People of Anatolia: Past, Current and Future Research in the Biological Anthropology of Türkiye

People of Anatolia: Past, Current and Future Research in the Biological Anthropology of Türkiye brings together, in one complete volume, some of the current research foci and trends of biological anthropology in Türkiye. The papers within this edited volume cover a multitude of topics, many of which complement and enhance each other, helping to demonstrate the strength and variety of research currently being performed in Türkiye by both domestic and foreign researchers. Furthermore, several of these papers examine large scale diachronic changes and highlight the importance of such holistic approaches and methodological considerations, and new trends in modern research by considering large scale patterns through time and space and the ‘bigger’ picture. For example, the application of multiple, more traditional macroscopic, biological anthropological analyses in conjunction with more modern techniques, such as biomolecular analyses. Biological anthropology in Türkiye has developed markedly since the days of primarily analysing skeletal and dental morphometrics of the skeleton and investigating race. This is particularly true since the 1990s when studies have examined skeletal remains from Anatolia within wider bioarchaeological contexts and research questions. Research agendas have accelerated particularly in the last decade with the introduction and application of new methodologies, including quantifiable scientific techniques which has increased the ability to not only tackle existing and earlier research questions with more specificity and in more depth, but also enables us to tackle a greater variety of research questions, as well as stimulating new ones. This volume demonstrates how complementary, as well as large-scale diachronic studies enhance our knowledge not only of changes in human behaviour and human-environment interactions through time, but also how these changes affected people at the individual, population, regional and pan-regional levels. One of the key messages from this edited volume, as a whole, is that multi-faceted and holistic approaches to exploring particular research agendas are both important and essential. While the individual papers in this volume may not necessarily always employ a multi-faceted or holistic approach, the combined reading of them does so. The types of data and information contained in the papers of this edited volume, therefore, will be of great interest and importance to the wider archaeological community in general. But particularly to Turkish students of archaeology, as well as Turkish/Türkiye-based and research focused archaeologists and specialists of biological anthropology and bioarchaeology and its sub-disciplines.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction - Yılmaz Selim Erdal, Benjamin Irvine 2. Sex estimation and gender in ancient Anatolian populations - İsmail Özer 3. Stature estimation and stature changes in Anatolia - Mehmet Saǧır 4. Re-evaluation of the prevalence of porotic hyperostosis in Anatolian populations by applying the "osteological paradox" approach - Handan Üstündağ 5. Biological distance relations in Anatolian populations: an anthropological review - Serpil Eroğlu 6. Intentional headshaping in Anatolia. A diachronic analysis of its typological and semantic distribution - Valentina D’Amico 7. A genomic history of the Neolithisation in Anatolia: preliminary insights - Ayça Aydoğan, Ezgi Altınışık, Hasan Can Gemici, Çiğdem Atakuman, Füsun Özer, Mehmet Somel 8. The effects of agriculture on the human body: A case study on Anatolian Neolithic populations - Yılmaz Selim Erdal 9. Diachronic changes in the frequency of caries in Anatolian past populations - M. Melis Koruyucu 10. An isotopic perspective of diachronic changes in dietary habits and subsistence practices in Anatolia - Benjamin Irvine 11. Concluding Remarks - Benjamin Irvine, Yılmaz Selim Erdal

About the Author :
Benjamin Irvine is a bioarchaeologist who specializes in utilizing osteological, archaeological, and stable isotope analyses to examine human-environment interactions; particularly the dietary habits, subsistence practices, agricultural strategies, and mobility patterns of populations in prehistoric Anatolia and adjacent regions. Yılmaz Selim Erdal is a distinguished professor at Hacettepe University, Türkiye. He is a specialist in human bioarchaeology. He has participated in more than 30 excavations in Türkiye. He contributed to the establishment of Human_G and Husbio_L laboratories at Hacettepe University. His research focuses on dietary habits, lifestyle, socioeconomic status, and burial customs of prehistoric Anatolia and surrounding areas. Lutgarde Vandeput is the director of the British Institute at Ankara (since 2006). Her fieldwork focuses on Türkiye, specifically in Sagalassos, Aspendos and in the Pisidia Survey Project. As a classical archaeologist (KULeuven, Belgium), she specializes in the study of monumental architecture, settlement development and survey archaeology. Vandeput is involved in the BIAA cultural heritage and sustainable water management projects.