DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.74781#0010
9
PREFACE OF THE EDITOR AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The present publication may be the first book entirely devoted to pre-Roman amber finds from a
single site, and it can be said that its roots run deep.
I had read the first reports on the amber carvings from the Artemision of Ephesos in summer
1991 while studying for my PhD. At the time, I was enjoying a fruitful period of study in Mainz,
in the library of the Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (today Lebniz-Zentrum fur Archao-
logie - LEIZA). I was intrigued by the new discoveries, amber being familiar to me as it is con-
sidered a common find in Central Italy but undoubtedly rare in Ionia. In those days, I could hardly
imagine that, about twenty years later, I would begin research on the finds. I would have been
even less likely to guess that, more than thirty years later, I would be publishing a book devoted
exclusively to those amber carvings.
It is a real pleasure to mention and thank several colleagues in Vienna, Innsbruck and else-
where, who supported the project in various ways. The late Sabine Ladstatter and Michael
Kerschner entrusted me with publishing the amber finds from the Artemision at Ephesos. As
director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute and head of the Ephesos Excavation, Sabine
Ladstatter followed my research with great interest and patience, granting my team and me the
use of several facilities in Seljuk and elsewhere, and finally suggested a book should be published
in this series. Michael Kerschner first proposed that the amber finds from the Artemision should
be the subject of a systematic study, and introduced me to the complex world of the Artemision
»mit Rat und Tat.« He and Andrea M. Pulz provided literature and information from the archive of
the Artemision excavation in Vienna and, as experienced staff members of the Artemision, wrote
a chapter about the find contexts of the amber in the sanctuary. Niki Gail took beautiful photo-
graphs of the amber finds. With unstinting patience, Barbara Beck-Brandt carefully followed the
gestation of this book, almost step by step, while the excavation profiles and the maps charting
find distribution were masterfully drawn by Isabella Benda-Weber and Nicola Math to give visual
shape to the information we had collected. Ruth Schleithoff (Berlin) composed the drawings in
wonderfully laid-out plates.
A generous grant offered by the Oesterreichischen Nationalbank, Jubilaumsfonds, OeNB Pro-
jekt Nr. 15575 allowed my team and me to take trips to museums in Turkiye and England: I would
like to thank the anonymous reviewers of the project for their advice and the administration staff
of the OeNB for their assistance during each stage of the project.
The Leopold-Franzens-University Innsbruck (LFUI), financed the earliest research phases
with the Berufungsgelder granted to my Chair of Pre- and Protohistory. I am grateful for their
support to Karl-Heinz Tochterle, Klaus Eisterer and Walter Leitner, former Rector, Dean of the
Faculty of Philosophy and History and Head of the Department of Archaeologies. At LFUI, I am
indebted to Robert Rebitsch, Project Service Office, for his helpful advice regarding funding pos-
sibilities and to Andreas Matuella and Julia Stadler, both at the Department for Archaeologies, for
taking care of the administrative aspects.
The University of Naples Federico II provided some funds to complete the manuscript and to
support the printing of the book.
In my capacity as author, I would like to express my warmest gratitude to the General Direc-
tion of the Antiquities of the Republic of Turkiye: I wish to mention particularly Zeynep Kizil-
tan, former Director of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, and Cengiz Topal, Director of the
Ephesos Archaeological Museum in Seljuk, for granting permission to study the amber carvings
from the Artemision at Ephesos which are held in Istanbul and Seljuk, and which Feride Kat
PREFACE OF THE EDITOR AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The present publication may be the first book entirely devoted to pre-Roman amber finds from a
single site, and it can be said that its roots run deep.
I had read the first reports on the amber carvings from the Artemision of Ephesos in summer
1991 while studying for my PhD. At the time, I was enjoying a fruitful period of study in Mainz,
in the library of the Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (today Lebniz-Zentrum fur Archao-
logie - LEIZA). I was intrigued by the new discoveries, amber being familiar to me as it is con-
sidered a common find in Central Italy but undoubtedly rare in Ionia. In those days, I could hardly
imagine that, about twenty years later, I would begin research on the finds. I would have been
even less likely to guess that, more than thirty years later, I would be publishing a book devoted
exclusively to those amber carvings.
It is a real pleasure to mention and thank several colleagues in Vienna, Innsbruck and else-
where, who supported the project in various ways. The late Sabine Ladstatter and Michael
Kerschner entrusted me with publishing the amber finds from the Artemision at Ephesos. As
director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute and head of the Ephesos Excavation, Sabine
Ladstatter followed my research with great interest and patience, granting my team and me the
use of several facilities in Seljuk and elsewhere, and finally suggested a book should be published
in this series. Michael Kerschner first proposed that the amber finds from the Artemision should
be the subject of a systematic study, and introduced me to the complex world of the Artemision
»mit Rat und Tat.« He and Andrea M. Pulz provided literature and information from the archive of
the Artemision excavation in Vienna and, as experienced staff members of the Artemision, wrote
a chapter about the find contexts of the amber in the sanctuary. Niki Gail took beautiful photo-
graphs of the amber finds. With unstinting patience, Barbara Beck-Brandt carefully followed the
gestation of this book, almost step by step, while the excavation profiles and the maps charting
find distribution were masterfully drawn by Isabella Benda-Weber and Nicola Math to give visual
shape to the information we had collected. Ruth Schleithoff (Berlin) composed the drawings in
wonderfully laid-out plates.
A generous grant offered by the Oesterreichischen Nationalbank, Jubilaumsfonds, OeNB Pro-
jekt Nr. 15575 allowed my team and me to take trips to museums in Turkiye and England: I would
like to thank the anonymous reviewers of the project for their advice and the administration staff
of the OeNB for their assistance during each stage of the project.
The Leopold-Franzens-University Innsbruck (LFUI), financed the earliest research phases
with the Berufungsgelder granted to my Chair of Pre- and Protohistory. I am grateful for their
support to Karl-Heinz Tochterle, Klaus Eisterer and Walter Leitner, former Rector, Dean of the
Faculty of Philosophy and History and Head of the Department of Archaeologies. At LFUI, I am
indebted to Robert Rebitsch, Project Service Office, for his helpful advice regarding funding pos-
sibilities and to Andreas Matuella and Julia Stadler, both at the Department for Archaeologies, for
taking care of the administrative aspects.
The University of Naples Federico II provided some funds to complete the manuscript and to
support the printing of the book.
In my capacity as author, I would like to express my warmest gratitude to the General Direc-
tion of the Antiquities of the Republic of Turkiye: I wish to mention particularly Zeynep Kizil-
tan, former Director of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, and Cengiz Topal, Director of the
Ephesos Archaeological Museum in Seljuk, for granting permission to study the amber carvings
from the Artemision at Ephesos which are held in Istanbul and Seljuk, and which Feride Kat
