Latest news with #MiddleEastTechnicalUniversity
Broadcast Pro
20 hours ago
- Science
- Broadcast Pro
Turkey to send twin micro rovers to Moon in China-led mission
The mission, led by Ankaras Middle East Technical University in collaboration with Zhejiang University and Chinese private space-tech company Star Vision, is scheduled for launch in 2028. Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) is set to make space history as two autonomous micro rovers developed by the university will be deployed to the Moons South Pole under Chinas Change-8 mission, marking Türkiye as the first country to land and operate two rovers simultaneously on the lunar surface. The AI-driven rovers, named CHERI (Challenging Environment Exploration Robot for Intelligence), each weigh about five kilograms and are roughly the size of a shoebox. Engineered to withstand the Moons extreme conditions, they will autonomously conduct 3D mapping, measure temperature and radiation levels, and share navigational data with one another. In a pioneering mission feature, the rovers will be deployed on separate days, with the second recording the firsts descent, a never-before-attempted technique in lunar exploration that is expected to yield unique visual documentation and scientific insight. Developed in partnership with China-based Star Vision and Zhejiang University, the project underscores Türkiyes growing role in global space collaboration. ODTÜ Rector Ahmet Yozgatl?gil emphasised that the mission reflects both national ambition in space research and a commitment to international scientific cooperation, aiming to build a competitive, independent and innovation-driven ecosystem for the countrys future. Researchers from ODTÜs main campus in Ankara and its Turkish Cyprus campus have contributed to the mission, with the latter developing a scientific payload to support the search for water on the Moon. The Turkish Cyprus campus is also spearheading advances in the digital field, having launched the countrys first undergraduate program in Cybersecurity Engineering in 2025.
DW
30-07-2025
- Science
- DW
Prehistoric matriarchy in Turkey revealed by DNA analysis – DW – 07/29/2025
Genetic analysis of bodies from a 9,000-year-old settlement has revealed clues pointing to unusual societal structures. As far back as the 1960s, archaeologists had a feeling that Catalhoyuk was something special. And not just because the Neolithic settlement was one of the oldest continually inhabited places in the world. Researchers believed that women had an elevated societal position in Catalhoyuk, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in contemporary Turkey. But that hunch was only based on figurines they had found and believed to represent Anatolian mother goddesses. Only with the methods of modern archaeology were researchers able to turn their feelings into fact: Society in the Catalhoyuk of 9,000 years ago was centered around women. An international research team led by geneticists from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara published their findings in the journal . The researchers came to their conclusion after examining 131 skeletons they had discovered buried right under houses the people of Catalhoyuk had inhabited. DNA analysis showed that people buried under the same house were often related — on their mother's side. In other words, when a man and a woman entered a partnership in the Neolithic settlement, they moved in with the family of the woman, not that of the man. Households were formed on a matrilineal basis. And there was another indication that women had a higher status than men: Archaeologists found as many as five times the grave goods buried with female bodies than with male ones. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In the more recent past, patrilineal households, where women move in with their male partner's family after marriage, were more common — and formed a patriarchy. So, does the reverse mean that the residents of Catalhoyuk, who lived from about 7100 to 6000 B.C.E., lived in a matriarchy? Not necessarily, said prehistoric archaeologist Eva Rosenstock, who took part in the excavation in Catalhoyuk and researches scientific and cultural archaeology. "Whether a society is matrilocal or patrilocal generally doesn't tell you anything about who has the power," Rosenstock told DW. "But those things often go hand in hand." Digging up, if you will, usable DNA for genetic analysis was not an easy feat for the researchers. Catalhoyuk was located in a region with a continental climate, with strong fluctuations between winter and summer. Under these conditions, even teeth, which were known until recently as one of the best source of DNA, do not keep forever. But there is a tiny part of the human body that has turned out to be the perfect source of DNA in adverse conditions such as those in the Catalhoyuk region: the petrous part of the temporal bone, located in the inner ear. "It's like a DNA safe!" said Rosenstock. It was through analyzing the material in this "DNA safe" that researchers discovered the matrilineal relationship between people buried under the same house. But not all people buried under the same house were related. The archaeologists assume that it wasn't out of the ordinary in Catalhoyuk society to switch children, so that your child would grow up in a different family close by. This was probably done in an effort to guarantee equal distribution of resources and, according to experts, points to society valuing the idea of equal rights for all. "If your own child grows up three doors down, you're probably not going to advocate for just your household to get the best of everything," said Rosenstock. But how did a society valuing equality and centered on women turn into the patriarchy that has dominated Central Europe in the more recent past? Rosenstock doesn't have an answer — at least not yet: "That's the next exciting question."
DW
23-07-2025
- Science
- DW
Prehistoric matriarchy in Turkey revealed by DNA analysis – DW – 07/23/2025
Genetic analysis of bodies from a 9,000-year-old settlement revealed clues pointing to unusual societal structures. As far back as the 1960s, archaeologists had a feeling that Catalhoyuk was something special. And not just because the Neolithic settlement was one of the oldest continually inhabited places in the world. Researchers believed that women had an elevated societal position in Catalhoyuk, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in contemporary Turkey. But that hunch was only based on figurines they had found and believed to represent Anatolian mother goddesses. Only with the methods of modern archaeology were researchers able to turn their feelings into fact: Society in the Catalhoyuk of 9,000 years ago was centered around women. An international research team led by geneticists from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara published their findings in the journal Science. The researchers came to their conclusion after examining 131 skeletons they had discovered buried right under houses the people of Catalhoyuk had inhabited. DNA analysis showed that people buried under the same house were often related — on their mother's side. In other words, when a man and a woman entered a partnership in the Neolithic settlement, they moved in with the family of the woman, not that of the man. Households were formed on a matrilineal basis. And there was another indication that women had a higher status than men: Archaeologists found as many as five times the grave goods buried with female bodies than with male ones. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In the more recent past, patrilineal households, where women move in with their male partner's family after marriage, were more common — and formed a patriarchy. So, does the reverse mean that the residents of Catalhoyuk, who lived from about 7100 to 6000 BCE, lived in a matriarchy? Not necessarily, said prehistoric archaeologist Eva Rosenstock, who took part in the excavation in Catalhoyuk and researches scientific and cultural archaeology. "Whether a society is matrilocal or patrilocal generally doesn't tell you anything about who has the power," Rosenstock told DW. "But those things often go hand in hand." Digging up, if you will, usable DNA for genetical analysis was not an easy feat for the researchers. Catalhoyuk was located in a region with continental climate, with strong fluctuations between winter and summer. Under these conditions, even teeth, which were known until recently as one of the best source of DNA, do not keep forever. But there is a tiny part of the human body that has turned out to be the perfect source of DNA in adverse conditions such as those in the Catalhoyuk region: the petrous part of the temporal bone, located in the inner ear. "It's like a DNA safe!" Rosenstock said. It was through analyzing the material in this "DNA safe" that researchers discovered the matrilineal relationship between people buried under the same house. But not all people buried under the same house were related. The archaeologists assume that it wasn't out of the ordinary in Catalhoyuk society to switch children, so that your child would grow up in a different family close by. This was probably done in an effort to guarantee equal distribution of resources and, according to experts, points to society valuing the idea of equal rights for all. "If your own child grows up three doors down, you're probably not going to advocate for just your household to get the best of everything," said Rosenstock. But how did a society valuing equality and centered on women turn into the patriarchy that has dominated Central Europe in the more recent past? Rosenstock doesn't have an answer — at least not yet: "That's the next exciting question."
Sydney Morning Herald
26-06-2025
- Science
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Australian scientist helping to re-write the story of civilisation
As she painstakingly excavated bones left behind by the inhabitants of the settlement known as the world's first city from their dry, sandy graves, Dr Eline Schotsmans gazed across the fields surrounding her dig site to a volcano in the distance. More than 8500 years ago, these ancient villagers from Catalhoyuk in Turkey – a leading contender for the world's oldest farming settlement – made wall paintings of the same twin-peaked volcano she could see on the horizon. 'It's one of the few moments in my life that I suddenly understood what it is to feel the ancestors,' Schotsmans, an expert in archaeo-anthropology from the University of Wollongong, said. Cutting-edge new DNA analysis of the skeletons Schotsmans helped excavate has revealed the people in this prehistoric outpost of civilisation may have venerated women as the centre of society, upending the assumption early agricultural settlements were ruled by men. Catalhoyuk marks one of the critical turning points in the history of civilisation when, 9000 years ago, Neolithic nomads built a village of mud-brick homes studded with the skulls of wild bulls, weasels and foxes, and began to cultivate crops and tend livestock. Upon the discovery of its remains in the 1960s Catalhoyuk was dubbed 'the world's first city'. The new evidence shows the households of the ancient settlement were dominated by matriarchal lines, and that girls who died were adorned with more elaborate burial offerings than boys. 'Societies that stay at the same spot and do agriculture are usually patrilineal,' said Schotsmans, who was a co-author of the major new findings led by Eren Yuncu and Professor Mehmet from Middle East Technical University. 'Here we're actually looking at matrilineal society, and I think that is quite unique. 'I think nowadays, with the world's problems, it's very relevant. The world is still very male dominated, isn't it? I was looking at the NATO Summit in The Hague, and it's just males.' Experts believe Catalhoyuk was an egalitarian place with little social hierarchy. Everyone's homes were of similar size. The spoils of early agriculture including barley, pistachios and goat milk were shared; bone analysis showed everyone ate well regardless of their sex or family. The people of Catalhoyuk buried the dead underneath their homes. The new analysis of ancient DNA from the burials published in Science revealed family members in a household were usually connected through the female line. Two homes had burials spanning three generations, all connected through mothers. In one building, the children of three sisters were buried together but the child of their brother – a paternal cousin – was laid to rest elsewhere. Females usually remained connected to their household while males moved away, suggesting husbands relocated to their wife's household when they were married. One elderly woman was afforded an 'exceptional' burial underneath the main room of a home she didn't share with genetic kin, with an anklet of deer canines and a grave adorned with boar tusks and beads, suggesting she may have held a prominent social role. For the first time, scientists were also able to identify the sex of children buried at Catalhoyuk through DNA, which showed girls may have been particularly venerated in death. People were often buried with an array of grave goods, including obsidian blades, eagle talons, bracelets of human teeth, hooks fashioned from the jawbones of aurochs and beads made from turquoise, shells and the vertebrae of fish spines. The new paper reveals girls had five times the number of such offerings compared to boys. 'I think it stresses the diversity in social systems. Maybe we should stop with having our Western assumption that everyone is like us,' Schotsmans said. Schotsmans had already studied differences in how men and women were buried by the people of Catalhoyuk, who daubed the bodies of their dead with dyes of malachite, azurite and ochre. Orange stripes of cinnabar often marked the craniums of men, while women were anointed in shades of green and blue, colours associated with the growth, fertility and ripeness which could be related to the society's transition to agriculture. Loading The role of women at Catalhoyuk has been discussed at length since the site was discovered in the 1960s and voluptuous female statues were recovered, sparking imaginations of a 'mother goddess' cult. The new evidence raises the prospect these figurines didn't represent gods or fertility – perhaps they were designed to celebrate the real women of Catalhoyuk, said Professor Andrew Fairbairn, an archaeology expert from the University of Queensland who wasn't involved in the study.
