AŞIKLI HÖYÜK

1. AŞIKLI HÖYÜK APrepotteryNeolithic site :

3. The site : geographical settings • Is a PrepotteryNeolithicsettlement, with considerable dimensions • Islocated in Central Anatolia, in the province of Aksaray • Is a kind of tellwith an height of 15 metres and an extension of 4 hectares • Itsedgeswereerosed by the impact of Melendiz River, alongwichitis located • But for thisreasonit extendes in a fertile land • Wasconsidered by the archeologists a veryimportant site • Infactitallowsus to understand the PrepotteryNeolithicPeriod in Central Anatolia

4. Aşikli Höyük on the bank of Melendiz river. View from the West

5. The first excavations • The first studies were done from the Britannic archaeologist Iann Todd in 1964 • He found 6000 obsidian flaked tools on the surface of the site • But extensive and orizzontal excavations began only in 1988 • Important discoveries and project research were maden by Ufuk Esin (Istanbul University) • Actually a conservative project for the archaeological area is led by Mihriban Őzbaşaran. • Decades of archaeological investigations demonstrated that Asikli Hoyuk, with its dedalus of buidings can be considered one of the first cities of the world

6. Air view from the west Asikli Hoyuk : schematik plan

7. Stratigraphy and crhonology The site contains three different layers (from the top to the bottom). As the C14 analyses demonstrate, they are dated as follows:

8. Layer 1 : is the most recent , it is characterized by the soil under the surface. • Layer 2 : contains ten subphases (that are indicated with letters from a to j) and well preserved buildings. • Layer 3 : has three subphases and the 3Csubphase contains ancient oval buildings. • It is not yet clear if these structures can belong to another layer (Layer 4), but it is sure that the remains belong to the first occupation of the village. • The 47 radiocarbon samples put our site between 8200 and 7400 BC, hence in Prepottery Neolithic Period B (PPNB).

9. Architecture : a ‘‘dedalus’’ of domestic buildings • In the most part of settlement, the expedition highlights a large amount of rectangular or trepezoidal clustered dwellings, that in total contain almost 90 rooms. • Between these buildings, that were very near to each other, there were also narrow streets and alleys, that divided the settlement into blocks. • The rectangular houses were built by the use of simple mudbricks. • Because of the lack of any direct access or door to these dwellings ,on the level soil, many archaeologists suggested that the access to the house and rooms occurred through flat roofs. The step- trenches 4F-H at the northwest of Asikli Hoyuk.Level 2 Building phase

10. Iterpretations about some areas functions • A large amount of obsidian flacking debris,bone tools and also garbage, vegetation remains and ash accumulations, were found between some house blocks in the midden area. • This can be indicate that some areas were used as work-places for : • cutting animals • the preparation of vegetables • making bone tools • obsidian knapping process. View from south east

11. But ….. • Despite of the narrow and actually almost invisible streets that divide the loam domestic buildings, another road was found. • This road was 4 m in widht and paved, and was called GA road • It conduced to a monumental complex, in the southern part of the excaveted area. Paved road

12. The monumental area • Two big complexes were identified and maybe these were used for public functions, like riunions but it is not clear yet. • The two identified structures ,the so called HV and T buildings, are separeted to each other from the coutyard HJ. • These complexes differ from other domestical structures for some architectural feautures : • The bigger dimensions • The number of rooms • The materials used (the stone) • The technique construction • The two mentioned rooms contain painted floors and benches and a portico, overlooking the Melendiz River, associated with burials. • Infact the archaeologists suggested that one of the two complexes was organized around coutyards, that maybe were characterized by a colonnade.

13. The plant Paved road N HV building T building

14. The floor of the so called T building was polished and red painted (as we can see in the picture below), as the walls. This is an unusual character for a simple domestic house, and for its proportioned fitments and for its position, within the complex overlooking the Melendiniz River, the exavators suggested that was used as a shrine.

15. Burial practice • On 400 buildings, only 70 burials were found • Burial custom, according to the general tradition, is intramural (under the floor of houses). • But the dead position is not uniform: sometimes is dorsal, sometimes hocker. • Antropological analyses indicate that ,in general, the bodies were burnt before they were buried. • There are some examples of trapanation (on the head of many deads) • There are also some examples of deformation, especially on the backbones and on the necks of female skeletons. • This can indicate that the women worked in hard conditions and were forced to carry very heavy loads.

16. Burial gifts Consist of: • Necklaces • Bracalets, containing pierced beads maden of semi-precious or simple stones and of deer-teeth. • 12 annealed beads , maden of cooper and also of malachite > this prove that an experimental metal work has beeen known from the inhabitans

17. Chipped stone industryMain source in Central Anatolia : obsidian.Main obsidian sources: Nenezi Dağ and Kayιrlι. • Differnt productions • 2 type of Cores : • Opposed platform core: two platforms opposed to each other and used for blade production • Single striking platform core, with a pyramidal shape: these kind of cores were used for flakes producion

18. Microlithics occurred in various forms: • Truncated bladelets • Pointed bladelets • Notched and denticulate bladelets ( in the shape of triangles and lunates) • Arrowheads Piercing tools

19. Scrapers : the most abbundant tools found in our site • Burins : is a kind of chisel used for particluar incisions, and can be dihedral or transvers. Both type were found in this site.

20. Non local materials • A stone plaque was found in the northeastern section of the exavation . • The external surface was decorated with ‘‘V’’ and ‘‘O’’ symbols • A similar plaque stone was also found in Jerf- el Ahmar (Syria) and this can be indicate that in that period trades, also at a long distance, took place (such us that of obsidian).

21. Summary • We can assume that there was a considerable variety of lithic and microlithic equipment. • Microlithic production can indicate that the people of Aşıklı Höyük retained some Epipaleolithic traditions. • The general impression is that in this site there was a modest lithic housework production, on the base of the records collected. • As we have seen, the southwestern section of the settlement was used maybe for public religious functions, but in Aşıklı Höyük there isn’t yet any explotion of symbolism, like later in Çatalhöyük. • Maybe here the symbolism was expressed through well-crafted bone objects, polished stone beads and other items, as the polished and red painted floors and walls, that are characteristic of the T Building. • Aşıklı Höyük was abbandoned about 7400 BC and most probably the use of another village consecutive to it and far from the first only 400 m, came to a halt as well. • This site is Musular, that has features very similar with the previous site, in fact for many archeologists its construction can be related to the dispersion of population from the conglomerate center of Aşıklı Höyük.

22. Bibliography • Obsidian, trade and society in the central anatolian neolithic, Fevzi Volkan Güngördü, January 2011 • Anatolia_Le origini, Andrea De Pascale, 2012 • The Neolithic of Central Anatolia, Frederic Gerard and Laurens Thissen, Istanbul November 2011 • Ancient Turkey, Antonio Sagona and Paul Zimansky, New York 2009.