Focusing on a living community in rural north-western Anatolia, »Looking towards the Road« explores the relationship between the social, cultural, and material aspects of human settlement and its architecture. Applying current ethnoarchaeological and cultural anthropological methods and theories, Dittemore asserts that settlement is a flexible and dynamic system adapting to specific circumstances. The changing conditions of the village of Zemzemiye represents a process at work in much of Turkey and the developing world today – the increasing integration of the rural sector into regional, national, and international frameworks.

The study offers a detailed look at issues such as the village as a physical distinct entity, changing needs and expectations reflected in settlement morphology and land use, village administration and economy, internal structure and relations of the household, the social organization of communal and private building activity, construction materials and production, house forms and furnishings, and the effects of architectural abandonment and reuse on the archaeological record.