Chinese and Turkish experts are showing interest in collaborating on archaeological research to reveal new insights at one of the world's oldest Neolithic sites, located in southeastern Türkiye.
Archaeologists from both nations gathered at the first World Neolithic Congress, held in Sanliurfa from Nov. 4 to 8, to discuss various aspects of archaeological research on the Neolithic Age. Nearly 1,000 scholars from 63 countries took part in the event.
The region, steeped in history, has long played a crucial role in uncovering the mysteries of the Neolithic period, a transformative era that laid the foundation for human civilization over the past 12,000 years. The event took place in a region that harbors globally recognized Neolithic sites like Gobeklitepe and Karahantepe.
"We are planning a new cooperation with Chinese colleagues in the future on the Tas Tepeler Project," Necmi Karul, the Turkish archaeologist leading excavations in the region, told Xinhua.
One of the Chinese experts, Wang Fen, from Shandong University, said she was amazed by the Gobeklitepe site, which, she said, may "challenge our historical cognition." She emphasized the value of cross-cultural communication in archaeological research and highlighted the "great prospect and space for cooperation" between China and Türkiye in Neolithic archaeology.
Liu Xinyi, associate professor and deputy director of the Department of Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, emphasized that significant neolithic sites discovered in eastern Anatolia have consistently benefited from international collaboration. "International cooperation can provide everyone with different perspectives," leading to better archaeological results, he said.