Beginnings of Village-Farming Communities in Southeastern Turkey

Since the end of World War II, much evidence has accrued of the primary phase of village-farming community life in Southwestern Asia, which began about 7000 B.C. The remains of (usually) several of the positively domesticated animals (dog, sheep, goat, pig) and plants (wheat, barley, legumes such as peas and lentils) assure us that these settlements were based on effective food production, although collected wild foods also remained a significant portion of the human diet. Evidence of a transitional phase (or phases) that must have immediately preceded the primary phase of effective food production has, however, remained very elusive. Part of a breakthrough appears to have been made in the autumn 1970 field campaign at Cayonu Tepesi in southeastern Turkey, where the expansion and deepening of earlier exposures has yielded evidence that may span a significant portion of the transition.