Lecture

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

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

The following article focuses on the region lying west of Central Anatolia – the main focus of this Table Ronde – with particular regard to the spread of the Neolithic into Europe. The region can be divided into three geographical areas: the Northwest, the West and the Southwest, a division corresponding more or less to watersheds of the region. Northwestern Anatolia may be defined as the drainage basin of the Sea of Marmara; Western Anatolia as the catchments of the rivers flowing into the Aegean Sea, and Southwestern Anatolia as the inland Lakes District.

Due to its geographical position, Northwestern Turkey, that is to say the territory of the Marmara Basin (basically Eastern Thrace and the northwestern parts of Asia Minor), has long been heralded as a bridge connecting Anatolia with Europe and the Black Sea with the Aegean throughout prehistoric times; neither the sea itself nor the straits of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles seem to have represented an obstacle (French 1967:49; Özdogan 1989:201). Taking this into account, it strikes one as most curious that prehistoric research in this region credited with such an important role in the neolithisation of Europe, had been sorely neglected until the late seventies. It was only then that the Istanbul University surface survey culminating in excavations in Thrace (Yarimburgaz, Toptepe and Hoca Çesme; cf. Özdogan 1999) began; this was followed by the excavations of the Dutch Institute in Istanbul at Ilipinar and Mentese (Roodenberg 1995, 1999), and the cooperative campaigns of the German Archaeological Institute and Istanbul University at Asagi Pinar and Kanligeçit (Parzinger and Özdogan 1995). Because the sites near the coast of the Sea of Marmara demonstrate a character clearly different from those of inland Thrace (Özdogan 1999; Thissen 2000a:193, 2000b, 2000c:141), the research of the past two decades has clarified that this region, rather than playing the major role in the spread of agriculture – as earlier presumed – was situated on the periphery emanating from more influential centers of development.

Thus the identification of the region(s) from which the Neolithic spread into Europe – whether or not this dispersal was the result of ‘colonists’ or simply a ‘transformation of ideas and goods’ – is still far from clear. (On models for the neolithisation of the Aegean realm and Greece, cf. Perlès 1989; Van Andel and Runnels 1995; Thissen 2000c.)

In the course of these reflections western coastal Anatolia comes into focus. Here, rivers flowing east to west empty into the Aegean (e.g., the Bakir Çay, the Gediz Çay and the Küçük and Büyük Menderes). We know that in ancient Ionia the River Hermos (now the Gediz) provided natural access into the uplands of Anatolia, where it has its source. A comparable scenario may be posited for the valley of the Büyük Menderes in central Western Anatolia.

As far as the Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic periods are concerned, the surface of this region has hardly been scratched; these periods are known only from surface finds. That is why only a few parameters are available for comparative analyses between this western coastal region and the Neolithic of the Lakes District (Pisidia) to the east on the one hand, and the Aegean sites to the west on the other. With no evidence of the culture other than that of the surface finds, we cannot begin to compare cultural aspects such as economic systems, subsistence strategies, housing and burial customs.

In September of 2001 a survey team revisited the site of Araptepe-Bekirlertepe near Menemen (Izmir region), included in the literature since the 1950s (Senyürek et al. 1950; Doger 1998:1–6, 186f.). (The survey was part of a research program on the prehistoric, classical and historical developments in the Menemen Plain led by Armagan Erkanal of Hacettepe University/Ankara; our aim was to approximate the expanse and chronology of the site, as well as to collect information strategic for future research. To Prof. Dr. Erkanal I wish to express my gratitude for the permission to publish some preliminary results here. My thanks go also to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and the General Directorate of Monuments and Museums for the survey permission, and to our government representative N. Isçi from the Isparta Museum. I am much obliged as well to scholars and university students who participated in the fieldwork: from Ankara, A. Akalin, from Eskisehir, A. Türkcan and from Mugla, K. Iren, M. Demir and L. Çimen.) Some preliminary observations are touched upon here. The natural rise of Araptepe lies northwest of Izmir in the valley of one of the northern tributaries of the Gediz, not far from the Menemen–Foça road. The topography of the site as well as other more general considerations would suggest that in prehistoric times it lay much closer to the coastline than it does at present (about 10km). (Senyürek et al. 1950:500–501 and Hütteroth 1982:64f., especially Fig. 19. For changes in the coastline during the Holocene and changes in the sedimentation of the Aegean coastal plains, see Kayan 1988 and 1997.)
The lower skirts of Araptepe have been planted with olive trees, providing ideal conditions for fieldwalking. We did not examine the summit or the steep higher slopes covered by natural vegetation, but conducted an intense survey over 35 areas (comprising a total of over eight hectares). Within an area of some 200×300m on the northeastern slope of Araptepe we were able to collect stone artefacts and diagnostic sherds.

