PaleoBerkay Archaeology

29 September 2008

The Archaeological Settlements of Bursa - BAY Project

The BAY (Archaeological Settlements of Bursa) Project aims to document archaeological settlements and monuments which still resists to the destructive effects of time in Bursa province and share archaeological information with the public.

An archaeological heritage inventory of Bursa (nor another city in Turkey) has never been made before. Especially in last decades, due to the increase of urbanization, mechanizing of agriculture and illegal treasure hunting excavations in our province and country, many archaeological sites of Bursa and Turkey are destructed.

Nevertheless many sites are coming face to face with destruction that made by human hand or nature. The most important step we have to take to stop this process and save the heritage is to collect and compile cultural heritage information to establish a central inventory. Inventory studying have to be completed as soon as possible, the destruction (agriculture, urbanization and illicit excavation) of sites have to be prevented and public needs to be informed on this matters.

BAY Project is continuing to constitute the inventory of archaeological sites. At BAY Project web site which is available since 2004;

You can find,

-Settlement information regarding Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages (only in Turkish),

-Information regarding to the fieldwork (only in Turkish).

The basic aim of the fieldwork which are conducted by BAY Project is not to examine of excavations and surveys. But it is interested in to how archaeological sites were damaged during the last decades. Fieldworks are mostly restricted as determining the today's situations, documenting them again and -if available-investigating for destruction situation of the sites. During the first step of fieldwork which is started in 2004 summer, BAY Project visited 21 archaeological sites that are dated from the Neolithic to the end of Early Bronze Age. We have documented the destruction, constituted an archive regarding archaeological sites and finally presented the results to science world, regional and national public opinion through internet.

Visit: The Archaeological Settlements of Bursa - BAY Project

Kültür Varlıklarının Korunmasında Yerel İnisiyatiflerin Önemi

Bursa'nın Tarihöncesi ve BAY Projesi

04 August 2008

Bibliography for Paleolithic Magic

This is the cited references in Paleolithic Magic.

Arsebük, G.,
1995, İnsan ve Evrim, Ege Yayınları, İstanbul.

Lewin, R.,
1999, Modern İnsanın Kökeni, N. Özüaydın (Çev.), TÜBİTAK, İstanbul.

05 May 2008

Bibliography for Bird Symbolism in Warqa wa Gulshah

This is the cited references in Bird Symbolism in Warqa wa Gulshah.

Altın Sözlük, 1989
Altın Sözlük İngilizce-Türkçe, N. arıkan, G. Yenal, G. Taşpınar (haz.), İstanbul, Milliyet Yayınları.

Daneshvari, A., 1986
Animal Symbolism in Warqa wa Gulshãh, Oxford Studies in Islamic Art II, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Dinçer, B., 2002
“Kültür Tarihinde Kuşlar”, İbibik 3: 18-21.

Ertuğrul, Ö., 1997
Mitoloji ve İkonografi, İstanbul, Dragon Yayıncılık.

Heinzel, H., R. Fitter, J. Parslow, 2002
Türkiye ve Avrupa'nın Kuşları, K. A. Boyla (Çev.), İstanbul, Doğal Hayatı Koruma Derneği.

Özçelik, M. F., 1994
“Anadolu’dan Dünya Doğasına Bir Nefes, Sultansazlığı”, TÜBİTAK Bilim ve Teknik 320: 54-61.

Pancaroğlu, O., 2004
"The Itinerant Dragon-Slayer: Forging Paths of Image and Identity in Medieval Anatolia", GESTA XLIII/2: 151-164.

Wilson, E. O., 2000
Doğanın Gizli Bahçesi, A. Biçen (Çev.), Ankara, TÜBİTAK Popüler Bilim Kitapları.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS ABOUT WARQA WA GULHSAH
Ateş, A., 1961
“Un vieux poème romanesque persan, récit de Warqah wa Gulshah”, Ars Orientalis 4: 143-152.

Melikian-Chirvani, A. S. 1970
“Le roman de Varqe et Golsah”, Ars Asiatiques 22: 1-262.

Safa, Z., 1964
Ayyuqi, Warqa wa Gulshah, Tahran.

28 April 2008

Photos: Decorated pottery

©Berkay Dinçer

Decorated potteries waiting for klin.

Photos: Pottery drying

©Berkay Dinçer

Pottery must be dried in cool place without direct sunlight.

Photos: Pottery, waiting before klin

©Berkay Dinçer

Pottery must be awaited to dry after shaping.

Photos: Pottery shaping

©Berkay Dinçer

Shaping is the most important part of pottery making. Potter's wheel is a big invention which made people able to produce more standardized potteries.

Photos: Pottery clay kneading

©Berkay Dinçer

Clay must be kneaded well before shaping in order to make raw material homogeneous and avoid air bubbles inside the clay.

Photo: Pottery forms

©Berkay Dinçer
Pottery forms give clues to archaeologists about its date, but those in the picture are just modern replicas of Hittite pottery.

Pottery making from archaeologists' view

Clay is an aluminium silicate that contains some metal and alkaline. It can be separated into some different kinds according to their atomic structure and chemical components. Clay minerals has a stratified structure and can be in the forms of flake, plate or pin.

In the Near East, pottery was first used in Anatolia, Syria, and northern Mesopotamia nearly 8200 years ago and, with some exceptions, diffused everywhere in the Old World in a short period of time for the human history; two thousand years. Pottery is divided into different ware groups in accord with their making technique, shape and decoration. Geographical and historical distribution of this groups is used for understanding relative chronology when absolute chronology is not available -even when absolute chronology is available. Many times, changes in making technique and shape of pottery reflect cultural change. According to clay sources that can be defined with clay analysis of pottery, some trade routes and cultural relations can be understood better.

There are two ways of shaping clay for making vessels: Making by hand or using a wheel. Many different ways can be used in hand work. The wheel can be turned by hand or by foot or by both.

Before surface procedure, vessel is usually left to dry one or two days. Surface can shine like polished or be mat according to burnishing. Slip or wash can be used for decorating. Glaze is a metallic silicate and usually applied like slip. In prehistoric pottery, decoration is usually made before the vessel gets dry. Stamping and incising decoration is usually common. Kiln is not very necessary to fire a vessel. Many times just fire is enough.

Read full text Pottery Making article (in Turkish)

Pottery Making images