{"id":1711,"date":"2025-11-20T22:24:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T19:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/?p=1711"},"modified":"2025-11-26T14:06:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T11:06:33","slug":"nit-newsletter-2025-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/2025\/11\/20\/nit-newsletter-2025-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NIT Newsletter 2025 – 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Yaz\u0131l\u0131kaya Living Lab participants at Midas Han, Eski\u015fehir<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We are pleased to share the latest updates from the Netherlands Institute in Turkey, highlighting a dynamic season of archaeological fieldwork, heritage initiatives, and academic activities. This newsletter brings you an overview of recent discoveries, ongoing projects, upcoming events, and the inspiring work of our 2025 Autumn Fellows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upcoming Activities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

NIT Day in Amsterdam<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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On 3 December 2025, we are organizing the NIT Day in Amsterdam. You can learn about the activities and programs of the Netherlands Institute in Turkey. You can listen to presentations by staff and fellows, hear from former fellows about their experiences in Istanbul, and meet or reconnect with NIT staff and alumni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NIT Day in Amsterdam will take place at the Chirurgisch Theater at the University Library of University of Amsterdam. Please fill out the registration form through the QR code or through the link here<\/a> to attend the NIT Day.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Apply for NIT Spring 2026 Fellowships!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photo by Engin Akyurt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the spring of 2026, NIT offers two types of fellowships for a research stay at the Netherlands Institute in Turkey (Istanbul). The application deadline is 5 December 2025<\/strong>. Please go here<\/a> for more information about the fellowships and the application form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Residential Fellowships<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

NIT offers four residential fellowships for the spring of 2026. This fellowship offer includes free accommodation in an apartment near the institute and 24\/7 access to the NIT library for a period of four weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deadline for applications: 5 December 2025<\/strong>

Fellowship periods<\/strong>
Period 1: 15 January \u2013 12 February 2026 (2 fellowships)
Period 2: 13 February \u2013 13 March 2026 (2 fellowships)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Non-Residential Fellowships<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

NIT offers two non-residential fellowships during the spring of 2026. This fellowship includes an allowance of 400 Euros for travel and living expenses and 24\/7 access to the NIT library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Deadline for applications: 5 December 2025<\/strong>

Fellowship period<\/strong>
One month between 15 January and 15 June 2026 (2 fellowships)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Past Activities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tell Kurdu Excavations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Sunrise over Tell Kurdu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 2025 season of the Tell Kurdu Excavations took place from July to October. This year has witnessed many great discoveries, some of which made it to the national and international news!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Excavating Amuq E layers at Tell Kurdu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Two of the footprints from Tell Kurdu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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We continued excavating the Amuq E (5th millennium BCE) and Amuq C (6th millennium BCE) occupations. Two new grill-plan structures, separated by a wide street and dating to the 5th millennium BCE, were uncovered at the top of the mound. Here, we also made a rare discovery: footprints of a group of people walking together with their animals. These footprints were on a rather muddy area that dried up and was quickly covered with a sandy deposit, which enabled their preservation throughout the millennia. Many media outlets shared this discovery. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Amuq C occupation at Tell Kurdu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u015eehriban Y\u00fcksel and Rutkay Var excavating a burial<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

We continued to excavate the Amuq C occupation to the south of the mound. This area appears to be a neighborhood with several buildings, separated by streets, alleys, and courtyards. Several burials of infants and adults were also uncovered in this area. This season, we also opened new trenches dating to the Amuq D occupation, which temporally links the Amuq C (Halaf) and E (Ubaid) occupations. This is a relatively unknown period, referred to as the Halaf-Ubaid transition. The excavations of these trenches did not yield any architecture, but several pits and some fireplaces were found. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tell Kurdu Excavations 2025 team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Tell Kurdu Excavation Project investigates a large settlement site dating from the sixth and fifth millennium BCE in the Amuq Plain in the southern province of Hatay. The excavations are co-directed by Rana \u00d6zbal (Ko\u00e7 University) and Fokke Gerritsen (Netherlands Institute in Turkey). The excavations have been ongoing since 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustainable Futures for Rural Heritage: Opportunities and Threats in T\u00fcrkiye and the Netherlands Symposium<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The Sustainable Futures for Rural Heritage: Opportunities and Threats in T\u00fcrkiye and the Netherlands Symposium, held online on October 17, 2025, explored the potential of tangible and intangible heritage in rural settings to contribute to sustainable developments. As part of the 2025 Urban Heritage Lab, the event facilitated a dialogue among researchers on the issues affecting rural landscapes and their potential to foster sustainable, community-oriented prospects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Midas Monument, Yaz\u0131l\u0131kaya, Eski\u015fehir. Photo by G\u00fcl\u015fah G\u00fcnata<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The symposium examined historic rural landscapes as dynamic, multilayered environments, emphasizing that their preservation is inextricably linked to the residing communities. Case studies from the Netherlands and T\u00fcrkiye highlighted the value of regionally contextualized research methodologies and the critical need for fostering trust among policymakers, heritage professionals, and local communities, illustrating how ecological knowledge, vernacular architecture, and adaptive reuse interact with current political, economic, and environmental pressures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The symposium’s key message was that the sustainability of rural heritage relies on collaboration, community participation, and a more holistic approach to heritage interpretation, considering both its tangible and intangible elements. The preservation of rural heritage requires maintaining conditions that sustain life, memory, and significance in these environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urban Heritage Lab 2025: Yaz\u0131l\u0131kaya Living Lab: Adaptive Futures for Rural Heritage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The fifth edition of the NIT Urban Heritage Lab Autumn course, Yaz\u0131l\u0131kaya Living Lab: Adaptive Futures for Rural Heritage, started in October 2025 with the Sustainable Futures for Rural Heritage: Opportunities and Threats in T\u00fcrkiye and the Netherlands Symposium. This year, the Lab expands its geographic and conceptual scope, focusing on the Phrygian Highlands (Mountainous Phrygia), a culturally and ecologically significant rural region in west-central Anatolia. Listed on UNESCO\u2019s Tentative List since 2025, the Highlands host a unique concentration of archaeological remains alongside layers of vernacular architecture, living rural traditions, and landscapes shaped by millennia of human-nature interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Guided tour in K\u00fcmbet with Yaz\u0131l\u0131kaya Living Lab course participants<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This course provides participants with direct experience of these heritage layers through an intensive program of seminars, fieldwork, and collaborative study. It establishes a long-standing history of Dutch-Turkish collaboration in the region, particularly the pioneering work of archaeologist Emilie Haspels, and explores methods for preserving, reimagining, and activating cultural heritage in the face of climate change, depopulation, and shifting land use patterns. Participants from diverse backgrounds, including architecture, urban planning, heritage conservation, sociology, cultural heritage, archaeology, conflict analysis and resolution, and history, have come together to develop heritage-based strategies that promote sustainability, conservation, and revitalization, engaging with the following interrelated heritage challenges:<\/p>\n\n\n\n