Radiocarbon Dates from Chalcolithic Camlibel Tarlasi

Abstract

In light of the considerable chronological uncertainty that surrounds pre-Bronze-Age Northern Anatolia, one of the prime objectives of the excavations at Camlibel Tarlasi was to obtain reliable samples for radiocarbon measurement. Ideally, such samples should consist of short-lived plant material from stratigraphically secure contexts. In this case samples were obtained from charred grain seeds trodden into the floors presumably during food processing or food preparation activities. A large portion of the floors recovered so far have been sampled in meter squares and processed by flotation. From almost all of them charred plant material could be recovered. The stratigraphical sequence at Camlibel Tarlasi consists of three settlement episodes with a gap between the oldest and the two younger phases. In order to obtain a chronological bracket for prehistoric settlement here, an initial set of four samples was chosen from two of the youngest and oldest contexts recovered during the 2007 campaign.