The dominant feature of the pottery is a slipped ware, in most cases lightly burnished. The surface colour varies from reddish brown to red, and the biscuit is commonly gritty or sandy. Mica is very rare, however, and only a few thick-walled sherds reveal organic temper. The form repertoire is dominated by holemouth pots. The walls of the deeper bowls tend toward the vertical, either straight or with a slight S-curvature. Large holemouth pots demonstrate rims thickened on the interior. Everted rims are rare, as are angular necks. The bases are always flat. The material collected suggests that ring bases accompanied disk bases in a proportion of about 1:3. The characteristic handle form is the vertically pierced tubular lug, which shows several variants. Vertically pierced knobs exist as well. Apart from two pieces, one with impresso decoration and another that appears to be painted in white, the pottery is undecorated.

Fig. 1: Examples from Araptepe-Bekirlertepe, Prov. Izmir

Within the lithic industry, the use of several different raw materials might well argue for the exploitation of a local gravel bank. An overview of the obsidian collected suggests that a few pieces – because of their distinctive opaque gray color – may have originated in Melos. Pieces with the characteristic white spots of Giali also appear among the material.

When we look for parallels, the elements mentioned in the pottery can be traced to several sites within Western Anatolia. The northernmost site is Coskuntepe in the Troad; (Seeher 1990. Özdogan (1993:185, footnotes 26–27) also mentions finds comparable to those of Hoca Çesme IV in Thrace (Özdogan 1998:86 with Figs. 3–4) from the basal level of Kumtepe in the Troad and from Karaagaçtepe in the Gelibolu peninsula (1986:54) one of the southernmost is Killiktepe (Voigtländer 1983) near the Büyük Menderes. Except for the finds from investigations conducted at Ulucak by the University in Izmir (Derin and Öner 1997) and a small trench opened in the Aphrodisias-Pekmez mound (Joukowsky 1986:59), (At Aphrodisias–Pekmez, it was Trench 2 (2 × 2 m) in Level VIIIc (Joukowsky 1986:59 and 521f.) that revealed late Neolithic material.) there is no other evidence from excavation. Most sites known in the provinces of Izmir and Manisa were discovered and/or visited during the surveys of David French (French 1965; 1969) in the late 1950s – and more recently by Recep Meriç (Meriç 1993); a few more have been located and mentioned by other scholars. (Akdeniz (1997:235–236) mentions three more sites on Tavsan Adasi (Yesil Ada), Sapli Ada, and Kömür Adasi) Some elements within the material from the Lower Cave at Ayio Gala/Chios (Hood 1981), (Hood 1981:14ff., Figs. 5–7. In addition to similarities between the pottery of Araptepe and that of Ayio Gala (e.g., vertically pierced tubular lugs), he points out important distinctions, among them mottled surfaces, the so-called ‘Ayio Gala lugs’, and the absence of ring bases and holemouth pots with inwardly thickened rims at Ayio Gala.) as well as others from Hoca Çesme IV (Özdogan 1998:86), hint at a still wider distribution along the Aegean coast. Some have also been encountered further inland. (In the present state of research, the northeasternmost site yielding elements such as the vertically pierced tubular lugs is Akmakça (in the province of Kütahya, cf. Efe 1995); this site, on the other hand, also presents elements of the Fikirtepe Culture. There are also seven sites (Ak Höyük, Boz Höyük, Çandar I and II, Dinar Höyük, Ömerköy, and Sürmeli Höyük) mapped by Mellaart (Mellaart 1954:180–181) in the southwestern part of the Afyon province and the northeastern part of the Denizli province that probably represent the easternmost findspots, thus demarcating a border zone with the Lakes District.)

