An evening lecture will be given by Dr. Alvise Matessi (Verona University).
GE Points will be given.
Date: 6 November 2024, Wednesday
Time: 17.30
Venue: H-232
Title: Chronicles of a Connected Frontier: The Southern Anatolian Plateau between Phrygia and the Mediterranean in the First Millennium BCE
Abstract: While the concepts of “frontier” and “connectivity” have each been important in archaeology and anthropology, they are rarely studied together. This is probably because these terms seem to refer to different types of spaces: frontiers are usually identified with the edges or borders of ancient societies, whereas aspects relevant to connectivity, such as routes and exchange networks, are often studied in relation to core institutions. Focusing on the southern Anatolian Plateau during the first millennium BCE, I will show that connectivity and frontier interactions are strongly intertwined. Through the combined analysis of historical records on the local political geography, ceramic frameworks, monumentality and GIS data on route networks I will argue that strong connectivity can actually be crucial to create frontier zones. Additionally, the frontier can sometimes overlap with a political center, where leaders draw on the diverse cultural influences characteristic of border zones to legitimize their power.
Bio: Dr. Alvise Matessi holds a PhD in Ancient Western Asian Studies from the University of Pavia, obtained in 2014 with a dissertation on the political landscapes of Hittite Anatolia. His research interests encompass several aspects of the archaeology and history of Ancient Western Asia, including frontier studies, material culture, linguistic interactions, interregional connectivity and regional identities. By integrating philological and archaeological approaches to the ancient world, he investigates different contexts and periods, but his main focus is on the Bronze and Iron Ages in Anatolia and Syria. He is author of the book Frontiers, Territories and the Making of Hittite Political Landscape, now in press for De Gruyter in the series Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records, and co-author of Contacts of Languages and Peoples in the Hittite and Post-Hittite World. Vol. 1 The Bronze Age and Hatti, published by Brill for the series Ancient Languages and Civilizations. Since 2006, he has been taking part to several archaeological projects in Syria and Türkiye, lastly as a senior researcher to the Türkmen Karahöyük excavation directed by Michele Massa. Dr. Matessi has been Visiting Professor at the Northeast Normal University (Changchun, China), and fellow of the Istituto Italiano per la Storia Antica in Rome. He has been postdoctoral researcher at ANAMED, the University of Verona and Bilkent University. Currently, along with Michele Massa, he co-directs the project ‘LoTar: Locating Tarhuntassa’, funded by the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and the University of Verona. The project aims to identify the second capital of the Hittite Empire through chemical analyses of clay sealings and cuneiform tablets.