Videos by Sera Yelözer
Conference Presentation.
"Moving Bodies", Online International Workshop held by IFEA and the Un... more Conference Presentation.
"Moving Bodies", Online International Workshop held by IFEA and the University of Bordeaux, 25.09.2020. 133 views
Books by Sera Yelözer
Arkeolojide Kimlikler / Identities in Archaeology - TAG Türkiye Serisi TAG Türkiye Toplantısı Bildirileri 3, 2023
Journal Articles by Sera Yelözer
Höyük, 2024
İnsan yaşamında bilişsel ve teknolojik gelişimin en önemli aşaması, çocukluk dönemidir. Buna karş... more İnsan yaşamında bilişsel ve teknolojik gelişimin en önemli aşaması, çocukluk dönemidir. Buna karşın tarih öncesi toplulukların dünyasında çocuklar, genelde ihmal edilen bir alan olmuştur. Bu konuda araştırma azlığının nedeni, çalışmaların genellikle tarih öncesi toplulukların sosyo-ekonomik dünyalarını meydana getiren temel aktiviteler olan tarım, hayvancılık, avcılık-toplayıcılık ve çeşitli zanaatlar gibi çoğunlukla fiziksel güç ve bilişsel beceri gerektiren konulara odaklanmış olmasıdır. Bu nedenle, çoğu zaman arkeologlar için, örneğin Neolitik bir köy, besin üretimi ile meşgul olan yetişkin bireylerle özdeştir. Çocuklar ise üretim faaliyetlerinin aktif bir parçası olmaya başladıkları belirli bir yaşa gelene dek toplumun en pasif halkası olarak görülürler. Ancak, etnografik ve arkeolojik çalışmalar, yetişkin bireylerin gündelik sorumluluklara ve zanaatlara ilişkin bilgi ve becerilerinin gelişimi, bireyin seçeceği uzmanlık, topluluk içindeki kimlik ve rollerinin çocukluk döneminde oluşmaya başladığını göstermektedir. Bu nedenle tarih öncesi bir topluluğu anlamak için çocukların dünyasını anlamak en az yetişkin bireyler kadar önemlidir. Bu makale, bundan 10 bin yıl öncelerinde Aşıklı Höyük'te doğan ve ölen çocuklar üzerinedir. Bebek ve çocuklara dair iskelet verilerinin yanı sıra yontma taş (obsidiyen) işçiliği üzerine yürütülen teknolojik analizler sonucunda, çocukların da üretim süreci içerisinde yer aldıkları saptanmış ve böylelikle çocuklar, arkeolojik veriler vasıtasıyla görünür kılınmıştır. Çalışmada, son veriler ışığında, Aşıklı topluluğunun bin yıllık uzun ve kesintisiz iskân tarihinde bebeklerin ve çocukların yeri ve biyolojik ve sosyal kimlikleri ele alınmaktadır.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2024
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As one... more Free access from the link for 50 days: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1i8~r_,5MKXAap7
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As one of the most portable of artefacts, marine shells used as personal ornaments help archaeologists define the relationships of prehistoric communities with landscapes. The transition from mobile hunter-gatherer to largely sedentary lifeways that lies at the centre of the Neolithic process transformed human-landscape relationships. In this article we collate marine and freshwater shell ornament distribution data and multiple variables in ornament choice and production for the Epipalaeolithic-Neolithic transition period in Anatolia. This produces a diachronic perspective on changes in human interactions with the landscape through the Neolithic transition process. We compare this with existing interpretations of the western spread of Neolithic populations and lifeways to determine both the sustainability of marine resource procurement through the sedentarization process and investigate multi-directional interactions and influences through time.
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 30, pages 172–202 (2023), 2023
Baysal, E.L., Yelözer, S. Searching for the Individual: Characterising Knowledge Transfer and Ski... more Baysal, E.L., Yelözer, S. Searching for the Individual: Characterising Knowledge Transfer and Skill in Prehistoric Personal Ornament Making. J Archaeol Method Theory 30, 172–202 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-022-09589-z
Research on prehistoric personal ornaments has focused on patterns in materials, technology and processes of change but struggles to place human thought and action at the centre of interpretation. However, striking examples of variations in production, altered and mended ornaments and different levels of skill visible in the quality of finished products, and subsequent adjustments made to them are a recurring feature of archaeological ornament assemblages. In addition to regional data on preferences for types and materials, the movement of ornaments between locations and interregional influences, this evidence provides crucial clues about choices, individual makers, and perceptions of the learning process. This article asks to what extent decision-making, individual levels of skill and the expectations surrounding learning or knowledge transmission can be successfully identified and interpreted using the often-limited information available from prehistoric assemblages. Examples taken from Neolithic assemblages in Turkey are used to explore the mutually shaping human-ornament relationship, intention, expectations of normality and divergence from expectation in the production of ornament assemblages. Ornaments are found to be subject to structured and unstructured adjustments within complex biographies and an active area of individual interpretation of shared concepts.
