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The Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age (EBA) 1 are dynamic prehistoric eras, encapsulating crucial political, social and economic developments in western Anatolia and the adjacent regions. Although recent fieldwork and synthesis on this transition in western Turkey provide a general framework for this important transitional period, we still lack a holistic understanding of settlement types, subsistence patterns and socio-economic interaction zones. Discovery of the coastal site of Kababurun during surveys on the Karaburun Peninsula enhances understanding of the Late Chalcolithic–EBA 1 transition by providing data on settlement characteristics, material technologies and subsistence strategies. Kababurun is currently the only absolutely dated prehistoric site in the Karaburun Peninsula, offering a reliable chronological basis for comparisons in the region and beyond. In this article, we first introduce and then contextualise the Kababurun data within the eastern Aegean and western Anatolian research problems, then discuss how that data might contribute to a more refined understanding of Late Chalcolithic to EBA 1 communities. In particular, we argue that the site of Kababurun represents a form of community that is vitally important but poorly understood for this period: a small-scale rural settlement, connected to local networks but without a specialised function.

Most societies view infants and partially children, up to a certain age, as not fully human beings and/or persons. This paper takes a longue durée perspective to examine built spaces shared by the living and dead infants during the four millennia (seventh to third millennium BC) in Anatolia. Evidence of infant burials within and around houses in several prehistoric periods and sites is analysed through a child-centred approach to mortuary remains, which does not equate adults with subadults or fully human with not fully human beings. This allows us to gain new perspectives of how age, age groups and infancy or childhood were perceived in prehistory. By perceiving houses as social spaces where ritual and non-ritual mimesis is embodied in shared practices and beliefs, where the material and social collide, rather than simply as signifiers of social units, we are better able to grasp subadult identities and decipher the personhood of infants and children through mortuary practices. Through our Anatolian case study, we provide socio-anthropological explanations for keeping the ‘ghost children’, buried close to houses, due to delayed personhood. We argue for constructing culture-specific models of infancy based on the archaeological evidence in Anatolia and beyond.

The interdisciplinary project “Between Land and Sea” combines geological, geomorphological and paleo-environmental approaches to identify archaeological remains of the Chekka region (Lebanon). In order to record the topography of this area, the first ever scientific airborne LiDAR data acquisition in Lebanon was conducted in autumn 2018. This work describes not only the acquisition and processing of the LiDAR data, but also the attempt to derive possible archaeological sites from the generated elevation model based on methods for spatial analysis. Using an “inverted mound” (iMound) algorithm, areas of possible settlement structures could be identified, which were classified regarding their probability of a possible ancient site using a deductive predictive model. A preliminary validation of some of the detected favoured areas using high-resolution aerial images has shown that the methods applied can provide hints to previously undiscovered sites. It was possible to identify probable ancient wall remains at several detected locations. In addition, least-cost path analyses were performed to reconstruct possible trade and transport routes from the Lebanon Mountains to the Mediterranean coast. The combination of the results of the iMound detection and classification as well as the calculated path system could point to the strategic location of the modern village of Kfar Hazir as a kind of traffic junction. Moreover, reconstructed main transport routes provide indications of heavily frequented roads and may form the basis for further investigations. To validate the results, upcoming field surveys will be realized on site.

In 2016 the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA) and the Department for History and Archaeology at the American University of Beirut (AUB) launched a new archaeological project in the Chekka region in Lebanon. The Chekka region borders the shore of the Mediterranean and is situated between Batroun in the south and Tripoli in the north. At the northern end of the modern town of Chekka directly at the seashore one finds the remains of Tell Mirhan on the premises of a modern cement factory (Fig. 1). This tell and its hinterland have never been the subject of a thorough and systematic archaeological investigation. A survey conducted at Tell Mirhan in 2016 and an excavation in 2018 revealed an early Iron Age occupation (1200– 700BC) superimposing a massive rampart fortification of the Middle Bronze Age. Egyptian pottery from the Middle and New Kingdom as well as imports from Cyprus and Greece testify to the importance of this site as a harbour town during these periods. In order to investigate the site’s relation with its hinterland, a survey of the region from the coast into the foothills of Mount Lebanon was launched. To cope with a rather difficult terrain and intensive modern construction activities and changes of the ancient landscape, we conducted a LiDAR scan of the survey area in November of 2018.

