Small Things, Big Stories with Emma L. Baysal

In this episode, Dr. Işılay Gürsu and Dr. Peter Cherry talk with Dr. Emma L. Baysal, associate professor at Bilkent University and former BIAA Postdoctoral Fellow, about her National Geographic Society-supported project Small Things, Big Stories.  Dr. Baysal focuses on how 'small things' like, ornaments, beads, bracelets, laborers and pedants, found close to the human body in burial grounds, offer a uniquely personal window onto the lives of settled hunter-gatherers as they were dealing with the challenges of a new way of life that still affects us today. Dr. Baysal talks about how these objects, whether given as gifts in death or closely treasured during life, give us insight into how neolithic societies symbolised identity factors such as achievement, status, belonging and gender.