Anadolu (Anatolia), 2022
[The text is in Turkish with an extended English abstract]
Bu çalışma, tarih öncesinde kişise... more [The text is in Turkish with an extended English abstract]
Bu çalışma, tarih öncesinde kişisel süs eşyalarının bedende taşınan ve bireyler, topluluklar ve uzak mesafeler arasında dolaşımda olan objeler olarak sosyal kimlikleri simgelemedeki rolünü ele almaktadır. Bu yorumlamaların yapılabilmesinin ön koşulu, günümüzde arkeolojide gittikçe yaygınlaşan çeşitli metodolojik yaklaşımların uygulanmasıdır. Kişisel süs eşyalarının hammadde temini, üretim süreçleri ve kimlikler gibi tarih öncesi arkeolojisi için anahtar konular hakkında neler söyleyebileceğini çözümlemek için gerekli analitik yaklaşımlara ve yorumlama biçimlerimizi zenginleştirebilecek olan etnografik örneklere dair Türkçe literatüre de katkı sunmak amacıyla, çalışmanın ilk kısmında arkeolojide kişisel süs eşyalarına dair yaklaşımlar tartışılmaktadır. Uygulanmakta olan analitik yöntemler ile Anadolu arkeolojisinde kişisel süs eşyası çalışmaları kısaca ele alınmakta ve ardından, kişisel süs eşyalarının kimlikler ve etkileşim kavramlarıyla iç içe geçmiş ilişkisi, çeşitli etnografik örneklerle vurgulanmaktadır. Bu arka planın ardından, Anadolu ve Levant'ta Paleolitik Çağ'dan Çanak Çömleksiz Neolitik Dönem sonuna dek uzun erimli bir bakışla, tarihöncesinde kimliklerin, deniz kabukları, taşlar ve minerallerden üretilmiş boncukların zamansal ve bölgesel dağılımında görülen devamlılık ve değişim eğilimleriyle ilişkisi ele alınmakta ve sosyal kimliği teknoloji ve uzmanlaşma kavramlarıyla birlikte nasıl okuyabileceğimiz tartışılmaktadır. Sonuçlar, Anadolu ve Levant'ta tarihöncesi toplulukların kişisel süs eşyası pratiklerinde, özellikle belirli hammaddelerin ve formların tercihinde, uzun erimli bir kültürel devamlılık olduğunu ancak buluntu yerleri ve bölgeler arası farklılık ve çeşitliliklerin, toplulukların özgün kültürel kimliklerini yansıttığını göstermektedir. Yerleşik yaşama geçiş sürecinde değişen yaşam biçimiyle birlikte ise birkaç bin yıllık kültürel ve teknolojik birikime dayalı olarak gelişen yeni boncuk teknolojilerinin, oluşmaya başlayan uzmanlaşmanın ve etkileşime katılımın bu dönemde yeni sosyal kimliklerin oluşumunu etkilediği görülmektedir.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2022
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Among the artefacts of funda... more Free download at:
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Among the artefacts of fundamental importance in the context of symbolism and iconography during the Neo-lithization process in northern Mesopotamia, there is much research about, and publication relating to, human figurines or statues, animal figurines or statues, figured stone objects, stone vessels, bone plaques, wall decoration (paint, relief, or incision) and stone pillars. While among these various research topics bone plaques have been noticeably less studied than other classes of small finds, they are gradually gaining importance. From the figurative and typological perspective, these objects carry importance for their visual characteristics and their regional variety, but it is notable that their typological differences and functions are still not well understood. This study opens a new debate about the techno-typological characteristics, regional distribution, and modes of use of these objects starting from a group of bone plaques recovered from burial contexts during the excavations of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlement of Boncuklu Tarla in southeast Turkey. Portable symbolic artefacts are found to show significant overlaps between materials, iconography and use as well as regional identities and temporal continuities in techniques and decoration.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2021
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In the beginning of the 8th millennium BCE, the people of Aşıklı Höyük dramatically changed how they constructed their buildings. People no longer constructed circular, semi-subterranean residential buildings and instead started to build above ground rectangular buildings. The long-term Aşıklı Höyük excavations help us understand the tempo and organization of this important evolutionary transition. This study advances discussion in three ways: 1) it provides a fine grained understanding of the diachronic shift in social and economic practices, 2) through broad horizontal excavation, this research provides new insights into the built environment, including the opportunity to understand the synchronic organization of residential and non-residential spaces, and 3) this study puts forth a detailed understanding of the evolutionary shift from circular-oval to rectangular architectural practices within a single residential setting. Collectively, the long-term research project at Aşıklı Höyük, with extensive horizontal excavations and detailed radiocarbon dating project, advances our understanding of the changing social and economic context of the transition from circular to rectangular residential buildings.
The political and socio-cultural atmosphere of the 1960s, which was characterized by a ‘quest for... more The political and socio-cultural atmosphere of the 1960s, which was characterized by a ‘quest for a new world’ put new questions into the agendas of the social sciences, such as anthropology and archaeology. These questions initiated new research programs focusing on the hierarchical and authoritarian order of today's world systems. This process, which addressed themes such as social order, simple and complex societies, egalitarian societies and/or the origins of inequality, and made them principal questions of various research agendas, is an outcome of a genuine political and socio-cultural a search in the field of social sciences. The main outcome of these studies was the formation of an analytical structure aimed at explaining how the inner dynamics of societies really worked.
In this work we will try to evaluate the prominent factors of complexity, and use the concept of social complexity to understand and explain societies' social organization systems and how political and socio-cultural backgrounds affect approaches employing this concept. Our aim is to emphasize that even similar social systems, life-ways and circumstances may not be enough to schematize societies and to embody parameters of social complexity. We accomplish this by reviewing hypothesis and critiques and presenting a case study of the Inuit society.
Book Chapters by Sera Yelözer
Arkeolojide Kimlikler / Identities in Archaeology - TAG Türkiye Serisi TAG Türkiye Toplantısı Bildirileri 3, 2023
Geniş bir zamansal, coğrafi ve yaklaşımsal kapsamda geçmişte ve günümüzde arkeolojinin kimliklerl... more Geniş bir zamansal, coğrafi ve yaklaşımsal kapsamda geçmişte ve günümüzde arkeolojinin kimliklerle ilişkisini ele alan birbirinden değerli 20 çalışmadan oluşan bu kitabı, arkeoloji literatürüne Türkçe ağırlıklı bir kaynak olarak kazandırmaktan mutluluk duyuyoruz. Arkeoloji, ürettiği bilginin politik kullanımı bağlamında modern ulus devletlerin kimlik inşası için tartışmalı bir geçmişe sahip. Ancak dünya arkeolojisi son on yıllarda hem işçi, göçmen ve azınlık hakları hem de kadın ve LGBTİ+ hakları için verilen mücadeleler başta olmak üzere özgürlükçü ve feminist toplumsal hareketlerle iç içe geçmeye; odağını geçmişin “görkemli” ve “ihtişamlı” yaşamlarından işçilerin, köylülerin, göçmenlerin ve azınlıkların yaşamlarının araştırıldığı çalışmalara çevirerek toplumsallaşmaya başladı. Ancak gerçek şu ki, bu kitabın basıldığı dönemin Türkiye’si için bunu söyleyebilmekten hayli uzağız. Son yıllarda Türkiye arkeolojisinde en büyük övgüyü alan araştırmaların odağında savaş, hiyerarşi ve sınıfsal farklılıklar gibi temalar yer almakta. Ancak bu yorumların—şimdilik—bilimsel veriler ile sınanmadığını görmekteyiz. Yine de, attığımız bu adımın, kadınlar ve LGBTİ+’lar başta olmak üzere hiçbir kimliğin nefret söylemlerine, ötekileştirmeye ve dışlamaya maruz kalmadığı, kimliklerin çoğulluğunu ve çeşitliliğini özgürce yaşayabildiği, ifade edebildiği, hayatta kalabildiği (!) bir Türkiye’de, geçmişine ve disiplininin tarihine eleştirel bakabilen araştırmacıların yetiştiği ve özgür bir bilimsel ortamın öncelik olduğu bir akademik dünya- da üretilecek yeni kuramlara ilham olmasını dileriz.
