Onur Ozbek
PhD MOM Lyon II France, Professor in Prehistory (Professeurs des universités) ( titulaire de l'habilitation à diriger des recherches (H.D.R.)- Archaeology Dept. Çanakkale 18 M. University (COMU), Turkey.
Chercheur-Associé” in the “Institut Français d’Etudes Anatoliennes” in Istanbul since 1997.
Specialist in ground stone and lithic analysis. Studies settlement patterns in the North-eastern Aegean coasts of Turkey. Directed and directs field surveys on raw material procurement of pre Neolithic and Neolithic societies in the North-eastern Aegean islands and Southern Thrace of Turkey. Besides the field surveys in the Gelibolu Peninsula (Gallipoli-Dardanelles) and Gökçeada (Imbros) island, he works or worked as a scientific member in Aşağıpınar, Çatal Höyük, Ulucak Höyük, Uğurlu Höyük and Aktopraklık Höyük
Chercheur-Associé” in the “Institut Français d’Etudes Anatoliennes” in Istanbul since 1997.
Specialist in ground stone and lithic analysis. Studies settlement patterns in the North-eastern Aegean coasts of Turkey. Directed and directs field surveys on raw material procurement of pre Neolithic and Neolithic societies in the North-eastern Aegean islands and Southern Thrace of Turkey. Besides the field surveys in the Gelibolu Peninsula (Gallipoli-Dardanelles) and Gökçeada (Imbros) island, he works or worked as a scientific member in Aşağıpınar, Çatal Höyük, Ulucak Höyük, Uğurlu Höyük and Aktopraklık Höyük
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Papers by Onur Ozbek
Recent archaeological work at the Neolithic site of Hacı Hüseyin (also Hüsrev), located in the southern part of the Gelibolu (Gallipoli) peninsula, reveals clear evidence of the presence of a Neolithic settlement that played an important role on the Neolithization of the Thrace region. Discovered during a systematic field survey in the autumn of 2007, Hacı Hüseyin höyük is one of four important Neolithic sites on the Gelibolu Peninsula. Owing to earlier destruction by modern buildings and highway construction along the coast there may originally have been more than these four Neolithic sites in the region. Today the Neolithic settlement of Hacı Hüseyin has the form of a nearly flat settlement divided into two by the road to the village of Bigalı. The intensive fieldwork projects on the peninsula were focused mainly on pre-Neolithic and Neolithic settlements and were undertaken by an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists and geologists. A large number of lithics were collected during 2007–2011 field surveys. This paper presents the preliminary results of a techno-typological analysis of the lithic assemblages from the site.
is still at the first level of approximation. The excavations in progress at the site of Uğurlu on Gökçeada show that an early
farming community had reached the island by around 6,500 cal BC. This settlement now plays a leading role in the study of the
Neolithic transition in this part of the Mediterranean Sea as well as the circulation and exchange of material culture on the basis of voyaging in the Early Neolithic period.
its similar form to an island and its strategic position, right between two seas the Aegean and the Marmara, the Gelibolu peninsula has been a point of attraction for the prehistoric societies since Paleolithic times. Many scholars studying on the prehistory of islands have questioned the subsistence strategies of the prehistoric societies and tried to compare them with those of inland societies . This study is an essay, which refers to the prehistorical relation between the people and the environment living in similar geographical settings.
1Trakya University, Department of Archaeology, EDIRNE, TURKEY
2 The Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence,
The University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA
3 Çanakkale (18th March) University, Department of Archaeology, TURKEY
4 Hacettepe University, Department of Physics Engineering, ANKARA, TURKEY
ABSTRACT
Speleothem samples such as flowstone, stalagmite and stalactites are one of the important finds at Çatalhöyük, which they have been carried hundreds of kilometers from its source. The “Çatalhöyük Speleothem Project” have been initiated with the aim of investigating Çatalhöyük’s speleothems and identifying their provenance. In order to achieve this, speleothem samples at Çatalhöyük have been recognized and documented, and caves around Çatalhöyük have been investigated. Later, both selected Çatalhöyük speleothem and cave samples of flowstone, stalagmite and stalactites have been analysed by ICP-MS to recognize similar trace elements. In addition, the ages of samples have been obtained by U-Th method to find similarities between the Çatalhöyük samples and speleothem deposits from surrounding caves. The comparative results have been used to identify the sources of Çatalhöyük’s speleothems.""
In the last century, many studies were held regarding the morphological characters of polished stone implements which were generally called as celts. Sourcing studies of these implements also started quite early during the second half of the 19th century (Damour 1865, 1881). The main question regarding these implements was to learn if there was any change in morphological or technological characters compared to spatiotemporal setting of the prehistoric settlements. The second widely asked question was about the production potential of the settlements. If they were not produced on site, how could we comprehend if the prehistoric people obtained these implements by trade or exchange? The study of Hocaçeşme polished stone industry does not respond to all these questions but try to obtain supplementary information on the details of the daily prehistoric life neolithic settlements . To answer these important questions which may help us to understand the social dynamics of the prehistoric societies, we need more excavations and more analyses regarding lithic material.
Abstract
New excavations and field surveys as well as specific studies on stone tools broaden our knowledge in the last decade on the technology of the Neolithic populations in North-western Turkey where we had no information previously. Thanks to the excavations at the Neolithic sites like Hoca Çeşme, Aşağı Pınar, Ilıpınar, Aktopraklık, Kaynarca, and Hamaylıtarla we have now an important number of materials on polished stone tools. An investigation of the choice for the primary and secondary deposits in the production of these tools provide us hints to understand the reasons of long distance acquisition as well as why only some type of tools were preferred to be manufactured from nearby secondary sources. As metamorphic rocks in particular, is the most commonly preferred raw material in the polished lithic assemblage of Neolithic sites in this region, we consider that the subsistence and economy may heavily depend on these type of material especially when these type of tools are needed. The detailed examination of the physical features of these finished or unfinished (blank) tools reflect the information on their procurement strategies. Especially our analysis on Hoca Çeşme, Aşağı Pınar, Aktopraklık, Hamaylıtarla and Kaynarca Neolithic sites with the help of some basic statistical presentations put forward substantial information on the daily life of the Neolithic societies."
Our first discovery belonging to Neolithic period of the region was named as Hacı Hüsrev Mound (Hoyuk) due to the locality with the same name. This mound is situated in the eastern coast of the peninsula at the Marmara Sea coast only 1370 m away from the present shoreline. Only two km southeast of the modern village of Bigalı and 22 m above sea level, the mound extends about a hectare on a low terrace below a gently rising pine forest.
ÖZBEK, O. The prehistoric ground stone implements from Yartarla: the preliminary results of a geoarcaheological study in Tekirdag region Thrace, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellenique. Suppl 51, 695-705. (2009) AHCI (Arts and Humanities Citation Index)"
Les résultats que nous présenterons dans cet article portent sur quinze ébauches de haches. Les ramassages ont été effectués sur deux sites importants au sud de la Thrace turque. La Thrace qui constitue une partie de la Turquie en Europe, s’étend entre la mer Noire au nord, la mer Marmara et la côte égéenne au sud. La première prospection réalisée durant la mission 1999 nous a permis d’appréhender l’étendue des deux sites Hamayl›tarla (Buruneren) et Fener-karadutlar. Ces deux gisements préhistoriques ont été découverts durant la mission de 1997 lors des prospections archéologiques faite par Onur Ozbek.
Ce sont des höyüks très plats. Les coordonnées de Hamaylıtarla et Fener-karadutlar sont N 40°34'29,9" E 026°56'05.2" et N 40˚33’21,6” E 26˚59’34.0”.
A Prehistoric Stone Axe Production Site in Turkish Thrace: Hamaylıtarla
Hamaylitarla is a prehistoric, polished stone axe production site, situated on a low hill dominating the Aegean Sea and the straits of the Dardanelles. This site is also a settlement yielding early Neolithic ceramics. The researcher gives brief information on his preliminary observations on the mound and its situation according to the rock outcrops in the region. In this paper, the first results of the petrologic analysis of the metamorphic rocks are also presented.
Marmara Bölgesindeki Neolitik ve Kalkolitik döneme ait yaşam izlerini bize aktarabilecek az sayıdaki prehistorik kazıdan biri olan Aktopraklık Höyük’teki sürtme taş endüstrisi üzerine tipolojik, teknojik ve ham madde üzerine arkeometrik çalışmalara, Sayın Doç. Dr. Necmi Karul’un daveti, izni ve desteği ile başlanmıştır .
