ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE MUSEUMS IN TURKEY: ACTORS, SPACES AND DISPLAYS

Date

2026-8-21

Author

Köse, Meltem

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This dissertation investigates the formation and transformation of archaeological site museums in Turkey from the late nineteenth century to the present through eight case studies: Bergama, Efes, Side, Aphrodisias, Milet, Hierapolis, Yalvaç and Troy Museums. Located within, near, or in the closest towns to archaeological sites in the Marmara, Aegean, and Mediterranean regions, and associated with ancient cities that flourished predominantly during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, these museums are examined through their architectural, curatorial, and institutional dimensions in relation to their archaeological contexts. The study argues that archaeological site museums in Turkey should not be understood simply as spaces for storing and displaying excavation finds. Rather, by preserving and displaying archaeological objects close to the places where they were unearthed, they offer an alternative to the displacement, fragmentation, and decontextualization of artifacts. Although the movement of objects for exhibition is part of museum discourse, the preservation and display of archaeological objects close to the places where they were unearthed is not framed here through questions of ownership or nationalist entitlement, but through the intrinsic connection between archaeological objects, the landscapes from which they come, and the cultural memory associated with them. At the same time, these museums are hybrid institutions that emerged within a centralized heritage administration while being continually reshaped by excavation practices, local conditions, architectural interventions, and changing museological approaches. By comparing on-site museums built near ancient cities, in-situ museums adapted from ancient structures, and in-town museums located in nearby settlements, the dissertation shows that proximity to the archaeological site alone does not guarantee contextual integrity. The relationship between artifact, archaeological site and museum is constructed through spatial organization, architectural language, exhibition design, and institutional decisions, which together foreground locational and geographical continuities and mediate historical narratives. Bridging architectural history and museum studies, the dissertation offers a site-based interpretation of exhibition practices. It shifts attention from object-centered display toward the spatial and institutional conditions through which archaeological heritage is preserved, represented, and narrated. The thesis demonstrates that archaeological site museums in Turkey are neither mere extensions of central museums nor fully independent local initiatives. They constitute a critical yet overlooked field in which architecture mediates between objects, sites, landscapes, actors, agencies and historical narratives.

Subject Keywords

archaeological site museums in Turkey, on-site museums, site-based exhibition practices, in-situ preservation, ören yeri müzeleri

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/120645

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Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis