Nevali Cori 11,500 year old site

Nevali Cori is not as well known as it is slightly older celebrity 'brother' Gobelki Tepe but is in the same area and time period



From this map you can see the relationship between Nevali and Gobelki Tepe and other important sites. It is located in the legendary 'fertile crescent'.

The site is now lost it was examined from 1983 to 1991 in the context of rescue excavations during the erection of the Atatürk Dam below Samsat. Together with numerous other archaeological sites in the vicinity, Nevali Cori has since been inundated by the dammed waters of the Euphrates.



The vanished site

The settlement had five architectural levels. The excavated architectural remains were of long rectangular houses containing two to three parallel flights of rooms, interpreted as magazines. These are adjacent to a similarly rectangular ante-structure, subdivided by wall projections, which should be seen as a residential space. This type of house is characterized by thick, multi-layered foundations made of large angular cobbles and boulders, the gaps filled with smaller stones so as to provide a relatively even surface to support the superstructure.

These foundations are interrupted every 1-1.5m by underfloor channels, at right angles to the main axis of the houses, which were covered in stone slabs but open to the sides. They may have served the drainage, aeration or the cooling of the houses. 23 such structures were excavated, they are strikingly similar to structures from the so-called channeled subphase at Çayönü.

In terms of absolute dates, 4 radiocarbon dates have been determined for Nevalı Çori. Three are from Stratum II and date it with some certainty to the second half of the 9th millennium BC, which coincides with early dates from Çayönü and with Mureybet IVA and thus supports the relative chronology above. The fourth dates to the 10th millennium, which, if correct, would indicate the presence of an extremely early phase of PPNB at Nevalı Çori.

PPNB stands for: Pre-Pottery Neolithic B

PPNB


The art of Nevali Cori

Several hundred small clay figurines (about 5 cm high), most of them depicting humans, have been interpreted as votive offerings. They were fired at temperatures between 500-600°C, which suggests the development of ceramic firing technology before the advent of pottery proper

The site itself

The corners of the main 'cult' building are aligned cardinally, leaving the temple facing almost exactly SW. The monoliths inside (originally there were two), were both orientated so as to face out of the building and along the Euphrates river

What they ate

Archaeological data suggest two different areas with independent sheep domestication events in Turkey: the upper Euphrates valley in eastern Turkey, where the most important reference is the Nevali Cori settlement, considered the oldest domestication site in the Near East and Central Anatolia (particularly, the Catal höyük and Asikli höyük sites.

Specialized hunting techniques led to a huge surplus of animal products whose conservation and storage required the construction of specific buildings, the so-called "Kanalhaeuser". Beneath the stone floor, there were channels a metre apart. These ensured ventilation, refrigeration and insulation against humidity. Apart from hunting, grains and legumes were also cultivated. A palaeoanthropological examination of bones from 50 burials in the area of the settlement has substantiated the variety and great quantity of vitamins obtained by the inhabitants of the settlement during the 9th millennium BC.

Early grain use

Summary of Nevali Cori

Neat find ....There is so much ,it seems just below the earth that it must scare some people. I mean the ones that tell us our history one day only to look foolish the next ....This kind of revelation re wrights history every other day it seems ...S&F ...peace

Originally posted by the2ofusr1
Neat find ....There is so much ,it seems just below the earth that it must scare some people. I mean the ones that tell us our history one day only to look foolish the next ....This kind of revelation re wrights history every other day it seems ...S&F ...peace

I must ask who would be scared of what archaeology might find?

This site is actually a rather old one, I put it up as it the nearest in age to the much better known Gobekli Tepe.

So who is 'telling us our history'? If you mean archaeologists I guess they do that in one sense but I believe a quote from Professor Steve Boggs might be germane. (I paraphrase)

'What you might find and publish today will be erased and made irrelevant by a discovery tomorrow'

That's kinda of a standard look at how most archaeologists see our present state of knowledge; it isn't set and it keeps changing, sometimes on a daily basis. Whereas archaeology 101 books were changed about every eight years in the 1980's they now are up dated every 18 months and I suspect that will drop to 12 months with ebooks in the next few years.

