Dr Ulf-Dietrich Schoop

Senior Lecturer; Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology

Biography

Background

I studied archaeology at the Universities of Tübingen, Freiburg i.Br. (Germany) and Cape Town (South Africa), obtaining my PhD from Tübingen University in 2002. During this time, I participated in quite a number of field projects in Central Europe, Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, ending up, eventually, in Turkey where I worked at the sites of Troy and Boğazköy-Hattuša. Until 2007, I was based at the Istanbul Section of the German Institute of Archaeology holding research fellowships of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Institute of Archaeology (DAI). During my time in Istanbul, I also taught as a part-time lecturer in Boğaziçi University. Since 2007, I have been a Lecturer in Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology at Edinburgh University’s School of History, Classics and Archaeology.

Responsibilities & affiliations

  • Council Member of the British Institute at Ankara
  • Member of the Steering Committee of the British Association of Near Eastern Archaeologists

Undergraduate teaching

  • Archaeology 1A [ARCA08004] (Contributor)
  • Archaeology 1B [ARCA08005] (Contributor)
  • Archaeology 2B: Archaeology in Action [AR08013] (Contributor)
  • Theoretical Archaeology [ARCA10064] (Contributor)
  • Bronze Age Civilisations of the Near East and Greece [ARCA10047] (Convener)
  • The Hittites: The Archaeology of an Ancient Near Eastern Civilisation [ARCA10063] (Convener)
  • Archaeological Fieldwork [ARCA10013] (Convener)  

Postgraduate teaching

  • Bronze Age Civilisations of the Near East and Greece [PGHC11239] (Convener)
  • The Hittites: The Archaeology of an Ancient Near Eastern Civilisation [ARCA11020] (Convener)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

Name - Degree - Thesis topic - Supervision type

  •       - PhD - Western Cyprus in the Early-Modern Bronze Age: New Ceramic Evidence from Kissonerga-Ammoudhia - Primary
  •       - PhD - The Middle Bronze Age in Tell Ahmar (North West Syria): A Functional Interpretation of the Ceramic Material - Primary
  •       - PhD - The urbanisation in the Euphrates Valley in the third millennium - Primary
  • Whalen, Jessica- - Drinking and feasting in central and western Anatolia during the Early Bronze Age II-III Periods (2650-2000 BC) -Primary

Past PhD students supervised

Name - Degree - Thesis topic - Supervision type -Completion year

  • Koutrafouri, Vasiliki - PhD - Ritual in Prehistory; Definition and Identification. Religious Insight in Early Prehistoric Cyprus - Primary - 2009
  • Stork, Leigh - MScR - The urbanisation in the Euphrates Valley in the third millennium - Primary - 2009

Research summary

Places: 

  • Mediterranean
  • Near East

Themes: 

  • Ancient Civilisations
  • Culture
  • Diplomatic History
  • Economic History
  • Imperialism
  • Landscapes & Monuments
  • Material Culture
  • Medicine, Science & Technology
  • Politics
  • Religion
  • Society
  • War

Periods: 

  • Prehistory
  • Early Historic

Research interests

My research interests encompass the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age of the Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean, with particular emphasis on the archaeology of early Anatolia. I am very interested in how technology and social organisation are interrelated, and have investigated this topic using the example of Neolithic metallurgy in the Near East. More recently, I have worked on the chronology and development of Neolithic and Chalcolithic societies in Anatolia. I am equally interested in the archaeological exploration of the Hittite Civilisation, one of the great powers of the Near East in the Late Bronze Age. Through this work, I became interested into the unfashionable topic of how to (re)construct chronology in regions with very little archaeological information. One of my general research interests is how much influence the natural environment exerts on human society, especially in mountainous and forested environments. I am trying to look at this question from the perspectives of both small-scale and early state societies with case studies (as yet) mostly coming from North-Central Anatolia.

