Christopher Roosevelt

Associate Professor of Archaeology

Director of Graduate Admissions

Office: Room 351C
(617) 358-1671

PhD, Cornell University, 2003
Areas of interest: Classical Archaeology; Landscape Archaeology; Cities and topography of Asia Minor; Bronze and Iron Age Anatolia Archaeology; Lydian, Persian, and Greek interaction in western Anatolia; Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications in archaeology.

EXCAVATIONS & FIELD WORK

Christopher Roosevelt is a specialist in the archaeology of western Anatolia (Turkey), specifically that of the ancient kingdom of Lydia. Since 2005, Roosevelt has co-directed (with Prof. Christina Luke) the Central Lydia Archaeological Survey (CLAS), a project that investigates cultural and environmental dynamics across central Lydian landscapes. Specifically, the project investigates long-term patterns of cultural activity in the area and aims to reconstruct past environmental conditions. This project grew out of Roosevelt’s involvement with the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, ancient Lydia’s capital, where he has been involved with excavation, site survey, and geophysical projects since 1995. In addition to his work in western Turkey, Roosevelt has excavated at the Classical Greek site of Corinth, has contributed to palynological and mineralogical projects, and has experience with tree-ring dating from past work with the Aegean Dendrochronology Project at Cornell University.

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

Roosevelt, C. H. 2009. The Archaeology of Lydia, from Gyges to Alexander. Cambridge / New York: Cambridge University Press.

Roosevelt, C. H., and C. Luke. 2010. “Painted Tomb Chambers in Lydia.” In Renklerin Dönüsü – The Turn of Colours – Rückkehr der Farben. Catalogue of an Exhibit at the Yapı Kredi Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, İstanbul, edited by L. Summerer, 342–353. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Culture, Art, and Publishing.

Roosevelt, C. H. 2010. “Lydia Before the Lydians.” In The Lydians and Their World. Catalogue of an Exhibit at the Yapı Kredi Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, İstanbul, edited by N. D. Cahill, 37–73. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Culture, Art, and Publishing.

Luke, C., and C. H. Roosevelt. 2009. “The Central Lydia Archaeological Survey: Documenting the Prehistoric through Iron Age Periods.” In Tree-Rings, Kings, and Old World Archaeology and Environment: Papers Presented in Honor of Peter Ian Kuniholm, edited by S.W. Manning and M.J. Bruce, 199–218. Oxford: Oxbow Books.

Roosevelt, C. H. 2008. “Lale Tepe: A Remarkable Late Lydian Tumulus in the Hinterland of Sardis. Introduction, Excavation, and Finds.” In Love for Lydia. A Sardis Anniversary Volume Presented to Crawford H. Greenewalt, Jr., on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday, June 3, 2007, edited by N. D. Cahill, 1–29. Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, Report. Cambridge, MA: Archaeological Exploration of Sardis.

Roosevelt, C. H. 2008. “Stone Alabastra in Western Anatolia.” In New Approaches to Old Stones: Recent Studies of Ground Stone Artifacts, edited by Y. Rowan and J. Ebeling, 285–97. Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology Series. London: Equinox Publishing.

Kersel, M. M., C. Luke, and C. H. Roosevelt. 2008. “Valuing the Past: Perceptions of Archaeological Practice in Lydia and the Levant.” Journal of Social Archaeology 8.3: 298–319.

Roosevelt, C. H., and C. Luke. 2006. “Mysterious Shepherds and Hidden Treasures: the Culture of Looting in Lydia.” Journal of Field Archaeology 31.2: 185–98.

Roosevelt, C. H. 2006. “Tumulus Survey and Museum Research in Lydia, Western Turkey: Determining Lydian- and Persian-Period Settlement Patterns.” Journal of Field Archaeology 31.1: 61–76.

Roosevelt, C. H. 2006. “Symbolic Door Stelae and Graveside Monuments in Western Anatolia.” American Journal of Archaeology 110.1: 65–91.

Roosevelt, C. H., and C. Luke. 2006. “Looting Lydia: the Destruction of an Archaeological Landscape in Western Turkey.” In Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, and the Antiquities Trade, edited by N. Brodie, M. Kersel, C. Luke, and K. Walker Tubb, 173–87. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.