The pre-pottery neolithic period chronology of boncuklu tarla in the light of archaeological data and carbon analysis

Our knowledge about the transition to settled life and production, which is the basis of today's civilization, is being reconstructed with archaeological research and excavations in recent years. As a result of climatic changes that occurred approximately 14 thousand years ago, the lifestyles of hunter-gatherer nomadic communities began to change. The Neolithic Period, when the transition to settled life in the true sense took place, has a very important place in terms of human history. Within the scope of this thesis, important data about the Neolithic Period are being revealed with systematic excavations that started at the Boncuklu Tarla settlement in the Upper Tigris Basin. Multidisciplinary approaches were taken as the basis during these studies, and in addition to archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data, C-14 analyses and the excavation archive, which constitute the main material of this thesis, were used. With the C-14 dating results obtained, comprehensive conclusions were reached about the chronological and cultural development of the settlement. Based on these results and stratigraphic layers, it was understood that Boncuklu Tarla Settlement was inhabited from the Late Epipaleolithic Period to the Late PPNB Period. The obtained data were compared with other settlements in the Near East, and similar and different features were discussed. In terms of architecture, the structures dated to the Late Epipaleolithic and PPNA Period were constructed with a round plan and fully buried. In the PPNA/PPNB transition phase, a public building with rounded corners (semi-round) and simple shelters were constructed to the west of this public building. In the PPNB phase, it is seen that they were built completely on the surface in rectangular and square shapes. Organic remains obtained from archaeological excavations are measured using special mass spectrometers or liquid scintillation counters. The 14 dating method does not directly provide calendar years. Therefore, calibration curves based on fluctuations in the carbon-14 ratio in the atmosphere are used. The obtained date is then converted to a calendar year. Thanks to these studies, it has been determined when the settlement was inhabited, contributing to the chronology of the Neolithic period