Scoop columnist Suzan Mazur reports on her investigations iinto the Dorak Affair, an antiquities mystery that severely damaged archaeologist James Mellaart's reputation.
Michael Balter, science writer who contributed to Mazur's investigations, replies: "Suzan Mazur has made a valiant effort to solve the Dorak Affair, nearly 50 years after the events. However, her claim to have done so falls short, in large part because it depends on an amateurish typewriter analysis to demonstrate that the mysterious lady on the train, Anna Papastrati, never existed. But even if she did not, which I suspect is true, it does not prove that the Dorak treasure did not exist. And she misquotes University of California, Berkeley archaeologist David Stronach, putting words into his mouth to the effect that James Mellaart invented the treasure, something that Stronach could not know--only Mellaart himself has the keys to this secret. However, I have seen Mellaart's detailed written descriptions of the treasure and do not believe he could have made it all up--the treasure, I believe, did exist in whole or in part. As I suggest in my chapter on Dorak in my book about Catalhoyuk, The Goddess and the Bull, the most likely explanation is that the treasure existed but that Anna did not; rather, Mellaart probably was probably shown the treasure by a dealer or a collector."
Michael Balter, science writer who contributed to Mazur's investigations, replies: "Suzan Mazur has made a valiant effort to solve the Dorak Affair, nearly 50 years after the events. However, her claim to have done so falls short, in large part because it depends on an amateurish typewriter analysis to demonstrate that the mysterious lady on the train, Anna Papastrati, never existed. But even if she did not, which I suspect is true, it does not prove that the Dorak treasure did not exist. And she misquotes University of California, Berkeley archaeologist David Stronach, putting words into his mouth to the effect that James Mellaart invented the treasure, something that Stronach could not know--only Mellaart himself has the keys to this secret. However, I have seen Mellaart's detailed written descriptions of the treasure and do not believe he could have made it all up--the treasure, I believe, did exist in whole or in part. As I suggest in my chapter on Dorak in my book about Catalhoyuk, The Goddess and the Bull, the most likely explanation is that the treasure existed but that Anna did not; rather, Mellaart probably was probably shown the treasure by a dealer or a collector."
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