Page 30 - TINA Dergi Sayi 10

TINA

Denizcilik Arkeolojisi Dergisi

Whether this group came down to the shores of the asked are no longer valid. Since more data has become
Marmara is not clear, until now no site of this culture available, it has become necessary to formulate new
has been recorded in the Marmara littoral; however, the research questions that we would not have considered
sites might all be submerged. Nevertheless, as is the case previously. In this respect, understanding and interp-
with Hoca Çeşme, even in an inland site such as Aşağı reting the complex geomorphology of the regions still
Pınar a high consumption of molluscs is in evidence, stands as one of the major tasks. As we summarized, the
not only as food but also for the making of ornaments. geomorphological process of the Sea of Marmara, being
For the ornaments, a special preference for Spondylus a part of the chain of inner seas, is very complicated,
type of shells can be noted, possibly coming all the way and the debates are intermingled with biases and cont-
from the Adriatic (Fig. 22). roversial interpretations. Among them, the modalities
The Neolithic cultural sphere of the Eastern Balkans of connections with the Black Sea have been the most
developed as a uniform entity until about 4900 BCE. discussed. 26
Only then, as we have previously noted, during the Top- Since the beginning of our project, we have been
tepe cultural stage, the cultural boundary separating the emphasizing that many of the debated problems can
eastern and western parts of the Marmara basin seems only be resolved through systematic survey of the
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to have disappeared. submerged palaeo-coastlines. Finally, excavations
COnCLuDInG remArKS AnD PrOSPeCtS FOr Future reSeArCH at Yenikapı have very successfully demonstrated the
What we have presented in this paper emphasizes the importance of marine archaeology, revealing not only
importance of the Marmara basin in the transmission of important new data and materials concerning archa-
the Neolithic life style from Anatolia to Europe. In this eology, but more significantly, making it possible to
respect, the northwestern parts of Turkey were evident- correlate cultural history with the changes in environ-
ly peripheral to the primary core area of neolithization. mental conditions for the first time in the Marmara
The Neolithic culture, which is actually a lifestyle that basin. Likewise, the recent excavations at Beşiktaş
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is very different from that of the Mesolithic, developed were recovered almost level with the present day level
in the East almost three thousand years before being of the Marmara. Although this is later than the Neolit-
introduced to the Marmara region. As we tried to de- hic period, it strongly implies that there was tectonic
monstrate, the dispersal of Neolithic cultures took place movement during the Early Bronze Age. We previ-
through different routes, both by land and by sea, and ously observed and published similar findings at the
the composition and/or the content of the Neolithic pa- submerged Early Bronze Age site of Manastır Mevkii
ckage that went with each group was different from the on Avşa Island, where a cemetery of the Troy II period
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others. Perhaps it depended upon which craftsmen joi- was recovered 10 meters below sea level (Fig. 23).
ned which migration. This once more highlights the need for interdiscipli-
Since we began working, the picture of the Marma- nary work and at least a reconnaissance survey of su-
ra Neolithic has changed drastically. The questions we bmerged topography.

26 In this respect, the model presented by Ryan postulating cataclysmic over flow connoting Noah’s Flood had stirred considerable
excitement until it faded out; nevertheless, there is still extreme disagreement on the data, location and initial direction of water ex-
change between Marmara and Black Sea; AKSU 2002; CHEpALYGA 2007; ÇAĞATAY-GÖRÜR 2000; GÖKAŞAN-DEMİRBAĞ
1997; SHILIK 1997; RYAN et al.2004.
27 See especially ÖZDOĞAN 1997a; ÖZDOĞAN – YALÇIN 2017.
28 ALGAN et al 2002, 2010,2013.
29 GÜNSENİN 2001; ÖZDOĞAN 2003, 2007, 2011B.

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