point which gives visitors a view of where the battle was previously thought to have taken place offers a fortunately wide view of the area. The team are now in Germany, carrying out ‘the most intensive archaeological survey of a battlefield anywhere in the world’ in Lutzen.

The university had claimed that the service wasnt generating sufficient income, but staff have refuted this, countering that the service generates hundreds of thousands of pounds for the university every year. In response to the backlash, the ruling court of Glasgow University have now set up a committee to establish how viable the centre is, meaning that the Universitys plan to simply go ahead with the closure is prevented for now.

This week, support for the centre was boosted when international battlefield archaeology expert Roger Moore wrote to Glasgow’s Herald newspaper stating that the centre must be saved. He said:

Scotland will lose an invaluable and academically groundbreaking resource should the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology be closed as a result of funding difficulties… I cannot overstate the blow to the discipline of conflict archaeology, and to Scottish heritage, that would result from shutting down the programme.

Historic Scotland will surely be following the progress of the enquiry – it has been working to protect the battlefield sites of Scotland for archaeologists, and is planning to publish a list of protected iconic battlefield sites next year. If plans to close the centre go ahead, there might be no working battlefield experts to take advantage of these actions by then.

Recession-era Archaeology

Even if the division is saved, it seems inevitable that the cuts will be felt elsewhere instead. Academic institutions across the UK are making drastic cuts. Kings College Londons Palaeography department is under threat, and
Last month, proposed cuts at the University ofSussex led to the riot police being called in.

Museums, publishers and heritage sites are also threatened by the economic crisis. Publishers White Star and Thalamus both closed last year, and the future of Canterburys Roman Museum is uncertain.

Even major charities are feeling the pinch. The Times Online reported that an enquiry into the running of the National Trust for Scotland has sparked demand for a total reform of the organisation, including a possible merge with Historic Scotland. National Trust for Scotland owns and maintains 120 sites including St Kilda, Staffa and Culzean Castle, and has been rocked by financial problems and accusations of ineffective management in recent times. Last year, the charity announced the closure of eleven properties, but a fierce public outcry meant that several of these were saved. Since a change in the law allowed it, the organisation has since been selling off properties, including a Leith townhouse visited by Mary Queen of Scots, in order to salvage its financial situation.

Celebrity Support Needed!

Perhaps the centre could take a lead from supporters of Colchester’s Roman Circus and bring in their celebrity Time Team friends to help campaign for the future safety of the centre. The Roman Circus which was threatened with closure as part of council cuts, but could well be safeguarded after campaigners harnessed the power of social networking, and established celebrity support from Caroline Lawrence and Millie Binks, in order to reach the target of 200,000 needed to trigger council funding. The organisers are looking forward to a screening of Gladiator in May to further support their campaign.

The University of Glasgow is forced to make cuts somewhere. Perhaps instead of drastically chopping whole limbs, such as the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology, from the university body, the cuts could be incorporated across all departments. If they are intent on taking on the Battlefield experts, they should definitely be prepared for a fight (if a disorganised one) – or at least a screening of Braveheart introduced by Tony Robinson.

AWiL Video Series: Defending London – Richborough, Maunsell Seaforts, Thames Barrier & Tower of London

London is under attack! But Follow Jamie's adventure through the Thames Estuary as he learns about London's defences through the ages - Click to skip to the video!don’t be alarmed, this is no April Fool: London’s always been under attack. For over two thousand years the city has been invaded, burnt, bridged and bombed. But while Boudicca, Caesar, Cnut and Hitler have been some of the city’s biggest enemies, today it’s the turn of climate change to have London scrambling her defences with the impressive Thames Barrier.

Today the barrier’s iconic row of ‘sandals’ protect over a million Londoners from the perils of El Nio. But it’s just one of the places we visited as part of our defences tour down the Thames, a 12-hour trip from the edge of the North Sea to the heart of ancient London.

The Maunsell Sea Forts might just be the Second World War’s best-kept secret. Sprouting out of the Thames Estuary some six to 12 miles offshore, the extraterrestrial towers are among the city’s oddest sights. From 1942 until the end of the war men stationed on them shot down 22 German aircraft and over 30 doodlebug rockets, saving countless lives from the relentless terror of Blitzkrieg.

Today the forts’ future hangs in the balance, having been abandoned since the ’60s, when they were used as pirate radio stations. It’d be a tragedy to lose such a unique episode in British history, especially as the forts were pivotal in the making of modern oil rigs. You can help save the forts by visiting Project Redsand’s homepage.

If London was under attack, what would you save from destruction?

But London was defended thousands of years before the Nazis rained down on its skies. Richborough, on the Kent coast, is largely thought to be the site of Emperor Claudius’s 43AD invasion, who galvanised his new frontier as he strode toward the Thames. Roman London would take until 200AD to get its own defensive wall, a full 140 years afterBoudicca tore through the city with her Celtic rebels. Today the wall still stands in fits and starts around the capital, though the only Celts to defend from nowadays are Rangers fans and Daniel O’ Donnell.

At the end of our trip stands one of London’s most iconic landmarks. Built almost a thousand years after the Roman wall, the Tower of London still looms fiercely over the river, its central White Tower a masterpiece of Norman architecture. But as William the Conqueror took hold of England following his famous victory at Hastings in 1066, he built the Tower to fend off his own people rather than outside aggressors.

“The castle, really, is a place where the military aristocracy can protect themselves,” says expert Eljas Oksanen. “It very much secured an iconic royal presence in this potentially rebellious Anglo-Saxon city.” Makes the massive queues to get in a little ironic, don’t you think?

HD Video: Episode 9 – London’s Defences

(Transcription of this video.)

Learn more about the bloody battles and defences of London with our other great Ancient World in London videos. Get involved in bloggers’ challenges, real-world events like our pub quiz or just learn more about the city’s ancient past. Heritage Key – Unlock the Wonders.