During the lecture, current data  on the Euphrates River basin with the Şanlıurfa Neolithic Research Project (Taş Tepeler) will be presented, and especially on the latest excavations in Karahantepe. The lecture is organized in collaboration with Turkish Embassy.

Taş Tepeler: The Land of Great Transformation
Discussions on sedentism, agriculture, and animal domestication have been current issues for over a century. The focus of most of the prehistoric studies in the Near East is on the subject defined as the Neolithization Process. Recent studies in Southeastern Anatolia have started to give detailed information about the beginning of this process. After the studies carried out in the Tigris Basin due to dam projects in the past decade, new studies in the Euphrates Basin with the Şanlıurfa Neolithic Research Project.

Within the framework of the "Taş Tepeler" – project, Karahantepe is among the places that have given us a deeper understanding of prehistory. New studies in the Euphrates Basin with the recently started Şanlıurfa Neolithic Research Project (Taş Tepeler) clearly show the diversity of the region. During the lecture, current data about the region will be presented, and especially about the recent excavations in Karahantepe.

Göbeklitepe. Photo: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Prof. Dr. Necmi Karul
Having received his BA and MA degrees from the Department of Prehistory at Istanbul University, Karul received a DAAD scholarship and completed his Ph.D. at Berlin Frei University in 2000. After completing his doctorate, he became the archaeology editor of Atlas Magazine. He started to work as an assistant in the Prehistory Department in 2002. He became Associate Professor in 2006 and Professor in 2017.

Having received a research scholarship from Harvard University in 2005, Karul served as a Member of the Editorial Board of the Turkish Academy of Sciences Journal of Archaeology (TUBA-AR) between the years 2009-2012 and 2019-. Karul, who was a member of the Editorial Board at EJA (Journal of European Archeology) between the years 2013-2016, continues his role at the Editorial Board of Colloquium Anatolicum and Studia Praehistorica, Journal of Turkish Institute of Prehistoric Sciences, and serves as the Archaeology Editor of Magma Magazine since 2014. He is also a member of the German Archaeological Institute, the Austrian Archaeological Institute, and a correspondent member of the Turkish Archaeological Institute and a member of the National Committee of ICOMOS Turkey. Karul served as the President of the Istanbul Branch of the Association of Archaeologists from 2007 to 2015.

Necmi Karul, who has taken part in prehistoric excavations and surveys in different parts of Anatolia since 1989, has been the scientific advisor to the excavations of Bursa Aktopraklık Höyük since 2004 and Siirt Gusir Höyük excavations since 2010. Since 2016, Necmi Karul has been managing the Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe Research Project and is a coordinator of the Şanlıurfa Neolithic Research Project.


Practical information about the lecture:
Open lecture by Prof. Necmi Karul, Istanbul University

Documents:
Karahantepe among the Most Important Discovery and Research Projects (144 Kb)
Taş Tepeler Project - Info Note (147 Kb)