ANATOLIAN EPI-PALEOLITHIC PERIOD ASSEMBLAGES: Problems, Suggestions, Evaluations and Various Approaches

There are a number of problems and considerable deficiencies on the chronology, terminology and data about the Anatolian Epi-paleolithic period. It has been necessary to offer some suggestions for the above mentioned queries. And we hopefully addressed to them with this paper. Some mistakes have been determined and new opinions will be offered by us especially on the chronology and terminology with the comparisons between the previous and current research in Anatolia. It is clear that the new efforts will bring to light the question: "between 20.000 B.P. and 10.000 B.P., what was the exact cultural picture of Anatolia like, taking the Levant and Europe into consideration?" Although the dates of some Anatolian Epi-paleolithic assemblages are quite earlier than the European Mesolithic assemblages, the Levantine Epi-paleolithic assemblages are approximately contemporary with the Anatolian Epi-paleolithic period. Consequently, we prefer to use the term "Epi paleolithic" instead of "Mesolithic" for the being mentioned period in Anatolia taking the recent data into consideration. On the other hand, the intention of this paper is to avoid making the Levantine connections, at least for the present, whether it is true or not. However, this is only one of the problematic matters to bring into light for Anatolia. 

ANATOLIAN EPI-PALEOLITHIC PERIOD ASSEMBLAGES: Problems, Suggestions, Evaluations and Various Approaches

There are a number of problems and considerable deficiencies on the chronology, terminology and data about the Anatolian Epi-paleolithic period. It has been necessary to offer some suggestions for the above mentioned queries. And we hopefully addressed to them with this paper. Some mistakes have been determined and new opinions will be offered by us especially on the chronology and terminology with the comparisons between the previous and current research in Anatolia. It is clear that the new efforts will bring to light the question: "between 20.000 B.P. and 10.000 B.P., what was the exact cultural picture of Anatolia like, taking the Levant and Europe into consideration?" Although the dates of some Anatolian Epi-paleolithic assemblages are quite earlier than the European Mesolithic assemblages, the Levantine Epi-paleolithic assemblages are approximately contemporary with the Anatolian Epi-paleolithic period. Consequently, we prefer to use the term "Epi-paleolithic" instead of "Mesolithic" for the being mentioned period in Anatolia taking the recent data into consideration. On the other hand, the intention of this paper is to avoid making the Levantine connections, at least for the present, whether it is true or not. However, this is only one of the problematic matters to bring into light for Anatolia