TAG-Türkiye 2021 üçüncü toplantısında sunulan bildirilerin videolarına https://www.youtube. com/@tag-turkey2021 adresinden ulaşabilirsiniz.
The Early Settlement at Aşıklı Höyük: Essays in Honor of Ufuk Esin, 2018
The beads from Aşıklı Höyük were made from a variety of raw materials. These materials include st... more The beads from Aşıklı Höyük were made from a variety of raw materials. These materials include stone, native copper and malachite, clay, mollusc shells, and animal bones and teeth. Waste from the manufacturing of bone and tooth beads occurs in multi-purpose open activity areas and middens, indicating that these artifacts were made on-site. Cylindrical bone beads, red deer canine pendants, bone imitations of red deer canines, and stone disc beads were in use since the early phases of occupation of Aşıklı (Levels 5 and 4). The bead repertoire in the subsequent phases (Levels 3 and 2; 8th millennium BC) expanded to include new types of raw materials such as rock and mineral types that were not used previously. This change coincides with the incorporation of beads in human burials. The results of this study were first presented in the MA thesis of the author (Yelözer 2016). The present paper summarizes evidence on the raw materials, colors and types of beads, and it discusses the implications of changes in ornamentation through time at Aşıklı Höyük.
The Mummy Under the Bed: Essays on Gender and Methodology in the Ancient Near East , 2022
Kültür Varlıkları ve Müzeler Genel Müdürlüğü 2019-2020 Yılı Kazı Çalışmaları (pp. 183-192). Vol. 3, T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Kültür Varlıkları ve Müzeler Genel Müdürlüğü: Ankara. , 2022
Arslan, A., Yelözer, S., 2021. Materyal Kültür ve Toplumsal Cinsiyet İlişkisi. A. Baysal (Ed.), Materyal Kültür ve İnsan: Yeni Yaklaşımlar (pp. 61-100). Bilgin Kültür Sanat Yayınları: Ankara., 2021
Arkeolojide toplumsal cinsiyet araştırmaları, modern yöntemler ve teorik yaklaşımlar ile buluşana... more Arkeolojide toplumsal cinsiyet araştırmaları, modern yöntemler ve teorik yaklaşımlar ile buluşana dek, arkeolojik düşünce tarihine etki etmiş birçok eşiği aşar. Kadınların da geçmişin aktif özneleri olduğunun vurgulanmasıyla başlayan ilk çalışmaların ardından, son yıllarda, cinsiyet, yaş, öğrenme, tecrübe ve yetenek gibi faktörler arasındaki ilişki ve bunların materyal kültürdeki yansımaları ele alınmaktadır. Özellikle 1990’lı yıllardan itibaren materyal kültürün bireylerin kesişimsel kimlikleri ile ilişkisini ele alan araştırmacılar, sosyal bilimlerdeki habitus, yapılandırma, performatiflik gibi yaklaşımlardan esinlenmiş, bu yaklaşımlar ile materyal kültür de insanlar gibi aktif ve dönüşen biyografilere sahip bir olgu olarak ele alınmaya başlamıştır. Bu çalışma, toplumsal cinsiyet arkeolojisinin materyal kültür araştırmalarındaki yerini tartışmayı ve toplumsal cinsiyet kimliğinin oluşumunda materyal kültürün önemini ele almayı hedeflemektedir. Bu amaçla, toplumsal cinsiyet arkeolojisinin tarihsel seyrine dair bir değerlendirme sunulmuş ve materyal kültür-kimlik ilişkisi, nesne ve beden, üretim zinciri ve mekân gibi kavramlar çerçevesinde arkeolojik, tarihi ve etnografik örnekler üzerinden ele alınmıştır.
V. ODTÜ Arkeometri Çalıştayı Türkiye Arkeolojisinde Takı ve Boncuk: Arkeolojik ve Arkeometrik Çalışmalar. Bildiriler Kitabı, 2021
Boncuklar, yaş, cinsiyet, grup aidiyeti gibi çeşitli kimliklerin ifade edildiği karmaşık bir ilet... more Boncuklar, yaş, cinsiyet, grup aidiyeti gibi çeşitli kimliklerin ifade edildiği karmaşık bir iletişim sisteminin parçası olarak tarihöncesi topluluklar için çok katmanlı anlamlar taşımaktaydı. Bu çalışmada, Orta Anadolu’nun doğu- sunda, Volkanik Kapadokya bölgesinde yer alan Aşıklı Höyük yerleşmesinde (MÖ kal. 8350-7300) boncukların yaş ve cinsiyet kimliklerinin dışavurumundaki rolü ele alınmaya çalışılacaktır. Yerleşmenin yüzyıllara yayılan iskan süreci içerisinde topluluğun besin temini ve tüketimi pratiklerinde, teknolojik tercihlerinde, yerleşim düzeninde, mekan kullanımında ve sembolik davranışlarında aşamalı değişimler yaşanır. Bu değişimler ölü gömme davranışları ve Aşıklı bireylerinin birlikte gömüldüğü boncukların yapımında da karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Ön sonuçlar, bazı erişkin bireylerin çeşitli hammadde, form ve renkte boncuklarla gömüldüğünü göstermekteyken, tek boncuk ile gömülme uygulaması yalnızca kadın ve çocuklara özgüdür. Topluluğun yerleşik yaşamı yüzlerce yıl tecrübe edişinden sonra görülmeye başlayan bu değişimin anlaşılabilmesine yönelik ön çalışmalar yeni sorular doğurmaktadır: 1) Aşıklı Höyük’te farklı cinsiyet ve yaş gruplarından bireylerin birlikte gömüldüğü boncuklar arasında üretim zinciri bağlamında ne gibi benzerlik ve farklılıklar vardır? 2) Bu objeler bireyler tarafından yaşamları içerisinde kullanılmış veya doğrudan ölü gömme ritüeli için üretilmiş olabilir mi? Bu soruları cevap- landırmak amacıyla, boncuklar biyografik bir yaklaşımla çalışılmıştır. Bu yaklaşım, hammadde tanımlamaları, tekno-morfolojik analizler ve kullanım izi analizlerini içermektedir.