Project activity

My current research revolves around the exploration of Çamlıbel Tarlası, a 4th millennium BC site in North Central Anatolia, a project which investigates the role small-scale communities played in the prehistory of this mountainous and previously heavily forested part of Turkey. Çamlıbel Tarlası is a small hamlet-type site with rich evidence for small-scale copper metallurgy and a number of other activities not documented before in this area. All these activities appear to be integrated into the daily life of a small agricultural community without signs of specialisation.

The other leg of my current research uses a string of well-dated archaeological assemblages from the Hittite capital Boğazköy-Hattuša with the aim to overhaul the current framework used for the dating of Hittite material culture. The changes brought about by this research (and a number of related research projects by other scholars) have serious consequences for our understanding of Hittite culture exceeding by far the narrow field of pottery studies.

Research projects

  • Excavations at Çamlıbel Tarlası, North-Central Anatolia (currently in the post-excavation stage)
  • Restructuring of the Hittite material culture sequence through pottery analysis at Boğazköy-Hattuša, North-Central Anatolia

The list below is a subset of the information held on the University of Edinburgh PURE system, and includes Books, Chapters, Articles and Conference contributions. For a full list, including details of other publication types (e.g. reviews), please see the Edinburgh Research Explorer page for Dr Ulf-Dietrich Schoop.

Books - Authored

Schoop, U. (2005) Das anatolische Chalkolithikum: Eine chronologische Untersuchung zur vorbronzezeitlichen Kultursequenz im nördlichen Zentralanatolien und den angrenzenden Gebieten. Remshalden: Verlag Bernhard Albert Greiner

Schoop, U. (1995) Die Geburt des Hephaistos. Technologie und Kulturgeschichte neolithischer Metallverwendung im Vorderen Orient. Espelkamp: Verlag Marie Leidorf, Rahden/Westf

Books - Edited

Schoop, U., Seeher, J. and Mielke, D. (eds.) (2006) Strukturierung und Datierung in der hethitischen Archäologie: Voraussetzungen, Probleme, neue Ansätze = Structuring and dating in Hittite archaeology: Requirements, problems, new approaches. Istanbul: Ege Yayınları, Istanbul

Articles

Marston, J., Kováčik, P. and Schoop, U. (2021) Environmental reconstruction and wood use at late Chalcolithic Çamlıbel Tarlası, Turkey. Quaternary International, 593–594, pp. 178–194DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.08.055

Clarke, J., Brooks, N., Banning, E., Bar-Matthews, M., Campbell, S., Clare, L., Cremaschi, M., di Lernia, S., Drake, N., Gallinaro, M., Manning, S., Nicoll, K., Philip, G., Rosen, S., Schoop, U., Tafuri, M., Weninger, B. and Zerboni, A. (2016) Climatic changes and social transformations in the Near East and North Africa during the ‘long’ 4th millennium BC: A comparative study of environmental and archaeological evidence. Quaternary Science Reviews, 136, pp. 96-121DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.10.003

Pickard, C., Schoop, U., Dalton, A., Sayle, K., Channell, I., Calvey, K., Thomas, J., Bartosiewicz, L. and Bonsall, C. (2016) Diet at Late Chalcolithic Çamlıbel Tarlası, north-central Anatolia: An isotopic perspective. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 5, pp. 296DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.11.034

Pickard, C., Schoop, U., Bartosiewicz, L., Gillis, R. and Sayle, K. (2016) Animal keeping in Chalcolithic North-Central Anatolia: What can stable isotope analysis add?. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 9(7), pp. 1349–1362DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0386-0

Grave, P., Kealhofer, L., Marsh, B., Schoop, U., Seeher, J., Bennett, J. and Stopic, A. (2014) Ceramics, trade, provenience and geology: Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age. Antiquity, 88(342), pp. 1180–1200DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X0011539X

