Beginnings of village-farming communities in southeastern Turkey-1972.

The mound known as Cayönü Tepesi (38 degrees 16' N; 39 degrees 43' E) in southeastern Turkey is one of the increasing number of early village sites which, since World War II, have been excavated archeologically in greater southwestern Asia. The evidence recovered in the autumn 1972 campaign of the Joint Istanbul-Chicago Prehistoric Project is briefly described, with particular attention to Cayönü's architectural remains, which are most remarkable, considering the site's date of about 7000 B.C.

Beginnings of village-farming communities in southeastern Turkey.

Since the end of World War II, much evidence has accrued of the primary phase of village-farming community life in Southwestern Asia, which began about 7000 B.C. The remains of (usually) several of the positively domesticated animals (dog, sheep, goat, pig) and plants (wheat, barley, legumes such as peas and lentils) assure us that these settlements were based on effective food production, although collected wild foods also remained a significant portion of the human diet.

Prehistoric investigations in southeastern Turkey.

An archeological survey of the upper Tigris-Euphrates basin in Turkish Mesopotamia revealed a very early phase farming village and a nearby developed phase farming village. Late prehistoric developments in this region are critical to understanding of the beginnings of trade and metallurgy.