Heritage and Sustainable Tourism In Turkey: The Case Study of Aktopraklık

Summary

This paper will present the Aktopraklık Cultural Heritage Management Project, which was established as a result of the archaeological evidence excavated from the prehistoric site of Aktopraklık in northwest Turkey. The project encompasses all aspects of archaeological heritage as well as heritage and sustainable tourism. The paper discusses public outreach and interactive engagement through reconstruction of the prehistoric life, ethnographic exhibits, and experimental areas together with the conservation and presentation of the archaeological site. As the archaeological excavation on the site is still ongoing, the paper will also scrutinize the question of sustainability through in regard to the local and regional economy. One of the main ideas is to integrate the Aktopraklık Project into the existing natural and cultural tourism both on the local, national and global level. With the reconstruction of a traditional village near the prehistoric mound, for which the wooden architecture of the surrounding mountain villages has been chosen the local and regional population has been actively engaged in this project. The aim is therefore to redirect the focus of urban tourism towards the surrounding natural environment and rural life, while providing sustainable tourism via educational information about ecology, archaeology, history and rural traditions.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Sustaining Heritage: New Directions for Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage