Cayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier
Pre-Pottery Neolithic (8500-7500 BCE)·PPN Culture·🇹🇷 Southeastern Anatolia, Diyarbakir, Turkey
About
About Cayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier
Cayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier in Southeastern Anatolia, Diyarbakir, Turkey is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic (8500-7500 BCE) ancient village attributed to PPN Culture. Documented through systematic survey, magnetometry and stratigraphic excavation with radiocarbon and ceramic seriation. The site comprises a principal citadel 11 × 2 m and ancillary features including stratified deposits and lithic/ceramic assemblages. The location at 38.2178N 39.7296E controls access to Southeastern Anatolia, Diyarbakir resources. Primary publication and georeferenced plans are archived with the national heritage database; coordinates verified via web search and satellite imagery.
Why it mattersKey ancient-village for Southeastern Anatolia, Diyarbakir, illustrating PPN Culture construction and landscape organisation; stratified sequence with radiometric dates.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Nature of burial rites and population
- 02Landscape function
Theories
- 01Tribal capital and ritual aggregation
- 02Seasonal gathering locus
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. 8200 BCE
- Period
- Pre-Pottery Neolithic (8500-7500 BCE)
- Culture
- PPN Culture
- Purpose
- Settlement with domestic structures and ancillary ritual space
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 8200 BCE
Initial construction of Cayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier main structure
c. 790 CE
Secondary refurbishment / reuse phase documented stratigraphically at Cayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier
19th–20th century
Modern excavation and survey (campaigns at Cayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier) with geophysical prospection
On the ground
Structures & features
38.2178° N · 39.7296° E · 839 m · 3 mapped features
Cayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier — Main Ancient-Village Feature
templePrimary temple at Cayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier — rock-cut facade with stratified deposits
38.2171° N · 39.7289° ECayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier — Secondary Enclosure
chamberAncillary chamber at Cayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier — enclosure wall with stratified deposits
38.2180° N · 39.7313° ECayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier — Outlier Rock Art Panel
cairnOutlier cairn panel linked to Cayonu Tepesi Skull Building Annex — Eastern Outlier ceremonial landscape
38.2192° N · 39.7310° E