A??kl?, the first village of Cappadocia

Cappadocia?s A??kl? Mound is known as the first village in the central Anatolia region. Tourists can see exact copies of the findings in the mound when they visit the area The A??kl? Mound, where settlement first started in the Cappadocia region 11,000 years ago, offers a chance to travel back in time. Archaeological excavations have been continuing for 26 years in the mound, located in K?z?lkaya village in the central Anatolian province of Aksaray?s Güla?aç district. 

The head of the excavations, Professor Mihriban Özba?aran, said this year?s work started in July. 

She said people who had previously settled near various places rich in plants and fruits started settling in A??kl? Mound 10,500 years ago, adding the mound was Cappadocia?s first and oldest settlement. 

Özba?aran said the A??kl? people chose the coast of the Melendiz River for a permanent settlement and lived there for 1,000 years. ?As a research team, we have worked on how the people of A??kl? struggled against difficulties during this process, how they survived as a crowded mass of people, what kind of social rules they created as well as their economy and technology,? she said. 

Özba?aran said they had obtained well-protected data about the new lifestyle of the A??kl? people, and continued: 

?When the group first came here, they lived in round structures buried underground. We see that these structures came to the surface through time, became a square shape, and their walls were made of adobe blocks. We can observe the whole development of architecture in A??kl? Mound. One of the firsts in A??kl? was agricultural trials. Small-scaled agriculture grew in time enough to feed the whole group. We understand it from the large storages in the...