Conference “Poles in the Near East 2022”

We would like to invite you to attend the archaeological conference “Poles in the Near East” organised jointly by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology and the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw. The conference will feature two thematic panels, both devoted to issues related to ancient stone masonry, and a general session presenting the results of fieldwork and research on specific topics.

This year’s edition will have a hybrid format: the first two days (June 8th-9th) will be held online, while on Friday, June 10th we invite you with to join us at the Faculty of Archaeology UW (room 2.10) or online. All talks at this year’s conference will be presented in English.

The first day of the conference (Wednesday 8th June) will begin with Panel 1: “Deciphering ancient stonecutters: archaeology of the masons’ marks” discussing methodological aspects of research on stonecutters’ marks, technical issues related to this research and architectural reconstructions based on stonecutters’ marks.

The second part of the day will begin with Panel 2: “Marble use, trade and distribution in the Eastern Mediterranean during Late Antiquity”. It is devoted to marbles in Late Antiquity, and will cover a very wide regional range, from Greece through Jordan, to Egypt. The panel, the second part of which will take place on Thursday, 9th June, will present 16 papers on a variety of topics including studies of specific object forms, building decoration, as well as archaeometric studies of the origins of marble and the secondary uses of this raw material. This is a unique set of papers, filling an important gap in research on marbles after the Roman period.

The General Session will also begin on Thursday, with presentations on topics ranging from epigraphy through bio-anthropological research to the application of satellite imaging techniques.

On Friday, 10th June, hybrid sessions will be held focusing on research results from the Arabian Peninsula, Southern Caucasus, and the Levant. We encourage you to attend in person!

The conference is open to all wishing to attend. Zoom link can be obtained by pre-registering via a Google form.

  • Program (PDF)
  • Abstracts (PDF)