Cafer Höyük
Cafer Höyük
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8500–7000 BCE)·PPNB Neolithic·🇹🇷 Malatya Province, Middle Euphrates, Turkey
About
About Cafer Höyük
Cafer Höyük in Malatya Province, Middle Euphrates, Turkey is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8500–7000 BCE) tell of PPNB Neolithic tradition. Euphrates early farming village with domestic wheat and caprines. 8500 BCE, the site forms a stratified mound/karst mound 250×180 m, 7 m ppnb, 4 building levels house plans. Excavations since the mid-20th c. expose pisé and mudbrick rectilinear houses with plastered floors, clay figurines architecture with diagnostic ceramics, lithics and administrative finds.
Archaeobotany and radiocarbon anchor the sequence, informing regional PPNB Neolithic networks across the Malatya Province. Threats include Keban Dam flooding, erosion, agriculture; research continues on PPNB Neolithic chronology.
Why it mattersType-site for PPNB Neolithic Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8500–7000 BCE) in Malatya Province, Middle Euphrates; key for chronology, technology and interaction.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology of PPNB Neolithic levels?
- 02Function of extramural cemetery?
Theories
- 01Demic diffusion vs local adoption
- 02Ritual aggregation centre
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.8500 BCE
- Period
- Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8500–7000 BCE)
- Culture
- PPNB Neolithic
- Purpose
- Euphrates early farming village with domestic wheat and caprines
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.8500 BCE
Initial construction / first occupation
c.1200 BCE
Major expansion / fortification phase
20th c.
Systematic excavation begins
On the ground
Structures & features
38.4200° N · 38.7200° E · 680 m · 3 mapped features
Cafer Höyük — Central Mound
tellCentral mound with stratified architecture Levels I–IV
38.4204° N · 38.7205° ECafer Höyük — Lower Town Workshop
workshopWorkshop/midden with pottery, slag or lithics
38.4194° N · 38.7194° ECafer Höyük — Cemetery/Gate
cemeteryExtramural cemetery or gate area
38.4202° N · 38.7192° E
Gallery