A
North-central Anatolian plateau
Alacahöyük
A multi-period mound and elite Early Bronze Age tombs preserve metalwork, architecture, burial practice, and later Hittite-period urban evidence.
Bronze Age settlement, elite-burial, metalwork, and later urban context
4th-2nd millennia BCE, with later occupation
Stratigraphy, architecture, elite tombs, human remains, metalwork, ceramics, iconography, inscriptions, and regional comparison
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Alaca Höyük archaeological site and museum; not a demonstrated capital of all Hattian- or Hittite-associated communities
- Language family
- Hattic unclassified; Hittite belongs to the Anatolian branch of Indo-European
A
Caria and the Morsynus valley
Aphrodisias/Geyre
A planned city, sanctuary, theater, stadium, civic buildings, houses, inscriptions, marble quarries, and sculpture workshops reveal urban institutions and labor in Roman Anatolia.
Hellenistic-to-late-antique civic, sanctuary, inscription, sculpture, quarry, and household context
Primarily 2nd century BCE-700 CE
Urban archaeology, inscriptions, architecture, sculpture, quarry study, houses, artifacts, coins, and attributed literary evidence
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Aphrodisias city and quarry landscape; a civic reference, not a boundary of Carian language, ethnicity, or territory
- Language family
- Greek and Latin written evidence; Carian is an Anatolian Indo-European language
A
Malatya Plain and Upper Euphrates
Arslantepe Höyüğü
A long mound sequence preserves households, storage, sealings, monumental buildings, metallurgy, and changing political institutions near the Upper Euphrates.
Chalcolithic-to-Bronze Age settlement, administrative, household, and political context
6th millennium BCE-early 2nd millennium BCE, with later occupation
Stratigraphy, monumental and domestic architecture, sealings, storage, metallurgy, ceramics, burials, radiocarbon dating, and regional survey
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Arslantepe Mound; an archaeological site, not the capital of every Upper Euphrates community
- Language family
- Varied and partly unrecoverable across millennia
A
Melendiz Valley, Cappadocia
Aşıklı Höyük
A long-lived Cappadocian settlement documents mudbrick households, food production, craft, burial, and changing relationships with sheep and goats.
Early Neolithic settlement, household, subsistence, and animal-management context
Approximately 8200-7400 BCE
Architecture, stratigraphy, plant and animal remains, burials, tools, obsidian, radiocarbon dating, and household archaeology
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Aşıklı Höyük excavation and visitor context; a settlement reference point, not a cultural or ancestry boundary
- Language family
- Unknown from Neolithic archaeology
E
Cayster/Küçük Menderes valley and Aegean coast
Ephesos/Efes
Harbors, streets, houses, workshops, sanctuaries, inscriptions, civic monuments, and churches document a major western Anatolian city through Hellenistic, Roman, and late-antique transformations.
Hellenistic, Roman, and late-antique urban, harbor, household, religious, and civic context
Primarily 3rd century BCE-700 CE, with earlier settlement background
Urban and harbor archaeology, houses, inscriptions, architecture, artifacts, environmental study, texts, and long-running excavation
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Ephesus archaeological landscape; a major city and harbor, not the center of every western Anatolian community
- Language family
- Greek and Latin written evidence within a multilingual port city
G
Central Anatolian plateau and Sakarya basin
Gordion/Yassıhöyük
A fortified settlement, monumental buildings, tumuli, wooden objects, inscriptions, and destruction deposits document Phrygian power and later transformations.
Iron Age urban, royal, funerary, linguistic, and political landscape
Primarily 9th-4th centuries BCE, with earlier and later occupation
Stratigraphy, architecture, tumuli, wood, ceramics, inscriptions, environmental study, radiocarbon and dendrochronological dating, and ancient texts
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Gordion archaeological landscape; a major Phrygian center, not the capital of every Phrygian-speaking or later Galatian community
- Language family
- Phrygian is Indo-European; later contexts were multilingual
G
Upper Mesopotamia and Şanlıurfa plateau
Göbekli Tepe
Monumental enclosures, carved pillars, deposits, food remains, and nearby settlement evidence illuminate communal building and gathering during early Neolithic transformations.
