RADIOCARBON DATING EVIDENCE AND CULTURAL SEQUENCING IN CHRONOLOGY OF NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT AT BILECIK-BAHÇELIEVLER FROM NORTHWEST ANATOLIA

Abstract

In this article, the chronological development of the settlement at Bilecik-Bahçelievler is defined by evaluating the radiocarbon dates; and the place of material culture found in the settlement is discussed within the chronology. Radiocarbon measurements should be used in statistical methods to obtain a more consistent and usable graphic chronologically for settlement. The most widely used calibration method is Bayesian statistics, which uses the information from the 14C analysis results graph curve. This article provides an overview of the culture in addition to the statistical components used in the chronological analysis. Calibrated ageing data used in both the creation of C-14 graphs and the bayesian model were performed by TÜBİTAK Members using the latest version of OxCal software and some classifications were made. Bahçelievler settlement, inhabited between approximately 7100 BC and 6000 BC, can be claimed to be a settlement where the earliest results of the Neolithic Period in Western Anatolia have been obtained. In addition, the archaeological and chronological findings offer a solution to the historical problem of where the first pottery in Northwest Anatolia was made, as well as provide information about the beginning and development of Fikirtepe Culture, which is the dominant cultural period of the area in question. Twenty C14 dating data were published for the first time in this study. In addition, Bayesian statistical modelling was also carried out using the AMS dating of the three layers from the Bahçelievler. According to AMS dating and pottery data, the Bahçelievler settlement is the earliest site in Northwest Anatolia and also it was inhabited for about a thousand years. In this context, the Bahçelievler settlement provides significant contributions to the chronology of the Northwest Anatolian Neolithic Period. All the dating results presented in this study are essential evaluations and interpretations of the change in the cultural stages of the settlement and the Northwest Anatolian Neolithic process.