Köşk Höyük (Bor Plain Neolithic Mound)
Köşk Höyük · Köşk Hoyuk · Bor-Köşk
Late Aceramic Neolithic through Early Bronze (6200–3000 BCE)·Central Anatolian Neolithic → Early Chalcolithic (Bor Plain)·🇹🇷 Niğde Province, Bor District, Central Anatolian plateau, Turkey
About
About Köşk Höyük (Bor Plain Neolithic Mound)
Köşk Höyük (Bor Plain Neolithic Mound) is a multi-period tell/ancient village in Niğde Province, Bor District, Central Anatolian plateau, Turkey — Neolithic-Chalcolithic village mound with plastered skull tradition and obsidian workshop Excavated evidence reveals Central Anatolian Neolithic → Early Chalcolithic (Bor Plain) cultural horizons with mudbrick architecture. The mound 100×90 m, 12 m high; village houses 8×5 m plaster-floored preserves pisé and mudbrick, lime-plastered floors, plastered skull burials, intramural burials technique. Position on Niğde Province illustrates rare bor plain neolithic skull-cult site bridging çatalhöyük–cappadocia neolithic transition.
Why it mattersRare Bor Plain Neolithic skull-cult site bridging Çatalhöyük–Cappadocia Neolithic transition.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Plastered skulls — ancestor veneration or trophy?
- 02Bor lake level vs. settlement shift synchrony?
Theories
- 01Öztan Central Anatolian Neolithic autonomy vs. Levantine diffusion
- 02Obsidian Göllü Dağ workshop specialisation model
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.6200 BCE Aceramic/early Ceramic Neolithic; Early Chalcolithic peak 5500 BCE; EB I 3000 BCE
- Period
- Late Aceramic Neolithic through Early Bronze (6200–3000 BCE)
- Culture
- Central Anatolian Neolithic → Early Chalcolithic (Bor Plain)
- Builders
- Bor Plain Neolithic-Chalcolithic agropastoral communities
- Purpose
- Neolithic-Chalcolithic village mound with plastered skull tradition and obsidian workshop
- Abandoned
- c.3000 BCE EBA hiatus; later ephemeral Hellenistic reuse
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1981–present Öztan & Faydalı (Ankara Univ)
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1981
Öztan opens trench, plastered skulls identified
2003
Chalcolithic copper slag and obsidian workshop published
2019
Bor Lake coring ties settlement phases to lake transgression
On the ground
Structures & features
37.8564° N · 34.5536° E · 1115 m · 3 mapped features
Neolithic Plastered Skull House Horizon
houseMudbrick houses with plastered skull burials
37.8565° N · 34.5538° EChalcolithic Obsidian Workshop and Kiln
workshopGöllü Dağ obsidian blade workshop and pottery kiln
37.8562° N · 34.5534° EBor Lake Shoreline Coring Sector
geologicalLake transgression coring linking climate to occupation
37.8568° N · 34.5539° E