Records of the American Society for Archaeological Research in Asia Minor

This deposit contains squeezes, notebooks, photographs, maps and correspondence relating to the fieldwork carried out by Calder et. al. under the auspices of the American Society for Archaeological Research in Asia Minor, 1925 - 1954. It also includes correspondence between Calder and his colleagues relating to Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua, and other published works. Most of the squeezes in the collection are believed to have been transcribed and published in Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua . In addition to photographs of the excavation, there are also images of countryside, towns and people, many depicting the political unrest in Asia Minor at this time.

William Moir Calder was born in Edinkillie, Morayshire on 2 July 1881, son of George MacBeth Calder, farmer. He graduated MA from Aberdeen University in 1903, BA from Oxon in 1907 and from 1908 - 1913 was Hulme Research Student in Brasenose College. He held the post of Hulme Professor of Greek at Manchester University from 1913 - 1930, and Professor of Greek in Edinburgh University from 1930 - 1951. In 1955 he was awarded the FBE for his services to Greek scholarship. He died in Elgin on 17 August 1960.

During his career Calder published many works on the antiquities of Asia Minor, the most celebrated of these being Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua, which contains the results of excavations in Phrygia, Lycania and Caria, funded by the American Society for Archaeological Research in Asia Minor between 1925 and 1934. The first expedition to eastern Phrygia in the spring of 1925 was made by Calder, R.K. Law, of St John's College, Oxford and P.L. McDougall, of Manchester University. During the next ten years other classical scholars joined the excavation team, and their work was published in 8 volumes during the period 1928 - 1962.

See entry in Who Was Who, 1951 - 1960 and obituary in Aberdeen University Review, vol. 38 (1959 - 60), p. 586. Further details about the American Society for Archaeological Research in Asia Minor, and the results of Calder's excavations are contained in Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua, ed. by William Moir Calder and others, 8 vols (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1928 - 1962).

The records have not been fully listed, but are available for consultation.

Open, subject to signature accepting conditions of use at reader registration sheet

See Archival History, above.

Very brief collection level description available on Aberdeen University Library Catalogue, accessible online http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/library/

No copies known

Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Head of Special Libraries and Archives (e-mail:  speclib@abdn.ac.uk ) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. Where possible, assistance will be given in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

This material has been appraised in line with normal procedures

In 1986, the archive was in the custody of the Anthropological Museum at Marischal College. The date and source of deposit are not recorded, though it was probably deposited some time after 1954, as Calder's fieldwork in Asia Minor is believed to have continued until this time. The archive was transferred to the University Archives in 1987.

No accruals expected

Notebooks from expeditions to Turkey, between 1951 and 1954 are known to have existed in 1991. At this time, they were in the custody of one of Calder's former colleagues. Further details can be supplied upon request.

Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua, ed. by William Moir Calder and others, 8 vols (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1928 - 1962).

This material is original