Different Times? Archaeological and Environmental Data from Intra-Site and Off-Site Sequences

Abstract

Aşıklı Höyük is a very important site in the study about the emergence of early sedentary societies in theEastern Mediterranean. Located in Central Anatolia, it is one the oldest Neolithic sites of Turkey north of theTaurus. The occupation spans the whole development of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) in Central Anatolia,from c. > 8350 to 7300 BC (> 10.3 to 9.25 ka cal BP). Excavated since 1989, the site is composed of five levelsdefined on the basis of their cultural characteristics, developments and trends, and 14C dated. It is located in aflood valley environment that was influenced by Late Glacial deposits and showed environmental variabilitybefore, during and after the settling of PPN population. At that time, the wide Melendiz river valley was stillfilled by Late Glacial deposits. Today, this terrace is positioned 4 m above the present river bed. Although notseen in today’s landscape of the valley because of active lateral erosion during the Holocene, the terrace iswell preserved below colluvium east of the mound, where it forms a ‘gutter’ in which a series of cores, sectionstudies and soundings have been performed between 2010 and 2015. These cores reveal an unexpected spatialgrowth of the site during Level 2 (the latest PPN level). The results of this palaeoenvironmental program,led in connection with the latest archaeological excavations on the site, produce a parallel chronology andshow entangled relationships between the site’s occupation and cultural development on the one hand, and

the dynamics of its environment on the other hand, which modified the landforms and settlement remains in the surroundings of the site.