This project researches & contextualizes the forty-five 6th- to 9th-century Alanic objects from the Northern Caucasus in the collection of the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The first part of the project focused on uncovering the provenance of the objects, which I presented & published independently. However, for the analysis and interpretation, I am collaborating with textile conservator, Martina Ferrari. We are particularly interested in better understanding a kaftan in this collection (no. 1996.78.1), regarding its original construction, later phases of alternations, modern reconstructions, & conservation treatments.
Betty Khensellek [Hensellek], “O proikhozhdenii alanskikh materialov v kollektsii Metropoliten-muzeia" [On the Provenance of the Alanic Materials in the Metropolitan Museum of Art], in Drevnie i srednevekovye kul'tury Tsentral'noi Azii, edited by V. Nikonorov et al., 293 (Saint Petersburg: Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2020)
“Otchet o proiskhozhdenii alanskikh materialov Severnogo Kavkaza v Metropoliten-muzee” [Provenance Report of the Alanic Northern Caucasus Material at the Metropolitan Museum of Art], Drevnie i srednevekovye kul’tury Tsentral'noi Azii i Srednego Vostoka, Institute for the History of Material Culture and the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, 10-12 November 2020 (presentations cancelled for non-Russia residents)
“Provenance Report on the Alanic Materials from the Northern Caucasus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” South Caucasus Colloquium, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York, 7 December 2019