Domestication of horses fundamentally transformed long-range mobility and warfare. However, modern domesticated breeds do not descend from the earliest domestic horse lineage associated with archaeological evidence of bridling, milking and corralling at Botai, Central Asia around 3500 bc3. Other longstanding candidate regions for horse domestication, such as Iberia and Anatolia, have also recently been challenged. Thus, the genetic, geographic and temporal origins of modern domestic horses have remained unknown. Here we pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Furthermore, we map the population changes accompanying domestication from 273 ancient horse genomes. This reveals that modern domestic horses ultimately replaced almost all other local populations as they expanded rapidly across Eurasia from about 2000 bc, synchronously with equestrian material culture, including Sintashta spoke-wheeled chariots. We find that equestrianism involved strong selection for critical locomotor and behavioural adaptations at the GSDMC and ZFPM1 genes. Our results reject the commonly held association between horseback riding and the massive expansion of Yamnaya steppe pastoralists into Europe around 3000 bc driving the spread of Indo-European languages. This contrasts with the scenario in Asia where Indo-Iranian languages, chariots and horses spread together, following the early second millennium bc Sintashta culture., The work by G. Boeskorov is done on state assignment of DPMGI SB RAS. This project was supported by the University Paul Sabatier IDEX Chaire d’Excellence (OURASI); Villum Funden miGENEPI research programme; the CNRS ‘Programme de Recherche Conjoint’ (PRC); the CNRS International Research Project (IRP AMADEUS); the France Génomique Appel à Grand Projet (ANR-10-INBS-09-08, BUCEPHALE project); IB10131 and IB18060, both funded by Junta de Extremadura (Spain) and European Regional Development Fund; Czech Academy of Sciences (RVO:67985912); the Zoological Institute ZIN RAS (АААА-А19-119032590102-7); and King Saud University Researchers Supporting Project (NSRSP–2020/2). The research was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (19-59-15001 and 20-04-00213), the Russian Science Foundation (16-18-10265, 20-78-10151, and 21-18-00457), the Government of the Russian Federation (FENU-2020-0021), the Estonian Research Council (PRG29), the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (PRG1209), the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (Project NF 104792), the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Momentum Mobility Research Project of the Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities); and the Polish National Science Centre (2013/11/B/HS3/03822). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie (grant agreement 797449). This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreements 681605, 716732 and 834616).

[EN] This article sets a framework for computer-based visualisations of cultural heritage sites. The project focuses on a workflow for a visualisation illustrated on a specific solution for the site of Çukuriçi Höyük, a tell settlement in Turkey. With the virtual presentation, an interdisciplinary research group tries to offer complex scientific results to the general public as well as to experts. The team utilised data acquisition and communication techniques, interpretative approaches, and dissemination methods. The three-dimensional (3D) outcome is based on a large amount of scientific data, usually available only via analogue or digital publications for a specialised audience. The work focused on constructed and personal authenticity to reach the viewer’s feelings. As an interpretative narrative, the daily lives of the inhabitants were selected. A communication plan was constructed, and a video animation with narration and a musical background was selected as the most appropriate communication tool. The movie was divided into four chapters (Introduction, Neolithic Period, Chalcolithic Period and Early Bronze Age Period). A separate webpage was designed to provide additional information when the video is viewed online. The webpage was divided into tabs that describe each chapter and three additional topics (Visualisation Process, Further Reading, and Credits). The video was shared in different settings, e.g. at public talks and on social media. The process resulted in a complex workflow that consists of several stages: data acquisition, first interpretation, 3D model creation, communication plan, second interpretation, 3D model adjustment, and dissemination output. Each stage of the workflow serves as an example to show the types of nodes these parts can include. The result is a flexible framework with predefined process stages, which can be re-used for similar projects., [ES] Este artículo define un marco de trabajo de visualizaciones por ordenador de sitios patrimoniales. El proyecto se centra en un flujo de trabajo ilustrado por una solución específica de visualización del sitio de Çukuriçi Höyük, un asentamiento sobre un montículo en Turquía. Con la presentación virtual, un grupo de investigación interdisciplinar intenta ofrecer resultados científicos complejos al público en general, así como a los expertos. El equipo utilizó captura de datos y técnicas de comunicación, así como enfoques interpretativos y métodos de difusión. El resultado tridimensional (3D) está basado en una gran cantidad de datos científicos, normalmente disponibles sólo a través de publicaciones analógicas o digitales orientadas a una audiencia especializada. El trabajo se centró en la construcción y la autenticidad personal para alcanzar al espectador a nivel emocional. Como narrativa interpretativa, se seleccionaró la vida diaria de los habitantes. Se construyó un plan de comunicación y se eligió una animación de vídeo con narración y musica de fondo como la herramienta de comunicación más apropiada. La película se dividió en cuatro capítulos (Introducción, Período Neolítico, Período Calcolítico y Período de la Edad de Bronce Temprano). Se diseñó una página web separada para proporcionar información adicional cuando el video se muestra en línea. La página web se dividió en pestañas que describen cada capítulo y tres temas adicionales (Proceso de visualización, Lectura adicional y Créditos). El vídeo se compartió en diferentes entornos, tales como charlas públicas y en redes sociales. El proceso produjo un complejo flujo de trabajo que consta de varias etapas: captura de datos, primera interpretación, creación del modelo 3D, plan de comunicación, segunda interpretación, ajuste del modelo 3D y difusión. Cada etapa del flujo de trabajo sirve de ejemplo para mostrar los tipos de nodos que estas partes pueden incluir. El resultado es un marco de trabajo flexible con etapas de proceso predefinidas, que pueden reutilizarse en proyectos similares.

