Asikli Höyük: A 10,000-Year-Old Neolithic Settlement in Cappadocia


Located about thirty kilometers from Aksaray, Asikli Höyük is an archaeological site at the heart of Cappadocia. Despite its significance, it remains relatively unknown and is not a prominent tourist destination.
Yet, at the dawn of the Neolithic era, this site was chosen as the location for an important settlement. Surrounded by a volcanic landscape once dominated by river valleys that have since transformed into tuff deposits, it offered fertile land and abundant obsidian—two compelling reasons for our ancestors to settle here, radically altering their previous ways of life.
The site, still under study today, was first identified in 1964 by archaeologist Ian A. Todd, who uncovered thousands of obsidian tools in the surface layers. This pointed to a well-established industry focused on obsidian production, most likely intended for trade across a vast market, stretching throughout the Near East.
Systematic excavations only began in the late 1980s under the leadership of Ufuk Esin, due to the imminent construction of a dam on Lake Mamasin, which threatened to partially submerge the site. Since then, excavation campaigns have continued almost without interruption, although there is no longer any risk of flooding.
The dwellings, made of mud bricks and partially buried in the earth, are aligned and adjacent to each other, resembling the layout of a modern city. A few much larger buildings, compared to the standard homes, likely served as communal gathering spaces. The absence of windows in the walls—similar to the dwellings of Çatalhöyük and the ancient Anasazi—suggests that entrances were accessed via flat roofs, using removable wooden ladders.

A dedicated area near the site features accurate reconstructions of these dwellings, built using materials and techniques from the period. Inside the "multifunctional" rooms, averaging 20 square meters, approximately seventy burials have been uncovered, most of them accompanied by funeral offerings such as necklaces and bracelets. The deceased were buried in a fetal position in pits dug beneath the floors of the buildings themselves.
Analysis of the skeletal remains shows that the average life expectancy for men was around fifty-five years, while for women it did not exceed twenty-five. The noticeable deformities on the joints suggest that women were also engaged in tasks typically performed by men, such as carrying heavy loads.
The sample also reveals a 50% infant mortality rate. A similar percentage is found among skeletons bearing clear signs of burns, confirming that the bodies were often cremated in specially designed ovens after death (possibly within religious sanctuaries or temples dedicated to such practices), as also evidenced by findings at the Cayoyu and Nevali Cori excavations, where similar hearths were uncovered. Since no distinct burial grounds have yet been identified at Asikli Höyük, it is possible that the discrepancy between the number of burials and dwellings points to a funerary cult reserved for a select group of dignitaries.
Technological Innovation

About 20 years ago, a necklace was discovered at the site, featuring ten agate beads skillfully drilled to almost ten millimeters in diameter. This discovery suggests that the artisans of Asıklı Höyük had reached a surprisingly advanced level of technology in crafting these artifacts, especially considering that agate is a variety of quartz which, due to its hardness, can only be drilled today with a diamond-tipped, conical drill. A simple steel tip wouldn't even make a dent in agate; in fact, it would shatter it. Such technology, dating back almost 9,000 years, is in complete contradiction to the knowledge we currently believe we have about our ancient past.

Meanwhile, another astonishing artifact has been added to this magnificent necklace: an obsidian bracelet, discovered in 1995 and dating to the same period as the necklace. In addition to its almost regular shape, the bracelet demonstrates the incredible symmetry of the central ridge and a surface, reminiscent of a mirror, that is meticulously cleaned and finished. Creating this bracelet, now displayed at the Aksaray Archaeological Museum, would require a complex polishing technique, achievable only with the use of telescopic lenses. This is supported by researchers from the Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes in Istanbul and the Laboratoire de Tribologie et de Dynamiques des Systèmes in Saint-Étienne, who analyzed the artifact using multiscale tribology, a technique originally developed for the automotive industry (to determine the mechanical properties of car bodies) and now adapted for archaeology. (The study was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science in December 2011.)
Another interesting discovery came from the finding of the skull of a young woman showing traces of the earliest known brain surgery. This artifact is also kept at the Aksaray Archaeological Museum. It was likely a surgical intervention, as it has been determined that the procedure was performed while the woman was still alive, and her death occurred just a few days later. All these clues that the Asıklı Höyük site continues to provide compel us to admit the existence of a civilization, between the Paleolithic and Neolithic, so advanced that it closely resembles our own.
Currently, the excavations have reached the lowest level, revealing valuable information about the lifestyle of the groups that established the first settlement around 10,300 years ago. The director of the Asıklı Höyük excavations, Professor Mihriban Özbasaran, explained that the site represents the first known village of central Anatolia and the Cappadocia region.
The archaeological work has allowed scholars to gather a wealth of important data, shedding light on the strategic significance of Anatolia in the history of our civilization. "With its 10,300-year history, Asıklı Höyük is the human settlement that introduced important technological and scientific developments worldwide, such as the first agricultural activities and the first brain surgery," concludes Özbasaran.