Archaeological site museums in Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey and contemporary technological applications

In addition to preserving and storing ancient artifacts, the priority of museums in contemporary museology has become to share the ancient cultures with the visitors, and to give the visitor a sense of cultural heritage by telling them the history of the society in which they live. It is very difficult for people to communicate with materials and ancient cultures behind the showcases, since the traditional museum approach focuses on preservation and exhibition. Therefore, there is a perception that museums are boring places when the general population is considered. In this context, archaeological site museums allow the visitors to experience the ancient cultures by providing the opportunity to exhibit the archaeological materials in their own environment. Contemporary technological applications, on the other hand, ensure that the information is transferred to the visitors by gamifying. Thus, the visitors spend more time having fun in the museum and the information acquired is permanent. In this thesis, the necessity of museums to be opened to the archeological sites with the arrangement of these places in order to ensure the sustainability by spreading the awareness of protecting cultural heritage to the society base has been emphasized, the structural and administrative conditions of Aphrodisias, Hierapolis, Milet, Side and Karatepe-Aslantas archaeological site museums which are located in Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey are investigated, visitor profile and visitor experiences are analyzed with the help of survey study conducted in these museums. The examples of technological devices used contemporarily in the museums are explored and their effects on visitors are stressed. As a conclusion, it was understood that the museums established in the archaeological sites not only provide preservation of the movable artifacts on-site, but also help visitors to understand the ancient culture and history by providing the integrity of the context, and that the use of contemporary technological applications such as hologram, simulation and projection in archaeological site museums reinforce this conception.