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Document Details :

Title: Neolithic Communities in the Eastern Marmara Region
Subtitle: Aktopraklik C
Author(s): KARUL, Necmi , AVCI, Mert Bertan
Journal: Anatolica
Volume: 37    Date: 2011   
Pages: 1-15
DOI: 10.2143/ANA.37.0.2073782

Abstract :
The increased amount of archaeological research in Northwestern Anatolia means that not only have many questions about the prehistoric occupation of this region been answered, but also new problems have arisen. Aktopraklık, excavated since 2004, is one of those settlements that contributes significantly to this matter. The data obtained from the strata investigated so far in the settlement shows uninterrupted occupation from the middle of the 7th millennium BC to the middle of the 6th millennium BC, including the earliest occurrence of Neolithic pottery in the region and the transition from the Early to the Middle Chalcolithic. The excavations, geomagnetic surveys, and surface scans demonstrate that the different stages of occupation at Aktopraklık were not superimposed on each other, but rather either shifted horizontally and down the slope or from one valley ridge to the other opposite. Although this circumstance made it difficult for the excavators who started work 6 years ago to establish a reliable stratigraphy, they managed to establish a chronological sequence for each of the different site locations within the settlement called A, B, and C. At Aktopraklık C the earliest Neolithic strata of the settlement were found. This article provides an overview of the pottery that occurred in Aktopraklık C, and ends with an appraisal on the chronology and cultural links with contemporary sites. The many Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic burials from this settlement are the subject of a separate article in this volume by Songül Alpaslan Roodenberg.

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