SUMMARY
Aktopraklık Höyük is situated 2 kilometres southeast of Apolyont Lake near Bursa province in Northwest Anatolia. The cultural sequence of the prehistoric settlement can be correlated to Late Neolithic-Early Chalcolithic levels of Ilıpınar (Around 6000 B.C.). Cutting edge ground stone tools of Aktopraklık was subject to typological and technological analysis in 2006 and 2007 study seasons. These polished tools, when compared to European Neolithic to Bronze Age sites, are not so numerous at the north-western part of Anatolia and despite their scarcity, they are generally noted as axes according to their supposed functional aspects. Since 2006, Aktopraklık ground stone tools are studied due to their functional, typological and technological aspects. One
of the results of the study confirmed that a considerable amount (30%) of support for the production of the polished cutting edge tools in Aktopraklık were supplied from the river beds (secondary raw material sources). The excavations at Aktopraklık Höyük allow us to get hint of the daily activities of
the Neolithic people as well as their struggle with their natural environment.According to our preliminary observations, the fact that important portion of the ground stone tools are produced as axes (62% of the 42 artefacts that could be examined) imply an effort to clean or to deal with a dense forest cover around the settlement. After the axes which comprise the first group of artefacts, the second group is chisels (24%) and the third is adzes (9%). Although we could not carry out a micro-wear analysis for the Aktopraklık ground stone tools at present, we propose that two of the examined artefacts were used in an activity with soil. The macro-wear traces of these tools may place them in our fourth group as “hoes”. Our future studies on the ground stone material will focus on to obtain further detail on the technology and raw
material procurement of Aktopraklık Neolithic people.
Recent archaeological work at the Neolithic site of Hacı Hüseyin (also Hüsrev), located in the southern part of the Gelibolu (Gallipoli) peninsula, reveals clear evidence of the presence of a Neolithic settlement that played an important role on the Neolithization of the Thrace region. Discovered during a systematic field survey in the autumn of 2007, Hacı Hüseyin höyük is one of four important Neolithic sites on the Gelibolu Peninsula. Owing to earlier destruction by modern buildings and highway construction along the coast there may originally have been more than these four Neolithic sites in the region. Today the Neolithic settlement of Hacı Hüseyin has the form of a nearly flat settlement divided into two by the road to the village of Bigalı. The intensive fieldwork projects on the peninsula were focused mainly on pre-Neolithic and Neolithic settlements and were undertaken by an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists and geologists. A large number of lithics were collected during 2007–2011 field surveys. This paper presents the preliminary results of a techno-typological analysis of the lithic assemblages from the site.
is still at the first level of approximation. The excavations in progress at the site of Uğurlu on Gökçeada show that an early
farming community had reached the island by around 6,500 cal BC. This settlement now plays a leading role in the study of the
Neolithic transition in this part of the Mediterranean Sea as well as the circulation and exchange of material culture on the basis of voyaging in the Early Neolithic period.
its similar form to an island and its strategic position, right between two seas the Aegean and the Marmara, the Gelibolu peninsula has been a point of attraction for the prehistoric societies since Paleolithic times. Many scholars studying on the prehistory of islands have questioned the subsistence strategies of the prehistoric societies and tried to compare them with those of inland societies . This study is an essay, which refers to the prehistorical relation between the people and the environment living in similar geographical settings.
1Trakya University, Department of Archaeology, EDIRNE, TURKEY
2 The Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence,
The University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA
3 Çanakkale (18th March) University, Department of Archaeology, TURKEY
4 Hacettepe University, Department of Physics Engineering, ANKARA, TURKEY
ABSTRACT
Speleothem samples such as flowstone, stalagmite and stalactites are one of the important finds at Çatalhöyük, which they have been carried hundreds of kilometers from its source. The “Çatalhöyük Speleothem Project” have been initiated with the aim of investigating Çatalhöyük’s speleothems and identifying their provenance. In order to achieve this, speleothem samples at Çatalhöyük have been recognized and documented, and caves around Çatalhöyük have been investigated. Later, both selected Çatalhöyük speleothem and cave samples of flowstone, stalagmite and stalactites have been analysed by ICP-MS to recognize similar trace elements. In addition, the ages of samples have been obtained by U-Th method to find similarities between the Çatalhöyük samples and speleothem deposits from surrounding caves. The comparative results have been used to identify the sources of Çatalhöyük’s speleothems.""
In the last century, many studies were held regarding the morphological characters of polished stone implements which were generally called as celts. Sourcing studies of these implements also started quite early during the second half of the 19th century (Damour 1865, 1881). The main question regarding these implements was to learn if there was any change in morphological or technological characters compared to spatiotemporal setting of the prehistoric settlements. The second widely asked question was about the production potential of the settlements. If they were not produced on site, how could we comprehend if the prehistoric people obtained these implements by trade or exchange? The study of Hocaçeşme polished stone industry does not respond to all these questions but try to obtain supplementary information on the details of the daily prehistoric life neolithic settlements . To answer these important questions which may help us to understand the social dynamics of the prehistoric societies, we need more excavations and more analyses regarding lithic material.
