Reappraisal of the Neolithisation of the Marmara Region Through Archaeobotanical Analysis at Pendik Höyük and Yenikapı

Abstract

The first Neolithic archaeological excavations in the Marmara Region were carried out in the Fikirtepesettlement by Kurt Bittel and Halet Çambel between the years of 1952 and 1954. However, propersystematic studies in the region were initiated in 1980s by M. Özdoğan. These series of researchrevealed that the region had been in interaction with different Neolithic cultural regions on theAegean-Balkan-Anatolian axis, with every new piece of data resulting in a revision of the neolithisation process and diffusion theories.Research on the Neolithic Period of the region was mainly based on pottery, lithic tool technologyand architecture remains, all of which may be classified under the umbrella term “material culture”.Recently, our understanding of the Neolithic Period of the region has been enriched by new perspectives, thanks to data from bioarchaeological sciences such as archaeozoology, archaeobotany andpalaeoanthropology. This document with the preliminary results of the archaeobotanical researchongoing in Yenikapı and Pendik Höyük aims to contribute to the discussion of the neolithisation ofthe region