Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies

Research

Our research includes a wide range of disciplines, the most important of which are literature and social studies, history of religions, anthropology, archaeology and history. The department thus contributes to the development of our knowledge of culture and - not least - a better understanding of different cultural, historical and current phenomena in this globalised world that harbours so many potential conflicts because of the increasing number of cross-cultural meetings.

Read how to apply for external funding to conduct research at ToRS.

Research areas

Çatalhöyük Human Remains Laboratory. Credit: Scott D. Haddow

archaeology

Ancient DNA hints at diverse Stone Age traditions of kinship

An international team of researchers have used ancient genomes, 22 new genomes from Aşıklı Höyük and Çatalhöyük, a UNESCO site, as well as published ones from Boncuklu Höyük and Barcın to study people whose burials are associated with some of the 8,000-10,000 year-old houses in Anatolia. In some villages, houses were used for burials of biological family members. But in other communities, like Çatalhöyük, many children and babies with no apparent biological kinship were buried within the same buildings. The results, published today in Current Biology, emphasize the remarkable diversity of kinship types in ancient human societies.