Browsing by Subject "Excavations (Archaeology)--Turkey."
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Item Open Access Aspects of the ancient economy in West-Central Turkey in the first millennium BC(Bilkent University, 2002) Çonka, SevilThe Iron Age sites, Gordion and Kalehöyük are studied in their environmental settings in the regional context of Central Anatolia to present an overview of ancient subsistence economy. The purpose of selecting two different sites is to determine the role of the physical differences of their environments on shaping the regulation of agricultural activities. This thesis attempts to correlate all lines of available environmental and subsistence data from excavations and surveys with the present day land use analysis and ethnographic researches. It is hoped that through a comparison of available data from these two sites that a better understanding of ancient agricultural systems can be determined. The results obtained from several sources indicate that the ecological variables are the basis of the subsistence economy and economic strategies of the ancient inhabitants of Gordion and Kalehöyük.Item Open Access Caveat emptor : the intellectual consequences of undocumented excavation, with special reference to Roman period archaeological material from Turkey(Bilkent University, 2000) Haley, Shannon M.This paper explores how undocumented excavation affects archaeological research. Roman period remains in Anatolia are often victim to undocumented excavation. The problem is extensive and reflects the modern esteem for classical antiquities. Undocumented excavation has many negative effects. It changes site topography and stratigraphy and results in the loss of an artefact’s archaeological context. The problems presented by undocumented excavation are explored in tliree different case studies. The first chapter studies sculptures attributed to the sites of Perge and Boubon. The second chapter focuses on third century coin hoards attributed to a var iety of sites in Anatolia. The third chapter discusses the mosaics of Zeugma and Antioch. The study of these different bodies of evidence demonstrated that undocumented excavation presents very complex problems for archaeological research. The loss of archaeological context means there is no way for a scholar to verify an artefact’s authenticity. The attribution of an artefact to a specific site may be based on a scholar’s expectation of where such an artefact should be found. In this way, unprovenanced material corrupts the data available to the archaeologist. Over time, this results in the acceptance of beliefs about the role of these artefacts in the past, even though these beliefs rest on data that is far from secure.Item Open Access The Cypro-Anatolian connections in the late Bronze Age(Bilkent University, 1999) Kozal, EkinThe relations between Anatolia and C3^rus in the Late Bronze Age have been neglected in contrast to the growing interest in the Eastern Mediterranean trade. The main goal of this thesis is to bring this subject to light. These relations were attested in the Hittite sources for two centuries (ca. 1400- 1200 B.C.) and in Ugaritic sources in the 13th century B.C. Within this historical framework the connections are reviewed in different perspectives. Correlations between the historical sources and the archaeological evidence are proposed. In this period, friendly relations existed, wliich were implied in the written texts until the time shortly before the collapse of the Hittite Empire. From the 15th until the 13th centuries White Slip and Base Ring wares were exported to Cilicia, whereas in the 13th century the Red Lustrous Wheelmade Ware was transported to the Hittite capital thiough the Göksu Valley. The new ceramic distribution pattern in the 13th century shows the increase of the Hittites’ interest in overseas activities. Besides, this was the time when the Hittite capital was moved to the land of Tarhuntassa. At the end of the 13th century B.C. with the military intervention of Hittites, Cyprus came under the control of the Hittite Empire. This was demonstrated in the archaeological record by the Hittite small finds in Cyprus. In this preliminary study I have also touched upon the geophysical features of southern Anatolia and Cyprus, the distribution of the Late Bronze Age sites in both places, the climatic factors and conditions, which play a very important role in the ancient navigation and the physical layout of the coastlines. Conclusively, a synthesis of these various factors are put forward.Item Open Access Elmali plain : a review of its environmental setting and archaeological settlements(Bilkent University, 1999) İlseven, YaseminThe Elm alı Plain is located in Northern Lycia, in the Teke Peninsula o f Southwest Anatolia. The plain is geographically in a transitional zone between the forest rich Taurus Mountains and the Highlands of the Anatolian Plateau. Being a fertile upland basin, it is the closest large arable land mass to coastal Lycia. This thesis aims to place the Elmalı Plain in an environmental context and to compile the information regarding the history and archaeology o f the region starting with the Prehistoric periods up to the Islamic occupation of the plain. It evaluates the present evidence o f literary sources, epigraphy, numismatic