Dr Ümit Güder

Projects

Cluster of Excellence ‘Understanding Written Artefacts’ (2026–2032)

• 2026–2028: Principal Investigator of the project IRP06:
  Urartian Inscribed Metalwork: A Material-Based Approach to the Life Cycle of Ancient Written Artefacts

Research Focus

Ümit Güder is an archaeometallurgist specialising in the analysis of ancient and medieval metal artefacts from Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean. His research integrates archaeometric methods — including portable XRF, SEM-EDS, optical metallography and mechanical testing — with archaeological interpretation to reconstruct production technologies, alloy traditions, craft organisation and cross-craft interactions. His recent work has focused on Urartian copper-based alloys, where he identified the earliest known systematical use of brass in the ancient Near East, and on medieval steel technologies, including the first evidence of crucible steel production in Anatolia.

At the CSMC, his project investigates inscribed Urartian metalwork through a combination of 3D imaging, compositional analysis and toolmark study, contributing to the understanding of writing on metal as a material practice.

Education

• PhD in Art History (Archaeometry), Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey (2015). Dissertation: "Iron Metallurgy in Medieval Anatolia"
• MA in Ceramics, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University (2008)
• BSc in Material Science and Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara (2004)

Previous Positions

• Principal Investigator, Charles University, Prague (2023–2025) — PRIMUS project on Urartian copper-zinc alloys
• Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung (MPIE), Düsseldorf (2020–2022)
• Assistant Professor, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University (2016–2019)

Research Interests

• Archaeometallurgy of copper alloys and ferrous metals
• Ancient and medieval production technologies in Anatolia
• Urartian material culture and metalworking traditions
• Non-invasive analysis of museum collections (pXRF, 3D imaging)
• Digital databases for archaeometric data management
• Crucible steel and high-carbon steel technologies

Selected Publications

• Güder, Ü., Çavuşoğlu, R., Özdemir, A., & Özak, T. (2026). Chasing Urartu Alloying Practices: Evaluating Handheld XRF Instruments and Surface Effects for Identifying Zinc-Bearing Copper-Based Alloys. Archaeometry 68, Suppl. 1, S116–S130.
• Mokrišová, J., Güder, Ü., & Verčík, M. (2026). Early Iron in Western Anatolia: Analysis of Two Early Iron Age Knives From Asarlık in Caria. Archaeometry, 1–12.
• Güder, Ü., Mokrišová, J., Verčík, M., & Yalçın, Ü. (2025). Earliest evidence of ultrahigh carbon steel metallurgy in the ancient Aegean from the Archaic Milesia. PLoS ONE 20(3).
• Güder, Ü., Yavaş, A., Demirel Gökalp, Z., Taşan, C.C., & Raabe, D. (2025). From Crucible Steel to the Battlefield: Investigating a Unique Early Medieval Arrowhead from Anatolia. Metallography, Microstructure, and Analysis.
• Güder, Ü., Çeken, M., Yavaş, A., Yalçın, Ü., & Raabe, D. (2022). First evidence of crucible steel production in Medieval Anatolia, Kubadabad: A trace for possible technology exchange between Anatolia and Southern Asia. Journal of Archaeological Science 137.