WASHINGTON, September 23 (RIA Novosti) – Two decades of research by a Texas-based archeology professor has led to an ancient Greek city located in Ukraine being designated a UNESCO world heritage site, according to an announcement on the University of Texas website.
Joseph Carter, professor of classical archaeology and the director of the Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICA) at the University of Texas at Austin began his excavations of the fifth century B.C. port city of Chersonesos in 1994, according to the website.
Carter’s group from the university was the first foreign team to be given access to the site, which is located close to the port city of Sevastopol. The work gradually progressed from “excavation to preservation, conservation and finally interpretation,” according to last week’s announcement from the University of Texas at Austin.
“Chersonesos commands our respect because of its very important place in world history, as the birthplace of democracy in this part of the world, and of Christianity in the Slavic world,” said Carter. “Few places on Earth have such a long and vital history.”
Carter returned to Chersonesos Friday for a celebration of its official World Heritage Site designation, which was first announced by UNESCO in June, according to the website.
