Gone with the wind?

Research on abandonment processes as part of Neolithic ways of life in Göbekli Tepe

While most archaeological research is focused on the reasons for starting cultural activities (such as building a house, setting up a settlement, starting to produce a groundstone), my PhD project “Neolithic ways of life” is concerned with the end of settlements. Within the framework of the study fields Landscape Archaeology and Archaeology of Abandonment, I analyse the processes of abandonment at the PPN A+B hill site Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Anatolia. With the slow advent of agriculture and animal husbandry during the Neolithization, the site was abandoned at the end of the 9th millennium BCE.