"Through a study of the public display of spolia in Anatolia before 1500, in the lands ruled by Romans, Seljuks, and Ottomans, I show a deep investment of local peoples with their heritage. Fragmentary artifacts from the past - spolia - have rarely been discussed within the context of heritage debates. However, in the medieval period they were one of the most important media to communicate cultural continuity through their presence."
"The article critically discusses two opposing models for constructing historical continuity: modern and national concepts of continuity rest on linear, teleological models for constructing historical time, while premodern continuity in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond was realized through the (physical) presence of artifact and ideas taken from the past. The article argues that modern ideas about continuity, belonging, and ownership have led to a general view that the ancient and Byzantine past finds its inheritors in the Christian West,"
Public displays of spolia in Anatolia before 1500 show active local engagement with ancient and Byzantine material culture across Roman, Seljuk, and Ottoman domains. Fragmentary artifacts served as visible media that communicated cultural continuity through their physical presence in the medieval period. Two models of historical continuity are identified: modern, linear teleological narratives and premodern continuity enacted through the reuse and display of material remains. Modern narratives have tended to locate inheritance of the ancient past in the Christian West, marginalizing local Muslim communities. Spolia provide evidence to question such exclusionary heritage claims and epistemologies.
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