Abstract

CENTRAL WESTERN ANATOLIA - A KEY-REGION FOR THE NEOLITHISATION OF EUROPE?

Clemens LICHTER
DAI-Istanbul, Ayazpasa Camii Sk. 48, 80090 Gümüssuyu, Istanbul, TR.
clichter@gmx.de                                                                                        

North-West Turkey - that is the regions surrounding the Marmara Sea, mainly Eastern Thrace and the northwest parts of Asia Minor - was for a long time claimed to fulfil a bridge function throughout the Prehistoric period due to its geographical position between Anatolia and Europe, the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea, since neither the straits of Bosphorus and Dardanelles nor the Marmara Sea represent an apparent obstacle. Therefore it is astonishing that the Prehistoric research on this region, which was supposed to play an important part in the neolithisation of Europe, took place not before the late seventies. Since i.e. the sites in the coastal areas of the Marmara Sea show a clearly different character compared to those of inner Thrace, research has made clear that this region did not have the presumed mediatory role in the spread of the agriculture, but was situated at the periphery of the main centres of development and spreading routes.

The question from which region the Neolithic spread out to Europe - no matter whether by "colonists" or by "transformation of ideas and goods" - is still far from being answered. In the course of these reflections Ionia is increasingly brought into focus. Here the antique Hermos (called Gediz nowadays) that flows into the Aegean Sea forms a natural access to Anatolia. A comparable geographical situation in West Anatolia could be detected in the Büyük Menderes valley.

Up to now this region has - for the time period of the Neolithic and the early Chalcolithic - scarcely been researched and is only known for its findings on the surface. Due to that, only few parameters are available for a comparative analysis of the Neolithic of the Lake district and the West coast on the one hand and of the West coast and the Aegean Sea on the other hand. Cultural elements such as the economic system, subsistence strategies, housing, funeral customs etc. cannot be compared so far.

In September 2001 the site of Araptepe near Menemen (Izmir Region) known since the fifties was revisited. The survey was to set limits to the expanse and chronology of the site. Ceramics show parallels to the late Neolithic of the Lake District. Some pieces of melian obsidian prove contacts to the Aegean. The paper discusses the site within the context of the late Neolithic of Western Anatolia and its relations to the Lake District.

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