A critical public archaeology approach to Sagalassos and Ağlasun

Abstract

Since its inception in 1990, the Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project (Burdur, Türkiye) has been closely connected with the modern district of Ağlasun and its people. The Project adopted new considerations since the first decade of the 2000s in line with the changing paradigms within archaeology and emerging questions, such as to whom archaeology serves, who has the decisive power in issues regarding an archaeological site, and whether archaeologists should have responsibilities towards the general public. Thus, several public archaeological research and initiatives were designed, developed, and implemented at Sagalassos and Ağlasun to organize and facilitate the relationship between archaeology and people. In this thesis, the relationship between archaeology and people in Sagalassos and Ağlasun, and these research and initiatives undertaken by the Project will be examined with a critical public archaeology. How economic, political, and social factors impacted the process and aftermath of these initiatives will be scrutinized in light of the thematic analysis of the interviews I conducted with people from Ağlasun in the 2024 excavation season, and with governmental actors in early 2025. Finally, I will discuss how such a follow-up research can be of guidance to future archaeological project design.