The rise of Neolithic cultures marks one of the most pivotal moments in human history, with a critical effect on society’s evolution and population. Offering a comprehensive insight into these cultures, the World Neolithic Congress, organised in partnership with/under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA), will question conventional theories about the Neolithic period with a particular focus on sedentary lifeways, social hierarchies, identities, beliefs, and the impact of environmental settings as well as studies, such as bioarchaeology, dating methods, physical anthropology, and geoarchaeology. The event is expected to guide Neolithic research worldwide in the long term.
The Congress, co-organised by İstanbul University and Harran University, will be held at the Harran University’s Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in Şanlıurfa. It will feature a comprehensive lineup of talks with academicians from prestigious universities. Throughout these scientific sessions, scholars will address regional and global perspectives on the Neolithic. Besides, the Congress program will include commemorative speeches honouring the late experts who carried out archaeological excavations in Şanlıurfa, including Klaus Schmidt, Harald Hauptmann, Ofer Bar-Yosef and Bruce Howe. Attendees will also have a chance to visit some of the Neolithic sites in Şanlıurfa, including Göbeklitepe, Karahantepe, Sayburç, Çakmaktepe and Sefertepe.
Anatolia’s Neolithic Legacy: Taş Tepeler
One of the projects that have made Türkiye one of the leading stakeholders in the world of Neolithic archaeology with excavations, conservation efforts and scientific publications is “Taş Tepeler” (Stone Mounds), led by Professor Necmi Karul, Head of the Department of Prehistory at İstanbul University. Taş Tepeler refers to a region in and around Şanlıurfa, where larger communities began to live together in the Neolithic age and built permanent dwellings and monumental structures for special purposes. The ongoing research within the scope of the Taş Tepeler project consists of the Sayburç, Sefertepe, Harbetsuvan, Gürcütepe, Çakmaktepe, Mendik, Kurttepesi, Taşlıtepe, Ayanlar, Yoğunburç and Yeni Mahalle sites, as well as Karahantepe, and Göbeklitepe, the most well-known settlements of the region.
The findings from Göbeklitepe, where archaeological work within the Taş Tepeler project first began, have revealed that a highly advanced way of life existed during the earliest stages of the Neolithic age, contributing to the shifting of long-standing paradigms about early human settlements. Accordingly, the first hunter-gatherer communities did not settle out of necessity but rather as a conscious choice driven by the prosperity provided by their environment. With its 12,000-year-old history, Göbeklitepe is one of the earliest known monumental settlements and is Türkiye’s 18th site on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Another notable project under the Taş Tepeler initiative has been ongoing at Karahantepe since 2019. The site, where hundreds of pillars are visible on the surface, has also revealed monumental structures similar to those found at Göbeklitepe.
The latest discoveries at sites that have changed the known story
Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe continue to stir global archaeological circles with ground-breaking discoveries each year. Last October, the largest known human statue of its time was unearthed at Karahantepe. The statue, an outstanding example of prehistoric art, is the 2.45-metre-tall figure sitting on what appears to be a bench, which is believed to depict a male. Archaeologists also found a life-sized limestone statue of a wild boar at Göbeklitepe. The figure features traces of red, white, and black pigments on its surface and is the first full-scale painted animal sculpture of its period to survive to the present day.
Following these discoveries, Karahantepe was recognised as one of the nine most important “Field Exploration and Research” projects 2023 at the Shanghai Archaeology Forum in China. The site shone again this year with the first discovery depicting an animal in motion. Archaeologists have uncovered a carved figure of a running wild donkey on a stone slab in Karahantepe. Göbeklitepe, on the other hand has recently come to the fore with the Anatolian first bread, too.
Anatolia is a significant region that preserves and carries the treasures of many cultures, including Neolithic settlements, layer upon layer into the future. To ensure the sustainability of this rich cultural heritage, Türkiye carries out numerous archaeological excavation and restoration projects across its historical and underwater sites. While the country was in a leading position in the world with 720 archaeological excavations in 2023, these projects are expected to rise further to 750 in 2024, declared the “Golden Age of Turkish Archaeology”, and reach 800 by 2026. These extensive diggings constantly reveal exciting discoveries across the whole country.