CLAY VESSELS AND POTTERY: COMMENTS ON ÇAYÖNÜ PRE-POTTERY AND POTTERY NEOLITHIC FINDS

Yıl 2004, Sayı: 7, 67 - 92, 10.08.2004

Aslı Erim Özdoğan , Emine Nurcan Yalman

Öz

Çayönü Tepesi is situated in the Ergani Plain by the hilly flanks of the Taurus mountain range, in an area where Euphrates and Tigris basins are closest to each other. It has been occupied in varying degrees of density almost without a break from 10.000 BP to modern times. The reason for such permanency might be its location at the junction of different environmental zones suitable for the demands of different life styles in different periods. Recent researches in the Euphrates and Tigris basins within the TAÇDAM project have shown different cultural aspects of interaction between the two basins.

The transition period between PPN and PN phases of the Neolithic period is one of the most debatable subject among Near-Eastern prehistorians. The data obtained from Çayönü add a new dimension to those discussions.

This article is composed of three parts. In the first part, the relationship between PPN and PN settlements and the various natural factors which affect the stratigraphy and the topography of the Çayönü Tepesi are analyzed. The concurrence of the PPNB/C and PN settlements of Çayönü is discussed in the lights of the various archaeological data. The role of the clay containers and their valued possessions in the PPNB way of life will also be questioned in the first and the third part. The second part concerns the introduction of the PN pottery of Çayönü and provides analogies to other sites in the Near East.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Çayönü , PPNB-PN relationship , stratigraghy , clay vessels , pottery , belief

KATKILI KİL KAPLAR VE ÇANAK ÇÖMLEK: ÇAYÖNÜ ÇANAK ÇÖMLEKSİZ VE ÇANAK ÇÖMLEKLİ NEOLİTİK BULUNTULARI ÜZERİNDEN BİR YORUM

Öz

Çayönü Tepesi is situated in the Ergani Plain by the hilly flanks of the Taurus mountain range, in an area where Euphrates and Tigris basins are closest to each other. It has been occupied in varying degrees of density almost without a break from 10.000 BP to modern times. The reason for such permanency might be its location at the junction of different environmental zones suitable for the demands of different life styles in different periods. Recent researches in the Euphrates and Tigris basins within the TAÇDAM project have shown different cultural aspects of interaction between the two basins.

The transition period between PPN and PN phases of the Neolithic period is one of the most debatable subject among Near-Eastern prehistorians. The data obtained from Çayönü add a new dimension to those discussions.

This article is composed of three parts. In the first part, the relationship between PPN and PN settlements and the various natural factors which affect the stratigraphy and the topography of the Çayönü Tepesi are analyzed. The concurrence of the PPNB/C and PN settlements of Çayönü is discussed in the lights of the various archaeological data. The role of the clay containers and their valued possessions in the PPNB way of life will also be questioned in the first and the third part. The second part concerns the introduction of the PN pottery of Çayönü and provides analogies to other sites in the Near East.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Çayönü , Çanak-Çömleksiz-Çanak Çömlekli Neolitik yerleşme ilişkisi , tabakalanma , kil kaplar , çanak Çömlek , inanç

Kaynakça

• ARIMURA. M., N. BALKAN-ATLI, F. BORELL, W. CRUELLS, G. DURU, A. ERİM-ÖZDOĞAN, J. IBANEZ, O. MAEDE, Y. MIYAKE, M. MOLISTE, M. ÖZBAŞARAN, 2000 "A New Neolithic Settlement in the Urfa Region, Akarçay Tepe, 1999, Anatolia Antiqua VIII, 227-255.