The focus of this paper are the stone tools of Cukurici Hoyuk, a prehistoric site situated at the central Aegean coast of Anatolia. The settlement was inhabited from the Neolithic, through the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age 1 periods, a period lasting from the early 7th to the early 3rd millennium BCE. A long-term interdisciplinary study of the excavated lithics with different scientific methods on various stone materials (thin section analysis, pXRF, NAA, LA-ICP-MS) offer new primary data about the procurement strategies of prehistoric societies from a diachronic perspective. The results will be presented for the first time with an overview of all source materials and their distinct use through time. The lithic assemblages from Cukurici Hoyuk consist of a considerable variety of small finds, grinding stones and chipped stone tools. The high variability of raw materials within the different categories of tools is remarkable. In addition to stone tools manufactured from sources in the immediate vicinity of the settlement (i.e., mica-schist, limestone, marble, amphibolite, serpentinite), others are of rock types such as chert, which indicate an origin within the broader region. Moreover, volcanic rocks, notably the exceptionally high amount of Melian obsidian found at Cukurici Hoyuk, attest to the supra-regional procurement of distinct rock types. Small stone axes made of jadeite presumably from the Greek island of Syros, also indicate these far-reaching procurement strategies. The systematic and diachronic analyses of the stone tools found at Cukurici Hoyuk has demonstrated that as early as the Neolithic period extensive efforts were made to supply the settlement with carefully selected raw materials or finished goods procured from distinct rock sources. Erratum:• This article was submitted and initially published with only the following authors listed: Christoph Schwall, Michael Brandl, Tatjana M. Gluhak, Bogdana Milic, Lisa Betina, Lasse Sorensen, Danilo Wolf, and Barbara Horejs. After publication of the article, the authors observed that they had forgotten to include Maria M. Martinez as an author and requested that she be added to the list of authors. The current version of the article includes Maria M. Martinez. She should be considered an author also for earlier versions of the article that might be in circulation.

This paper presents results of the first investigation and the absolute dating of stratigraphic sequences of a prehistoric settlement site in the Bakircay valley, Western Turkey. The geomorphological and stratigraphical investigations focus on the settlement at the Yeni Yeldegirmentepe, a small volcanic hill within the Bakircay flood plain. So far, this unexcavated site has been relatively dated to the Late Chalcolithic (end of the fourth millennium BCE) and the Early Bronze Age 1 (first centuries of the third millennium BCE) period based on comparisons of surface finds with those from other excavated sites along the Aegean coast of Western Anatolia. Two drilling cores were analysed for their sedimentological and archaeological features, and a chronological model based on AMS radiocarbon dating was developed. Our results show that the settlement was constructed within a dynamic fluvial environment and was occasionally flooded. Its N-S extent was at least 40 m and the thickness of the archaeological layers is up to 2.8 m. The chronological model confirms a first occupation phase or phase of human presence at Yeni Yeldegirmentepe dating to the end of the fourth millennium BCE. The main settlement phase dates to approximately the 27th to 24th centuries BCE and is therefore some hundred years younger than previously expected. This new information on the age of the site generates new stimuli for the discussion of the position of the Bakircay valley within the cultural and economic networks of the Early Bronze Age period in the Aegean region.

The upper Tigris river valley is located in southeastern Anatolia. Due to the planned construction of the Ilısu Dam, the region has been investigated since the late 1980’s by numerous Turkish and foreign archaeologists, detecting more than six hundred sites dated from Palaeolithic to Medieval periods. Since 2008, 30 rescue excavations have been carried out within the region. On the basis of the excavation data now available, it is possible to attempt a comparison with the initial survey data, focusing on the evolution of settlement patterns throughout the millennia.