About Boncuklu

A place, a community, a long history

Boncuklu Höyük lies beside Hayıroğlu in the Karatay district of Konya, approximately 9–9.5 kilometres north of Çatalhöyük. Its modest appearance conceals a long sequence of occupation. Floors, animal bones, seeds, stone tools and burials preserve different traces of people’s relationships with this place. The questions they raise concern ordinary activities as much as major historical change: preparing food, maintaining a house, caring for the dead and returning to familiar surroundings.

The expanded chronology presented in recent publications reaches back into the tenth millennium cal BCE. This does not mean that a settled farming village existed throughout that entire span. Early occupation differed from the more substantial mudbrick houses of later phases. Our chronology guide explains the distinction between the whole sequence and the frequently cited interval around 8300–7800 cal BCE.

Understanding change through evidence

The 2018 study of agricultural origins describes food production at Boncuklu as a limited but enduring addition to hunting, gathering and the use of wetland resources. Cultivation did not immediately replace other ways of obtaining food. This makes the site especially valuable for exploring the choices and connections behind the spread of agriculture.

Research combines excavation with archaeobotany, animal-bone analysis, material studies, dating, isotopes and ancient DNA. Each approach answers particular questions; none supplies a complete portrait of a person or community on its own. Read what was found before exploring the interpretations.

The project today

The final excavation season took place in 2022, followed by a study season in 2023. A publication by project researchers in June 2026 considers the continuing educational legacy. This updated website brings published findings and learning routes together while keeping historical fieldwork clearly dated. For practical arrangements, begin with visiting Boncuklu; a description of the heritage facilities is not a guarantee of access on a particular day.

Choose your own starting point

If you are new to archaeology, begin with the site and the kinds of evidence recovered there. If you already know Çatalhöyük, compare the two communities without making one a miniature version of the other. Teachers can start with a question about how we know something, while readers of a particular scientific paper can follow its methods and references. These routes meet in the same principle: describe the evidence at the scale it supports. Boncuklu’s value lies in the chance to examine change closely, including developments that were gradual, uneven or different between neighbouring communities.

Project and background

• Life in ancient Boncuklu
• Research links and resources
• Project aims
• Historical support and acknowledgements