JOINT MODELLING OF RADIOCARBON DATES FROM ULUCAK V (ANATOLIAN LATE NEOLITHIC)

Abstract

The Neolithic site of Ulucak (Central-Western Anatolia) presents one of the best currently available sequences for the beginning of the Neolithic way of life in the region. Ulucak’s crucial phase V features a gradual rise in the variety and importance of pottery and of other clay objects. This phase’s dating has wide implications for cultural relations within Anatolia and the Aegean. I present a joint Bayesian model for Ulucak V, resolving problems of the earlier modeling by adding an old-wood probabilistic correction. The obtained model corrects the previous estimates of 6500–6000 calBCE for Ulucak V to a likely considerably shorter period within 6400/6300–6000/5900 calBCE, and raises the possibility of a hiatus between the aceramic Ulucak VI and the pottery-bearing Ulucak V.