Conservation of Superimposed Historical Constructions

Abstract

Human beings have continuously built new structures for their basic needs. In some cases, resettlement activities were carried out using structures built by ancient civilizations. In Anatolia, which has cradled different civilizations, it is almost impossible to find the designs and techniques of a single civilization in a building when we examine the architectural heritage from Ancient Age, Roman, Byzantine, Anatolian Seljuk, Anatolian Princi- palities and Ottoman Empire. It is a common method to repair and use buildings that have been left out of use due to various reasons such as wars, migration and natural disasters in the history. As a result, the interventions in the historical buildings, which are constantly changing, have created an indelible layer and gave the monuments a superimposed feature. As the living witnesses of the old superimposed periods, monuments are also important, with their evidence reflecting information such as life stylise, architectural concept, construction techniques and materials belong to previous time. This study will help not only to illustrate the identification, documentation and conservation problems of historical monuments that includes superimposed periods, but also to learn and to integrate the results to build new tools and methodologies for documenting, managing and communicating of the conservation.