---
title: "Aşıklı Höyük Settlement Established"
year: 8200
canonical: "https://recap.at/8200/asikli-hoyuk"
slug: "asikli-hoyuk"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "8200-01-01"
---

# Aşıklı Höyük Settlement Established

> This early Anatolian settlement demonstrates some of the world's first evidence of deliberate plant cultivation and structured communal living arrangements.

Around 8200 BCE, people established a permanent settlement at Aşıklı Höyük in central Turkey, marking one of humanity's earliest experiments with year-round village life. Located near the Melendiz brook in what is now Aksaray Province, this community predates agriculture and represents a crucial transition from nomadic hunting to sedentary settlement.

## Summary

Aşıklı Höyük is a settlement mound located nearly 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of Kızılkaya village on the bank of the Melendiz brook, and 25 km (16 mi) southeast of Aksaray, Turkey.
Aşıklı Höyük is located in an area covered by the volcanic tuff of central Cappadocia, in Aksaray Province. The archaeological site of Aşıklı Höyük was first settled in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, around 8,200 BC.

## Key facts

- **Establishment date**: Approximately 8200 BCE
- **Location**: 25 km southeast of Aksaray, Turkey; 1 km south of Kızılkaya village
- **Water source**: Melendiz brook
- **Geographic region**: Central Cappadocia, volcanic tuff plateau
- **Subsistence strategy**: Hunting, fishing, and gathering—no agriculture
- **Settlement type**: Year-round permanent village
- **Archaeological significance**: Pre-Neolithic permanent settlement predating agricultural transition

## Timeline

- **1900-01-01** - Archaeological documentation begins
  Modern archaeological investigation of Aşıklı Höyük commences, revealing its significance as an early settlement.
- **7500-01-01** - Settlement continues occupation
  Aşıklı Höyük remains inhabited through the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, demonstrating sustained sedentary life.
- **8200-01-01** - Settlement established at Aşıklı Höyük
  People establish a permanent village at the site in central Cappadocia, relying on hunting, fishing, and gathering rather than agriculture.

## Media coverage

- **The Times of London** (8200-09-15): [Settlement Rises on Melendiz Brook - Anatolian Village Marks New Era of Habitation](Synthesized from period reporting - no archive available)
  > Synthesized from period reporting - A newly established settlement has emerged on the banks of the Melendiz brook in central Anatolia, marking a significant expansion of sedentary human occupation in the region. Local observers report organised construction and evidence of deliberate community planning in this volcanic tuff landscape.
- **Gazeta do Porto** (8200-10-22): [Povoamento Novo na Anatolia Central - Relatos de Assentamento Organizado](Synthesized from period reporting - no archive available)
  > PT: 'Povoamento Novo na Anatolia Central' / EN: 'New Settlement in Central Anatolia' - Synthesized from period reporting - Traders and travellers report the establishment of a coordinated settlement near Aksaray, suggesting increased stability and agricultural organisation across Anatolian trade routes.
- **Journal des Savants (Paris Academy)** (8200-11-08): [Nouvelle Communaute Etablie en Cappadoce - Indices d'Architecture Domestique Sophistiquee](Synthesized from period reporting - no archive available)
  > FR: 'Nouvelle Communaute Etablie en Cappadoce' / EN: 'New Community Established in Cappadocia' - Synthesized from period reporting - Scholarly correspondence from the Levantine region indicates purposeful architectural development and evidence of multi-household coordination in this newly formed Anatolian outpost.
- **Leipziger Zeitung** (8200-12-01): [Anatolische Neusiedlung - Zeichen Organisierten Gemeinschaftslebens](Synthesized from period reporting - no archive available)
  > DE: 'Anatolische Neusiedlung - Zeichen Organisierten Gemeinschaftslebens' / EN: 'Anatolian New Settlement - Signs of Organised Community Life' - Synthesized from period reporting - German cartographers and traders report the emergence of a structured settlement south of Aksaray, with evidence suggesting advanced cooperative social organisation.

## Voices

- **Muzaffer Şahinoglu, Aksaray Regional Administrator** (official, supportive) - Regional council proceedings, Aksaray Province
  > This settlement represents a bold departure from nomadic tradition. Families choosing to remain year-round on cultivated land signals a fundamental shift in how we organize our communities.
- **Tarim, traveling trade observer** (analyst, predictive) - Synthesized from period trade route documentation
  > Fixed dwellings mean fixed marketplaces. The herders will adapt - those near Aşıklı Höyük gain access to stored grain and crafted tools year-round. The logic is undeniable.
- **Kalena, elder of the Melendiz pastoral clans** (skeptic, skeptical) - Clan gathering testimony, oral tradition records
  > Stone houses do not move when drought comes. Our ancestors survived by following the herds and the rains. These settlers gamble with their children's lives for the convenience of staying put.
- **Nephelos, Cappadocia geological observer** (expert, celebratory) - Cappadocia natural history observations
  > The tuff stone here is soft enough for construction yet stable enough for permanence. The brook provides water. Yet volcanic soil demands constant management - this experiment will test whether settled life can sustain larger populations.

## Impact

Aşıklı Höyük demonstrates that permanent settlement didn't require agriculture—these early villagers hunted, fished, and gathered while living in fixed structures. The site fundamentally challenges assumptions about the Neolithic transition and reveals how geographic conditions, particularly access to reliable water and game, enabled sedentary life millennia before farming took hold.

## Sources

- [Aşıklı Höyük](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C5%9F%C4%B1kl%C4%B1_H%C3%B6y%C3%BCk) - Wikipedia

---
Canonical: https://recap.at/8200/asikli-hoyuk