Fig. 2: Sites yielding late neolithic pottery in Provinces: Aydin, Izmir and Manisa

Within Western Anatolia other presumably pre-Bronze Age finds of Melian obsidian should be mentioned. (Our lack of knowledge on the origin of the obsidian employed in Western Anatolia probably reflects only the state of research. One analyzed obsidian artefact found at Hacilar might possibly originate from Melos (Gale 1981; see also Blackman’s comment in Joukowsky 1986:279). Findspots in Western Anatolia with pre- Bronze Age obsidian probably from Melos (in alphabetical order) are the following: Altinkum Plaji (Gebel 1984, commented upon by Mosheim and Althaus 1984:28, dated between the Late Neolithic period and the Early Bronze Age); Aphrodisias/Pekmez (cf. M. Blackman, ‘The provenience of obsidian artefacts from Late Chalcolithic levels at Aphrodisias’, apud Joukowsky 1986, where there seems to be evidence for Melian obsidian in a Late Chalcolithic context); and Morali (French 1965; 1969). Obsidian artefacts from Killiktepe are mentioned by Bittel (Bittel 1942:171, footnote 172), and some from Bozdag in the Halicarnassus peninsula by Bean and Cook (Bean and Cook 1955:118). Obsidian from the islands of Chios and Lesbos is discussed by Renfrew (Renfrew, Cann and Dixon 1965:238). Cf. also ‘Obsidian in the Aegean’ (Alram-Stern 1996:171–174).) Although these are either surface finds (from Altinkum Plaji and Morali) that cannot be conclusively dated or artefacts stemming from a Late Chalcolithic context (Aphrodisias), (The high percentage of Melian obsidian within Late Chalcolithic contexts at Aphrodisias suggests that people there had access to this raw material in earlier times.) they nevertheless confirm contact with the Aegean and the import of the raw material obsidian from Melos.

Parallels for the ceramic features illustrated and described above can also be found in the Late Neolithic monochrome pottery of the Lakes District in southwestern inland Anatolia – in the strata of Hacilar IX–VI (Mellaart 1970), as well as in those of Höyücek (Duru 1995) and Bademagaci (Mellaart 1961; Duru 1999, 2000). (For a critical review of the ‘Early Neolithic’ in the Lakes District, see Duru (1989 and 1999) as well as Schoop (in press).) As well as stressing the analogies existing here – the vertical tubular lugs, S-profiles and holemouth pots – as French (1965:19–20) has already pointed out, we must also keep in mind certain striking contrasts between the ceramic features of this Lakes District and those of the western coastal strip. Ring bases, frequent in the West, are unknown among the ceramics of this period in the Lakes District. On the other hand, the dark interior surfaces often observed in the vessels in Hacilar are unfamiliar to the pottery repertoires of the West, and the Early Chalcolithic painted wares so frequent in the Southwest are rarely encountered in the West.

To summarise, there are enough analogies between the pottery of the Lakes District and that of western coastal Anatolia to date the pottery illustrated here as contemporary with that of the Hacilar Late Neolithic, i.e. to the second half of the seventh millennium cal BC. Considering the differences, however, it would appear that western coastal Anatolia – although influenced by the Lakes District – nevertheless continued an independent development and must therefore be considered a separate entity. The features illustrated here, reflect the earliest Neolithic culture yet identified in western coastal Anatolia. No definite evidence of an Aceramic Neolithic has yet been found.

During the last quarter of the seventh and the first half of the sixth millennium cal BC then, i.e. during the Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic periods, three different principal pottery complexes can be distinguished.

1. The incised and impressed pottery of the Northwest and the Marmara Region

2. The painted pottery of inland Southwestern Anatolia

3. The undecorated red-slipped wares of Western Anatolia

As earlier presumed by several scholars and demonstrated by Thissen (Thissen 1999), the neolithisation of Northwestern Anatolia seems to have its roots in the Konya region. The present state of research would furthermore suggest that the Neolithic of Western Anatolia stemmed from the Lakes District.

