Australian Gallipoli research project

[Martin Bennitt]

Just picked up something in my latest edition of History Today about a University of Melbourne project led by Prof. Antonio Sagona and Chris Mackie to provide a detailed 'holistic picture' of the Gallipoli battlefield area, recording visible remnants as well as usuing ground-penetrating radar and magnetometry to assess subsurface fatures such as graves and dugouts.

Anyone have any more details of this, as unsee anything on the forum.

cheers Martin B

[Auimfo]

Here's an article from the Melb Uni News about it

University of Melbourne scholars to study Gallipoli battlefield

[ UniNews Vol. 15, No. 7 1 - 15 May 2006 ]

By Matthew Johnston

A detailed historical and archaeological map of the 1915 Gallipoli battlefield will be among the tasks undertaken by a team of University of Melbourne researchers when they travel to Turkey this year.

Associate Professor Antonio Sagona and Associate Professor Chris Mackie, from the Centre for Classics and Archaeology, have been selected by the Australian Government’s Department of Veteran Affairs to join a team of Australian, New Zealand and Turkish representatives studying the ANZAC site.

They will be joined by Mr Cliff Ogleby, from the University’s Department of Geomatics, who is a specialist in terrain modelling and visualisation.

The three University of Melbourne researchers will locate and record all visible remnants of the 1915 battlefield including trenches, tunnels and paths. They will also use ground penetrating radar and magnetometry to assess subsurface features such as graves and underground trenches.

Once the existing features are detailed, the team will also try to identify any ancient sites in the battlefield area – which lies across the Dardanelles from the legendary site of Troy.

“This research will lead to a detailed historical analysis of the Gallipoli site so people can see the modern site in a broader historical context,” Associate Professor Sagona said.

“Based on previous work in Turkey I’m confident we will be able to identify other sites in the Gallipoli area. They are very distinctive and will provide a historical setting for a place that is viewed by many people as primarily a military site.”

Associate Professor Mackie added that some soldiers at the time of the ANZAC landing were aware of broader historical significance of Gallipoli.

“Troy had been excavated from the 1860s onwards, and some soldiers and writers who were headed for Gallipoli evoked the idea of going to fight another ‘Trojan war’,” he said.

“There are also quite a few references, including by the official Australian historian Charles Bean, to soldiers finding artefacts when digging trenches.”

The University of Melbourne team will combine archaeological, historical, literary, and geomatic knowledge to represent the ANZAC battlefield as what they call a ‘stratified’ site – showing the region as slices through history.

“Gallipoli is of immense historical importance, and that goes well beyond 1915,” Associate Professor Sagona said.

“We want to help preserve its integrity and highlight where the battles around the Dardenelles sit in relation to other historical periods and important moments in time.”

Associate Professor Sagona said one of the challenges the researchers will face is traversing the difficult terrain.

“The actual geography of Gallipoli is rugged and overgrown with scrub, and we will need to negotiate many natural obstacles in order to survey the area properly,” he said.

Once the team has a solid analysis of the region they are aiming to turn their work into an important online educational resource.

“We hope to play our part in transforming data from this profoundly significant site into a major online educational resource to which the whole community can have access,” Associate Professor Mackie said.

The researchers hope to make two trips to Turkey this year before analysing preliminary field findings in Melbourne.

[Martin Bennitt]

Thanks for that, sounds interesting. Any idea of when we might see some results in print or on the web?

cheers Martin B

[Eceabat]

Hi Martin,

What all this is about is a response to the scandal that broke last year over the road works being undertaken by the Turkish authorities along the coastal strip in the Anzac sector of the Gallipoli battlefields. The Australian government initially denied any knowledge or complicity in the work, which destroyed a number of historically valuable sites, unearthed human remains and artefacts from the campaign, later had to admit it knew what was happening and that damage had been done. On April 27 2005 Prime Minister John Howard proposed to Turkey that a joint committee be set up to study the Anzac sector battlefields to produce a comprehensive historical and archaeological survey of the region, in part to be used as a reference for any future developments.

This study had been delayed for a number of reasons, including Turkish concerns that the country’s sovereignty could be infringed and Ankara’s insistence that the Australian and New Zealand delegations include a military officer.

As one of the many who campaigned against the poorly planned road works above Anzac Cove, which have ultimately made access to the battlefields more difficult and dangerous (though open, the coastal road is officially closed by order of the Canakkale provincial governor as being a major hazard to traffic), I fully support the work of the joint committee.

However, it should be noted that the committee’s findings will not be binding on the Turkish authorities, who have already announced additional proposals for all of the battlefields on the peninsula, some of which are in breach of the National Park’s own regulations, Turkish law and the Treaty of Lausanne, the peace treaty between the Allied powers and the newly established Republic of Turkey, signed in 1923.

