Life and Death in a Prehistoric Settlement in Northwest Anatolia

This volume is the third in a series of monographs on the archaeological investigations at Ilıpınar in Northwest Anatolia, which were carried out by the Netherlands Institute at Leiden/Istanbul from 1987 to 2002. The excavations of Ilıpınar supplemented with soundings at nearby Menteşe have yielded new insight into the spread of Neolithic farming from the Near East to the European continent, and in particular has thrown light on the position of the eastern Marmara region in terms of intercultural relations. In this book emphasis is laid on the inhabitants of prehistoric Ilıpınar, their survival strategies and mortuary practices. The contents include final reports on the cemeteries dating to the Neolithic-Early Chalcolithic, Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze periods respectively, insofar as possible in both the archaeological and anthropological aspects. Moreover it treats the lowest occupation levels, general building techniques, faunal and floral remains, pottery and flint industries in an attempt to present a comprehensive image of human activity on a mound that intermittently bears vestiges of men over a time period of 7000 years. It concludes with an account on the fauna of basal Menteşe and a full excavation report on the Early Bronze Age hamlet of Hacılartepe.