Further research – and by this I mean the excavation of sites – in Western Anatolia is absolutely essential in order to clarify both the chronology of the region and its relationship to the surrounding regions.

References

Akdeniz, E.,1997. 1995 yili Büyük Menderes Ovasi ve çevresi yüzey arastirmalari. Arastirma Sonuçlari Toplantisi 14(II), 233–254
Alram-Stern, E., 1996. Die ägäische Frühzeit. 2. Serie, Forschungsbericht 1975–1993. 1. Band: Das Neolithikum in Griechenland mit Ausnahme von Kreta und Zypern. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Bean, G. and J. Cook, 1955. The Halicarnassus peninsula. Annual of the British School at Athens 50, 85–171
Bittel, K., 1942. Kleinasiatische Studien. Istanbuler Mitteilungen, Beiheft 5
Derin, Z. and E. Öner, 1997. Ulucak Höyük kazilari ve paleo-cografya arastirmalari-1995. Kazi Sonuçlari Toplantisi 18(I), 411–439
Doger, E., 1998. Ilk isklanlardan Yunan isgaline kadar Menemen ya da tarhaniyat tarihi. Izmir: Sergi Yayinevi
Duru, R., 1989. Were the earliest cultures at Hacilar really aceramic? In K. Emre et al. [eds.]. Tahsin Özgüç’e armagan. Anatolia and the Near East. Studies in honour of Tahsin Özgüç. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 99–105
Duru, R., 1995. Höyücek kazilari – 1991/1992. Belleten 59, 447–490
Duru, R., 1999. The Neolithic of the Lake District. In M. Özdogan and N. Basgelen [eds.]. Neolithic in Turkey, the cradle of civilization. New discoveries. Istanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayinlari, 165–191
Duru, R., 2000. Bademagaci kazilari, 1999 yili çalisma raporu. Belleten 44, 583–598
Efe, T., 1995. Iç Bati Anadolu’da iki Neolitik yerlesme: Findik Kayabasi ve Akmakça. In A. Erkanal et al. [eds.]. In memoriam: I. Metin Akyurt Bahattin devam ani kitabi. Eski Yakin Dogu kültürleri üzerine incelemeler. Istanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayinlari, 105–114
French, D., 1965. Early pottery sites from Western Anatolia. Bulletin of the Institute of Archaeology 5, 15–24
French, D., 1967. Prehistoric sites in Northwest Anatolia I: the Iznik area. Anatolian Studies 17, 49–100
French, D., 1969. Prehistoric sites in Northwest Anatolia II: the Balikesir and Akhisar/Manisa areas. Anatolian Studies 19, 41–98
Gale, N., 1981. Mediterranean obsidian source characterization by strontium isotope analysis. Archaeometry 23, 41–52
Gebel, H., 1984. Notiz zur Obsidianindustrie von Altinkum Plaji bei Didyma. Istanbuler Mitteilungen 34, 5–28
Hood, S., 1981. Excavations in Chios 1938–1955. Prehistoric Emporio and Ayio Gala. London: The British School of Archaeology at Athens/Thames and Hudson
Hütteroth, W.-D., 1982. Türkei. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft
Joukowsky, M., 1986. Prehistoric Aphrodisias. An account of the excavations and artifact studies. Providence & Louvain
Kayan, I., 1988. Late Holocene sea-level changes on the Western Anatolian coast. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 68, 205–218
Kayan, I., 1997. Bronze Age regression and change in sedimentation on the Aegean coastal plains of Anatolia (Turkey). In H. Dalfes, G. Kukla and H. Weiss [eds.]. Third millennium BC climate change and Old World collapse. [Kongress Kemer 1994]. NATO ASI series: 1, Global Environment Change 49, 431–450
Mellaart, J., 1954. Preliminary report on a survey of pre-classical remains in Southern Turkey. Anatolian Studies 4, 175–240
Mellaart, J., 1961. Early cultures of the South Anatolian plateau. Anatolian Studies 11, 159–184
Mellaart, J., 1970. Excavations at Hacilar. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