Pre-Pottery Neolithic monumental, settlement, subsistence, and gathering context
Approximately 9600-8200 BCE
Architecture, reliefs, stratigraphy, fauna, plant remains, tools, radiocarbon dating, landscape survey, and regional comparison
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Göbekli Tepe archaeological site; a monumental reference point, not the origin of civilization or a territorial center
- Language family
- Unknown from Neolithic archaeology
H
Burdur Lake District
Hacılar Höyük
Settlement layers, mudbrick buildings, pottery, figurines, tools, plants, and animals document changing village life in southwest Anatolia.
Neolithic-to-Chalcolithic settlement, ceramic, household, and subsistence context
Approximately 7000-5600 BCE
Stratigraphy, architecture, ceramics, figurines, tools, plant and animal remains, radiocarbon dating, and regional comparison
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Hacılar mound; an archaeological sequence, not an ethnic homeland or capital
- Language family
- Unknown from Neolithic archaeology
H
Lycus valley and inland western Anatolia
Hierapolis/Pamukkale
Thermal springs, streets, houses, workshops, baths, sanctuaries, inscriptions, cemeteries, and churches document a city shaped by water, labor, pilgrimage, mobility, and imperial institutions.
Hellenistic-to-late-antique thermal, urban, funerary, religious, labor, and mobility context
Primarily 2nd century BCE-700 CE
Urban archaeology, geology, water systems, architecture, inscriptions, cemeteries, human remains, artifacts, and attributed ancient and Christian texts
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Hierapolis-Pamukkale cultural landscape; a city and thermal reference, not a Phrygian ethnic or religious boundary
- Language family
- Greek and Latin written evidence within a multilingual region
K
Antalya plain and western Taurus foothills
Karain Mağarası
Cave deposits overlooking the Antalya plain preserve stone tools, fauna, sediments, and later traces from repeated occupations across changing Pleistocene and Holocene environments.
Palaeolithic cave, technological, faunal, and palaeoenvironmental context
Approximately 500,000 years ago-later prehistory
Stratigraphy, lithic analysis, fauna, sediments, palaeoenvironmental study, radiometric dating, and later inscriptions
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Karain Cave; an archaeological orientation point, not a migration, ethnic, or ancestry boundary
- Language family
- Not recoverable from Palaeolithic archaeology
K
Cilician plain and Taurus approaches
Azatiwataya/Karatepe-Aslantaş
Fortifications, gates, reliefs, and a bilingual royal inscription document an Iron Age Cilician political center and its multilingual connections.
Iron Age fortified, royal-inscription, multilingual, and regional political context
Primarily 8th century BCE
Fortifications, reliefs, architecture, Hieroglyphic Luwian and Phoenician inscriptions, ceramics, landscape analysis, and comparative texts
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Karatepe-Aslantaş fortified site; not the capital of every Cilician community or a linguistic boundary
- Language family
- Anatolian Indo-European and Northwest Semitic evidence
K
Kayseri plain and central Anatolian exchange corridors
Kültepe/Kaneš and the kārum
An upper mound and lower merchant quarter preserve homes, workshops, goods, seals, and thousands of tablets documenting households, credit, trade, law, and political negotiation.
Middle Bronze Age urban, household, archive, merchant, and exchange-network context
Primarily 20th-18th centuries BCE
Architecture, stratigraphy, private cuneiform archives, seals, weights, goods, workshops, ceramics, and regional route analysis
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Kültepe upper mound and lower kārum; a commercial and settlement reference, not an Assyrian colony in a modern territorial sense
- Language family
- Semitic Akkadian and multiple Anatolian-language contexts
N
Upper Euphrates and southeast Taurus
Nemrut Dağı hierothesion
A mountain sanctuary, colossal sculptures, reliefs, and Greek inscriptions materialized dynastic claims at a kingdom positioned between Roman and Parthian power.
Hellenistic royal, mountain-sanctuary, inscription, and intercultural political context
Primarily 1st century BCE
Monumental architecture, sculpture, reliefs, Greek royal inscriptions, landscape archaeology, coins, and attributed classical texts
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Nemrut Dağ royal sanctuary; a dynastic monument, not the capital or territorial center of every Commagenean community
- Language family
- Greek and Semitic-language evidence within a multilingual kingdom
N
Lake İznik basin and Bithynia
Nikaia/İznik
Fortifications, streets, churches, inscriptions, lake and agricultural landscapes, and council traditions document a Bithynian city within Roman and late-antique political and religious networks.
