The geography we live in has been the scene of dense settlements in the history of civilization since the period when humans first began to spread throughout the world. In this respect, the results of our country's archaeology and excavations have an undeniable importance in shedding light on the development processes of certain civilizations that have shaped world history in our immediate vicinity and in the evaluation of archaeological findings. In recent years, Turkish archaeology has made significant scientific breakthroughs, and the quality of excavations and research has shown significant developments, as well as their numbers. It has been observed that the newly-raised archaeology generation, especially in the last 10-15 years, has been carrying out successful projects in every way.
Following Prof. Dr. Mehmet Özdoğan’s works “Problems and Protection Policies of Turkish Archaeology” (2nd edition 2008) which we published first in 2001 and “Politics of Archaeology and Archaeology as a Political Tool” which was published in 2006, the third in the same series, “Are Archaeological Excavations Scientific Studies? Soil Excavation?,” contains important findings and new interpretations in terms of contemporary Turkish archaeology.
In his introduction, Prof. Özdoğan examines in detail the problems experienced in excavations, scientific research, institutional organization, cultural heritage and social relations in the negative working environment formed by bureaucracy in the bottleneck encountered in our country's archaeology despite the positive developments in the scientific field, and offers solution suggestions.
The book includes important evaluations, views and thoughts he has written in these fields in the last five years in sections on excavation and excavation policies, the history and development of Turkish archaeology, the philosophy of archaeology, definition and approach.