The Australian government has already funded a seismic study of the Anzac Cove area, carried out a couple of months ago. Over a period of about ten days, numerous core samples were taken from both the beach and the road area above it. The plan was to establish what needed to be done to try and stop the imminent collapse of parts of the poorly constructed new road. Though the final results of this engineering study have not, to my knowledge, been made public, sources I have here in Turkey suggest that a retaining wall will have to be built along the length of Anzac Cove and much if not all of the road constructed in 2005 dug up and relaid. Thus we will see the return of bulldozers to Anzac. Oh B*****.

This whole exercise has shown what a lack of foresight, the failure to take into account the opinions of experts and a disregard for the environmental and historical realities of a region can result in.

It is a pity that the historical and archaeological survey was not carried out before the road works were carried out, rather than 18 months afterwards. However, hopefully the Turkish authorities will take into account the findings of the committee and not go ahead with some of their more extravagant plans, such as digging up the road on Second Ridge where the Allied and Ottoman front lines lie.

As an aside, there have been a number of similar studies carried out in the past, plotting positions and sites of historical importance on the battlefields, though none have had the access to the advanced technology that Australia is planning to deploy.

Regarding ancient sites, there are many on the battlefields, though none identified in the Anzac sector. However, there are quite a number at Suvla and Helles, with shards of pottery, stone work and the occasional coin marking their location.

Cheers

Bill Sellars

Hi Martin,

What all this is about is a response to the scandal that broke last year over the road works being undertaken by the Turkish authorities along the coastal strip in the Anzac sector of the Gallipoli battlefields. The Australian government initially denied any knowledge or complicity in the work, which destroyed a number of historically valuable sites, unearthed human remains and artefacts from the campaign, later had to admit it knew what was happening and that damage had been done. On April 27 2005 Prime Minister John Howard proposed to Turkey that a joint committee be set up to study the Anzac sector battlefields to produce a comprehensive historical and archaeological survey of the region, in part to be used as a reference for any future developments.

This study had been delayed for a number of reasons, including Turkish concerns that the country’s sovereignty could be infringed and Ankara’s insistence that the Australian and New Zealand delegations include a military officer.

As one of the many who campaigned against the poorly planned road works above Anzac Cove, which have ultimately made access to the battlefields more difficult and dangerous (though open, the coastal road is officially closed by order of the Canakkale provincial governor as being a major hazard to traffic), I fully support the work of the joint committee.

However, it should be noted that the committee’s findings will not be binding on the Turkish authorities, who have already announced additional proposals for all of the battlefields on the peninsula, some of which are in breach of the National Park’s own regulations, Turkish law and the Treaty of Lausanne, the peace treaty between the Allied powers and the newly established Republic of Turkey, signed in 1923.

The Australian government has already funded a seismic study of the Anzac Cove area, carried out a couple of months ago. Over a period of about ten days, numerous core samples were taken from both the beach and the road area above it. The plan was to establish what needed to be done to try and stop the imminent collapse of parts of the poorly constructed new road. Though the final results of this engineering study have not, to my knowledge, been made public, sources I have here in Turkey suggest that a retaining wall will have to be built along the length of Anzac Cove and much if not all of the road constructed in 2005 dug up and relaid. Thus we will see the return of bulldozers to Anzac. Oh B*****.

This whole exercise has shown what a lack of foresight, the failure to take into account the opinions of experts and a disregard for the environmental and historical realities of a region can result in.

It is a pity that the historical and archaeological survey was not carried out before the road works were carried out, rather than 18 months afterwards. However, hopefully the Turkish authorities will take into account the findings of the committee and not go ahead with some of their more extravagant plans, such as digging up the road on Second Ridge where the Allied and Ottoman front lines lie.

As an aside, there have been a number of similar studies carried out in the past, plotting positions and sites of historical importance on the battlefields, though none have had the access to the advanced technology that Australia is planning to deploy.

Regarding ancient sites, there are many on the battlefields, though none identified in the Anzac sector. However, there are quite a number at Suvla and Helles, with shards of pottery, stone work and the occasional coin marking their location.

Cheers

Bill Sellars

[Ozzie]

And to think that I had unknowingly had the minister responsible for the fiasco in the store a couple of times before I found out who that person actually was. Then it was too late, as that person had been moved to another portfolio.

Let's hope that the lure of the tourist dollar does not take over the ned for preservation.

Kim

[Bryn]

Thanks for that info Bill,

Great to have you there on the spot.

[Martin Bennitt]

Very interesting, Bill, especially twice ! Let's hope they can pick up the pieces.

thanks and cheers, Martin B