Petranka Nedelcheva-Megalla_Preliminary Report 2013/2014
ABF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Archaeology at The Field Museum, 2013-2014
Preliminary Report by Dr. Petranka Nedelcheva-Megalla, ABF Postdoctoral Fellow
July 15, 2014
The main focus of my research at The Field Museum in Chicago was a continuation of a study on the chipped stone tools from the Balkans and North West Anatolia during the Late Prehistory.
During the 9 months of my postdoctoral fellowship I have been working together with Prof. Dr. Ivan Gatsov (New Bulgarian University) on a book concerning the Late Chalcolithic period in the Lower Danube valley. Specifically, the book is a comparison study of the stone material from the prehistoric settlement Pietrele Măgura Gorgana, Romania. The excavations – conducted by Dr. Svend Hansen and the German Archaeological Institute - are unique for Eastern Europe with the largest collection of chipped stones artifacts in the region, currently boasting a database that includes 13600 pieces. My time spent at the Field Museum was very useful concerning my work on both the database and the graphic documentation of the stone collection from Pietrele which greatly helped in preparing the book.
In addition to working on the book, I have been working on other stone collections from multiple excavations in Turkey, including: the prehistoric settlement of Aşağı Pınar (excavation conducted by Prof. Mehmet Özdoğan, Istanbul University); the prehistoric settlement of Aktopraklık (excavations conducted by Prof. Dr. Necmi Karaul, Istanbul University); the prehistoric settlement of Barcin Höyük (excavations conducted by Dr. Fokke Gerritsen Netherlands Institute in Turkey and Rana Özbal Koç University, Istanbul); as well as a lithic collection from Belica, Serbia (research lead by Dr. Raiko Krauss, Tübingen University). From these different studies, three articles are finalized and presented for publication, which are entitled;
- An important find from the Bronze Age, Barcın Höyük South Marmara region
2. Lithic collection from Belica, Serbia
- Lithic assemblages from the earliest Neolithic level of Asagi Pinar
I also worked on stone collections from the Field Museum that came from excavations of late prehistoric lake dwellings settlements in Switzerland. Also, from my time at the Field Museum I was able to work closely with many colleagues and learn a lot about the systems of museum organization and artifact preservation, which will be extremely useful in my future work in Bulgaria.
Social Events and Seminars
At the time of my postdoctoral fellowship I was involved in several events.
I had presentations together with Prof. Gatsov at the following conferences and workshops:
Internationals Symposium Anatolian Metal VII- Anatolia and neighbors 10.000 years ago; paper title: “Neolithic Lithic Industries in North West Anatolia”, Deutsche Bergbau Museum- Bochum, Germany, 28-20 of November 2013
KURA IN MOTION; paper title: “The Lithic Industry at Aruchlo” international meeting, German Archaeological Institute – Berlin, Germany, 18-19 of March 2014
Workshop Southeast Europe before Neolithisation; paper title: “The Eastern Balkans before the Neolithisation”- Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte
und Archäologie des Mittelalters Tübingen 8-10 May 2014
Additionally on 27 of February 2014 I gave a presentation to my colleagues at the Field Museum entitled “Lithic Production and Exchange in the South Balkans, North Aegean and North-Western Anatolia during the Late Prehistory”.
In January I gave an interview concerning my work for the Anthropology Alliance Newsletter of The Field Museum.
I also participated and helped in the organization of two major events while a postdoc. The first was the Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America and the American Philological Association held in Chicago in January 2-5, 2014. Here I helped host and run the booth presenting the American Research Center in Sofia and the ABF archaeological program in collaboration with The Field Museum. At the AIA/APA meeting I also helped organize the reception of ARCS-FM team held in the Founders Room at The Field Museum;
Second, on March 3, 2014 I helped organize and attended an event celebrating the Bulgarian National Holiday, held at the Field Museum organized by the General Consulate of Bulgaria in Chicago, ARCS and Archaeological and Anthropological Grant Opportunities in Bulgaria program office.
Lastly,during my stay at the Field museum together with my colleagues Dr. Zoi Tsirtsoni (French National Centre for Scientific Research) and Dr. Agathe Reingruber (German Archaeological Institute) we organized a session “Going West? The Spread of Farming between the Bosporus and the Lower Danube Region” at the 20th EEA meeting in Istanbul, which will be held on 10-14 of September. In the session I will present a paper titled “The Main Techno-Typological Features of the Lithic Industries of Marmara Region and Thrace during the Neolithic Period”
Petranka Nedelcheva-Megalla
New Bulgarian University
pnedelcheva@nbu.bg