Abstract
New excavations and field surveys as well as specific studies on stone tools broaden our knowledge in the last decade on the technology of the Neolithic populations in North-western Turkey where we had no information previously. Thanks to the excavations at the Neolithic sites like Hoca Çeşme, Aşağı Pınar, Ilıpınar, Aktopraklık, Kaynarca, and Hamaylıtarla we have now an important number of materials on polished stone tools. An investigation of the choice for the primary and secondary deposits in the production of these tools provide us hints to understand the reasons of long distance acquisition as well as why only some type of tools were preferred to be manufactured from nearby secondary sources. As metamorphic rocks in particular, is the most commonly preferred raw material in the polished lithic assemblage of Neolithic sites in this region, we consider that the subsistence and economy may heavily depend on these type of material especially when these type of tools are needed. The detailed examination of the physical features of these finished or unfinished (blank) tools reflect the information on their procurement strategies. Especially our analysis on Hoca Çeşme, Aşağı Pınar, Aktopraklık, Hamaylıtarla and Kaynarca Neolithic sites with the help of some basic statistical presentations put forward substantial information on the daily life of the Neolithic societies."
Our first discovery belonging to Neolithic period of the region was named as Hacı Hüsrev Mound (Hoyuk) due to the locality with the same name. This mound is situated in the eastern coast of the peninsula at the Marmara Sea coast only 1370 m away from the present shoreline. Only two km southeast of the modern village of Bigalı and 22 m above sea level, the mound extends about a hectare on a low terrace below a gently rising pine forest.
ÖZBEK, O. The prehistoric ground stone implements from Yartarla: the preliminary results of a geoarcaheological study in Tekirdag region Thrace, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellenique. Suppl 51, 695-705. (2009) AHCI (Arts and Humanities Citation Index)"
Les résultats que nous présenterons dans cet article portent sur quinze ébauches de haches. Les ramassages ont été effectués sur deux sites importants au sud de la Thrace turque. La Thrace qui constitue une partie de la Turquie en Europe, s’étend entre la mer Noire au nord, la mer Marmara et la côte égéenne au sud. La première prospection réalisée durant la mission 1999 nous a permis d’appréhender l’étendue des deux sites Hamayl›tarla (Buruneren) et Fener-karadutlar. Ces deux gisements préhistoriques ont été découverts durant la mission de 1997 lors des prospections archéologiques faite par Onur Ozbek.
Ce sont des höyüks très plats. Les coordonnées de Hamaylıtarla et Fener-karadutlar sont N 40°34'29,9" E 026°56'05.2" et N 40˚33’21,6” E 26˚59’34.0”.
A Prehistoric Stone Axe Production Site in Turkish Thrace: Hamaylıtarla
Hamaylitarla is a prehistoric, polished stone axe production site, situated on a low hill dominating the Aegean Sea and the straits of the Dardanelles. This site is also a settlement yielding early Neolithic ceramics. The researcher gives brief information on his preliminary observations on the mound and its situation according to the rock outcrops in the region. In this paper, the first results of the petrologic analysis of the metamorphic rocks are also presented.
Marmara Bölgesindeki Neolitik ve Kalkolitik döneme ait yaşam izlerini bize aktarabilecek az sayıdaki prehistorik kazıdan biri olan Aktopraklık Höyük’teki sürtme taş endüstrisi üzerine tipolojik, teknojik ve ham madde üzerine arkeometrik çalışmalara, Sayın Doç. Dr. Necmi Karul’un daveti, izni ve desteği ile başlanmıştır .