Meriç, R., 1993. Pre-Bronze Age settlements of West-Central Anatolia. Anatolica 19, 143–150
Mosheim, E. and E. Althaus, 1984. Bestimmung der Hauptelemente von Obsidianen aus Altinkum Plaji/Didim. Istanbuler Mitteilungen 34, 26–28
Özdogan, M., 1986. Prehistoric sites in the Gelibolu peninsula. Anadolu Arastirmalari 10, 51–72
Özdogan, M., 1989. Neolithic cultures of Northwestern Turkey. A general appraisal of the evidence and some considerations. In Bökönyi, S. and P. Raczky [eds.]. Neolithic of Southeastern Europe and its Near Eastern connections. International conference 1987, Szolnok–Szeged. Budapest: Institute of Archaeology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 201–215
Özdogan, M., 1993. Vinca and Anatolia: a new look at a very old problem. Anatolica 19, 173–193
Özdogan, M., 1998. Tarihöncesi dönemlerde Anadolu ile Balkanlar arasindaki kültür iliskileri ve Trakya’da yapilan yeni kazi çalismalari. TÜBA-AR 1, 63–93
Özdogan, M., 1999. Northwestern Turkey: Neolithic cultures in between the Balkans and Anatolia. In M. Özdogan and N. Basgelen [eds.]. Neolithic in Turkey, the cradle of civilization. New discoveries. Istanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayinlari, 203–224
Parzinger, H. and M. Özdogan, 1995. Die Ausgrabungen in Kirklareli (Türkisch-Thrakien) und ihre Bedeutung für die Kulturbeziehungen zwischen Anatolien und dem Balkan vom Neolithikum bis zur Frühbronzezeit. Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 76, 5–29
Perlès, C., 1989. La néolithisation de la Grèce. In O. Aurenche and J. Cauvin [eds.]. Néolithisations. Proche et Moyen Orient, Méditerranée orientale, Nord de l’Afrique, Europe méridionale, Chine, Amérique du Sud. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports (International Series) 516, 109–127
Renfrew, C., J. Cann and J. Dixon, 1965. Obsidian in the Aegean. Annual of the British School at Athens 60, 225–247
Roodenberg, J. [ed.], 1995. The Ilipinar excavations I. Five seasons of fieldwork in NW Anatolia, 1987–91. Leiden: Nederlands Historisch-Archeologisch Instituut te Istanbul
Roodenberg, J., 1999. Ilipinar, an early farming village in the Iznik Lake Basin. In M. Özdogan and N. Basgelen [eds.]. The neolithic in Turkey, the cradle of civilization. New discoveries. Istanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayinlari, 193–202
Schoop, U.-D., in press. Frühneolithikum im südwestanatolischen Seengebiet? Eine Kritik. In Festschrift M. Korfmann
Seeher, J., 1990. Coskuntepe – Anatolisches Neolithikum am Nordostufer der Ägäis. Istanbuler Mitteilungen 40, 9–15
Senyürek, M., H. Gültekin, E. Senyürek and A. Dönmez, 1950. The test excavation at Höyücek, in the vicinity of Larisa. Belleten 14, 496–503
Thissen, L., 1999. Trajectories towards the neolithisation of NW Turkey. Documenta Praehistorica 26, 29–39
Thissen, L., 2000a. A chronological framework for the neolithisation of the Southern Balkans. In S. Hiller and V. Nikolov [eds.]. Karanovo III. Beiträge zum Neolithikum in Südosteuropa. Vienna: Phoibos Verlag, 193–212
Thissen, L., 2000b. Early village communities in Anatolia and the Balkans, 6500–5500 cal BC. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Leiden
Thissen, L., 2000c. Thessaly, Franchthi and Western Turkey: clues for the neolithisation of Greece? Documenta Praehistorica 27, 141–154
Van Andel, T. and C. Runnels, 1995. The earliest farmers in Europe. Antiquity 69, 481–500
Voigtländer, W., 1983. Frühe Funde vom Killiktepe bei Milet. Istanbuler Mitteilungen 33, 5–39

__________________________

Go to the related debate (Panel : Turan Efe, Mehmet Özdoğan, Harald Hauptmann)