Irvine, B., Thomas, J. and Schoop, U. (2014) A macroscopic analysis of human dentition at Late Chalcolithic Çamlıbel Tarlası, North Central Anatolia, with special reference to dietary and non-masticatory habits. Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica - Natural Sciences in Archaeology , V(1), pp. 19-30

Pickard, C. and Schoop, U. (2013) Characterization of Late Chalcolithic Micro-Beads From Çamlibel Tarlasi, North-Central Anatolia. Archaeometry, 55(1), pp. 14–32DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.2012.00672.x

Schoop, U. and Lehner, J. (2013) Long-distance trade and communication networks in Late Chalcolithic Anatolia. Heritage Turkey - British Institute at Ankara Research Reports, 3, pp. 27

Vaughan, M., Bonsall, C., Bartosiewicz, L., Schoop, U. and Pickard, C. (2013) Variation in the carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures of pig remains from prehistoric sites in the Near East and Central Europe. Archeometriai Műhely , X(4), pp. 307–312

Schoop, U., Pickard, C. and Bonsall, C. (2012) Radiocarbon dating Chalcolithic Büyükkaya. Archäologischer Anzeiger, pp. 115–120

Schoop, U. (2010) Ausgrabungen in Çamlıbel Tarlası 2009. Archäologischer Anzeiger, pp. 191-201

Schoop, U. (2010) Review of David French, Canhasan sites 2. Canhasan I: The pottery. Journal of Near Eastern Studies , 69, pp. 232–234DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/658948

Schoop, U. (2009) Ausgrabungen in Çamlıbel Tarlası 2008. Archäologischer Anzeiger, pp. 56–67

Schoop, U. (2009) Review of: Jean Guilaine (ed.), Le Chalcolithique et la construction des inégalités. Paris: Errance 2007. Antiquity, 83, pp. 870–871

Schoop, U. (2008) Ausgrabungen in Çamlıbel Tarlası 2007. Archäologischer Anzeiger, 1, pp. 148-157

Schoop, U. (2005) Early Chalcolithic in North-Central Anatolia: The Evidence from Boğazköy-Büyükkaya. TÜBA-AR , 8, pp. 15–37

Sauter, F., Puchinger, L. and Schoop, U. (2003) Studies in organic archaeometry VI fat analysis sheds light on everydaylife in prehistoric Anatolia: Traces of lipids identified in chalcolithicpotsherds excavated near Boǧazkale, Central Turkey. ARKIVOC, 2003(15), pp. 15-21DOI: https://doi.org/10.3998/ark.5550190.0004.f03

Schoop, U. (2003) Erste Beobachtungen zum Keramikinventar aus dem Tal vor Sarıkale. Archäologischer Anzeiger, n/a, pp. 14-20

Schoop, U. (2003) Studies in organic archaeometry VI. Fat analysis sheds light on everyday life in prehistoric Anatolia: Traces of lipids identified in chalcolithic potsherds excavated near Boğazkale, Central Turkey. ARKIVOC, XV, pp. 15–21

Seeher, J., Herbordt, S. and Schoop, U. (2003) Die ausgrabungen in Boǧazköy-Hattuša 2002: Mit beiträgen von Suzanne Herbordt und Ulf-Dietrich Schoop. Archaologischer Anzeiger, 1, pp. 1-24

Schoop, U. (1998) Anadolu’da kalkolitik çağda süt ürünleri üretimi. Bir deneme. Arkeoloji ve Sanat, 87, pp. 26-32

Chapters

Schoop, U. (2018) Die Besiedlung des Oberen Plateaus vom Chalkolithikum bis in die althethitische Zeit. In: Seeher, J. (ed.) Büyükkaya II: Bauwerke und Befunde der Grabungskampagnen 1952–1955 und 1993–1998. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH, pp. 11-35

