The Middle Chalcolithic Settlement Pattern in the Highlands of the Northern Central Taurus: Formation of Early Complex Socio-Political Organization

Archaeological investigation at Güvercinkayası and Köşk Höyük during the 1990s and early 2000s revealed extensive data illuminating the evolution of economic and socio-political organization in Middle Chalcolithic communities in Central Anatolia and at the foothills of the North-Central Taurus Mountains. Both settlements display evidence of early craft specialization, standardized ceramic production, and significant changes in the subsistence economy signaling a shift toward greater social stratification and role delineation. To better understand this shift and its potential drivers, the authors have recently conducted pedestrian surveys in the North-Central Taurus highlands. These efforts have gathered important data regarding Middle Chalcolithic settlement patterns, including systematic expansion into highland regions, increasingly specialized economic patterns, and the potential development of more hierarchical socio-political organization. Current results suggest that Middle Chalcolithic trends in socio-political and economic complexity observed at Güvercinkayası and Köşk Höyük extended over much of western Cappadocia in a more organized manner than previously considered.