Location: Turkey
Program Type
RPA certified
Affiliation:
Project Director:
Project Description
Turkey has evidence of one of the earliest transitions from hunting and gathering to village farming in the world, but the early Neolithic of central Turkey is poorly understood. The Boncuklu project is investigating the appearance of the first villages and farmers in central Turkey. At Boncuklu we are also exploring the origins of the remarkable symbolism seen in paintings and reliefs at the nearby famous Neolithic town of Çatalhöyük. Well preserved decorated Neolithic houses and artifacts are notable features of Boncuklu. Working alongside experts in the analysis of evidence from early farming communities and professional excavators, students will learn a range of archaeological research techniques and methods and learn about the wider context of Anatolian archaeology.
Period(s) of Occupation: Neolithic
Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: Entire duration of field school
Room and Board Arrangements
Students will stay based at the Boncuklu Project excavation centre. The dig house has good communal facilities with ktichen, several showers and toilets, washing machine, and laboratories. There is outdoor covered dinning and social space.
Meals are provided during workdays (breakfast, lunch, dinner). Students are responsible for their own meals on days off, if staying at the compound food is available but on a self-catered basis. If on independent trip on a day off students are repsonsible for their own food.
Academic Credit
Baird D 2011 The Late Epipalaeolothic, Neolothic and Chalcolithic of the Anatolian Plateau, 13000-4000 BC calibrated. In D Potts ed. Blackwell's Companion to Near Eastern Archaeology
Baird D, Fairbairn A, Martin L and Middleton C 2011 The Boncuklu Project; the origins of sedentism, cultivation and herding in central Anatolia, in Ozdoğan and Başgelen eds The Neolithic of Turkey; new excavations, new discoveries. Arkeoloji ve Sanat.
Baird D 2011 Pınarbaşı; from Epipalaeolithic camp-site to sedentarising village in central Anatolia, in Ozdoğan and Başgelen eds The Neolithic of Turkey; new excavations, new discoveries. Arkeoloji ve Sanat.