Pickard, C., Caldeira, C., Harten, N., Üstündağ, H., Schoop, U., Bartosiewicz, L. and Schachner, A. (2017) Reconstructing Iron Age to Roman period diet from bioarchaeological remains: preliminary results from Boğazköy, north-central Anatolia. In: Schachner, A. (ed.) Innovation Versus Beharrung Was Macht den Unterschied des Hethitischen Reichs im Anatolien des 2. Jahrtausends v. Chr.?: Internationaler Workshop Zu Ehren Von Jürgen Seeher Istanbul, 23–24 Mai 2014. BYZAS 23. Istanbul, pp. 239-256

Schoop, U. (2017) Technologie und Innovation im anatolischen Chalkolithikum. In: Schachner , A. (ed.) Innovation versus Beharrung: Was macht den Unterschied des hethitischen Reichs im Anatolien des 2. Jahrtausends v. Chr.?. Istanbul: Ege Yayınları, Istanbul, pp. 1-19

Schoop, U. (2015) Çamlıbel Tarlası: Late Chalcolithic settlement and economy in the Budaközü Valley (north-central Anatolia). In: Steadman, S. and McMahon, G. (eds.) The Archaeology of Anatolia: Recent Discoveries (2011–2014) Volume I. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 46–68

Schoop, U. (2014) Weaving society in Late Chalcolithic Anatolia: Textile production and social strategies in the 4th millennium BC. In: Horejs, B. and Mehofer, M. (eds.) Western Anatolia before Troy. Proto-Urbanisation in the 4th Millennium BC?: Proceedings of the International Symposium held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, Austria, 21‒24 November, 2012. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp. 421–446DOI: https://doi.org/10.26530/oapen_625897

Bartosiewicz, L., Gillis, R., Girdland-Flink, L., Evin, A., Cucchi, T., Hoelzel, R., Vidarsdottir, U., Dobney, K., Larson, G. and Schoop, U. (2013) Chalcolithic pig remains from Çamlıbel Tarlası, Central Anatolia. In: De Cupere, B., Linseele, V. and Hamilton-Dyer, S. (eds.) Archaeozoology of the Near East X. Proceedings of the Tenth International Symposium on the Archaeozoology of South-Western Asia and adjacent areas. Leuven: Peeters, Leuven, pp. 101–120

Schoop, U. (2013) Gündelik Hayatın ve Ayrıcalığın Nesneleri: Hitit Çanak Çömleği. In: Hititler. Bir Anadolu İmparatorluğu. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, pp. 356–371

Schoop, U. (2011) Çamlıbel Tarlası ve Kuzey-Orta Anadolu’da Geç Kalkolitik Dönem. In: İpek, Ö. (ed.) 1. Çorum Kazı ve Araştırmalar Sempozyumu. Çorum : T.C. Çorum Valiliği, pp. 137–160

Schoop, U. (2011) Çamlıbel Tarlası, ein metallverarbeitender Fundplatz des vierten Jahrtausends v. Chr. im nördlichen Zentralanatolien. In: Yalçın, Ü. (ed.) Anatolian Metal V: Der Anschnitt. Bochum: Deutsches Bergbaumuseum Bochum, pp. 53–68

Schoop, U. (2011) Hittite pottery: a summary. In: Mielke, H. (ed.) Insights into Hittite History and Archaeology. Peeters, Leuven, pp. 241–273

Schoop, U. (2011) Some thoughts on social and economic development in western Anatolia during the fourth and third millennia BC. In: Bilgen, A., von den Hoff, R., Sandalcı, S. and Silek, S. (eds.) Archaeological research in Western Central Anatolia: Proceedings of the IIIrd International Symposium of Archaeology, Kütahya. 8th–9th March 2010. Kütahya: Üçmart Press, pp. 29–45

Schoop, U. (2011) The Chalcolithic on the Plateau. In: Steadman, S. and McMahon, G. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia (10,000 – 323 BCE). Oxford & New York : Oxford University Press, pp. 150–173

Schoop, U. (2010) Çamlıbel Tarlası Kazısı, 2008 Yılı Çalışmaları. In: 31. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı 2009. T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Ankara, pp. 300–304

