About the project

E:\IMG_5628.JPG The Pessinous excavations project started in 1967, but was renewed from 1987 onwards and consistsed until the summer of 2008 of yearly excavation campaigns executed by a team from the University of Ghent, Belgium. In 2009 the site was handed over by  former director professor-emeritus John Devreker to prof. dr. Gocha Tsetskhladze of the University of Melbourne, Australia, and his team. 

The general aim of the excavations in and around the core of this central Anatolian town was to reconstruct the urban development and urbanisation, particularly between 700 BC and AD 1100. Special attention was paid to the evolution of the cult of the Anatolian mother goddess Kybele.

A multidisciplinary approach was used to answer a set of questions that were part of larger research strategies of the archaeology of Asia Minor and other parts of the classical world. Thus contributions have been made to answering questions about the Hellenisation and Romanisation of Anatolia, the introduction of the Imperial cult in Roman Asia Minor, the town-country nexus in antiquity and the regression of city life during early Byzantine times.


E:\IMG_5180.JPG The project also contributed to the methodology of geo-archaeological work. The integration of geo-archaeological surveys within the Pessinus' territory, together with the elaboration of a GIS system, the manipulation of satellite imagery and the development of specific computer software, constituted major contributions to methodological innovation.

The recent research of Dr. Angelo Verlinde contributed to the architecture-analytical reconstruction of the structures in the temple area. His findings were featured in an animated 3D documentary titled "The Imperial Sanctuary at Pessinus."