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Personal ornaments carry interwoven meanings and are part of a complex system of communication where certain identities could be signified. This study aims to investigate the role that beads played in manifesting identities of age and gender at Aşıklı Höyük (8350-7300 cal BC) in east Central Anatolia. The bead assemblage from the site consists of stone, bone, tooth and shell beads. Throughout the hundreds of years of occupation at the site, the community underwent gradual changes in production, architecture, and symbolic behaviors. This is well illustrated in the incorporation of beads in the funerary sphere during the latest phases corresponding to the mid-8th millennium BC, as a new practice after hundreds of years of experiencing settled life at the site. Preliminary results indicate that some adults were buried with large number and varied colored beads whereas the use of single, green beads was confined to females and children. This brings forth certain questions: 1) Can we identify different manufacturing techniques applied to produce these items? 2) Were these items manufactured especially for a burial or were they previously worn? A biographic approach is adopted to analyze the beads found in funerary contexts at the site, including raw material characterization, techno-morphological studies, and use-wear analysis. In this article, these questions are explored supplemented by the preliminary results of the technological and use-wear analysis.
Beauty and the eye of the beholder: personal adornments across the millennia. Monica Margarit and Adina Boroneant (Eds). Cetatea de scaun, Targovişte., 2020
This paper examines osseous beads and pendants from the Aceramic Neolithic mound site of Aşıklı H... more This paper examines osseous beads and pendants from the Aceramic Neolithic mound site of Aşıklı Höyük (Central Anatolia, Turkey). The major part of the excavated occupational sequence spans c. 8350-7350 cal BC, a period characterised by local differences in subsistence strategies prior to the emergence of agropastoral systems. At Aşıklı Höyük, gradual replacement of a variety of animals harvested for meat with caprines and stock keeping have been observed. Cultivation would be the prime explanation for the location of the site, which became larger and more densely occupied over time. Material culture provides evidence for technological and social behaviours changing at different rates and degrees. The osseous ornaments highlight deep-rooted habits and concepts as well as shifting attitudes toward personal adornment. Beads made from small mammal and bird bones and marine mollusc shells and deer canine imitations made from mammal bones were a constant choice. The major variations concern the spatial and temporal distributions of the tooth pendants and shell beads and the materials and skills used for imitation. We use here faunal and technological data to explore these distributions further.
Body ornaments can be read as both symbols and media reflecting personal or social aspects of the... more Body ornaments can be read as both symbols and media reflecting personal or social aspects of their owners’ identities. Understanding the use of ornaments in prehistoric societies can contribute to an evaluation of their social, technological, cognitive, symbolic and economic systems, values or traditions, as well as their relations with the outer world. As a whole, these items may reflect individual or corporate identities, personal and social aspects of both the individuals within the society and the society itself as a whole. The present data from Aşıklı Höyük, an early Neolithic settlement located in Central Anatolia, suggests that sedentism in the region begins around the 9th millennium B.C. Habitation at the site is continuous, lasting more than 1000 years. Notably, in the 8th millennium there are indications for significant changes in settlement pattern and architecture; in contrast, traditions in other aspects such as burial customs, subsistence and technologies, remain constant. Studies demonstrate on the one hand a gradual and rather slow change, yet on the other hand it is apparent that the community was intrinsically bound to its past. The aim of this contribution is to identify changes and/or continuity in the community through selected small finds, namely personal ornaments, comprising beads, necklaces, bracelets and the so-called belt buckles. These finds, which have been found in various contexts and layers, will be assessed with respect to raw materials and shapes/types. Aspects of change and/or continuity will be identified. Implications for our understanding of newly established life ways and social organization of the community will be discussed.
The androcentric, male-biased archaeological perception with a linear understanding of the past, ... more The androcentric, male-biased archaeological perception with a linear understanding of the past, which is mainly focused on material culture with a descriptive concern, is a product of cultural-historical and positivist archaeological traditions. Through time, this approach has chosen to focus on material culture, nurturing from dichotomies such as nature/culture, domestic space/communal space, man the hunter/woman the gatherer, productive/fertile etc. But this shift into a different understanding of the past, with a concern of past societies social aspects, still has not been able to alter the androcentric base of the discipline. The mainstream archaeological knowledge production is still not concerned with the context of the archaeological artifacts and data; when relating the archaeological thing with the human(s) who produced, used, functioned and valued it, archaeologists mainly define and interpret the thing itself with androcentric, implicit and presentist gender codes. But the archaeologist itself should approach this relation of humans and things –both in past and today– searching for agents who produced, used, valued and functioned those things, rather than de-contextualizing both the subject and the object by interpreting them with today’s androcentric gender norms. The main aim of this paper is to start an argument and criticism of the male-biased archaeological knowledge production and therefore the discipline itself with a ‘deconstructive’ manner, through feminist archaeology as a critical archaeological approach.
