Aceramic Neolithic Period (c.9600-c.7000 BC)
In the southeast, Hallan Cemi Tepesi (north of Silvan) was a hunter-gatherer village that evolved to a settled community by domesticating and raising pigs; Cayonu Tepesi (near Diyarbakir) had animal husbandry, woven cloth, smelted copper and Terrazzo floors; Gobekli Tepe (northeast of Urfa) produced elaborate stone architecture, steles and small stone figures; Nevali Cori (near Hilvan) had a temple containing numerous limestone sculptures and life-size figures; Cafer Hoyuk (near Malatya) was a settlement with rectangular houses built in timber and mud bricks on stone foundations; and Gritille (near Adiyaman) had a mixed economy of hunting and herding supported by a cereal-based agriculture.
In central Anatolia, Asikli Hoyuk (east of Aksaray) had houses constructed of mud brick, abutting one another to form a solid mass of architecture with a wide street creating two distinct neighbourhoods; Can Hasan III (near Karaman) was a small settlement having a densely agglomerated complex of rooms and courtyards, with access seemingly through the roof; Suberde (near Lake Sugla) was a later seventh century BC relatively permanent community that seems to have relied heavily on hunting (sheep, cattle, goat, pig) and the harvesting of possibly wild cereals.
Ceramic Neolithic Period (c.7000-c.6000 BC)
In the southeast, Mezraa Teleilat (near Birecik) is one of the few sites in the Near East where the transition to the Aceramic Neolithic can be seen with the appearance of baked clay vessels.
In the south, Catal Hoyuk (south of Konya) was one of the largest sites of its time (13 hectares (≈32 acres)). The mudbrick buildings were rectangular and completely juxtaposed so that access was through openings in the roofs, across which all movement around the settlement took place. Although pottery had apparently just been introduced, it was associated with a fully developed architecture. Yumuktepe (Mersin) has thirty-three building levels. The bulk of this sequence is Neolithic (levels XXXIII-XXIV) and Chalcolithic (levels XXII-XII). The architecture of the Late Neolithic comprises large enclosures with many attached silos. During the Chalcolithic the site was fortified.
In the southwest, Hacilar (southwest of Burdur) is a small but important settlement (less than one hectare (≈2.5 acres)) occupied during the Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic periods. The houses were of mudbrick or wood and daub, laid on stone foundations. No pottery was found in the early settlement dated to the seventh millennium BC. Levels IX to VI were of the Late Neolithic, with more substantial houses. In levels V to I the site was a fortified settlement.
Leave a Reply