Hellenistic, Roman, and late-antique urban, fortified, civic, and ecclesiastical context
4th century BCE-700 CE for this profile
Urban archaeology, fortifications, architecture, inscriptions, environmental study, coins, imperial and ecclesiastical documents, and later textual transmission
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Historic İznik/Nicaea; a late-antique civic and council reference, not the center of every Christian or Bithynian community
- Language family
- Greek and Latin written evidence within a multilingual imperial setting
P
Caicus/Bakırçay valley and western Anatolia
Pergamon/Bergama
A hilltop royal center, lower city, sanctuaries, theaters, workshops, inscriptions, and rural landscape document Attalid statecraft and later Roman transformations.
Hellenistic royal, urban, sanctuary, craft, and Roman provincial context
Primarily 3rd century BCE-700 CE
Urban and landscape archaeology, architecture, inscriptions, sculpture, coins, workshops, environmental evidence, and attributed Greek and Roman texts
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Pergamon multi-layered landscape; an Attalid royal center and later city, not a universal Anatolian capital
- Language family
- Primarily Greek and Latin written evidence within a multilingual region
S
Pisidian Taurus and Ağlasun valley
Sagalassos/Ağlasun
A mountain city, pottery workshops, water systems, houses, public buildings, inscriptions, cemeteries, and rural surveys document long-term urban-hinterland relationships.
Hellenistic-to-late-antique mountain-city, craft, water, household, and regional landscape context
Primarily 3rd century BCE-700 CE, with earlier settlement background
Urban and rural archaeology, architecture, ceramics, inscriptions, human remains, environmental study, water systems, and regional survey
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Sagalassos archaeological city; one Pisidian urban and regional reference, not a universal ethnic capital
- Language family
- Greek and Latin written evidence; Pisidian is an Anatolian Indo-European language
S
Hermus/Gediz valley and western Anatolia
Sardis/Sardeis and Bin Tepe
Fortifications, terraces, houses, sanctuaries, workshops, inscriptions, coins, and the Bin Tepe tumuli document Lydian political power and long Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, and late-antique transformations.
Iron Age royal city, funerary landscape, language, craft, and multi-period urban context
Primarily 8th century BCE-700 CE
Urban archaeology, fortifications, tumuli, inscriptions, coins, craft installations, architecture, environmental study, and attributed Greek and Roman texts
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Sardis and Bin Tepe serial landscape; a Lydian royal center and later city, not an ethnic or territorial boundary
- Language family
- Lydian belongs to the Anatolian branch of Indo-European; later urban contexts were multilingual
X
Xanthos/Eşen valley and southwest Anatolia
Xanthos/Arnna and Letoon
A major settlement and regional sanctuary preserve Lycian inscriptions, tombs, civic buildings, water management, and later Hellenistic, Roman, and Christian transformations.
Iron Age-to-late-antique urban, sanctuary, inscription, dynastic, and civic context
Primarily 8th century BCE-700 CE
Urban and sanctuary archaeology, tombs, Lycian and Greek inscriptions, architecture, coins, landscape study, and attributed ancient texts
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Xanthos and Letoon serial property; urban and sanctuary references, not the boundaries of all Lycian communities
- Language family
- Lycian belongs to the Anatolian branch of Indo-European; later contexts were multilingual
Closely packed buildings, installations, art, burials, plants, animals, and objects reveal changing household life in a large Neolithic settlement.
Neolithic settlement, household, art, burial, and subsistence context
Approximately 7400-6200 BCE
Architecture, stratigraphy, burials, bioarchaeology, art, artifacts, plant and animal remains, radiocarbon dating, and household archaeology
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Çatalhöyük East Mound; an archaeological settlement point, not a city-state capital or ancestry boundary
- Language family
- Unknown from Neolithic archaeology
Ç
Upper Tigris foothills
Çayönü Tepesi
Successive building plans, plant and animal remains, tools, burials, and craft evidence document long-term experimentation with settlement and food production.
Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic settlement, architecture, subsistence, and household context
Approximately 9500-6000 BCE
Stratigraphy, architecture, plant and animal remains, tools, burials, craft evidence, radiocarbon dating, and regional survey
- Reference site or archaeological context
- Çayönü Tepesi; an archaeological mound, not an ethnic capital or origin boundary
- Language family
- Unknown from Neolithic archaeology
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