The Age
26-06-2025
- Science
- The Age
The Australian scientist helping to re-write the story of civilisation
As she painstakingly excavated bones left behind by the inhabitants of the settlement known as the world's first city from their dry, sandy graves, Dr Eline Schotsmans gazed across the fields surrounding her dig site to a volcano in the distance. More than 8500 years ago, these ancient villagers from Catalhoyuk in Turkey – a leading contender for the world's oldest farming settlement – made wall paintings of the same twin-peaked volcano she could see on the horizon. 'It's one of the few moments in my life that I suddenly understood what it is to feel the ancestors,' Schotsmans, an expert in archaeo-anthropology from the University of Wollongong, said. Cutting-edge new DNA analysis of the skeletons Schotsmans helped excavate has revealed the people in this prehistoric outpost of civilisation may have venerated women as the centre of society, upending the assumption early agricultural settlements were ruled by men. Catalhoyuk marks one of the critical turning points in the history of civilisation when, 9000 years ago, Neolithic nomads built a village of mud-brick homes studded with the skulls of wild bulls, weasels and foxes, and began to cultivate crops and tend livestock. Upon the discovery of its remains in the 1960s Catalhoyuk was dubbed 'the world's first city'. The new evidence shows the households of the ancient settlement were dominated by matriarchal lines, and that girls who died were adorned with more elaborate burial offerings than boys. 'Societies that stay at the same spot and do agriculture are usually patrilineal,' said Schotsmans, who was a co-author of the major new findings led by Eren Yuncu and Professor Mehmet from Middle East Technical University. 'Here we're actually looking at matrilineal society, and I think that is quite unique. 'I think nowadays, with the world's problems, it's very relevant. The world is still very male dominated, isn't it? I was looking at the NATO Summit in The Hague, and it's just males.' Experts believe Catalhoyuk was an egalitarian place with little social hierarchy. Everyone's homes were of similar size. The spoils of early agriculture including barley, pistachios and goat milk were shared; bone analysis showed everyone ate well regardless of their sex or family. The people of Catalhoyuk buried the dead underneath their homes. The new analysis of ancient DNA from the burials published in Science revealed family members in a household were usually connected through the female line. Two homes had burials spanning three generations, all connected through mothers. In one building, the children of three sisters were buried together but the child of their brother – a paternal cousin – was laid to rest elsewhere. Females usually remained connected to their household while males moved away, suggesting husbands relocated to their wife's household when they were married. One elderly woman was afforded an 'exceptional' burial underneath the main room of a home she didn't share with genetic kin, with an anklet of deer canines and a grave adorned with boar tusks and beads, suggesting she may have held a prominent social role. For the first time, scientists were also able to identify the sex of children buried at Catalhoyuk through DNA, which showed girls may have been particularly venerated in death. People were often buried with an array of grave goods, including obsidian blades, eagle talons, bracelets of human teeth, hooks fashioned from the jawbones of aurochs and beads made from turquoise, shells and the vertebrae of fish spines. The new paper reveals girls had five times the number of such offerings compared to boys. 'I think it stresses the diversity in social systems. Maybe we should stop with having our Western assumption that everyone is like us,' Schotsmans said. Schotsmans had already studied differences in how men and women were buried by the people of Catalhoyuk, who daubed the bodies of their dead with dyes of malachite, azurite and ochre. Orange stripes of cinnabar often marked the craniums of men, while women were anointed in shades of green and blue, colours associated with the growth, fertility and ripeness which could be related to the society's transition to agriculture. Loading The role of women at Catalhoyuk has been discussed at length since the site was discovered in the 1960s and voluptuous female statues were recovered, sparking imaginations of a 'mother goddess' cult. The new evidence raises the prospect these figurines didn't represent gods or fertility – perhaps they were designed to celebrate the real women of Catalhoyuk, said Professor Andrew Fairbairn, an archaeology expert from the University of Queensland who wasn't involved in the study.