SUMMARY
Aktopraklık Höyük is situated 2 kilometres southeast of Apolyont Lake near Bursa province in Northwest Anatolia. The cultural sequence of the prehistoric settlement can be correlated to Late Neolithic-Early Chalcolithic levels of Ilıpınar (Around 6000 B.C.). Cutting edge ground stone tools of Aktopraklık was subject to typological and technological analysis in 2006 and 2007 study seasons. These polished tools, when compared to European Neolithic to Bronze Age sites, are not so numerous at the north-western part of Anatolia and despite their scarcity, they are generally noted as axes according to their supposed functional aspects. Since 2006, Aktopraklık ground stone tools are studied due to their functional, typological and technological aspects. One
of the results of the study confirmed that a considerable amount (30%) of support for the production of the polished cutting edge tools in Aktopraklık were supplied from the river beds (secondary raw material sources). The excavations at Aktopraklık Höyük allow us to get hint of the daily activities of
the Neolithic people as well as their struggle with their natural environment.According to our preliminary observations, the fact that important portion of the ground stone tools are produced as axes (62% of the 42 artefacts that could be examined) imply an effort to clean or to deal with a dense forest cover around the settlement. After the axes which comprise the first group of artefacts, the second group is chisels (24%) and the third is adzes (9%). Although we could not carry out a micro-wear analysis for the Aktopraklık ground stone tools at present, we propose that two of the examined artefacts were used in an activity with soil. The macro-wear traces of these tools may place them in our fourth group as “hoes”. Our future studies on the ground stone material will focus on to obtain further detail on the technology and raw
material procurement of Aktopraklık Neolithic people.
Prehistoric Technology (1st Semestre)
Paleolithic Period I (5th Semestre)
Prehistory of Southeast Europe I (5th Semestre)
Paleolithic Period II (6th Semestre)
Southeast Europe Prehistoric Periods II (6th Semestre)
Prehistory of Europe I (7th Semestre)
Early Villages in the Near East (7th Semestre)
Prehistory of Europe II (8th Semestre)
Prehistoric architecture and settlements (8th Semestre)"
Palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions from two Holocene stalagmites (HY-8 and HY-9) from Sirtlanini Cave, southwest Turkey have been created using petrographic, stable isotope and trace element analyses where the stratigraphy of the stalagmites overlaps from ~6 ka. The cave elevation is 830 metres a.s.l., located 100 km northwest of Lake Golhisar, which has yielded a low resolution Holocene isotopic record (Eastwood et al. 2007), and 120 km northwest of Caltilar Höyük, the site of one of the earliest urban settlements in the region (Momigliano et al., 2011). Both stalagmites contain prominent dark grey-blue layers up to a few mm thick. Trace element analysis reveals that these layers contain elevated Fe, Mn and Zn concentrations suggesting enhanced mobilization of these elements, possibly adsorbed to organic matter on 100 nm to 1 mum soil particles (Hartland et al. 2012). Raman spectroscopy identifies the presence of soot within the layers and evidence for plant material has been identified by SEM along with detritus (clay, quartz). This suggests increased infiltration though the karst, probably due to decreased vegetation cover, a conclusion supported by positive delta13C excursions associated with some grey layers. It is likely that episodes of burning occurred above the cave either due to natural wild fires or anthropogenic activity. The delta18O record of HY-8 shows no long term trend but fluctuates about a mean of -6.3 oḢowever it is punctuated by several shorted lived excursions of 1 o - 2.5 o amplitude. delta13C decreases steadily (-6o to -10 ) through the Mid/Late Holocene with numerous short lived excursions, many >2o and some (not exclusively) associated with grey layers . Carbon and oxygen are poorly correlated, although sympathetic trends are seen during some excursions. delta18O values have probably responded to changes in winter rainfall amounts with delta13C likely reflecting fluctuating vegetation density above the cave, particularly when delta18O corresponds. Petrographic examination of HY-8 reveals a complex fabric. The majority of the stalagmite shows an open fabric of dendritic calcite. Calcite is believed to be primary based on continuous presence of spikey inclusions though dendritic fabric may indicate isotopic disequilibrium. Laminations are defined by compact dendrites but grey layers are defined and bound by dissolution layers. The fabric of the grey layers is mostly microcrystalline believed to be caused by the presence of organic material (Frisia and Borsato 2010). However one prominent layer is defined by equant calcite, implying a thicker film of water. Analysis of the transition between grey layer microcrystalline and dendritic calcite will further resolve the effects on calcite precipitation caused by the inclusion of organics and detritus. Generally petrography will allow investigation into the effects of using fabrics which may potentially alter the environmental signal for stable isotopic interpretation. Further study seeks to establish age models, examine petrography in more detail and to compare stable isotopic records from both stalagmites. We aim to clarify the links between climatic and environmental changes in the region and the temporal isotopic, trace element and petrographic changes observed in the speleothems. References Eastwood, W.J., et al. (2007) J. Quat. Sci., 22, 327-341. Hartland, A., et al. (2012) Chem. Geol. 304-305, 68-82. Momigliano, N., et al. (2011) Anatolian Studies, 6, 61-121. Frisia, S., & Borsato, A. (2010) Developments in Sedimentology, 61, 269-318.