Different manifestations of Neolithization in Northwest Anatolia?

Abstract

The Neolithic way of life was first established in Northwest Anatolia before the middle of the 7th millennium BC. The recently excavated sites of Barcın Hoyuk and Bahcelievler have yielded archaeological evidence for the earliest Neolithic levels in the region and provide new archaeobotanical datasets. To compare different adaptations to the changes brought on by the Neolithization processes, we studied 348 archaeobotanical samples from Phases VIe and VId1 at Barcın and 63 samples from the contemporaneous levels, Phase 6 and Phase 5, at Bahcelievler. The economic plants include hulled and naked six-row barley, einkorn, emmer, bread/hard wheat, small-sized naked wheat, lentil, bitter vetch, pea, chickpea, flax, hazelnut, bramble, and pistacia. Our analyses show small but significant differences between the sites in the selected economic plant ranges, among the cereals, pulses as well as gathered plants.

Out-of-Anatolia: cultural and genetic interactions during the Neolithic expansion in the Aegean

“…In NW Anatolian Barcın, both architecture and subsistence data indicate close sociocultural connections to C Anatolia, with little indication of Mesolithic sociocultural presence (Gerritsen & Özbal, 2019) (Figure 4). Meanwhile, in other NW Anatolian sites such as Aktopraklık, Bahçelievler and Pendik, semisubterranean round huts have been considered an indication of Mesolithic influence, and the subsistence patterns of Pendik and neighbouring villages (the “Fikirtepe culture”) interpreted as an amalgamation of Mesolithic and C Anatolian Neolithic traditions (Balcı et al, 2022; Karul, 2017; M. Özdoğan, 2014, 2024).…”

“…A 4). Meanwhile, in other NW Anatolian sites such as Aktopraklık, Bahçelievler and Pendik, semisubterranean round huts have been considered an indication of Mesolithic influence, and the subsistence patterns of Pendik and neighbouring villages (the "Fikirtepe culture") interpreted as an amalgamation of Mesolithic and C Anatolian Neolithic traditions (Balcı et al, 2022;Karul, 2017;M. Özdoğan, 2014.…”