The history of Lycian archaeology has a long tradition dating back to the late 18th century. In c... more The history of Lycian archaeology has a long tradition dating back to the late 18th century. In contrast to the earlier periods spanning from prehistory to Late Antiquity , however, Lycia in the Ottoman period has been generally overlooked by archaeologists, being dismissed as either uninteresting or not worthy of study. This is due, not to a lack of body of knowledge, but to intellectual and ideological boundaries on what constitutes the archaeological past of Lycia, and/or what its relevance to the archaeology of Anatolia could be. In this regard, all the historical narrations identifying Ottoman Lycia make particular reference to the Nomads and illustrate them as either the barbaric destroyers or the glorious conquerors of Greco-Roman antiquities. In doing so, they push the Yuruks into an eccentric, ambitious, or exclusive past and thus marginalise them as permanent ‘others’ in the long-term history of the region. Hence, the present paper shifts the research focus from history to archaeology, and based on comparative analysis, it provides theoretical and practical insights into the cross cultural interactions between the Yuruks and Greco-Roman antiquities in Lycia. Contrary to previous works, I argue here that the Yuruks were one of the components that composed the long-term history of Lycia, and they contributed to the preservation of Lycian heritage by providing different concepts, meanings, and contexts to the surviving antiquities.
Together with the sex, gender and life course studies the evaluation of childhood has been a grow... more Together with the sex, gender and life course studies the evaluation of childhood has been a growing interest among the archaeologists in the last few decades. These studies have explored diverse aspects of chilhood such as education, work, socialization, experience of religion etc. through the archaeological, art historical and philolocigal datas to advance our understanding of childhood in antiquity. Hence, the present work joins to the current studies by focusing on the Anatolian cultural sphere of pre-persian Iron Age in terms of visual records of children that have remained untouched up to date. In this general frame, it has been argued in here that the representations of children gathered from various parts of the region have great potential to enrich our understanding on the cultural construction of childhood in Anatolia.
Yukarıovacık, located in the surrounding countryside around Cabalian Oinoanda, promises more than... more Yukarıovacık, located in the surrounding countryside around Cabalian Oinoanda, promises more than an anonymous work of art recently added to the artistic repertoire of Late Roman southwest Anatolia. Its particular importance lies in its content that helps to bridge the gap between written sources and the archaeological records concerning the religious history of Lycia. Thus, Yukarıovacık enables us to recognize for the first time the iconographic peculiarities of Leto, her children, and the Nymphs, who are well known to us through written sources with most being inscriptions from the sanctuary of Letoon in Xanthos.
The Milyan Tumuli represent a course of premeditated, conscious actions of a society with a certa... more The Milyan Tumuli represent a course of premeditated, conscious actions of a society with a certain degree of experience and knowledge. This manifests itself in the selection of a site as well as in the labor and construction techniques. In this regard, the places selected and created for tumulus graves are situated within a landscape that was perceived, experienced, and contextualized by different peoples in different periods. These might reveal the cognitive relationships directly or indirectly established by the peoples building these tombs with the historical geography in which they were living. In any case, with regard to the finds and/or wall paintings inside the tombs, we can assume that the people inhabiting the high plateaus of the Teke Peninsula were, in fact, too refined to be merely defined as provincial. They enjoyed a dynamic and multicultural social structure that allowed them to keep up with the developments occurring in other Anatolian centers of contemporary culture and art. These ‘three-dimensional monuments’ engraved in the geographical memory of Milyas can be regarded, like their counterparts in Phrygia and Lydia, as symbolic memorials intended to strengthen true or perceived kinship relations for territorial rights and political purposes. Thus, they might have been the focus of a series of cultic activities related to the worship of family or ancestors.
Contributions to the Milyas Studies: The Painted Chamber Tomb of Müğren Tumulus:
First reported... more Contributions to the Milyas Studies: The Painted Chamber Tomb of Müğren Tumulus:
First reported on by Prof. M. J. Mellink in a
brief notice in the early 1970’s the Müğren Tumulus
forms the subject of this study. The primary concern
has been to record the extant evidence as completely
and as soon as possible, the structure being exposed to
the danger of destruction. Therefore, the sections
entitled: “Architecture” and “Wall, Gables and Ceiling
Paintings” focus upon the recording of the principal
elements as any delay in recording these elements
would have them lost forever. In particular, the
remains of paintwork still visible to the naked eye
within the tomb chamber are presented here with
their surviving positions inside in metric values;
together with schematic drawings and a wide range of
visual material. This “new” evidence regarding the
planning, architecture and interior decoration of the
chamber tomb are discussed in the following parts,
within the framework of the contribution they make
to studies on the Milyas.
The history of Lycian archaeology has a long tradition dating back to the late 18th century. In c... more The history of Lycian archaeology has a long tradition dating back to the late 18th century. In contrast to the earlier periods spanning from prehistory to Late Antiquity , however, Lycia in the Ottoman period has been generally overlooked by archaeologists, being dismissed as either uninteresting or not worthy of study. This is due, not to a lack of body of knowledge, but to intellectual and ideological boundaries on what constitutes the archaeological past of Lycia, and/or what its relevance to the archaeology of Anatolia could be. In this regard, all the historical narrations identifying Ottoman Lycia make particular reference to the Nomads and illustrate them as either the barbaric destroyers or the glorious conquerors of Greco-Roman antiquities. In doing so, they push the Yuruks into an eccentric, ambitious, or exclusive past and thus marginalise them as permanent ‘others’ in the long-term history of the region. Hence, the present paper shifts the research focus from history to archaeology, and based on comparative analysis, it provides theoretical and practical insights into the cross cultural interactions between the Yuruks and Greco-Roman antiquities in Lycia. Contrary to previous works, I argue here that the Yuruks were one of the components that composed the long-term history of Lycia, and they contributed to the preservation of Lycian heritage by providing different concepts, meanings, and contexts to the surviving antiquities.
