Cemal Pulak
Professor
Director, Old World Laboratory
Vice President, Institute of Nautical Archaeology
Frederick R. Mayer Professor of Nautical Archaeology I
Professor
Worked at TAMU from 1997-present
Bio
Dr. Pulak holds the Frederick R. Mayer Fellowship in Nautical Archaeology. He is also the Vice-President for the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) in Turkey. Dr. Pulak specializes in Bronze Age seafaring, maritime trade, and technology, and is currently involved with the research and publication of his latest shipwreck excavation, the Late Bronze Age shipwreck at Uluburn, Turkey. His related areas of interest are ship construction, seafaring, and nautical archaeology of the eastern Mediterranean from prehistory to post-medieval times. Since entering the field of nautical archaeology in 1975, Dr. Pulak has excavated three shipwreck sites, ranging in date from the Late Bronze Age through the 16th century A.D., and participated in the excavation and underwater investigation of many other shipwrecks. He has been directing INA’s annual shipwreck surveys in Turkey since 1982, and has conducted extensive research in the Mediterranean and the Aegean. The results of his research have been published widely in professional and popular publications.
Selected Publications
- C. Pulak, R. Ingram, and M. Jones, “Eight Shipwrecks from the Theodosian Harbor Excavations at Yenikapı in Istanbul, Turkey: an Introduction,” International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 44.1 (2015), 39-73.
- C. Pulak, R. Ingram, and M. Jones, “The Shipwrecks at Yenikapı: Recent Research in Byzantine Shipbuilding,” in Maritime Studies in the Wake of the Byzantine Shipwreck at Yassıada, Turkey, edited by D.N. Carlson, J. Leidwanger, and S.M. Kampbell (Texas A&M University Press, 2015), 102-115.
- C. Pulak, R. Ingram, and M. Jones, “Galleys and Merchantmen: Shipwrecks of Portus Theodosiacus, Yenikapı-Istanbul,” TINA Maritime Archaeology Periodical 1 (2014), 8-25. (Also in Turkish)
- C. Pulak, “Uluburun Shipwreck,” In: The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean (Ca. 3000-1000 BC). E. H. Cline (ed.). (Oxford University Press, 2010), 862-876.
- C. Pulak, 2008. “The Uluburun Shipwreck and Late Bronze Age Trade,” In Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C. J. Aruz, K. Benzel, and J.M. Evans (eds.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibition Catalog, pp. 288-305, artifact catalog: 306-310, 313-321, 324-333, 336-342, 345-348, 350-358, 366-378, 382-385.
Students Supervised (last 10 years)
- Laura White – PhD (2023)
- Olivia Close Brill – MA (2021)
- Dave Ruff – PhD (2020)
- Kevin Melia-Teevan – MA (2017)
- Jose Luis Casaban – PhD (2017)
- Lilia Campana – PhD (2014)
