听厂贬础搁贰
[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-fb-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.facebook.com/ASOResearch/” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-tw-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://twitter.com/ASOResearch?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-in-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-schools-of-oriental-research” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-ml-icon_7.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”mailto:info@asor.org” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/blog-icon3.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://asor.org/blog” margin_bottom=”0″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496683923840{margin-right: 20px !important;border-left-width: 2px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;border-left-color: #99422f !important;}”][mk_divider divider_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” thickness=”1″ margin_top=”3″ margin_bottom=”3″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”ca-sidebar-39801″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1487276122024{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 30px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Atakan Atabas, 2025 Shirlee Meyers/G. Ernest Wright Fellowship Recipient聽[/vc_column_text][mk_divider margin_top=”10″][vc_column_text]When I left my hometown in central Anatolia to attend university, I never imagined that my path would eventually bring me back to the same region鈥攏ot as a student of technology, but as a researcher of the ancient past. My undergraduate years were spent studying computer science at one of T眉rkiye鈥檚 most prestigious universities, followed by professional work in the technology sector in Istanbul. Despite these achievements, I felt a growing distance from the land of my childhood. Archaeology offered me the chance to reconnect: to engage with the cultural heritage of Anatolia and, in doing so, to give something meaningful back to my community and my country.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”108434″ img_size=”650×705″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”30″][vc_wp_text]One of the works that has always stayed with me is Nuri Bilge Ceylan鈥檚 Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. In one scene, a driver tells a doctor, 鈥淲hen you have a family, you鈥檒l have a story to tell. You can say, once upon a time in Anatolia, when I was working out in the sticks, I remember this one night, which began like this. You can tell it like a fairytale, Doctor.鈥�聽 Whenever I am in the field, I think of this dialogue. To me, research is not only about data or analysis; it is also about collecting stories. Some call them academic findings, but I see them as connections-bridges between the past, present, and future of the Anatolian landscape. In that sense, I consider myself a mediator, one who helps bring different times and perspectives into conversation.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”108435″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”30″][vc_column_text]In the summer of 2025, I joined the Kerkenes Project in Yozgat, central Anatolia. For many international scholars, fieldwork in Turkey means collecting evidence, expanding networks, publishing papers, and advancing knowledge of the ancient world. For me, however, it is also deeply personal. Fieldwork is a return home: talking with workers from the village, walking the landscapes of my childhood, breathing the scent of native flowers, and tasting familiar foods that I ate growing up. At Kerkenes, I feel responsible not only for contributing to the project but also for representing the local community whose generosity sustains our work. This dual sense of responsibility reminds me that archaeology is not just scientific inquiry; it is also an ongoing dialogue between researchers and the people who live near the site today. I believe that understanding this relationship is key to understanding how academia can engage more meaningfully with society.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”108436″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”20″][vc_column_text]My own path鈥攆rom computer science to archaeology鈥攈as taught me the importance of interdisciplinary approaches. To restrict archaeology to narrow disciplinary boundaries is to diminish its potential. Often, archaeological questions require the mind of a sociologist, the skills of an engineer, the vision of an architect, the insights of a politician, or even the calculations of an economist. At Kerkenes, I have seen how archaeology draws together these diverse ways of thinking. Fieldwork also demands practical versatility: negotiating with local bureaucrats, collaborating with villagers, and adapting to shifting roles and responsibilities. In such a dynamic environment, effective communication is essential. Each season teaches me how to engage with people of different backgrounds, perspectives, and priorities. Thus, the Kerkenes Project is not only an academic training ground but also a place of intercultural exchange, collaboration, and personal growth.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”108437″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”20″][vc_column_text]For me, archaeology is not only about answering research questions but also about building relationships鈥攁cross cultures, disciplines, and generations. An excavation site is a meeting point where individuals from different nationalities, ethnicities, genders, socioeconomic classes, and educational backgrounds come together. It is also a meeting point across time, where modern researchers walk through the same landscapes that ancient inhabitants once knew. In this sense, we are not outside observers of history but participants in its unfolding narrative. We are part of the same story, shaped by the same land, only at different moments in time. Once upon a time in Anatolia鈥� there is always a story to tell.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”108438″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_divider][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_wp_text]Atakan Atabas is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Central Florida. His research focuses on digital archaeology, with particular attention to Anatolian art and archaeology. He has been a member of the Kerkenes Project since 2023, and his dissertation examines the orientations of buildings at Kerkenes and their relationship to the social organization of Kerkenes society.[/vc_wp_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]
Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting 鈥淔ieldwork Scholarships鈥� as your gift purpose!
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