and archaeological remains. The thesis will also trace the history of traveUers accounts and scholarly research done in the region, and will try to understand the gaps that exist in our archaeological knowledge and identify issues that can be pursued further. The Elmalı Plain, with its natural resources, was able to hold substantial populations, which is evident from the archaeological records for periods such as the Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age, Iron Ages and the Roman period. Existing evidence far from suggests a definite continuity or discontinuity for all the historical periods, on which future investigations, especially the ongoing project o f Hacim usalar excavations and survey, will throw more light. The present archaeological evidence for the Elm alı Plain suggests that the region, rather than being a remote upland region, was a transitional zone, both culturally and geographically between coastal Lycia and the upland regions o f Kibyra, Kabalia and Pisidia.Item Open Access The historical archaeology of the Early Ottomans : a new perspective on arguments about the foundation of the Ottoman Empire(Bilkent University, 2015) Dikkaya, FahriThis dissertation aims to evaluate the socio-economic structure of the Early Ottoman Period, and is based on an archaeological approach to reconstructing the early Ottoman state and its foundation. In this context, the settlement patterns of the region between Eskişehir and Bilecik and their reflection on settlement distribution and modification from the Late Byzantine to Early Ottoman Periods will be analyzed and interpreted using archaeological and historical data through the reconstruction of the Early Ottoman landscape in the region. The dissertation first examines archeological evidence relating to the Late Byzantine and Early Ottoman periods, including pottery and architecture. In the second part, it presents the extant evidence for and critical analyses of the relevant historical data dating a period from Mantzikert to Bapheus Battles. Through these evidences, the collected data from archaeological survey in the research area in Eskişehir and Bilecik provinces are analyzed. In this analysis, the data is discussed in the methodology of historical archaeology, especially documentary archaeology based on examining archaeological artifacts and historical texts together. Lastly, this study investigates the settlement patterns of Early Ottoman State in the research area and its reflection of social and cultural phenomenon characterized by the frontier (uç) cultural atmosphere. The research area was the conjunction and interaction area for two main cultural complexes, which were newcomers Turkmens and local Byzantines. The effect of these two cultural complexes to the settlement pattern was based on settlement strategies in the topography and the frontier social and cultural phenomenon in the both societies. In this context, the restricted and problematic topography and the pastoralist system determined the cultural, political and economic landscapes.Item Open Access Recoding the nautical archaeology : virtual museum of underwater cultural heritage(Bilkent University, 2011) Varinlioğlu, GüzdenThe preservation of underwater cultural heritage requires the availability and access to data produced by nautical archaeology alongside tools for analysis, visualization and communication. Although numerous archaeological surveys and excavations have been carried out in the past decades in Turkey, there is no publicly available information system integrated to nautical archaeology. This dissertation proposes a framework of a virtual museum of underwater cultural heritage (VM). VM incorporates the practices of collection, preservation, research, visualization and exhibit, thus offers new approaches to the preservation of cultural heritage. In this dissertation, a web-based information system has been developed for a model of virtual museum using the data collected during underwater surveys conducted on the coastal region of Kaş, Turkey in 2007-2010. Divers from a variety of professional backgrounds followed the practice of in situ preservation, collecting visual, geographical and descriptive data using structured datasheets. Through the analysis of these nondestructive methods, an information system and a data collection methodology are developed aiming the contribution of all interested parties in a collaborative manner. The system currently contains information on c.600 finds in the form of sketches, measurements, drawings, photographs of finds. Combined with Google Maps, the database illustrates the initial technological steps towards the development of a virtual museum. Divers, archaeologists and other interested users of this information system participate in the musealization of information through separately applied analysis, visualization and communication tools by open software programs. These initial steps demonstrate the methods for the automation of data analysis and visual documentation, the visualization of information and the communication of this knowledge. Futuristic concepts of automated, immersive and interactive design redefine the virtual museum of underwater cultural heritage as well as offer different approaches to the discipline of nautical archaeology.