People
Professor R.R.R. Smith
Director, New York University Excavations at Aphrodisias; former Lincoln Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art, Oxford University
Bert Smith has worked at Aphrodisias since 1985 (as Director since 1991) and taught at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University in 1985-1995, with which he continues to collaborate closely through the Aphrodisias project. He has been a member of the Classics Faculty at Oxford University since 1995, and his research interests lie in the art and visual cultures of the ancient Mediterranean world and the archaeology of Greek cities under the Roman Empire.
Professor Katherine Welch
Associate Professor of Fine Arts, New York University; Deputy Director, Aphrodisas Excavations
Katherine Welch has worked at Aphrodisias since 1991, on both architecture and marble sculpture projects. Her research interests are in architecture, sculpture, and painting of the Hellenistic/Republican and Roman Imperial periods, particularly in Rome, Italy, Turkey and Greece. She is currently preparing a monograph on the Stadium.
Serra Somersan
DPhil Candidate, University of Oxford; Assistant Director, Aphrodisias Excavations
Serra Somersan received her BA and MA degrees in Classical Archaeology at Ege University studying the Corinthian and Late Roman pottery of Antandros. Serra has been the Assistant Director of the Aphrodisias project since 2017. Her research interests are in archaic and classical pottery, open-air sanctuaries, and the transition from the Classical to the Hellenistic Period in Western Anatolia.
Ozan Yıldırım
DPhil Candidate, Istanbul Technical University; 2nd Assistant Director, Aphrodisias Excavations
Ozan received his BA degree in archaeology and MA degree in history of architecture at Istanbul Technical University. He is currently doing his PhD at the same university and department, studying the architectural layout of Larisa in Aeolis and its necropolis. Ozan joined the Aphrodisias Excavations in 2018 and has been the 2nd Assistant Director of the Aphrodisias Excavation Project since 2020. His research interests are archaic and classical architecture of the Aeolis and Caria regions, alongside ancient funerary and burial practices.
Dip.Ing. Gerhard Paul
Architect, Vienna; Senior Anastylosis Architect, Aphrodisias Excavations
Gerhard Paul is a founding director of the architects’ company, AAP Architects in Vienna, where he specialises in the design of schools, university buildings, and social housing. He has worked at Aphrodisias since 1983 supervising the anastylosis of several major Roman buildings: the Tetrapylon (completed 1990), the Sebasteion South Building (2012), the Propylon of the Sebasteion (2015).
Dip.Ing. Thomas Kaefer
Architect, Vienna; Senior Anastylosis Architect, Aphrodisias Excavations
Thomas Kaefer has worked at Aphrodisias as an architect since 1989, supervising restoration and anastylosis projects on Roman buildings such as the Tetrapylon, Sebasteion, and Hadrianic Baths. He works with Schenk Architects in Vienna, and specialises in architectural restoration and at Aphrodisias in the anastylosis of ancient buildings.
Harry Mark, FAIA
Architect, San Clemente CA; Senior Architect, Aphrodisias Excavations
Harry Mark is a founding director of the architecture and graphic design company, RSM Design, based in San Clemente, California. He has worked at Aphrodisias since 1995, on the architectural documentation of the on-going excavations and of the already excavated buildings, first as a student architect, then as Senior Architect. He was elected a Fellow of American Institute of Architects in 2014.
Dr Ine Jacobs
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Associate Professor of Byzantine Archaeology and Visual Culture, Oxford University, Field Director, Aphrodisias Excavations
Ine Jacobs has worked in Turkey since 2003 and joined the Aphrodisias Project as Field Director in 2016. Her research interests include late antique and Byzantine urbanism, the experience and perception of the built environment and its decoration, and material religion.
†Trevor Proudfoot
Stone Conservator, UK; Senior Site and Marble Conservator, Aphrodisias Excavations
Trevor Proudfoot was the senior stone conservator at Aphrodisias from 1991 until his sad death in 2019. Trevor was the founding director of Cliveden Conservation, UK, and Advisor to the National Trust and English Heritage for stone and plaster conservation. At Aphrodisias he carried out a wide range of marble conservation projects and supervised a programme of lime-mortar wall-capping and site conservation. His projects included the conservation and mounting of the late antique Shield Portraits, the Zoilos Frieze, the Blue Horse, and the Sebasteion Reliefs. Trevor’s work at Aphrodisias is carried on by the local team he trained at the site and by Cliveden conservators under the direction of his son Lewis Proudfoot.
OTHER SENIOR TEAM-MEMBERS:
- Prof Marc B. Abbe (University of Georgia) – polychromy
- Dr Özge Acar (Istanbul University) – epigraphy
- Prof Michelle Berenfeld (Pitzer College) – architecture, Triconch House (‘Bishop’s Palace’)
- Dr Muradiye Bursalı (Pamukkale University, Denizli) – medieval and Ottoman ceramics
- Mr Ian Cartwright (Oxford University) – photography
- Prof Angelos Chaniotis (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) – epigraphy, history
- †Dr Jim Coulton (Athens, Oxford) – architecture, Temple of Aphrodite
- Dr Kenan Eren (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul) – early history and archaeology
- Dr Takashi Fuji (Kyoto University) – epigraphy
- Prof Christopher Hallett (University of California, Berkeley) – sculpture, Bouleuterion
- Dr Melda Küçükdemirci (Istanbul University) – geophysical survey
- Dr Julia Lenaghan (University of Verona) – sculpture, Propylon of Sebasteion
- Dr Andrew Leung (Vienna) – architecture, Stadium
- Dr Allyson McDavid – late phases of Hadrianic Baths
- Prof Vedat Onar (Istanbul University) – zooarchaeology
- Dr Ulrike Outschar (Östereichisches Historisches Institut, Rome) – Roman ceramics
- Dr Esen Öğüş (Utah Valley University) – sarcophagi and sculpture
- Prof Üzlifat Özgümüş (Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa) – ancient glass
- †Prof Arzu Öztürk (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul) – architecture, Hadrianic Baths
- Prof Christopher Ratté (University of Michigan) – archaeology, Agora, regional survey
- †Miss Joyce Reynolds (University of Cambridge) – epigraphy
- Dr Erica Rowan (Exeter University) – archaeo-botany and environmental archaeology
- Dr Charlotte Roueché (Kings College London) – epigraphy, late antique and Christian
- Prof Benjamin Russell (Edinburgh University) – archaeology, marble quarries, excavation of North Temenos House
- Dr Ursi Quatember (University of Graz) – architecture, Bouleuterion
- Dr Alexander Sokolicek (Institute of Archaeology, Vienna) – archaeology, Tetrapylon Street
- Prof Peter de Staebler (Pratt Institute, New York) – archaeology, City Walls, regional survey
- Prof Philip Stinson (University of Kansas) – architecture, Civil Basilica, Sebasteion
- Prof Ahmet Tolga Tek (Anadolu University, Eskişehir) – numismatics
- Betül Teoman (Dokuz Eylül University) – numismatics
- Gültekin Teoman (Izmir Numismatic Society) – numismatics
- Dr Joshua Thomas (Oxford University) – sculpture
- Prof Julie Van Voorhis (University of Indiana) – sculpture, Sculptor’s Workshop
- Prof Andrew Wilson (Oxford University) – archaeology, water technology, Urban Park excavation
- Dr Bahadır Yıldırım (Harvard University) – sculpture, reliefs from Civil Basilica
Website credits: Drawings are by Harry Mark and other architects; photographs by Ian Cartwright, Guido Petruccioli, and project team members; website design by Ozan Yıldırım; and texts by R.R.R. Smith.
