Assoc. Dr. Evangelia PİŞKİN (Unit Director)

Evangelia Pişkin received her PhD from Leicester University, UK. She held research and administrative positions at British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, Turkey and lecturing positions at Bilkent University (Ankara) whilst currently she is Associated Professor at Middle East Technical University, Settlement Archaeology department, where she also directs the Environmental Archaeology Research Unit. She has worked on bone and plant assemblages from various periods (Neolithic to Islamic), mostly in Turkey, but also in Greece, UK and Spain. Her research focus is on zooarchaeology and her interests include the integration of environmental data, taphonomy and quantification, specialised economies/transhumance, isotopes and geometric morphometrics.

+90 312 (210) 6218

ioannido(at)metu.edu.tr

M.Sc. Student Ebrar SİNMEZ (Archaeobotany)

Ebrar Sinmez graduated from Middle East Technical University's Biology Department with a bachelor's degree in 2019 and began her master's degree in the Settlement Archaeology Department of the same university in that year. She is currently carrying out her master's studies with Evangelia Pişkin in the METU Environmental Archaeology Research Unit (EARU) lab, and as a part of her studies. Her research focuses on the effects of the 4.2 ka and 3.2 ka climatic events on agricultural activities at Tell Atchana and Toprakhisar.

+90 312 (210) 7267

ebrar.sinmez(at)metu.edu.tr

PhD Candidate Ebru Gizem AYTEN (Zooarchaeology)

Ebru completed her BA degree in Bilkent’s Archeology Department (2014) and her MA degree at METU in Settlement Archeology (2019). In her master’s thesis, entitled “Animal Figurines in the Early Bronze Age of Anatolia: The Case of Koçumbeli”, she examined the use of animal figurines in social contexts through thematic and contextual evaluations. She continues her doctoral studies in METU’s Settlement Archeology on zooarchaeological studies in the EARU lab with Evangelia Pişkin. Her doctoral study focuses on the pig taboo among the Hittites, and within the scope of this study.

+90 312 (210) 7267

gizem.ayten(at)metu.edu.tr