Together with the sex, gender and life course studies the evaluation of childhood has been a grow... more Together with the sex, gender and life course studies the evaluation of childhood has been a growing interest among the archaeologists in the last few decades. These studies have explored diverse aspects of chilhood such as education, work, socialization, experience of religion etc. through the archaeological, art historical and philolocigal datas to advance our understanding of childhood in antiquity. Hence, the present work joins to the current studies by focusing on the Anatolian cultural sphere of pre-persian Iron Age in terms of visual records of children that have remained untouched up to date. In this general frame, it has been argued in here that the representations of children gathered from various parts of the region have great potential to enrich our understanding on the cultural construction of childhood in Anatolia.
Yukarıovacık, located in the surrounding countryside around Cabalian Oinoanda, promises more than... more Yukarıovacık, located in the surrounding countryside around Cabalian Oinoanda, promises more than an anonymous work of art recently added to the artistic repertoire of Late Roman southwest Anatolia. Its particular importance lies in its content that helps to bridge the gap between written sources and the archaeological records concerning the religious history of Lycia. Thus, Yukarıovacık enables us to recognize for the first time the iconographic peculiarities of Leto, her children, and the Nymphs, who are well known to us through written sources with most being inscriptions from the sanctuary of Letoon in Xanthos.
The Milyan Tumuli represent a course of premeditated, conscious actions of a society with a certa... more The Milyan Tumuli represent a course of premeditated, conscious actions of a society with a certain degree of experience and knowledge. This manifests itself in the selection of a site as well as in the labor and construction techniques. In this regard, the places selected and created for tumulus graves are situated within a landscape that was perceived, experienced, and contextualized by different peoples in different periods. These might reveal the cognitive relationships directly or indirectly established by the peoples building these tombs with the historical geography in which they were living. In any case, with regard to the finds and/or wall paintings inside the tombs, we can assume that the people inhabiting the high plateaus of the Teke Peninsula were, in fact, too refined to be merely defined as provincial. They enjoyed a dynamic and multicultural social structure that allowed them to keep up with the developments occurring in other Anatolian centers of contemporary culture and art. These ‘three-dimensional monuments’ engraved in the geographical memory of Milyas can be regarded, like their counterparts in Phrygia and Lydia, as symbolic memorials intended to strengthen true or perceived kinship relations for territorial rights and political purposes. Thus, they might have been the focus of a series of cultic activities related to the worship of family or ancestors.
Contributions to the Milyas Studies: The Painted Chamber Tomb of Müğren Tumulus:
First reported... more Contributions to the Milyas Studies: The Painted Chamber Tomb of Müğren Tumulus:
First reported on by Prof. M. J. Mellink in a
brief notice in the early 1970’s the Müğren Tumulus
forms the subject of this study. The primary concern
has been to record the extant evidence as completely
and as soon as possible, the structure being exposed to
the danger of destruction. Therefore, the sections
entitled: “Architecture” and “Wall, Gables and Ceiling
Paintings” focus upon the recording of the principal
elements as any delay in recording these elements
would have them lost forever. In particular, the
remains of paintwork still visible to the naked eye
within the tomb chamber are presented here with
their surviving positions inside in metric values;
together with schematic drawings and a wide range of
visual material. This “new” evidence regarding the
planning, architecture and interior decoration of the
chamber tomb are discussed in the following parts,
within the framework of the contribution they make
to studies on the Milyas.
The present study focuses on the archaeological landscape of the upland plateaus of Pisidian, Mil... more The present study focuses on the archaeological landscape of the upland plateaus of Pisidian, Milian and Lycian in the light of recent discoveries obtained from the field surveys that appeared after a long period in the region. Here, it is aimed to contribute to the ongoing research by focusing on the different periods of time within the scope of the archaeological and historical background of the transhumant pastoralism in the region.
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First reported on by Prof. M. J. Mellink in a
brief notice in the early 1970’s the Müğren Tumulus
forms the subject of this study. The primary concern
has been to record the extant evidence as completely
and as soon as possible, the structure being exposed to
the danger of destruction. Therefore, the sections
entitled: “Architecture” and “Wall, Gables and Ceiling
Paintings” focus upon the recording of the principal
elements as any delay in recording these elements
would have them lost forever. In particular, the
remains of paintwork still visible to the naked eye
within the tomb chamber are presented here with
their surviving positions inside in metric values;
together with schematic drawings and a wide range of
visual material. This “new” evidence regarding the
planning, architecture and interior decoration of the
chamber tomb are discussed in the following parts,
within the framework of the contribution they make
to studies on the Milyas.
First reported on by Prof. M. J. Mellink in a
brief notice in the early 1970’s the Müğren Tumulus
forms the subject of this study. The primary concern
has been to record the extant evidence as completely
and as soon as possible, the structure being exposed to
the danger of destruction. Therefore, the sections
entitled: “Architecture” and “Wall, Gables and Ceiling
Paintings” focus upon the recording of the principal
elements as any delay in recording these elements
would have them lost forever. In particular, the
remains of paintwork still visible to the naked eye
within the tomb chamber are presented here with
their surviving positions inside in metric values;
together with schematic drawings and a wide range of
visual material. This “new” evidence regarding the
planning, architecture and interior decoration of the
chamber tomb are discussed in the following parts,
within the framework of the contribution they make
to studies on the Milyas.