CITIES & TOWNS Prehistory

About Turkey

1 of 3



> CITIES & TOWNS

Select

> SOCIAL LIFE

Education

Folklore

Holidays

The Evil Eye

Nightlife

> GEOGRAPHY

Geography

Flora & Fauna

Climate

Weather

Population

Cities

Sites

Regions

Distances

> ART & CULTURE

Arts

Music

Turkish Music

Mehter

> COMMUNICATION

Communication in

Turkey

Emergency Numbers

Local Area Codes

International Country

Codes

> ECONOMY

Economy in Turkey

Currency

Exchange Rates of

US-Dollar

(1975-2001)

Inflation in Turkey

> TURKISH BATH

Turkish Bath

Cagaloglu Hamami

> TIME & DATE

World Times Zone

> WINING &

DINING

Wining & Dining in

Turkey

Turkish Cuisine

Cookbook

Recipe of The Week

> SHOPPING

Shopping in Turkey

Istanbul

Shopping in Istanbul

Akmerkez

Bazaar54

Capitol

Galerya

Grand Bazaar

Lapis

Sentez

Spicemarket

Prehistory

Introduction to Anatolia

Bronze Age ( 3000 - 1200 BC )

Chalcholithic Age ( Copper Age) ( 5500-3000 BC)

Neolithic Age ( 8000 BC - 5000 BC )

Introduction to Anatolia

The history of Anatolia, the Turkish homeland is simply incredible. The world's

oldest city was founded, here, at Catal Hoyuk in 7500 BC. The Hittite Empire, little

known in the west, rivaled that of ancient Egypt, and left behind captivating works

of art. The heartland of classical Hellenic culture is actually in Turkey, including

cities such as Troy, Pergamum, Ephesus, Miletus and Halicarnassus. Most

modern Turkish cities have a Roman past and all have a Byzantine one. The

Seljuk Turkish Empire could boast of people like Omar Khayyam and Celaleddin

Rumi, the poet, mystic and founder of the order of Whirling Dervishes. Turkey's

history is astoundingly long, extending for almost 10,000 years. The Prehistoric

Times Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age) (2 Million - 8000 BC) Paleolithic Age, also

known to be the old stone age, begins somewhere between 2 million years ago

and ends 10.000 years before our time. This time period marks the beginning of

the existence of the ancestors of man. The early man in the Paleolithic age did

not know to farm and raise crops, but lived on picking up vegetables and fruit and

on hunting. In search of the new food sources and to be able to hunt animals, he

moved from place to place and gathered in small groups. His dwelling was in

rocky areas, under big rocks and in caves. In areas where this condition could not

be met he made easy and primitive shelters out of wood. Around 40,000 BC he

started making simple stone tools for hunting and protection purposes. Between

40,000 and 10,000 is the glacial age on earth. Not being able to move much due

to the climate, the primitive man utilized the skin of the animals that he hunted with

successfully carved stones. To make clothes he used pins made out of bones

and sewed animal skin covers for himself. During this hard time of survival, he

was able to discover and to control fire and by doing so he happened to have

passed an important step in his development which helped him be separated from

the animals. In this same period the earliest notion of the need to believe in an

other world or in a mightier power can also be traced. In the graves that were dug

for the dead as simple holes he left food by the side of the deceased and this is

interpreted to be his faith in afterlife. To sum up, the hard conditions of life in the

glacial age led the early man develop better socially and technically. The passage

from the very primitive man, namely Homo Neanderthal, to the ancestor of the

modern man, namely Homo Sapiens is dated to between 10,000 and 8,000 may

also be considered in this period. In the last phases of the Paleolithic age early

man could make tools in order to make different new tools. The first works of art

emerged in this era too: paintings made on the cave walls and various art objects

such as low reliefs and figurines.The intellectual life of the man was beginning.

Moreover, animal bones, teeth and shells the ornate objects demonstrate the first

aesthetic concern in man. The fact that in the Paleolithic Age, Asia Minor is

extremely rich in fossils and fragments of human beings and animals, of stone, of

bone and of vegetation, as well as of works of art that reveals that the Anatolian

land was intensely inhabited during this period. The most important place in

Anatolia where all the three phases; Upper, Middle and Lower in the Paleolithic

Age can be seen, is the Karain Cave 30 km northwest of Antalya. In this

respectively large cave, there are various living sections from each of the three

16-Jan-04 17:15

About Turkey

2 of 3



Spicemarket

Ankara

Karum Ankara

Bodrum

Shopping in Bodrum

Izmir

Shopping in Izmir

Urfa

Shopping in Urfa

Kocaeli

Izmit Outlet

p

y g

,

g

phases of the Paleolithic Age. Among the finds are many carved stone and bone

tools, moveable art objects, remains of the bones and teeth of Homo Neanderthal

and Homo Sapiens, burnt and unburned animal and bread fossils. Karain cave in

the Paleolithic Age is not a crucial excavation site only for Anatolia but also for the

Near East. One can see some of these remains in the Museums of Karain, in

Antalya and in Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

Tax Free Shopping

> CONVENTIONS &

EXHIBITION

CENTERS

Istanbul Convention &

Exhibition Center

> RELIGION

Islam in Turkey

Koran

Hz. Muhammed

Bismillah

Ezan

Ramadan

Mevlana

Mevlevi

Sufism

Christianity

Churches in Istanbul

Churches in Izmir

Synagogues in

Istanbul

Synagogues in Izmir

> GENERAL

Orient Express

Bridge Game

Camel Wrestling

Amazons

Camping

> SITES

St. Sophia

Chora Church

Galata Tower

Suleymaniye Mosque

Topkapi Palace

Chora Monastery

> FAMOUS

PERSONALITIES

Ataturk

Florence Nightingale

Santa Claus

Mimar Sinan

> TOURISM OFFICE

Tourism Offices

> EMBASSIESS &

VISA

Embassies in Turkey

Turkish Embassies

Abroad

Visa

> HISTORY

PREHISTORY

Introduction

Bronz age

Chalcholithic Age

Neolithic Age

Prehistory

Phrygians

HITTITES

Hittites

BYZANTIUM

16-Jan-04 17:15

About Turkey

3 of 3



Byzantium

A great Empire

Aphrodisias

Chora Monastery

Hagia Sophia

Land & People of

Byzantine

Byzantine means

Istanbul

Palaces & Aquaducts

The Dark Ages

ROMAN EMPIRE

Romans

SELCUKS

Selcuks in Asia Minor

OTTOMANS

Ottomans

Ahdnama

REPUBLIC PERIOD

Turkish Anthem

Turkish Republic

Hot Deals | Weather | Members | Who We Are | About Turkey

Did You Know | Shopping | Restaurants | Contact Us | About Us | Home

Copyright ? 1999 - 2002 Guide to Turkey All rights reserved.Terms & Conditions

webmasters | Send This Page To A Friend

16-Jan-04 17:15

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download