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Field Courses
The Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology offers introductory and advanced study opportunities to students and young researchers in archaeology and relevant fields. The courses are based on the excavation at Kaman-Kalehöyük and are taught by professional researchers in various fields. In past years, courses have been held on the topics of conservation, archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, archaeological anthropology, palaeoenvironmental studies, and archaeology.
2015 Archaeobotany Field Course at the JIAA
The 2015 Archaeobotany Field Course at the JIAA was taught by Dr Rohan Fenwick (The University of Queensland, Australia), and was attended by a keen group of budding archaeobotanists from The University of Queensland and Macquarie University. Using excavated materials from Kaman-Kalehöyük, as well as modern plant specimens from our reference collection, we discussed a range of topics including introductory botany, identification of plants and plant anatomical structures (seeds, fruits, and wood charcoal), plant and human ecology, and the ways in which plants may be preserved in – and recovered from – archaeological sites. We also examined actual preserved plant remains from Kaman-Kalehöyük, and discussed the ways in which such remains can shed light on past human cultures and subsistence.
During the field course we placed special emphasis on learning practical field methods, and the students were especially enthusiastic about learning the principles and methods of the ongoing JIAA archaeobotanical flotation programme (even if they got a little dirty at the flotation machine!). Students were also very interested in learning about recent advances in our understanding of cereal domestication, as well as about the ground-breaking archaeobotanical research being done at Kaman-Kalehöyük. Field excursions to the Kaman-Kalehöyük Museum, and also to the modern agricultural fields around the JIAA compound, helped to show how the research on plant remains can be placed into a much wider context. The students enjoyed themselves very much, and I hope that the field course has helped to inspire a new generation of archaeobotanical researchers! (21 July 2015) (Dr Rohan Fenwick)
