Timothy Matney, Ph.D.

Timothy Matney, Ph.D.

Title: Professor
Research Specialty: Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology
Office: Olin 241
Email: matney@uakron.edu
Website: https://www.timothymatney.net

Biography

Dr. Timothy Matney is an archaeologist specializing the Ancient Near East. Since 1984 he has conducted fieldwork in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Azerbaijan, India, England, and the US. The majority of his work has focused on northern part of ancient Mesopotamia (SE Turkey, N Iraq, and NE Syria). From 1994-1999, Dr. Matney was the Co-Director of the excavations at the Early Bronze Age (c. 2600-2100 BC) city of Titriş Höyük on the Euphrates River in the Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey, a mercantile center with early evidence of city planning. From 1997-2014, he directed the excavations at Ziyaret Tepe, Neo-Assyrian (Iron Age, c. 900-600 BC) city of Tušhan located on the Tigris River in the Diyarbakır Province of Turkey. His newest expedition — The Sebittu Project — started in 2022 and is located in the Erbil Province of the Kurdish Autonomous Region of northern Iraq. This new project is exploring seven small hamlets in the Erbil Plain with a focus on the agrarian economy and environmental impact of Neo-Assyrian (Iron Age, c. 900-600 BC) imperial expansion. Dr. Matney is an expert in applied geophysical subsurface mapping and has led numerous projects and field schools teaching this technology. He joined the University of Akron in 1998 and was promoted to full Professor of Archaeology in 2011.

Publications

For Popular Audiences:

Matney, T., J. MacGinnis, D. Wicke, and K. Köroğlu (2017) Ziyaret Tepe: Exploring the Anatolian Frontier of the Assyrian Empire. Edinburgh: Cornucopia Press. Winner of the Felicia A. Holton ‘Best Book of the Year’ Award, Archaeological Institute of America.

Recent Technical Studies:

Matney, T. (2024) “Grave M-134 at Ziyaret Tepe: An ‘Uncommon’ Commoner’s Burial of the Late Assyrian Period” In K. Blanchard, Y. Rakic, and P. Zimmerman, eds., Archaeology from Every Angle: Papers in Honor of Richard L. Zettler. Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Press. Pp. 147-157.

Proctor, L., A. Smith, and T. Matney (2024) “Examining long-term fuel and land use patterns at Ziyaret Tepe, Türkiye using an integrated analysis of seeds, wood charcoal, and dung spherulites” Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 16: 112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-024-02013-2

Lancaster, J. and T. Matney (2023) “Digitally constructing a late Early Bronze Age roof. Observations and conclusions” Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 28: e00258.

Matney, T, T. Greenfield, T., K. Köroğlu, J. MacGinnis, B. Hartenberger and M. Rosenzweig (2022) “Living at the Gate: Identification of Military Housing at Neo-Assyrian Tušhan (Ziyaret Tepe)” In, S. Steadman, L. Battini, and A. Brody, editors, No Place Like Home: Ancient Near Eastern Houses and Households. Oxford: Archaeopress. Pp. 58-77.

Greenfield, T. and T. Matney (2021) “Stews, Ewes, and Social Cues: Commoner Diets at Neo-Assyrian Tušhan” In, L. Recht and C. Tsouparoploulou, eds., Fierce lions, angry mice and fat-tailed sheep: Animal encounters in the ancient Near East. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Pp. 161-178.

Education

  • Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania (1993)
  • M.A. Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania (1991)
  • B.A. Western Asiatic Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, University College London (1987)

Courses

  • Introduction to Archaeology (ANTH 110)
  • Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology (ANTH 360)
  • Ancient Metallurgy (ANTH 365)
  • Neolithic Revolution (ANTH 368)
  • Introduction to Anthropological Data (ANTH 400)
  • Archaeological Theory (ANTH 407)
  • Archaeogeophysical Survey (ANTH 410)