Prehistoric Phenomena

The repository created here lists a collection of the documents published in the course of the ERC project Prehistoric Anatolia (ERC Starting Grant 263339; 2011–2016; PI: B. Horejs)

The NEOTECH Project aims to shed new light on the Neolithisation process in the central Balkans. Excavations were conducted at the site of Svinjarička Čuka, during which remains of the Neolithic and the Metal Ages could be identified. This data will be contextualised along the Axios-Vardar-Morava River system, one of the main communication routes between the Aegean and the Danube.

The aim of this project is to take an innovative and explorative approach to understanding of the past in the Balkans by assembling the results of cross-border and diachronic archaeological research with the use of responsive, wide-ranging visualization tools.

Dieses Projekt konzentriert sich auf die ersten permanenten Siedlungen im Neolithikum und die Entwicklung zu proto-urbanen Zentren in der frühen Bronzezeit. Die Kombination beider Forschungsthemen ermöglicht ein breites Spektrum kultureller Modellierungen, basierend auf multidisziplinären, diachronen und vergleichenden Studien über sich verändernde Gesellschaften in einer sich verändernden Umwelt vom 7. bis zum 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr. Im Zentrum steht die Analyse der Ausgrabungen des Çukuriçi Höyük und geoarchäologischer Surveys sowie damit verbundener Materialstudien.

The collaboration between the teams of Çatalhöyük and Çukuriçi Höyük focuses on the Late Neolithic period between 6500 and 6000/5900 calBC in central and western Anatolia. The main questions are shifting connectivities and the specific kind of relations between these regions. Additionally, the project will explore the corresponding developments in neighbouring regions.

Ziel dieser Studie am Küstenfundort von Kalba sind Untersuchungen zur lithischen Rohstoffbeschaffung und -verwendung. Besonders in prähistorischer Zeit waren Kupfer und Hornstein wichtige Rohstoffe. Die Ergebnisse der Materialanalysen bieten ein großes Potential, die Bedeutung und die Nutzung der geologischen Ressourcen einer prähistorischen Siedlung zu untersuchen und zu bewerten.

The Prehistoric Sirvan Project deals with the prehistory of the Sirvan and Chardavol Valleys, especially the documentation of prehistoric activities, based on the outcomes of archaeological, environmental, and geological surveys and GIS analyses. Focus of the project is the Neolithic period in the early Holocene (site Choga Khaki) and its contextualisation in the broader Zagros region. Preliminary results indicate an occupation from the Middle Paleolithic until the end of the Bronze Age. Current analyses are focusing on the Neolithic period and its materials.

Through socio-cultural anthropological literature of non-state societies, this project applies comparative methods of historical anthropology to address social organization at Çukuriçi Höyük and Platia Magoula Zarkou.

Platia Magula Zarkou ist eine neolithische und bronzezeitliche Tellsiedlung in der westthessalischen Ebene, die zwischen 1976 und 1990 ausgegraben wurde. Die Keramik des Fundortes hat unser Verständnis der neolithischen Chronologie entscheidend verändert und macht Platia Magula Zarkou zu einem Schlüsselfundort für die Erforschung des neolithischen Griechenlands. Das bekannte Hausmodell ermöglicht einen neuen Einblick in die neolithische Sozialstruktur. Dieses Projekt zielt auf eine ganzheitliche Endpublikation des Fundortes ab.

The Prehistoric Sirvan Project deals with the prehistory of the Sirvan and Chardavol Valleys, especially the documentation of prehistoric activities, based on the outcomes of archaeological, environmental, and geological surveys and GIS analyses. Focus of the project is the Neolithic period in the early Holocene (site Choga Khaki) and its contextualisation in the broader Zagros region. Preliminary results indicate an occupation from the Middle Paleolithic until the end of the Bronze Age. Current analyses are focusing on the Neolithic period and its materials.

The Prehistoric Sirvan Project deals with the prehistory of the Sirvan and Chardavol Valleys, especially the documentation of prehistoric activities, based on the outcomes of archaeological, environmental, and geological surveys and GIS analyses. Focus of the project is the Neolithic period in the early Holocene (site Choga Khaki) and its contextualisation in the broader Zagros region. Preliminary results indicate an occupation from the Middle Paleolithic until the end of the Bronze Age. Current analyses are focusing on the Neolithic period and its materials.

The Prehistoric Sirvan Project deals with the prehistory of the Sirvan and Chardavol Valleys, especially the documentation of prehistoric activities, based on the outcomes of archaeological, environmental, and geological surveys and GIS analyses. Focus of the project is the Neolithic period in the early Holocene (site Choga Khaki) and its contextualisation in the broader Zagros region. Preliminary results indicate an occupation from the Middle Paleolithic until the end of the Bronze Age. Current analyses are focusing on the Neolithic period and its materials.

Beile/Dechsel und Mahlsteine stellen die Hauptwerkzeuge der Neolithisierung dar. Beide Kategorien sind zentrale Innovationen des Neolithikums und erfahren zu Beginn dieser Epoche funktionale und formale Entwicklungen: die Beile/Dechsel werden geschäftet und die Mahlsteine entwickeln sich zu Geräten zur Nahrungszubereitung mit standardisierten Formen und vielfältigen Zwecken.

The transition from hunting and gathering to farming and herding stands as one of the major economic changes in the human past. The origins of the Neolithic in the Near East and its expansion into western Anatolia and the Aegean basin are equally crucial for understanding the emergence of first village systems in Europe. Recent studies on lithic tools demonstrated that important technical innovations (pressure blade making, plant harvesting techniques) moved westwards alongside the dispersal of farmers, and became the essential part of new toolkits used in a variety of domestic activities. In line with the onset of new tools, arrowheads, which traditionally reflect the lifestyle of mobile hunter-gatherers, continue to be produced during the Neolithic in this area, despite the progressive decrease of hunting for subsistence.

The project aims to shed new light on the Neolithization process in the Central Balkans by analyzing green amulets from sites all over the Balkan region with the potential impact of new production technologies and the localization of deposits or Nephrite in the area of study. Starting point is a new exceptional find at the ongoing excavations at Svinjarička Čuka.