BY EKİNSU POLAT (AMER/II)
Assoc. Prof. Thomas Zimmermann graduated from the University of Regensburg, where he completed his studies in Pre- and Protohistory, European Ethnology and Classical Archaeology. For his PhD project he was based in the Römisch-Germanische Zentralmuseum Mainz (RGZM, now rebranded as Leibniz-Center for Archaeology (LEIZA)), studying Copper Age burials with daggers in their technological and social dimensions, as part of the Early Elites Research Cluster. In 2003, he succumbed to oriental lure and moved to Türkiye, where he currently serves as an associate professor at the Department of Archaeology at Bilkent University, Ankara. His versatile research interests include science in archaeology, early metallurgy, the emergence of elites in the third millennium BC Asia Minor and socio-cultural changes in Early Holocene Upper Mesopotamia. He has published numerous articles in international peer-reviewed journals, his MA and PhD theses have appeared as monographs (RGZM Catalogue and Monograph Series, 2006 and 2007) and he co-edited the “Sacred Landscapes in Anatolia” conference proceedings with Charles Gates and Jacques Morin (BAR International Series, 2009) alongside the Festschrift “Living the Aegean Spirit – Studies in Honour of Prof. Dr. Halime Hüryılmaz” in 2023. He serves as elected Bronze Age Commission member of the Union Internationale des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques (UISPP) and is a scientific commission member of the German-Turkish Academics Society at Göttingen (together with İlber Ortaylı and Celal Şengör). He is currently teaching HART 225 (Cultural Anthropology), HART 219 (Anatolian Archaeology, Neolithic to the Iron Age) and HART 120 (Human Evolution and World Prehistory) for the spring semester.
What has been the most exciting moment of your career so far?
It was my first exploration experience here in Turkey. In 1996 I was studying European Archeology in the University of Regensburg, and then I got a chance to embark on a research project here as a student in Turkey. We had a visiting professor who invited me to take part in his expedition in Kusaklı, Sarissa in Eastern Cappadocia. That was my first expedition experience, and it was when I decided to focus on Anatolian Archeology instead of European Archeology.
What’s one piece of information from your field that you think everyone should know?
As a species, we are better than we think. We are created to adapt to challenges much better than any other being. So, with all the trials and challenges we are experiencing in this instable world of the moment, I think it is also imperative to focus on the positive aspects of what we are. We can see in the archeological heritage that we can cope with challenges very efficiently.
When and where do you do your best thinking?
I believe that would be in my office, when I’m not distracted by building Lego. It is one of my hobbies as you can see.
What are you most curious about?
The question of “How we became what we are?” as modern humans living in state societies and the roots that took us here. The fascinating question of, “What are we and how have we turned into this 21st century society?”
What’s the most common misconception about your work?
Treasure hunting…that is the thing people most commonly think about when they think of our field: Hunting for treasures like silver or gold.
What do you like to do when you are not working?
Building Lego. I like to build brick models and collect Star Wars products, but there are other things I enjoy doing that may sound rather trivial like listening to music and hiking.
Which books have influenced you the most, and why?
There are three books/series that have influenced me the most. The first one is Water Music by T.C. Boyle, that’s my all-time favorite. I love that book. I’ve read it a couple of times because it is also a funny book. The second is Yukio Mishima’s tetralogy, commonly known as The Sea of Fertility. He has quite a biography. It belongs to an entirely different world, and it has very different sets of emotion explained there. I have a poster in my office about Ernst Jünger, the author of the third book series, Siebzig Verweht (Jünger’s late diaries, which he started at the age of 70). It provides profound insights into matters pertaining to mythology, philosophy, travelling and arts; they are actually the key to understanding one of his much more famous earlier works, the seminal “Storms of Steel” (“In Stahlgewittern”), an emotionally distanced review of the atrocities experienced during the First World War.
If you weren’t an academic, what career would you choose?
I can’t imagine doing anything else. I love communicating and interacting with people and that’s why I chose this job. However, if I had an opportunity to study again then I would do something completely different: astrophysics. I love gazing at the stars. That is something that I would really want to do if I was to study again. Traveling far, far, far away in time…
What is the secret of leading a happy life?
Live in the “now.” Don’t project too much into the future. Just stay in the moment. Enjoy what you are doing. For example, I’m enjoying talking to you right now. Do not worry about the things that you can’t control, leave them as they are.
What do you like the most about being at Bilkent?
The environmental plan of Bilkent. It is a very engaging environment. Campus is very inspiring. I live here, and I like to watch nature. It is also international and has a cordial atmosphere in the departmental level. Talking to people in the corridor and chatting with them gives me joy. Additionally, I like the very efficient communication between different administrative bodies. That works really well.
What is the coolest thing about your work?
Wearing funny hats and a whiplash. Being out in the countryside, traveling a lot, working in very weird places, working in the fields.