KAPADOKYA: Hafıza, Kimlik ve Kültürel Miras, 2019
Neolitik Dönem, dünyanın farklı coğrafyalarında farklı şekillerde yaşanmış ve insan toplulukların... more Neolitik Dönem, dünyanın farklı coğrafyalarında farklı şekillerde yaşanmış ve insan topluluklarının yaşam biçimini radikal biçimde değiştirmiş bir süreçtir. Bugün Güneybatı Asya’da Neolitik yaşam biçiminin belirleyici öğeleri içerisinde, bir önceki döneme kıyasla daha geniş bir alana yayılan yerleşmelerin yıl boyu iskan edil- mesi, bitkisel besinlerin işlemden geçirilerek tüketilmeye baş- lanmasıyla birlikte daha büyük boyutlu ve taşınması zor öğütme taşlarının kullanımının artışı, uzun bir sürecin sonunda belirli tahıl türlerinin ehlileştirilmesi, geniş ölçekli avcılığın yerini aşa- malı olarak hayvanların kontrol altında tutulmasına ve bazı hay- van türlerinin evcilleştirilmesine bırakması, ölülerin yerleşme içerisinde, genellikle mekân içlerine gömülmesi, yerleşmeler/ bölgeler arası kimi ortak sembolik öğeler gibi parametreler yer alır. Güneybatı Asya’dan farklı olarak, Meksika’da çeşitli bitkile- rin göçer topluluklarca ehlileştirildiği, Çin, Sibirya ve Japonya’da avcı toplayıcı göçer toplulukların günümüzden yaklaşık 20.000 yıl önce çanak çömlek kullanmaya başladıkları, Avustralya’da ya- şayan avcı toplayıcı topluluklarınsa Avrupalıların kıtaya gidişine dek bu yaşam biçimini sürdürdükleri bilinmektedir (Bar-Yosef, 2017; Mithen, 2003).
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Videos by Sera Yelözer
"Moving Bodies", Online International Workshop held by IFEA and the University of Bordeaux, 25.09.2020.
Books by Sera Yelözer
Journal Articles by Sera Yelözer
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As one of the most portable of artefacts, marine shells used as personal ornaments help archaeologists define the relationships of prehistoric communities with landscapes. The transition from mobile hunter-gatherer to largely sedentary lifeways that lies at the centre of the Neolithic process transformed human-landscape relationships. In this article we collate marine and freshwater shell ornament distribution data and multiple variables in ornament choice and production for the Epipalaeolithic-Neolithic transition period in Anatolia. This produces a diachronic perspective on changes in human interactions with the landscape through the Neolithic transition process. We compare this with existing interpretations of the western spread of Neolithic populations and lifeways to determine both the sustainability of marine resource procurement through the sedentarization process and investigate multi-directional interactions and influences through time.
Research on prehistoric personal ornaments has focused on patterns in materials, technology and processes of change but struggles to place human thought and action at the centre of interpretation. However, striking examples of variations in production, altered and mended ornaments and different levels of skill visible in the quality of finished products, and subsequent adjustments made to them are a recurring feature of archaeological ornament assemblages. In addition to regional data on preferences for types and materials, the movement of ornaments between locations and interregional influences, this evidence provides crucial clues about choices, individual makers, and perceptions of the learning process. This article asks to what extent decision-making, individual levels of skill and the expectations surrounding learning or knowledge transmission can be successfully identified and interpreted using the often-limited information available from prehistoric assemblages. Examples taken from Neolithic assemblages in Turkey are used to explore the mutually shaping human-ornament relationship, intention, expectations of normality and divergence from expectation in the production of ornament assemblages. Ornaments are found to be subject to structured and unstructured adjustments within complex biographies and an active area of individual interpretation of shared concepts.
Bu çalışma, tarih öncesinde kişisel süs eşyalarının bedende taşınan ve bireyler, topluluklar ve uzak mesafeler arasında dolaşımda olan objeler olarak sosyal kimlikleri simgelemedeki rolünü ele almaktadır. Bu yorumlamaların yapılabilmesinin ön koşulu, günümüzde arkeolojide gittikçe yaygınlaşan çeşitli metodolojik yaklaşımların uygulanmasıdır. Kişisel süs eşyalarının hammadde temini, üretim süreçleri ve kimlikler gibi tarih öncesi arkeolojisi için anahtar konular hakkında neler söyleyebileceğini çözümlemek için gerekli analitik yaklaşımlara ve yorumlama biçimlerimizi zenginleştirebilecek olan etnografik örneklere dair Türkçe literatüre de katkı sunmak amacıyla, çalışmanın ilk kısmında arkeolojide kişisel süs eşyalarına dair yaklaşımlar tartışılmaktadır. Uygulanmakta olan analitik yöntemler ile Anadolu arkeolojisinde kişisel süs eşyası çalışmaları kısaca ele alınmakta ve ardından, kişisel süs eşyalarının kimlikler ve etkileşim kavramlarıyla iç içe geçmiş ilişkisi, çeşitli etnografik örneklerle vurgulanmaktadır. Bu arka planın ardından, Anadolu ve Levant'ta Paleolitik Çağ'dan Çanak Çömleksiz Neolitik Dönem sonuna dek uzun erimli bir bakışla, tarihöncesinde kimliklerin, deniz kabukları, taşlar ve minerallerden üretilmiş boncukların zamansal ve bölgesel dağılımında görülen devamlılık ve değişim eğilimleriyle ilişkisi ele alınmakta ve sosyal kimliği teknoloji ve uzmanlaşma kavramlarıyla birlikte nasıl okuyabileceğimiz tartışılmaktadır. Sonuçlar, Anadolu ve Levant'ta tarihöncesi toplulukların kişisel süs eşyası pratiklerinde, özellikle belirli hammaddelerin ve formların tercihinde, uzun erimli bir kültürel devamlılık olduğunu ancak buluntu yerleri ve bölgeler arası farklılık ve çeşitliliklerin, toplulukların özgün kültürel kimliklerini yansıttığını göstermektedir. Yerleşik yaşama geçiş sürecinde değişen yaşam biçimiyle birlikte ise birkaç bin yıllık kültürel ve teknolojik birikime dayalı olarak gelişen yeni boncuk teknolojilerinin, oluşmaya başlayan uzmanlaşmanın ve etkileşime katılımın bu dönemde yeni sosyal kimliklerin oluşumunu etkilediği görülmektedir.
https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1eTrf-JVbvBQA
Among the artefacts of fundamental importance in the context of symbolism and iconography during the Neo-lithization process in northern Mesopotamia, there is much research about, and publication relating to, human figurines or statues, animal figurines or statues, figured stone objects, stone vessels, bone plaques, wall decoration (paint, relief, or incision) and stone pillars. While among these various research topics bone plaques have been noticeably less studied than other classes of small finds, they are gradually gaining importance. From the figurative and typological perspective, these objects carry importance for their visual characteristics and their regional variety, but it is notable that their typological differences and functions are still not well understood. This study opens a new debate about the techno-typological characteristics, regional distribution, and modes of use of these objects starting from a group of bone plaques recovered from burial contexts during the excavations of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlement of Boncuklu Tarla in southeast Turkey. Portable symbolic artefacts are found to show significant overlaps between materials, iconography and use as well as regional identities and temporal continuities in techniques and decoration.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278416521000908?dgcid=coauthor
In the beginning of the 8th millennium BCE, the people of Aşıklı Höyük dramatically changed how they constructed their buildings. People no longer constructed circular, semi-subterranean residential buildings and instead started to build above ground rectangular buildings. The long-term Aşıklı Höyük excavations help us understand the tempo and organization of this important evolutionary transition. This study advances discussion in three ways: 1) it provides a fine grained understanding of the diachronic shift in social and economic practices, 2) through broad horizontal excavation, this research provides new insights into the built environment, including the opportunity to understand the synchronic organization of residential and non-residential spaces, and 3) this study puts forth a detailed understanding of the evolutionary shift from circular-oval to rectangular architectural practices within a single residential setting. Collectively, the long-term research project at Aşıklı Höyük, with extensive horizontal excavations and detailed radiocarbon dating project, advances our understanding of the changing social and economic context of the transition from circular to rectangular residential buildings.
In this work we will try to evaluate the prominent factors of complexity, and use the concept of social complexity to understand and explain societies' social organization systems and how political and socio-cultural backgrounds affect approaches employing this concept. Our aim is to emphasize that even similar social systems, life-ways and circumstances may not be enough to schematize societies and to embody parameters of social complexity. We accomplish this by reviewing hypothesis and critiques and presenting a case study of the Inuit society.
Book Chapters by Sera Yelözer
TAG-Türkiye 2021 üçüncü toplantısında sunulan bildirilerin videolarına https://www.youtube. com/@tag-turkey2021 adresinden ulaşabilirsiniz.
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Personal ornaments carry interwoven meanings and are part of a complex system of communication where certain identities could be signified. This study aims to investigate the role that beads played in manifesting identities of age and gender at Aşıklı Höyük (8350-7300 cal BC) in east Central Anatolia. The bead assemblage from the site consists of stone, bone, tooth and shell beads. Throughout the hundreds of years of occupation at the site, the community underwent gradual changes in production, architecture, and symbolic behaviors. This is well illustrated in the incorporation of beads in the funerary sphere during the latest phases corresponding to the mid-8th millennium BC, as a new practice after hundreds of years of experiencing settled life at the site. Preliminary results indicate that some adults were buried with large number and varied colored beads whereas the use of single, green beads was confined to females and children. This brings forth certain questions: 1) Can we identify different manufacturing techniques applied to produce these items? 2) Were these items manufactured especially for a burial or were they previously worn? A biographic approach is adopted to analyze the beads found in funerary contexts at the site, including raw material characterization, techno-morphological studies, and use-wear analysis. In this article, these questions are explored supplemented by the preliminary results of the technological and use-wear analysis.
"Moving Bodies", Online International Workshop held by IFEA and the University of Bordeaux, 25.09.2020.
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As one of the most portable of artefacts, marine shells used as personal ornaments help archaeologists define the relationships of prehistoric communities with landscapes. The transition from mobile hunter-gatherer to largely sedentary lifeways that lies at the centre of the Neolithic process transformed human-landscape relationships. In this article we collate marine and freshwater shell ornament distribution data and multiple variables in ornament choice and production for the Epipalaeolithic-Neolithic transition period in Anatolia. This produces a diachronic perspective on changes in human interactions with the landscape through the Neolithic transition process. We compare this with existing interpretations of the western spread of Neolithic populations and lifeways to determine both the sustainability of marine resource procurement through the sedentarization process and investigate multi-directional interactions and influences through time.
Research on prehistoric personal ornaments has focused on patterns in materials, technology and processes of change but struggles to place human thought and action at the centre of interpretation. However, striking examples of variations in production, altered and mended ornaments and different levels of skill visible in the quality of finished products, and subsequent adjustments made to them are a recurring feature of archaeological ornament assemblages. In addition to regional data on preferences for types and materials, the movement of ornaments between locations and interregional influences, this evidence provides crucial clues about choices, individual makers, and perceptions of the learning process. This article asks to what extent decision-making, individual levels of skill and the expectations surrounding learning or knowledge transmission can be successfully identified and interpreted using the often-limited information available from prehistoric assemblages. Examples taken from Neolithic assemblages in Turkey are used to explore the mutually shaping human-ornament relationship, intention, expectations of normality and divergence from expectation in the production of ornament assemblages. Ornaments are found to be subject to structured and unstructured adjustments within complex biographies and an active area of individual interpretation of shared concepts.