Byrd is that the experience with Anthropology texts?

reply to post by Hanslune
I was thinking about Egypt and how they don't seem to be open to discovery ...There seems to be good people trying to do good work ..Its just I get frustrated at part of the craft that makes dating a lot to be desired that is all ...You know like 50,000 years ago and 20 million years ago statements that are more conjecture tan anything else ...Seems they don't want to commit to a ( I don't know ) and instead insert as to what could be fact when they really cant say ....anyhow thanks for the info ..Turkey is in all likelihood where man got out of the ark and went forth to have a go at it again ....peace

reply to post by Hanslune


I just wanted to thank you for the threads you have worked on lately, many places I hadn't heard of before. I might not post in them, but I wanted you to know that I read them.

reply to post by Hanslune


As always, another fantastic thread Hanslune...

There are so many ancient places like this in the world, and so many people are unaware of their existence. I'm fairly well versed in ancient sites, but yet discover something new of the ancient world nearly every day.

Threads such as this are a vital contribution to ATS, and bring so much knowledge to it's members.

I look forward to what you show everyone next.

Thank Julie

I'll be doing a number of other sites, one I either worked on, visited, studied from afar or just liked!

Howdy isyeye

Hundreds of important sites and tens of thousands of others! I remember when I worked in Bahrain I use to walk out amonst the burial mounds there, vast fields of them, 1000s and 1000s of them in the area I use to go regularly

Howdy the2ofusr1

I was thinking about Egypt and how they don't seem to be open to discovery ...There seems to be good people trying to do good work ..Its just I get frustrated at part of the craft that makes dating a lot to be desired that is all ...You know like 50,000 years ago and 20 million years ago statements that are more conjecture tan anything else ...Seems they don't want to commit to a ( I don't know ) and instead insert as to what could be fact when they really cant say ....anyhow thanks for the info ..Turkey is in all likelihood where man got out of the ark and went forth to have a go at it again ....peace

Egyptologist (especially the European ones) are open to discovery but that doesn't mean they have to accept every scheme and thought that comes up- especially the ones that contradict one another. Yes Archaeology does have a great deal of interpretation in it, its the manner of the art. The often go with the best guess based on what is known......arks? Well this site is a good example of a non-biblical site, well before the bible says when people existed and not destroyed by a mystical flood!

reply to post by Hanslune


Yet another interesting find. Well written.

I am most interested in these types of things. I look forward to reading more.

Originally posted by Hanslune
Thank Julie

I'll be doing a number of other sites, one I either worked on, visited, studied from afar or just liked!

grrrr.. i am so envious of you.
I wish i could join any such sites if any in UAE , where i am based now.

Originally posted by coredrill

Originally posted by Hanslune
Thank Julie

I'll be doing a number of other sites, one I either worked on, visited, studied from afar or just liked!

grrrr.. i am so envious of you.
I wish i could join any such sites if any in UAE , where i am based now.

Good luck! I didn't have much luck there myself, had better luck in Oman, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain and Turkey.

Facinating photographs! Someone should start rewriting the history books and load them up with photos. Now that the economies have tanked all around the world, very few can afford to see these magical places. I always wanted to see Egypt in my lifetime, but with the Middle East in turmoil who would dare? Being a woman we have even less opportunities to see these places due to how the men over there treat women. I buy books instead.

reply to post by frugal


The newer versions of archaeology 101 books do have lots of images in them (every two years I read such a book to keep current on what is being taught) but such inclusions cost, they go for anywhere from 50-85 USD

ebooks on such subjects are slowly becoming more common.

A safe place to visit in the Middle East would be Turkey you can get a good dose of ruins there, Jordan and Oman are also stable, as is the UAE and Qatar but they are rather dull archaeologically

Really cool read thank you