Asiklihoyuk

Asiklihoyuk or Aşıklı Höyük is one of the earliest human settlements in Asia Minor, dating back to the Neolithic period around eight thousand BC. The site is located in Cappadocia area in Central Anatolia, 1,5 kilometer south of Kizilkaya village and 25 kilometers southeast of Aksaray province, along the banks of Melendiz river. It's about 1120 meters above the sea level and forms a 15 meters-high mound. The archaeological site is being excavated by the archaeologist from the Istanbul University since 1989. Some of the houses are restored using the original sun dried mud bricks in order to give visitors an idea of the old settlement.

The inhabitants of the village were mainly hunters and gatherers, but also cultivated some cereals for agriculture and made copper objects such as bracelets or bowls. Obsidien was used for making sharp tools, knives and spears. During the excavations, around 400 rooms are discovered with many bodies buried on the floors. They've also discovered two skulls which are important for the history of medicine because there were signs of a brain operation! One of the skulls belongs to a young girl around 20-25 years of age, bearing a perfect hole in the skull, and probabily lived for about a week after the operation. This skull is on display at Aksaray archaeological museum.