Aksaray province and its surroundings in Neolithic and Chalcolithic Ages

Mankind, which existed approximately 2.5 million years ago, has a long history of life in the historical process. Over this long period of time, man has evolved biologically and culturally. There are periods when the human being, who is a variable being, produces new solutions in the face of problems and enters into new searches. Such changes create a new order by completely changing in elements such as architecture, social relations, technology, food production, behavior, thought, belief, ideology and power that make up the culture in the periods. In this context, the Neolithic Age, following the Epi-Paleolithic Period, is a period of cultural changes. There is a transition from a nomadic and hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a sedentary lifestyle in which animals are domesticated and plants are cultivated. The Chalcolithic Age, also called the Copper-Stone Age, following the Neolithic Age, exhibits an advanced model of the Neolithic Age. In this period, advanced structures, pottery wheel and use of mines take place in people's lives. Therefore, it is seen that cultural changes and developments took place in these two periods. Aksaray province, which is located within the administrative borders of the Central Anatolia Region today, has been preferred as a living space by many different civilizations since the early stages of the historical process, due to its central and geopolitical location and providing a suitable natural environment for life. The findings obtained as a result of archaeological studies that started in the 1960s and continued until today are an indication that Aksaray hosted various civilizations in different periods. Therefore, the geography mentioned is one of the regions where the remains of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Ages, which are the subject of the thesis, can be best observed. Thus, in this thesis, it is aimed to investigate what factors were effective in the changes and developments in the lives of prehistoric people in the process that started with the transition to settled life in Aksaray and until the end of the Chalcolithic Age, and to compile all the features of two different periods, which are the continuation of each other, in a single study. As a result of the literature review carried out to find answers to the problems arising within the scope of the thesis, the settlements where the excavations were made were determined and selected as a model for understanding the Neolithic and Chalcolithic ages in Aksaray and explained in all details. In this way, the daily lives of the people of two different periods living in the geography, which has an important place in almost every stage of human history, were understood and the developments experienced were clearly conveyed.