Schoop, U. (2009) Çamlıbel Tarlası Kazısı 2007. In: 30. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı 2008. T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Ankara, pp. 486–489

Schoop, U. (2009) Indications of structural change in the Hittite pottery inventory at Boğazköy-Hattuša. In: Franca Pecchioli Daddi, G. (ed.) Central-North Anatolia in the Hittite Period. New Perspectives in Light of Recent Research. Herder, Rome, pp. 145–167

Schoop, U. (2009) Indications of structural change in the Hittite pottery inventory at Bogazkoy-Hattusa. In: Franca Pecchioli Daddi, G. (ed.) Central-North Anatolia in the Hittite Period: New Perspectives in Light of Recent Research Acts of the International Conference held at the University of Florence (7-9 February 2007). Herder, Rome, pp. 145-167

Schoop, U. (2008) Wo steht die Archäologie in der Erforschung der hethitischen Kultur? Schritte zu einem Paradigmenwechsel. In: Wilhelm, G. (ed.) Hattusa-Bogazköy. Das Hethiterreich im Spannungsfeld des Alten Orients. Colloquien der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 6. Harrassowitz Verlag: Wiesbaden, pp. 35-60

Schoop, U. and Seeher, J. (2006) Absolute Chronologie in Boğazköy-Hattuša: Das Potential der Radiokarbondaten. In: Mielke, D., Schoop, U. and Seeher, J. (eds.) Strukturierung und Datierung in der hethitischen Archäologie. Voraussetzungen – Probleme – Neue Ansätze. Structuring and Dating in Hittite Archaeology. Requirements – Problems – New Approaches. Ege Yayinlari, pp. 53–75

Schoop, U. (2006) Assyrer, Hethiter und Kaškäer – Zentralanatolien im zweiten Jahrtausend vor Christus. In: Korfmann, M. (ed.) Troia. Archäologie eines Siedlungshügels und seiner Landschaft. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz am Rhein, pp. 29–46

Schoop, U. (2006) Dating the Hittites with Statistics: Ten Pottery Assemblages from Bogazköy-Hattusa. In: Mielke, D., Schoop, U. and Seeher, J. (eds.) Strukturierung und Datierung in der hethitischen Archäologie. Voraussetzungen - Probleme - Neue Ansätze. Structuring and Dating in Hittite Archaeology. Requirements - Problems - New Approaches. Ege Yayinlari, pp. 215-39

Schoop, U. (2005) The Late Escape of the Neolithic from the Central Anatolian Plain. In: Lichter, C. (ed.) How did Farming reach Europe? Anatolian-European relations from the second half of the 7th through to the first half of the 6th millennium cal BC. Proceedings of the International Workshop Istanbul, 20-22 May 2004. Byzas 2. Ege Yayinlari, pp. 41-58

Schoop, U. (2003) Pottery traditions of the later Hittite empire: problems of definition. In: Fischer, B., Genz, H. and Köroğlu, É. (eds.) Identifying changes: The transition from Bronze to Iron Ages in Anatolia and its neighbouring regions. Ege Yayınları, Istanbul, pp. 167–178

Schoop, U. (2002) Frühneolithikum im südwestanatolischen Seengebiet? Eine kritische Betrachtung. In: Aslan, R., Blum, S., Kastl, G., Schweizer, F. and Thumm, D. (eds.) Mauerschau. Festschrift für Manfred Korfmann. BA Greiner, pp. 421-36

Schoop, U. (1999) Aspects of early metal use in neolithic Mesopotamia. In: Hauptmann, A., Pernicka, E. and Yalçın, T. (eds.) The beginnings of metallurgy. Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, pp. 31-36

Conference contribution

Schoop, U. and Schoop, E. (2011) Çamlıbel Tarlası Kazısı, 2009 Yılı Çalışmaları. In: 32. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı 2010. Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, pp. 221–224

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