Haluk Cetinkaya
Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul, Turkey
This work aims at shedding light on excavating an ancient site and post excavation stage: how to restore, expose, and protect the site.
The ancient city of Ulpiana is located approximately 2 kilometres from Gracanica and 12 kilometres from Prishtina city center.
The first Turkish excavations in Europe under my supervision yielded enormous results for Ulpiana within three years between 2012–2014 . Discovery of the large Early Christian church (approximately 20 × 40 metres) with floor mosaics and baptistery were the biggest structures ever discovered in the history of Ulpiana. The church was most probably dedicated to Saints Florus and Laurus who were martyred here.
To excavate is one part of the work but the second part is how to protect the site and expose it. With a limited budget, provided by Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University of Istanbul, excavations were carried out. Locals, who are walking only twenty meters away from the excavation site as they go from one village to the other, are curious of the excavations. The major objective is to inform the locals about the work and its significance in order to have public support. It is impossible for a lay person to visualize how the structures originally looked. For that reason, original appearances of both the baptistery and the church have been made. Upon receiving approval of the local administrators they will be put on display. That may raise public awareness and once locals feel they are not kept out of the circle they may contribute to the site protection. Another important question is, what the significance of the excavated site is and why it needs to be protected. Because of financial difficulties, excavation sites generally do not have enough protection both from nature and from human activities. Ulpiana is not an exception. By excavating, we shed light on human history, on the other hand, disturb the order of current life. By unearthing the monuments and discovering small items enormous information is gathered, but what will happen to the site is the problem. Balance is the key issue. As long as the benefits are far more bigger than potential damages, excavations should be carried out. The most difficult questions are: how to judge before excavating if it is worth excavating and what benefits the excavations bring to the locals?