Dr. Yılmaz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Prehistory at Düzce University. She is an archaeo-anthropologist, specializing in archaeothanatology. She received her PhD from the Department of Prehistory at Istanbul University and the Department of Biological Anthropology at the Doctoral School of Science and Environment at the University of Bordeaux 1 with a thesis entitled “Burial Practices in the Neolithic Period in Anatolia: The Case of Çayönü” (co-tutelle, 2010).
She conducted archaeological surveys in Tunceli during 2015–2021. In 2022, she served as the scientific advisor for the rescue excavations carried out at Tunceli Pertek Tozkoparan Höyük under the directorship of the Tunceli Museum. She focused on disseminating the archaeothanatology method via applying this method both in the field and in the laboratory. She has been conducting archaeothanatological studies on burials in the Yenikapı, Pendik, Sirkeci, Boukoleon, and Beşiktaş excavations in Istanbul, the Çemialo excavation in Batman, and the Ovcular and Kültepe excavations in Nakhchivan. For a deeper analysis of fieldwork, she established the Biological Anthropology Laboratory at Düzce University, where she teaches courses in archaeothanatology.
She actively participated in the excavation of the kurgan cemetery in Beşiktaş that was conducted via the archaeoanatological method. Within the scope of this project, she aims first to complete the analysis of the human bones, which are predominantly cremations, and secondly to comprehend the use of this area of the Bosphorus either as a cemetery and/or possibly for other functions, as well as to analyze the regional connections of the area.