Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic Period pottery of Gedikkaya Cave in

Inhisar, Bilecik This study analyses the pottery recovered from Late Neolithic Level 2A (6250-55830 BC) and Early Chalcolithic Level IB (5316-5212 BC) during the rescue excavations carried out between 2019-2023 at Gedikkaya Cave in Inhisar District of Bilecik. In Western Anatolian archaeology, the early 6th millennium BC (6000-5800 BC), i.e. the end of the Late Neolithic period and the beginning of the Early Chalcolithic period, is a period with different dynamics and still uncertainties for the south and north of Anatolia. The next period, the late 6th Millennium BC (5300 BC), is the period when the Early Chalcolithic is ending and the elements of the Middle Chalcolithic are taking shape, and there are no traces of settlement in western Anatolia except in Thrace and Çanakkale. In the light of the radiocarbon dates and pottery finds from Gedikkaya Cave, this study presents new data and evaluations on the temporary occupation of the caves by local or outsider communities and the emergence of new cultural formations during the cultural change processes due to various reasons mentioned above.