{"id":16745,"date":"2026-05-04T07:28:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T07:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/16745\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T07:28:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T07:28:49","slug":"japanese-chinese-archaeologists-to-join-neolithic-digs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/16745\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese, Chinese archaeologists to join Neolithic digs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u015eANLIURFA
\n\"Japanese,<\/p>\n

Archaeological excavations at key Neolithic<\/a> sites in southeastern T\u00fcrkiye are expanding into an international collaboration, with Japanese and Chinese researchers set to join ongoing works under the Stone Hills project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Work will be carried out at Ayanlar Mound and Yo\u011funbur\u00e7, located in the Karak\u00f6pr\u00fc district of \u015eanl\u0131urfa, as part of broader research into early settled life, following in the footsteps of landmark sites such as G\u00f6beklitepe and Karahantepe.<\/p>\n

Professor Necmi Karul, coordinator of the Stone Hills Project and head of the Karahantepe excavations, said the Ayanlar dig will soon begin with the participation of Japanese archaeologists, who have already completed preparatory work on site.<\/p>\n

\u201cJapanese colleagues will soon arrive to work at Ayanlar. They are operating within a long-term plan. Even before the excavation<\/a> begins, they have established their infrastructure, including excavation houses and preliminary documentation studies,\u201d Karul said.<\/p>\n

He emphasized that the Japanese team is known for its meticulous and patient approach. \u201cThey are not aiming for quick results but are committed to doing the most accurate work, no matter how long it takes. We believe they will make significant contributions to the project,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Karul also recalled that Princess Akiko of Mikasa visited the Ayanlar site last year alongside Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and symbolically initiated the excavation.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Yo\u011funbur\u00e7 is set to host its first-ever excavation, led by a Chinese team. Karul noted that the Chinese Academy of Archaeology had already conducted preliminary research in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcavation will be carried out at Yo\u011funbur\u00e7 for the first time. This will be the first excavation project of the People\u2019s Republic of China in T\u00fcrkiye,\u201d he said, highlighting the growing international scope of the Stone Hills initiative.<\/p>\n

Karul stressed that the Neolithic period represents a shared chapter in human history, marked by developments such as settled life, food production, division of labor and architecture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are universal themes that attract scientists from around the world. Studying this era motivates researchers to explore our common past,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The project currently involves cooperation with 36 international academic institutions, including 15 from T\u00fcrkiye and 21 from abroad, making it one of the most comprehensive archaeological initiatives in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Karul also noted that around 200 archaeologists worked on the project last year, ranging from newcomers to experienced experts. He added that knowledge transfer among participants plays a key role, with younger archaeologists gaining hands-on experience and training at Stone Hills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u015eANLIURFA Archaeological excavations at key Neolithic sites in southeastern T\u00fcrkiye are expanding into an international collaboration, with Japanese…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13368,8,17,13370,13369],"class_list":["post-16745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-japan","tag-excavation","tag-japan","tag-japanese","tag-neolithic","tag-project"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}