The State Collections of Antiquities and the Glyptothek in Munich have in the past carried out excavations on the Greek island of Aegina. In the process, the chronology of the Aphaea sanctuary located there was extensively researched. Since 2006 the Karačamirli site (Azerbaijan) has been explored under the direction of the current director of the museum.
Aegina
In 1811 an international research team discovered the pedimental sculptures of the Temple of Aphaea. One year later, Martin von Wagner was able to purchase them at auction for Ludwig I. Between 1901 and 1907, Adolf Furtwängler, who at the time was director of the Glyptothek and professor for classical archaeology in Munich, performed excavations in the Aphaea sanctuary. In the process, he managed to reconstruct the line-up of the pedimental sculptures correctly. Operations were resumed in 1966 under the direction of Dieter Ohly. After his death in 1979, Ernst-Ludwig Schwandner and Martha Ohly continued the excavations until 1988. Significant remains of the Early Archaic predecessor temple were discovered and the architecture of the Late Archaic building could be secured. The entire finds from the 20th century excavations can be found today in the little excavation museum on Aegina or in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Karačamirli
Since 2006, a German-Azerbaijan team has been excavating an Achaemenid residence near Karačamirli. From the 6th to the 4th century BC, the Caucasus region was under Persian rule. The extensive complex at Karačamirli was evidently an Achaemenid administration centre. The palace on the Gurban Tepe is the largest and most magnificent ancient complex in the Caucasus. It was most probably the seat of a Persian governor. It was surrounded by a garden complex (Paradeisos), further monumental buildings of the foreign ruler and the village settlement of the local population.
A report on the excavations can be found → here.
