Roots of Anatolian Farming Traced Back to Konya’s Boncuklu Höyük

Archaeological excavations at Boncuklu Höyük in Konya are revealing the earliest signs of settled life, agriculture, and animal domestication in Anatolia. 

The excavations are jointly led by Prof. Dr. Douglas Baird from the University of Liverpool and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gökhan Mustafaoğlu from Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University.

Mustafaoğlu explained that the site was first identified in 2002 during surface surveys in the Hayıroğlu neighborhood of Konya’s central Karatay district. The discovery of numerous obsidian tools and beads on the surface suggested that the site dated back to the Prehistoric period.

Mustafaoğlu, “In the Neolithic period, this area was surrounded by swamps and wetlands. Nomadic hunter-gatherer groups once lived here. What makes Boncuklu Höyük significant is that it shows a gradual shift from nomadic life to a more settled existence, including early practices of farming and animal husbandry, albeit on a very modest scale.”

According to archaeobotanical evidence, Boncuklu Höyük contains the earliest signs of wheat, lentil, and pea cultivation in the Konya Plain. Mustafaoğlu emphasized that these findings indicate a small but permanent system of food production had emerged.

He also noted that carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses point to the presence of domesticated sheep and goats, and that the use of herbivore dung within the settlement supports the notion of early animal management.

Prof. Dr. Baird highlighted that Boncuklu Höyük was ideally located for hunting and gathering, providing access to fish, waterfowl, wild boars, and even cattle. “This site is crucial for understanding the slow and early transition to settled life, agriculture, and animal domestication. The first inhabitants of what is now Konya began farming in this region,” Baird said.

He also pointed to the discovery of beads in graves, between houses, and within living spaces at the site. “These were likely more than decorative—they appear to have held symbolic meaning as well,” he added.

Boncuklu Höyük has been dated to around 9200 BCE—approximately 11,200 years ago—making it around 2,000 years older than the famous Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük. Recent genetic studies have shown that the communities of Boncuklu and Çatalhöyük share a common genetic heritage, with Boncuklu potentially serving as a direct precursor.

Baird explained that practices observed at Boncuklu—such as dividing domestic space into clean and dirty areas, burying the dead within homes, placing animal skulls like wild oxen on walls, and decorating walls and floors with paint and clay reliefs—continued and evolved in Çatalhöyük. “These rituals reflect a symbolic worldview centered on the house, death, and rebirth—a key feature shared by both communities,” he said.

Boncuklu Höyük was abandoned around 7600 BCE, several centuries before Çatalhöyük was founded. Yet its legacy appears to have lived on in the cultural and symbolic practices of its more famous successor.