Levent Atici, NC State University

Levent Atici , Associate Vice Provost for Student-Centered Interdisciplinary Initiatives at NC State University

Abstract

The shift from hunting and gathering to farming, known as the Neolithic Revolution, around 10,000 years BCE in Southwest Asia marks a transformative period in human history. This shift introduced domesticated crops and livestock, fueling the spread of new technologies, ideologies, and ways of life across Europe. While the profound impact of domesticated animals on sociocultural and biological evolution is well-documented, the early stages of livestock domestication and their westward dispersal from the Fertile Crescent across Anatolie (modern-day Turkey) remain insufficiently understood.

This presentation synthesizes insights from my 25 years of fieldwork and laboratory research to address this longstanding question. I begin by contextualizing the emergence of agricultural economies in Southwest Asia, the first of multiple, independent centers of agricultural origins, by examining shifts in hunter-gatherer strategies during the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene transition. I then present zooarchaeological, stable isotope, and genetic data from my research at Turkish sites, including a discussion of recent findings at Göbekli Tepe and Körtik Tepe, two Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites (ca. 11,500 years BCE) in Eastern Turkey. These findings provide new perspectives on the initial domestication of livestock and provoke deeper consideration of its role in shaping early societies.

Join us on Monday, November 18 at 1:30 PM in Stephens Room (3503 Thomas Hall) and ZOOM for the Genetics and Genomics Seminar Series. This event will be held in person in Stephens Room (3503 Thomas Hall) and on Zoom. REGISTER to attend Zoom: https://ncsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUufu2rrDwuGtMzQ2ivMoBl4_LJ-eSGAZ4q

No registration is required to attend In-Person