Investigation of excavation houses in terms of spatial features and reinforcement elements: The example of Muğla province

Archaeology was first accepted as a science in the 16th Century Age of Enlightenment and continues to be a respected profession all over the world day by day. Archaeological excavations started during this period and continue to develop. As a result of this development, the number of archaeological excavations in our country is increasing rapidly. In addition to the increase in the number of excavations, the extension of the duration of some excavations from 3 months to 12 months has caused a different shelter and working need for the teams working in the excavations. As a result of increasing scientific studies and field studies, the excavation houses, which meet the accommodation and work needs of the expert team, have turned from seasonal accommodation into a permanent residence. Many different places have been used as excavation houses from past to present. These can be temporary structures such as tents and prefabricated buildings, or they can be restored, re-functional and sustainable structures such as old public buildings, historical houses and local houses. While these structures are being re-functioned or new temporary structures are being built, they are often far from meeting the list of needs of the expert team working in the excavation. In this study, excavation houses, which are one of the invisible but most important places of archaeological excavations, are classified according to their structural diversity. Archaeological excavations in Muğla, one of the provinces with the highest number of archaeological excavations, were identified and 6 ancient cities were selected in line with the classification and the existing excavation houses in these cities were examined. During the examination, the typology, space sections, room types, warehouses and laboratories of the excavation houses were photographed, space analysis was made and the basic equipment in them was determined. Since there is no study on excavation houses in our country, it is thought to be a unique study in terms of structures where shelter and work are located in the same place. In addition, it is expected that the study will contribute to the science of archaeology in terms of space analysis and determination of equipment requirements and will form an important basis for new excavation houses to be built or renovated in the future.