Bu çalışma, tarih öncesinde kişisel süs eşyalarının bedende taşınan ve bireyler, topluluklar ve uzak mesafeler arasında dolaşımda olan objeler olarak sosyal kimlikleri simgelemedeki rolünü ele almaktadır. Bu yorumlamaların yapılabilmesinin ön koşulu, günümüzde arkeolojide gittikçe yaygınlaşan çeşitli metodolojik yaklaşımların uygulanmasıdır. Kişisel süs eşyalarının hammadde temini, üretim süreçleri ve kimlikler gibi tarih öncesi arkeolojisi için anahtar konular hakkında neler söyleyebileceğini çözümlemek için gerekli analitik yaklaşımlara ve yorumlama biçimlerimizi zenginleştirebilecek olan etnografik örneklere dair Türkçe literatüre de katkı sunmak amacıyla, çalışmanın ilk kısmında arkeolojide kişisel süs eşyalarına dair yaklaşımlar tartışılmaktadır. Uygulanmakta olan analitik yöntemler ile Anadolu arkeolojisinde kişisel süs eşyası çalışmaları kısaca ele alınmakta ve ardından, kişisel süs eşyalarının kimlikler ve etkileşim kavramlarıyla iç içe geçmiş ilişkisi, çeşitli etnografik örneklerle vurgulanmaktadır. Bu arka planın ardından, Anadolu ve Levant'ta Paleolitik Çağ'dan Çanak Çömleksiz Neolitik Dönem sonuna dek uzun erimli bir bakışla, tarihöncesinde kimliklerin, deniz kabukları, taşlar ve minerallerden üretilmiş boncukların zamansal ve bölgesel dağılımında görülen devamlılık ve değişim eğilimleriyle ilişkisi ele alınmakta ve sosyal kimliği teknoloji ve uzmanlaşma kavramlarıyla birlikte nasıl okuyabileceğimiz tartışılmaktadır. Sonuçlar, Anadolu ve Levant'ta tarihöncesi toplulukların kişisel süs eşyası pratiklerinde, özellikle belirli hammaddelerin ve formların tercihinde, uzun erimli bir kültürel devamlılık olduğunu ancak buluntu yerleri ve bölgeler arası farklılık ve çeşitliliklerin, toplulukların özgün kültürel kimliklerini yansıttığını göstermektedir. Yerleşik yaşama geçiş sürecinde değişen yaşam biçimiyle birlikte ise birkaç bin yıllık kültürel ve teknolojik birikime dayalı olarak gelişen yeni boncuk teknolojilerinin, oluşmaya başlayan uzmanlaşmanın ve etkileşime katılımın bu dönemde yeni sosyal kimliklerin oluşumunu etkilediği görülmektedir.
https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1eTrf-JVbvBQA
Among the artefacts of fundamental importance in the context of symbolism and iconography during the Neo-lithization process in northern Mesopotamia, there is much research about, and publication relating to, human figurines or statues, animal figurines or statues, figured stone objects, stone vessels, bone plaques, wall decoration (paint, relief, or incision) and stone pillars. While among these various research topics bone plaques have been noticeably less studied than other classes of small finds, they are gradually gaining importance. From the figurative and typological perspective, these objects carry importance for their visual characteristics and their regional variety, but it is notable that their typological differences and functions are still not well understood. This study opens a new debate about the techno-typological characteristics, regional distribution, and modes of use of these objects starting from a group of bone plaques recovered from burial contexts during the excavations of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlement of Boncuklu Tarla in southeast Turkey. Portable symbolic artefacts are found to show significant overlaps between materials, iconography and use as well as regional identities and temporal continuities in techniques and decoration.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278416521000908?dgcid=coauthor
In the beginning of the 8th millennium BCE, the people of Aşıklı Höyük dramatically changed how they constructed their buildings. People no longer constructed circular, semi-subterranean residential buildings and instead started to build above ground rectangular buildings. The long-term Aşıklı Höyük excavations help us understand the tempo and organization of this important evolutionary transition. This study advances discussion in three ways: 1) it provides a fine grained understanding of the diachronic shift in social and economic practices, 2) through broad horizontal excavation, this research provides new insights into the built environment, including the opportunity to understand the synchronic organization of residential and non-residential spaces, and 3) this study puts forth a detailed understanding of the evolutionary shift from circular-oval to rectangular architectural practices within a single residential setting. Collectively, the long-term research project at Aşıklı Höyük, with extensive horizontal excavations and detailed radiocarbon dating project, advances our understanding of the changing social and economic context of the transition from circular to rectangular residential buildings.
In this work we will try to evaluate the prominent factors of complexity, and use the concept of social complexity to understand and explain societies' social organization systems and how political and socio-cultural backgrounds affect approaches employing this concept. Our aim is to emphasize that even similar social systems, life-ways and circumstances may not be enough to schematize societies and to embody parameters of social complexity. We accomplish this by reviewing hypothesis and critiques and presenting a case study of the Inuit society.
TAG-Türkiye 2021 üçüncü toplantısında sunulan bildirilerin videolarına https://www.youtube. com/@tag-turkey2021 adresinden ulaşabilirsiniz.
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Personal ornaments carry interwoven meanings and are part of a complex system of communication where certain identities could be signified. This study aims to investigate the role that beads played in manifesting identities of age and gender at Aşıklı Höyük (8350-7300 cal BC) in east Central Anatolia. The bead assemblage from the site consists of stone, bone, tooth and shell beads. Throughout the hundreds of years of occupation at the site, the community underwent gradual changes in production, architecture, and symbolic behaviors. This is well illustrated in the incorporation of beads in the funerary sphere during the latest phases corresponding to the mid-8th millennium BC, as a new practice after hundreds of years of experiencing settled life at the site. Preliminary results indicate that some adults were buried with large number and varied colored beads whereas the use of single, green beads was confined to females and children. This brings forth certain questions: 1) Can we identify different manufacturing techniques applied to produce these items? 2) Were these items manufactured especially for a burial or were they previously worn? A biographic approach is adopted to analyze the beads found in funerary contexts at the site, including raw material characterization, techno-morphological studies, and use-wear analysis. In this article, these questions are explored supplemented by the preliminary results of the technological and use-wear analysis.
Aşıklı Höyük boncukları, çeşitli taş ve mineraller, hayvan kemikleri ve dişleri, deniz ve tatlısu kabukları, kil ve bakır gibi çeşitli hammaddelerden üretilmiştir. Taş ve kemik, en sık kullanılan hammadde türleridir. Farklı hammadde türleri için, farklı üretim tekniklerinin uygulandığı görülmektedir. Boncuk üretiminin, diğer birçok günlük faaliyet gibi, açık alanlarda gerçekleştirildiğini önermek mümkündür. Disk tipli taş boncuklar, silindir tipli kemik boncuklar ve geyik dişinden pendantlar ile bunların imitasyonları gibi çeşitli öğeler en erken evrelerden itibaren kullanılmaktadır. Yerleşmenin geç evrelerinde ise yakın çevrede bulunmayan yeni hammadde türleri ve daha önce görülmeyen boncuk tipleri kullanılmaya başlar. Yine bu süreçte, ölülerin, süs eşyaları ile birlikte gömülmeye başladığı görülmektedir. Gömütler ile birlikte bulunan kişisel süs eşyalarının yaş ve cinsiyete göre dağılım analizleri, farklı yaş ve cinsiyet gruplarından bireyler arasında farklı hammadde, tip ve renkte boncuk kullanımında bir ayrım bulunmadığını önermektedir.
