Graduate in Settlement archaeology at Middle East Technical University
The objective of the program is to provide students with a solid academic background in archaeological theory, research techniques and modern interpretative methods with particular emphasis on settlement and environmental archaeology.
Settlement archaeology is the study of the selection criteria and implantation of settlements in the landscape, interrelationships between cities and their rural surroundings, the impact of human occupation on the natural environment and vice versa under past conditions.
Settlement archaeology has as its aim the holistic reconstruction of the cultures of ancient settlements and urban communities and their hinterlands. Settlement archaeological research is by definition a multidisciplinary enterprise requiring expertise from the disciplines of the natural and social sciences, architecture and city planning, as well as specialized techniques related to the retrieval, recording, analysis and data bank management of archaeological data (GIS), site conservation and cultural resource management. Disciplines and interdisciplinary sub-disciplines required in addition to archaeology include geology, environmental geomorphology, archaeozoology, paleontology, paleobotany, archaeometry, ancient history, anthropology, sociology, urban geography, classical architecture and city planning.
The objectives of the program are to train students in both the scientific-technological and social science-humanities disciplines necessary to conduct archaeological research according to contemporary international standards. The primary purpose is to train students as advanced scholars in settlement archaeology for university level teaching, research and active participation in national and international archaeological projects in Turkey.