Şanlıurfa Neolithic Research Project
Şanlıurfa is a historically prominent in terms of Neolithic research in Türkiye. The Neolithic research as part of the ‘’Prehistoric Research Southeastern Anatolia’’ The Joint Project Universities of İstanbul and Chicago that started in 1963 with a survey continued with small-scale excavations in Söğüt Tarlası 1 and Biris Mezarlığı in 1964. Between the years of 1983-1991, the rescue excavations in the Nevali Çori in Bozova, now inundated under the lake of Ataturk Dam, had been the first fieldwork done in the area after a long time. Monumental buildings and outstanding symbolic elements which are better understood now were encountered for the first time through nine seasons of fieldwork in Nevali Çori. After this work directed by Harald Hauptmann from Heidelberg University, the same team started new excavations in Gürcütepe and Göbeklitepe in 1995. Even though the work in Gürcütepe didn’t last for a long time, the excavations in Göbeklitepe transformed into a wide-scale project directed by Klaus Schmidt, showing older and way more exceptional examples of elements seen in Nevali Çori. In the following period, during the “Şanlıurfa Surveys of Neolithic and Earlier Period“ and “Şanlıurfa Cultural Heritage Inventory Studies“ directed by Bahattin Çelik, new settlements dating back to the early phases of the Neolithic were discovered. Subsequent excavations at Harbetsuvan in 2017-2019 revealed that there are many similar early settlements in the region. In 2019, the new excavations at Karahantepe clearly showed that there are other sites similar to Göbeklitepe, which had previously been considered a singular center with its magnificent monumental buildings and strong symbolic elements which is a new turning point in the history of Neolithic research. The new findings from Karahantepe increase the academic as well as the social interest in the region. After the first research started at Nevali Çori, the accumulation of knowledge over time reveals the notable differences between Şanlıurfa and neighboring regions that were home to sedentary societies. While the importance of monumental structures and symbolic elements is evident in all sedentary societies of Southwest Asia, examples of them known so far from Şanlıurfa distinguish it from its contemporaries. The presence of a large number of Early Neolithic sites near each other and how they reflect a common cultural integrity over a long period is outstanding. However, the scarcity of research on this period allowed the initiation of a new project shaped within the framework of specific objectives. Şanlıurfa Neolithic Research Project - Taş Tepeler is a collaborative effort of teams from different national and international institutions and universities, initiated by the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2021. Each of the research within the project is an independent study. Thus, there is a project-based, organic structure instead of a managerial organization plan. Each research is subject to the same laws and regulations that apply to other studies done throughout the country. The framework that brings all these studies together into one project is determined by common scientific objectives.
Scope and Aims
Şanlıurfa Neolithic Research Project has four interrelated main scopes which are archaeology, paleoenvironment, cultural heritage manegment and ethnoarchaeological research, defined within the context of the following aims:
To make a complete inventory of the Neolithic sites such as settlements, campsites, and hunting grounds in Şanlıurfa, especially on the plateau surrounding the Harran Plain, and to develop conservation strategies for existing sites,
To carry out archaeological excavations in some areas selected according to the location, nature, size, and date range of the settlement in close proximity to each other, which are thought to reflect different phases of a long process,
To understand the diversity of sites and the relationships between sites, as well as the connections between communal areas, ateliers, hunting grounds, and resource areas.
To understand the various types of networks and relationships between sites,
To understand the daily life of Neolithic societies and the basic dynamics of the period by doing detailed research and archaeometric studies that will enable the understanding of subsistence strategies, domestication process, residential architecture, and production technologies,
To do studies to understand the relationship between the magnificent monumental structures and strong symbolic expression and the transition to changes in the social life and sedentism,
To make holistic evaluations that will explain the basic components of the transformation, revealing the time period extending from the first phase of settled life in the region to the phase in which production-based livelihood strategies became the main economic input and the basic element determining daily life, together with the stages of development,
To do environmental research to understand the natural environment in which Neolithic societies lived and the changes in it,
To create an academic environment where methods and scientific results can be discussed and evaluated together by ensuring the simultaneous work of different teams in the region, to establish working groups on specific topics, and to reflect this process in publications,
Developing conservation and exhibition projects in the excavated areas and organizing activities that will create social awareness,
To document the traditional life in the region as well as the architecture and production styles that are about to go extinct.
