Kaş–Demre Archaeological Survey

Neolithic Period Survey Project in the Kaş and Demre Districts of Antalya Province

In recent years, excavations conducted at the mound in front of the Girmeler Caves in southwestern Anatolia have fundamentally transformed our understanding of the Neolithization process in western Anatolia. The Girmeler excavations have revealed the existence of a semi-sedentary community experimenting with agriculture at the end of the ninth and the beginning of the eighth millennium BC. These discoveries have disproved the previously held view that Neolithic settlements in western Anatolia emerged suddenly and without antecedents at the beginning of the seventh millennium BC.

Ancient DNA analyses carried out on a female skeleton from this period have demonstrated the presence of an Anatolian genetic lineage closely related to that identified at Pınarbaşı in central Anatolia. The results further indicate that these populations constituted the ancestors of later Neolithic communities in western Anatolia and the Aegean region.

Additional ancient DNA studies have shown that there was no large-scale migration or colonization movement from the Near East, particularly from northern Mesopotamia and the Levant, into western Anatolia during the first half of the seventh millennium BC or even until the beginning of the sixth millennium BC. Instead, the evidence suggests that local hunter-gatherer groups gradually adopted Neolithic elements, leading to the development of a Neolithic way of life through the region’s own internal dynamics.

In light of this new archaeological evidence, the Neolithic Period Survey Project in the Kaş and Demre Districts of Antalya Province was initiated in 2025 in southwestern Anatolia. Survey investigations have identified numerous potential campsite locations, primarily characterized by chipped stone tool assemblages, within the poljes containing red paleosol deposits between Kaş and Demre. In addition, several settlement sites yielding early pottery have been documented.

As the first systematic archaeological survey project in the region specifically focused on prehistoric periods, this research is expected to provide significant new data regarding the transition to the Neolithic way of life in southwestern Anatolia. At the same time, it will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the distinctive Neolithic cultures that developed within the region.