Director: Dr. Levent Atici
E-Mail: Levent.Atici@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-0567


The UNLV Zooarchaeology Laboratory was established by Dr. Levent Atici in September 2008. The lab is located in Room 104, on the first floor of Wright Building C on the Main Campus.

The lab offers students and researchers ample work and storage space for analysis of archaeological animal bone assemblages from across the world. A yearly zooarchaeology laboratory course introduces the basic tenets of zooarchaeology and gives undergraduate and graduate students handson training and an ability to identify, document, analyze, interpret, and report archaeological animal bone assemblages. The lab also provides students a large corpus of faunal manuals, osteology atlases, books, and reprints related to zooarchaeological research.

The lab is equipped with cutting-edge analytical tools including a fume hood, a convection oven, two computer stations with printer, scanner, and various software platforms, a Leica digital stereo zoom microscope with photographic equipment, three Leica stereo zoom microscopes, a portable Nikon microscope, digital calipers, electronic balances, carcass preparation equipment and access to wet area and sinks outside the lab.

As reliable and accurate identification of animal remains from archaeological sites depends on the availability and accessibility of a good comparative collection of known modern specimens, it is essential for the lab to expand the collection. Such collections also facilitate teaching comparative osteology, zooarchaeological methods, and taphonomy, as well as enable students and researchers to engage in the analysis of archaeofaunal assemblages from Nevada and surrounding areas.

Currently, the modern reference collection largely contains disarticulated skeletons of wild and domestic vertebrates from southwest Asia and eastern Mediterranean. It also has many skeletons of terrestrial and marine mammals from southwestern United States.

Besides an expanding reference collection, excavated faunal assemblages from Körtik Tepe (a Pre-Pottery Neolithic site in southeast Turkey) and Kültepe (a major Assyrian Trading Colonies center in Central Turkey) are currently housed in the lab for comprehensive analyses.

Current research projects conducted by Dr. Levent Atici include:
1)      Epipaleolithic Forager Adaptations in Western Taurus Mountains
Karain B and Suluin caves in Antalya, SW Turkey
I conduct complementary research at two paleolithic cave sites to develop a comprehensive  picture of forager adaptations and changes in their exploitation of wild animal resources from the Middle Paleolithic through the Late Epipaleolithic in the western Taurus Mountains of Mediterranean Turkey. Archaeofaunal assemblages excavated from  Karain B and nearby Suluin caves are analyzed and interpreted within a regional framework to illuminate the nature of paleolithic subsistence economies before the onset of Neolithic economies across the Near East. Specialization, intensification, and diversification in animal resource exploitation form the theoretical and conceptual framework of this research.

2)      Social and Economic Characteristics of the Neolithic Revolution
Körtik Tepe in Southeast Turkey
I focus on various social and economic characteristics of the Neolithic Revolution and their reflections on animal exploitation strategies. Toward this end, I conduct faunal analysis at PPNA Körtik Tepe near Diyarbakir, SE Turkey.

3)      Zooarchaeology of Complex Societies with an Emphasis on Ethnicity, Colonialism, and Settlement Hierarchy.
Kültepe/Kanesh and Kaman-Kalehöyük in Central Turkey
I conduct complementary research at two Central Anatolian Bronze Age sites: Kültepe/Kanesh and Kaman- Kalehöyük—a  major Assyrian Trade Colony center and a small village site—respectively. Combining the results of research from these two sites, I seek to illuminate the social and economic characteristics of the Central Anatolian Bronze Age through developing a picture of the exploitation of animal resources and providing insight into the roles played by different levels of socio-economic and political organization, such as small villages and urban centers. The study of animal bones has not yet been employed to any great degree to investigate the socioeconomic foundations of the central Anatolian Bronze Age. Thus, my research will contribute to the archaeology of Turkey and the Near East by approaching an important archaeological question from a new perspective, that of zooarchaeology.

Ongoing Research Affiliations:
1)      Principal zooarchaeologist, archaeologist, Karain Cave excavations (Antalya, SW Turkey)
2)      Principal zooarchaeologist, archaeologist, Suluin Cave excavations (Antalya, SW Turkey)
3)      Principal zooarchaeologist, Körtik Tepe excavations (Diyarbakir, SE Turkey)
4)      Principal zooarchaeologist, Kaman Kalehöyük excavations (Kirsehir, Central Turkey)
5)      Principal zooarchaeologist, Kültepe/Kanesh excavations (Kayseri, Central Turkey)
6)      Coordinator, the Zooarchaeology Laboratory of the Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology, Kirsehir, Turkey

Graduate students affiliated with the lab:
Maria Humphrey

Sister Zooarchaeology Labs:
The Zooarchaeology Laboratory of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University