Evaluating the impact of Black Sea flooding on the Neolithic of northern Turkey

Abstract

Originally formulated based on marine geological research concerned with the timing and tempo of the Black Sea infilling, the Black Sea flood Hypothesis (BSfH) argues that this process was a catastrophic event ~7150 BP that greatly impacted the prehistoric peoples who lived along the ancient shoreline. The resulting mass migration of peoples led to great transformations across Europe and southwest Asia. Continued research in the region has challenged the timing and impact of the event, arguing instead that it was neither sudden nor catastrophic. However, the BSfH continues to be invoked as a plausible explanation for the lack of early Holocene or Neolithic period sites in northern Turkey. Results from spatial modelling along the Turkish coast suggest that the explanatory power of the BSfH to explain this absence is exaggerated. Rather, other environmental and social factors must be considered in explaining the complete lack of early Holocene sites across the region.

Keywords:

• Black Sea
• Black Sea flood Hypothesis
• spatial analysis
• bathymetric modelling
• prehistoric Turkey
• early Holocene/Neolithic
• coastline change

Acknowledgements

This essay was initially presented at the 2014 European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) annual meeting in İstanbul. I would like to thank Dr Ivanova and Dr S. Sherratt for being such amiable session chairs. I would also like to thank the editors of this Debates volume, Dr Bogaard and Dr Conolly, and the two anonymous reviewers for their supportive comments and helpful suggestions. My supervisor Dr Banning and colleague Dr Duffy at the University of Toronto read an earlier version of this paper and provided excellent recommendations for improvement. I alone am responsible for any failings that remain after so many better eyes have read these words.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Peter Bikoulis

Peter Bikoulis is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto. He has carried out fieldwork in Canada, Jordan, and Turkey. His research focuses on the emergence of complex societies along the Turkish Black Sea coast using a variety of Geographical Information Science techniques.