Beside of their resistance, the interest for these hard stones certainly lies in their colors, their hues and variations in surface aspects. One of the technical challenges faced by Neolithic craftspeople was to best reveal and emphasis these aspects through successive surface treatment and polishing techniques. Unlike current practice of gemologists that observe, among other criteria, the shiny aspects of the precious gemstones to evaluate their quality, here, we apply a qualitative and quantitative approach to characterize the polished surfaces of the butterfly beads from two major Neolithic villages: Tell Halula and Aşıklı Höyük. A confocal microscope with metrological software allows the acquisition of quantitative data that are further processed statically. To predict the intensity of the surface treatment, thereby the quality of the Neolithic beads, the results are compared with an ethnographic Indian and Yemeni referential of carnelian beads. This work in progress aims at identifying the successive polishing techniques applied and at revealing potential differences between two assemblages that are, visually (macro and microscopically), very similar. The qualities of the beads are then compared in regard to their geochronological and archaeological contexts and to gender/age of the individuals with which they were associated.
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The 1960s and 70s were tumultuous times for the world. The oppression of women, LGBTI+, and minorities were protested on political and academic platforms, and feminist and Marxist theories were incorporated in academic research more than ever. Social scientists began to develop feminist methodologies and approaches to study gender on cross-cultural scales. Archaeology was not silent to these political and academic developments. Issues of economic inequalities were debated for the first time with the birth of processual archaeology, which ironically was blind to the gender inequalities at the core of the discipline, as well as to the rise of feminist movement and theory in the social sciences. It was during the late 1970s and 80s that issues of gender inequality inherent within the discipline were explicitly debated in archaeology, and feminist archaeologists began criticizing the androcentric archaeological discourse. Looking at the state of Turkish archaeology within this timeframe, we see a country where the rise of socialist labor and youth movement from the 1960s to the 80s, and its reflections on politics and academy was quashed by two consecutive military coups. The silenced free academic knowledge production gained momentum only during the 1990s when feminist theory began influencing politics and academy, especially the social and political sciences, resulting in a growing body of studies and the establishment of dedicated research centers. Unfortunately, Turkish archaeology remained unresponsive to this theoretical and political paradigm shift for decades. In this study, the late and very recent arrival of gender archaeology in Turkey will be discussed within the theoretical and political contexts of Turkish archaeology with a comparative view from different countries.
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Personal ornaments carry interwoven meanings and are part of a complex system of communication where certain identities could be signified (age, gender, ethnic group, etc.). In this study, it is aimed to investigate the role that beads played in manifesting identities of age and gender in an early Neolithic community, Aşıklı Höyük (8350-7300 cal BC) in east Central Anatolia. The bead assemblage from the site consists of a number of materials, including stones, bone, tooth and shells. Throughout the hundreds of years of occupation at the site, the community underwent gradual changes in food and tool production, architecture, and certain symbolic behaviors. This is well illustrated in the incorporation of beads in the funerary sphere during the latest phases corresponding to the mid-8th millennium BC, as a new practice after hundreds of years of experiencing settled life at the site. Preliminary results indicate that some adults were buried with large number and varied colored beads whereas the use of single, green beads was confined to females and children. This brings forth certain questions: 1) Can we identify different manufacturing techniques applied to produce these items? Is there a relation between the degree of skill required and different sex and age groups? 2) Were these items manufactured especially for a burial or were they previously worn? A biographic approach is adopted to analyze the beads found in funerary contexts at the site. This includes raw material characterization, techno-morphological studies, and use-wear analysis. In this talk, these questions will be explored supplemented by the preliminary results of the technological and use-wear analysis.
TEORİK ARKEOLOJİ GRUBU - III. TÜRKİYE TOPLANTISI
III. MEETING OF THE THEORETICAL ARCHAEOLOGY GROUP - TURKEY
Teorik Arkeoloji Grubu-Türkiye Üçüncü Toplantısı
6-7 Mayıs 2021
"Kimlikler"
Toplumsal cinsiyet/cinsiyet, cinsellik, yaş ve çocukluk, statü, hiyerarşi ve güç, toplumsal/kolektif ve bölgesel kimlikler gibi farklı düzlemlerde kimliklerin nasıl tanımlanabileceği konularında kavramsal ve metodolojik çalışmalar, ölüm ritüelleri ve kimliklerin bu ritüellerde nasıl somutlandığına dair çalışmalar, bireysel ve sosyal farklılaşma, kimlik-maddi kültür ilişkisi gibi temalar ekseninde araştırmalarınızı sunmak üzere sizleri TAG-Türkiye üçüncü toplantısına davet ediyoruz.
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Call for Papers
Third Meeting of the Theoretical Archaeology Group-Turkey
6-7 May 2021
"Identities"
We are delighted to invite you to the third meeting of TAG-Turkey to present papers dealing with themes including but not limited to gender/sex, sexualities, age and childhood, status, hierarchies, power, social, collective, and regional identities, as well as the construction of identities in funerary rites, studying identities through the lens of material culture, personhood, and social differentiation. Studies focusing on methods and approaches in identifying identities in the archaeological record are especially welcome.
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www.tagturkey2021.com
tagturkey2021@gmail.com
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In Turkey, the number of interdisciplinary excavation and research projects incorporating scientific techniques is on the rise. A growing number of researchers are being trained in a broad range of scientific fields including but not limited to archaeobotany, archaeozo- ology, tool technologies, dating methods, micromorphology, bioarchaeology, geochem- ical and spectroscopic analysis, Geographical Information Systems, and climate and environmental modeling. The Turkish Journal of Archaeological Sciences aims to situate Turkish archaeology within this new paradigm and to diversify and disseminate scientif- ic research in archaeology. New methods, analytical techniques and interdisciplinary in- itiatives that contribute to archaeological interpretations and theoretical perspectives fall within the scope of the journal.
Dünyaya açılmamızı sağlayacak Arkeoloji Bilimleri Dergisi’nin ilk sayısı ile hepinize merhaba diyoruz.