From bowls to pots: the dairying revolution in Northwest Turkey, a view from Barcın Höyük, 6600 to 6000 BCE

Özbal, H.; Breu, A.; Thissen, L.; Gerritsen, F.A.; Bos, E. van den; Galik, A.; ... ; Özbal, R. (2024)

Article / Letter to editor

Research has identified Northwest Turkey as a key region for the development of dairying in
the seventh millennium BCE, yet little is known about how this practice began or evolved
there. This research studies Barcın Ho¨yu¨ k, a site located in Bursa’s Yenişehir Valley, which
ranges chronologically from 6600 BCE, when the first evidence of settled life appears in the
Marmara Region, to 6000 BCE, when Neolithic habitation at the site ceases. Using pottery
sherds diagnostic by vessel category and type, this paper aims at identifying which ones
may have been primarily used to store, process, or consume dairy products. Organic residue
analysis of selected samples helped address the process of adoption and intensification
of milk processing in this region over time. The lipid residue data discussed in this paper
derive from 143 isotopic results subsampled from 173 organic residues obtained from 805
Neolithic potsherds and suggest that bowls and four-lugged pots may have been preferred
containers for processing milk. The discovery of abundant milk residues even among the
earliest ceramics indicates that the pioneer farmers arrived in the region already with the
knowhow of dairying and milk processing. In fact, these skills and the reliance on secondary
products may have given them one of the necessary tools to successfully venture into the
unfarmed lands of Northwest Anatolia in the first place.

• All authors: Özbal, H.; Breu, A.; Thissen, L.; Gerritsen, F.A.; Bos, E. van den; Galik, A.; Turhan, D.; Muhiddin, Ç.; Adnan, Ş.; Türkekul, A.; Özbal, R.
• Editor(s): Uziel Joe
• Date: 2024-05-09
• Journal: PLoS ONE
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 5
• DOI: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0302788
• Link: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0302788