I was awarded the Peet travel fund last year to support research in the form of excavation experience and site visitation in Türkiye for my PhD ‘Sacrificial bodies: Embodiment theory and ritual violence in the Ancient Near East in 4th to 3rd Millenium BCE’, under the supervision of Professor Douglas Baird and Professor Jessica Pearson.
While in the country, I excavated at Pınarbaşı for over 4 weeks. I developed my excavation skills in Near Eastern archaeology, becoming familiar with Epi-palaeolithic contexts which was extremely important as Pınarbaşı is the only known Epipalaeolithic site in Anatolia. To be situated in the beautiful Konya Plain, surrounded by such important archaeological sites such Çatalhöyük and Boncuklu Höyük was a privilege. A visit and tour of Çatalhöyük shed much light of traditions of burial and social reconstruction which are important elements of my thesis. The excavation was full of learning experiences which was wonderful, and I celebrated my final night with a can of Effes!
The excavation season was almost wrapped up and I was headed back to Ankara to visit museums and heritage sites. On the agenda was an almost mandatory visit of any archaeologist, the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, which houses the country’s most impressive archaeology from the Palaeolithic to the Ottoman period. While staying in Ankara, I organised a trip to visit Alaca Höyük to view their museum and the site which reconstructed their ‘Royal Tombs’. Elite burials in the Bronze age are an integral part of my PhD research and visiting this site deepened my understanding of cultural continuity and interaction throughout Mesopotamia in the Chalcolithic to the Bronze age. It was also important to see how power manifested in the burial record in this period in person and how this has been interpreted so far.
Of course, since I was already in Çorum I had a tour of Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire. Hattusa is one of the most impressive sites I have seen so far, especially in terms of scale and organisation of the city.
Olivia with the Lion of the Lion's Gate, Hattusa:
Overall, the 5+ weeks I spent travelling and excavating in Türkiye were so important, as I witnessed archaeology I have been reading about and studying for years. It was also valuable to develop my field archaeology skills in Near Eastern contexts, building on my past experiences and applying them to a new site gave me the ability to adapt to new challenges and different archaeology. The Peet Award was vital in allowing me this experience to improve my excavation skills, enhance my cultural understanding of the region and deepen my comprehension of Near Eastern archaeology.
Find out more about funding, including the Peet Travel Award