K. Aslıhan Yener is currently a Research Affiliate, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University, (ISAW), Professor Emerita of Archaeology, University of Chicago Oriental Institute, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department and Professor Emerita of Archaeology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey. Director Emerita of the Tell Atchana, Alalakh and the Amuq Valley Regional Projects. She began her studies in archaeology at the-then Robert College (now Boğaziçi University) and Hunter College. She completed her MA and PhD in Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University from 1977-1980. A recipient of fellowships at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution from 1986-1993, she taught at Boğaziçi University, University of Chicago Oriental Institute and Koç University from 1980-2013.
Her field projects in the Taurus Mountains seeking the industrial sites of Bronze Age mining and metallurgy and their trade networks, led to the discovery of the oldest tin mines and miners’ villages at Kestel and Göltepe. This research resulted in being published as the cover story in the prestigious journal, Science in 1989. Embedding new excavations in a large environmental reconstruction project in Hatay, she reactivated the Amuq surveys and increased the density of sites to over 400 in the valley. She sponsored the reinvestigation of Tell Tayinat and jump started the final publications of the Oriental Institute excavations at Tell Judaidah and Chatal Höyük. She directed the excavation of Chalcolithic Tell Kurdu which was investigated from 1996-1999 and she directed the on-going excavations of Tell Atchana (Alalakh) from 2000-2019. With the sponsorship of FAVAE and TAWSF in Chicago, she established a multi-building dig house complex at Tayfur Sökmen village.
She is especially interested in local expressions of style at Alalakh, especially the new-found frescoes and small finds. Her current research goals continue the use of lead isotope and tin isotope analyses in sourcing metals, especially tin and silver. Recent Publications include Göltepe Excavations: Tin Production at an Early Bronze Age Mining Town in the Central Taurus Mountains, Turkey, (Philadelphia, 2021) and K. A. Yener, “Some Thoughts about Middle Bronze Age Alalakh and Ugarit: Reassessing an Alalakh Wall Painting with Archival Data,” in V. Matoian ed., Ougarit, 90 ans après, (Ras Shamra Ougarit RSO XXVIII). 1-16. (Paris, 2021).