Körtiktepe

Körtiktepe or Körtik Tepe is the oldest known Neolithic archaeological site in Turkey. Together with Tell Mureybet and Tell Abu Hureyra in northern Syria, Körtiktepe is one of the only three securely dated Younger Dryas sedentary sites in Upper Mesopotamia.

The habitation of the site began in the first half of the 11th millennium BCE, approximately 10700 BCE (12,700 years ago), and persisted with consistent density until approximately 10400 BCE. Strontium and oxygen isotope analyses of human tooth enamel indicate that the inhabitants of the Younger Dryas occupations at Körtiktepe were born and grew up in or near the site. Although a potential minor flooding event transpired during the transition from the Younger Dryas to the Early Holocene, the site endured without evident abandonment, at least not for a prolonged interval. Occupation continued and thrived during the Early Holocene. The architectural tradition of constructing round plans established around 10400 BCE and continued without any fundamental alterations until the eventual desertion of the site.

The site reached its peak in terms of occupation density around 9300 BCE. Subsequently, it experienced an unexplained abandonment, possibly attributed to natural disturbances such as flooding induced by the Holocene climate changes.

• Artefacts from Körtik Tepe at the Diyarbakır Museum
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  Incised bone pendant fragments
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  Incised bone pendant fragments
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  Stone vessel
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  Stone vessel fragment
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  Stone vessel

Bibliography

• Benz, M., Coşkun, A., Hajdas, I., Deckers, K., Riehl, S., Alt, K. W., Weninger, B., & Özkaya, V. (2012). Methodological implications of new radiocarbon dates from the Early Holocene site of Körtik Tepe, Southeast Anatolia. Radiocarbon, 54(3–4), 291–304. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200047081

• Benz, M., Deckers, K., Rössner, C., Alexandrovskiy, A., Pustovoytov, K., Scheeres, M., Fecher, M., Coşkun, A., Riehl, S., Alt, K. W., & Özkaya, V. (2015). Prelude to village life. Environmental data and building traditions of the Epipalaeolithic settlement at Körtik Tepe, Southeastern Turkey. Paléorient, 41(2), 9–30. https://doi.org/10.3406/paleo.2015.5673

• Siddiq, A. B., Şahin, F. S., & Özkaya, V. (2021). Local trend of symbolism at the dawn of the Neolithic: The painted bone plaquettes from PPNA Körtiktepe, Southeast Turkey. Archaeological Research in Asia, 26(100280). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2021.100280

See also

• Pre-Pottery Neolithic
• Pre-Pottery Neolithic A
• Prehistoric religion
• Neolithic symbolism
• Origin of Neolithic