Archaeology, Anatolia by Catherine Scott
This paper explores ephemeral landscapes of smell using datasets from ethnographic fieldwork, arc... more This paper explores ephemeral landscapes of smell using datasets from ethnographic fieldwork, archaeological survey, and sediment geochemistry in western Anatolia. Our analysis brings together regional datasets from the late Ottoman period to the present to understand the places that mark the transition from the agropastoral migratory lifeways of Yörük tribes to settled communities. We explore one Yörük-legacy (Tekeli tribe) compound to understand 'settled' lifeways over three generations, and how study of these legacy traditions may be a valuable contribution to experimental archaeology. Our entry into this discussion is a study of food – its preparation, storage, and consumption – and its associated olfactory landscapes. While ethnography helps determine how aromas define active and contemporary spaces and spheres of intimacy, sediment geochemistry offers a method for investigating the archaeologies of aroma.
Articles by Catherine Scott
Turkish Journal of Archaeological Sciences, 2025
For the past few decades, ICP-MS has been the method of choice for studying the chemical composit... more For the past few decades, ICP-MS has been the method of choice for studying the chemical composition of sediments and soils on archaeological sites to elucidate past uses of space. However, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is becoming increasingly a popular alternative due to its flexibility. This study compares sample preparation and analysis of these methods using a dataset of 54 samples from the abandoned 20th century village of Eski Hacıveliler in western Turkey. Several variables were tested, including two methods of powdering (hand-powdering versus ball mill) and two methods of sample preparation for WD-XRF analysis: loose-powder and fused beads. Statistical analyses of the results indicate no significant difference between the results of the two XRF preparations and ICP-MS, though there is a difference in samples powdered by hand versus by ball mill in ICP-MS data. Heat maps of elemental concentrations similarly show agreement between the patterns produced by the XRF and ICP-MS analyses. These results demonstrate the validity of XRF—particularly loose-powder preparations—for archaeological sediment chemistry analysis. This method and sample preparation represent a relatively rapid and low-cost option for analyzing large numbers of samples and, therefore, offer a path toward more extensive incorporation of sediment chemistry into archaeological research.
Open Archaeology, 2021
Digital technologies have been at the heart of fieldwork at the Kaymakçı Archaeological Project (... more Digital technologies have been at the heart of fieldwork at the Kaymakçı Archaeological Project (KAP) since its beginning in 2014. All data on this excavation are born-digital, from textual, photographic, and videographic descriptions of contexts and objects in a database and excavation journals to 2D plans and profiles as well as 3D volumetric recording of contexts. The integration of structure from motion (SfM) modeling and its various products has had an especially strong impact on how project participants interact with the archaeological record during and after excavation. While this technology opens up many new possibilities for data recording, analysis, and presentation, it can also present challenges when the requirements of the recording system come into conflict with an archaeologist's training and experience. Here, we consider the benefits and costs of KAP's volumetric recording system. We explore the ways that recording protocols for image-based modeling change how archaeologists see and manage excavation areas and how the products of this recording system are revolutionizing our interaction with the (digital) archaeological record. We also share some preliminary plans for how we intend to expand this work in the future.
Journal of Field Archaeology, 2020
Archaeological sediment chemistry is a method for using the distribution of chemical elements acr... more Archaeological sediment chemistry is a method for using the distribution of chemical elements across a site or landscape to elucidate site boundaries, site structures, and use of space. Archaeologists have sought to implement it at a number of scales, from the analysis of single excavated features to site prospection in regional survey. This article presents a model for an ongoing, multi-scalar collection strategy that builds on previous global work in sediment chemistry. Analyzed data derive from the Bronze Age (2nd millennium b.c.) citadel of Kaymakçı, Turkey. The article presents the results of laboratory x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis of both surface and sub-surface samples associated with one excavation area to test the effectiveness of different sample collection strategies by analyzing relationships between sample chemical signatures. The results suggest that a multi-scalar geochemical dataset aids in intra-site feature prospection, site stratigraphy, and nuanced interpretations of the use of space.
American Journal of Archaeology, 2018
THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE VIA AJA OPEN ACCESS AT https://www.ajaonline.org/sites/default/files/12... more THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE VIA AJA OPEN ACCESS AT https://www.ajaonline.org/sites/default/files/1224_Roosevelt_0.pdf WITH AN ONLINE SUPPLEMENTAL IMAGE GALLERY AT https://www.ajaonline.org/node/3774.
Current understandings of the archaeology of second-millennium B.C.E. central western Anatolia are enriched by ongoing research at Kaymakçı, located in the Marmara Lake basin of the middle Gediz River valley in western Turkey. Discovered during regional survey in 2001, the site offers a critical node of exploration for understanding a previously unexamined period in a well-traversed geography thought to be the core of the Late Bronze Age Seha River Land known from Hittite texts. Here we present results from the first three seasons of excavation on the citadel of Kaymakçı plus a study season (2014–2017), introducing the site’s chronology, historical and regional context, and significance through presentation of excavation areas as well as material and subsistence economies. With reference to such evidence, we discuss the site’s development, organization, and interregional interactions, demonstrating its place in local and regional networks that connected Aegean and central Anatolian spheres of interest.
