Robert J. Braidwood (1907-2003) trained many young archaeologists as Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago and Professor of Old World Prehistory in the Oriental Institute at the same university.
Braidwood proposed the theory of "core areas" in opposition to the view that the first civilizations arose in the region defined as the Fertile Crescent, extending from the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean to Mesopotamia. In his excavations, he introduced for the first time the principle of archaeologists working together with other applied scientists and naturalists. The Carmo project, which he started in the Zagros region of Iraq in 1947, was the first comprehensive application of this principle and became an example for all archaeological work after 1950.
The excavations that began in 1964 at Çayönü, located near Diyarbakır/Ergani, within the framework of the Southeastern Anatolia Prehistory Research Joint Project initiated by Istanbul and Chicago Universities in 1963, have been one of the most comprehensive studies in this field, in which experts from various countries and organizations worked together to determine how human beings transitioned from hunting and gathering to food production and the effects of this stage on life.
Braidwood's work, which is one of the basic reference sources in the field of prehistory, has an important place in the development of archaeological thought. Although many new excavations have been carried out in Anatolia and other parts of the Near East since the book was written, and new data, views and interpretations have emerged, Braidwood's book Prehistoric Men still maintains its importance as the driving force for all these studies and as the basis for them. In this sense, it is not possible to understand the period of the first agricultural village communities, one of the most important stages of humanity, without benefiting from this book.
We hope that Prehistoric People, translated into Turkish by Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları, will be a useful resource for readers interested in this subject and those working in this field in our country.