The BIAA Botanical Reference Collections bring together a distinctive body of reference and research resources developed through archaeobotanical and ethnobotanical and environmental research, alongside long-term plant documentation. They include the BIAA Herbarium (Index Herbariorum code: BIA), the wood (xylarium) collection, the charcoal collection and the seed reference collection. Their development is connected with major research undertaken since the 1970s by researchers including Gordon Charles Hillman, David Henry French, R. Mark Nesbitt, Naomi Miller, George Willcox and Delwen Joy Samuel.
The collections provide an important resource for botanical and taxonomic research, archaeobotany, ethnobotany, environmental history, and heritage studies. Comprising specimens collected across Türkiye as well as neighbouring regions, they preserve valuable evidence of plant use, vegetation history, plant biodiversity and biocultural knowledge. Some specimens in the collections were collected from areas now submerged by the Atatürk and Keban dam reservoirs. As a result, the collections have particular significance in preserving material from landscapes that are no longer accessible today. The herbarium also includes material linked to earlier specimen exchange and duplicate-specimen practices with other herbaria in Türkiye. More recently, has supported the conservation, organisation, imaging, cataloguing and publication of specimen data, improving both preservation and access while providing the groundwork for future linked-data approaches and broader research use. The herbarium also includes specimens that were distributed as duplicates to other herbaria in Türkiye (GAZI, ISTO etc.). For example, a specimen collected by Mark Nesbitt from Hatay (RMN 2270) is represented by a duplicate at ISTO and is also cited in the ongoing Illustrated Flora of Turkey, highlighting the wider research value of the collections. Together, these collections function not only as a record of past botanical information, but also as an active resource for ongoing research and collaboration.
BIAA also holds archaeobotanical samples from previous BIAA research projects, including Can Hasan and Aşvan, with the permission of the relevant museums. Research on these materials is still ongoing.
In addition, BIAA laboratory facilities are available for researchers wishing to examine archaeobotanical material. Those interested in using the BIAA laboratory for archaeobotanical research are kindly requested to contact the Director (director@biaa.ac.uk) and the Librarian (librarian@biaa.ac.uk). Please note that specific permission from the relevant Turkish authorities is required to study samples at the BIAA.
Archaeobotanical Study Resources