Papers by Catherine Scott
Open Archaeology, 2021
Digital technologies have been at the heart of fieldwork at the Kaymakçı Archaeological Project (... more Digital technologies have been at the heart of fieldwork at the Kaymakçı Archaeological Project (KAP) since its beginning in 2014. All data on this excavation are born-digital, from textual, photographic, and videographic descriptions of contexts and objects in a database and excavation journals to 2D plans and profiles as well as 3D volumetric recording of contexts. The integration of structure from motion (SfM) modeling and its various products has had an especially strong impact on how project participants interact with the archaeological record during and after excavation. While this technology opens up many new possibilities for data recording, analysis, and presentation, it can also present challenges when the requirements of the recording system come into conflict with an archaeologist’s training and experience. Here, we consider the benefits and costs of KAP’s volumetric recording system. We explore the ways that recording protocols for image-based modeling change how archae...
American Journal of Archaeology, 2018
Current understandings of the archaeology of second-millennium B.C.E. central western Anatolia ar... more Current understandings of the archaeology of second-millennium B.C.E. central western Anatolia are enriched by ongoing research at Kaymakçı, located in the Marmara Lake basin of the middle Gediz River valley in western Turkey. Discovered during regional survey in 2001, the site offers a critical node of exploration for understanding a previously unexamined period in a well-traversed geography thought to be the core of the Late Bronze Age Seha River Land known from Hittite texts. Here we present results from the first three seasons of excavation on the citadel of Kaymakçı plus a study season (2014-2017), introducing the site's chronology, historical and regional context, and significance through presentation of excavation areas as well as material and subsistence economies. With reference to such evidence, we discuss the site's development, organization, and interregional interactions, demonstrating its place in local and regional networks that connected Aegean and central Anatolian spheres of interest. 1 christopher h. roosevelt et al. 646 [aja 122 introduction The Kaymakçı Archaeological Project (KAP) was established in 2013 to conduct excavations and related activities at Kaymakçı, a second-millennium B.C.E. site located in the Marmara Lake basin of the Gediz River valley, province of Manisa, western Turkey. 2 Building on the preliminary results of the diachronic Central Lydia Archaeological Survey (CLAS, 2005-2014), 3 excavations at Kaymakçı began in 2014 with the aim of exploring the development, spatial organization, and economies of the site. With four seasons of research now complete including the 2017 season, 4 this article focuses on the implications of results from excavations and material analyses for understanding activities and interactions across the site, the region, and the broader Aegean and Anatolian worlds during the second millennium B.C.E. Excavations at Kaymakçı are planned to continue at least six more years, according to the 10-year research program submitted to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Final publication of excavation sectors and finds will follow, while separate articles will treat specific sets of data. regional setting and previous research Kaymakçı is situated above and along the western shore of Lake Marmara, an approximately 50 km 2 inland lake located along the northern margin of the Gediz (classical Hermus) River valley, about 100 km 2 We thank P.J. Cobb, T. Kaner, and E. Moss for their essential implementation and management of the recording system in the 2014-2016 field seasons. We give thanks also to all project participants between 2014 and 2017, including K.
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Archaeology, Anatolia by Catherine Scott
Articles by Catherine Scott
Current understandings of the archaeology of second-millennium B.C.E. central western Anatolia are enriched by ongoing research at Kaymakçı, located in the Marmara Lake basin of the middle Gediz River valley in western Turkey. Discovered during regional survey in 2001, the site offers a critical node of exploration for understanding a previously unexamined period in a well-traversed geography thought to be the core of the Late Bronze Age Seha River Land known from Hittite texts. Here we present results from the first three seasons of excavation on the citadel of Kaymakçı plus a study season (2014–2017), introducing the site’s chronology, historical and regional context, and significance through presentation of excavation areas as well as material and subsistence economies. With reference to such evidence, we discuss the site’s development, organization, and interregional interactions, demonstrating its place in local and regional networks that connected Aegean and central Anatolian spheres of interest.
Papers by Catherine Scott
Current understandings of the archaeology of second-millennium B.C.E. central western Anatolia are enriched by ongoing research at Kaymakçı, located in the Marmara Lake basin of the middle Gediz River valley in western Turkey. Discovered during regional survey in 2001, the site offers a critical node of exploration for understanding a previously unexamined period in a well-traversed geography thought to be the core of the Late Bronze Age Seha River Land known from Hittite texts. Here we present results from the first three seasons of excavation on the citadel of Kaymakçı plus a study season (2014–2017), introducing the site’s chronology, historical and regional context, and significance through presentation of excavation areas as well as material and subsistence economies. With reference to such evidence, we discuss the site’s development, organization, and interregional interactions, demonstrating its place in local and regional networks that connected Aegean and central Anatolian spheres of interest.