SOMUT OLMAYAN KÜLTÜREL BİR MİRASIN GÜNCEL BİR DEĞERLENDİRMESİ: ANADOLU DEVECİLİK KÜLTÜRÜ VE GELENEKSEL DEVE GÜREŞİ ŞENLİKLERİ

Abstract

Owing to their roles in transportation and carrying affairs, camels had been of great value and been raised widely in Anatolia until recent past. In historical process, a rich culture concerning camel dealing occurred in Anatolia also under influence of geographical environmental conditions. However, camel raising and camel dealing culture have now been endangered in Anatolia depending on economic, social, and technological developments and changes. Despite all above-mentioned, Anatolian camel dealing and camel dealing culture hold onto camel wrestling festivals, thereby carrying on their struggle to exist around them. Camel wrestling are a colourful heritage which has survived since historical past of Turkish Culture that was shaped around Central Asia. With their past dating back to centuries earlier, significance and importance to Yuruk society, rich assets, traditional products and productions, and rituals, camel wrestles constitute a living culture in western Anatolia. In addition, today Turkey is only country where camel wrestling organizations are commonly and regularly carried on, which makes this cultural heritage unique. Approximately 500 thousand people participate in camel wrestling which are held in about 100 settlements in western Anatolia every year. Notwithstanding their social, cultural, and economic advantages, the Anatolian camel dealing culture and camel wrestling festivals have not been documented comprehensively as a cultural heritage asset yet. The study presented here aims to introduce various elements which constitute camel dealing culture maintained around traditional camel wrestling in Anatolia and to document current state of this cultural asset elaborately. Essentially, this study has been designed as an updated inventory of this cultural heritage upon completion of research process which started in 2007 and was supported with fieldwork. It has been ensured that various data obtained within this scope have been updated and transferred to visual materials. Moreover, presence and boundaries of a special cultural region in Anatolia have also been revealed by evaluating spatial distributional characteristics of elements which constitute this cultural asset.