British archaeologist emphasizes importance of Mendik Tepe to understand early human history

(MENAFN) British archaeologist Douglas Baird, who has spent 30 years conducting excavations across Türkiye, emphasizes the importance of Mendik Tepe in the country’s southeast as a key site for understanding early human history.

Baird, 65, of the University of Liverpool, recently led digs at Mendik Tepe in Şanlıurfa under Türkiye’s Culture and Tourism Ministry project Tas Tepeler (Stone Hills). The site is believed to predate the famed Göbeklitepe.

Having worked on excavations in Jordan and Iraq, Baird arrived in Türkiye in 1995 and has since directed major digs at Çatalhöyük and Boncuklu Höyük in Konya, as well as Pınarbaşı in Karaman. He continues his research with the same dedication as on his first day.

Reflecting on his early career, Baird told a news agency that while working on Neolithic sites in northern Iraq with his PhD supervisor, they discussed the potential of uncovering contemporaneous sites in Türkiye. “We were digging a very early Neolithic site probably the same time as Mendik, and we were discussing how nice it would be to go and find similar period early Neolithic sites in Türkiye,” he said.

Baird highlighted that the Tas Tepeler project is particularly exciting because it enables researchers to study a network of settlements and their development on a larger, regional scale, expanding on earlier work in the Konya Plain. “It’ll be very exciting when we integrate all our and compare all our results,” he noted.

He added, “Tas Tepeler is very exciting with all the decorated stones and big buildings and so it’s exciting for everyone. I think they very much excite people all around the world.”

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