Implantations humaines et exploitation des obsidiennes en Anatolie centrale durant le Pléistocène

Abstract

Volcanic activity of Central Anatolia generated a number of obsidian intrusions which resulted in important human settlements in prehistoric society. The obsidian sources of the Göllü Dag volcano reveal a paleolithic industry illustrating a wide range of technics and behaviors. Therefore, Levallois debitages are common and present very specific modalities in the volumetric gestion of cores. These modalities are represented on every paleolithic workshops reknown in the Göllü Dag area. These data are compared with Kaletepe Deresi 3 an important paleolithic site discovered in the summer of 2000, and excavated since this date. This archaeological sequence reveals the first in situ open-air Paleolithic site in Turkey. The sequence presents actually eleven archaeological occupations from lower to middle Paleolithic on 5.50 meters depth. Tephra deposits justify the dating of human settlements. Kaletepe Deresi 3 illustrates acheulean and mousterian settlements during Middle Pleistocene. This paper focuses on a comparison with Turkish and Levantine paleolithic data and discusses about the specificities of the first human settlements of Central Anatolia.