Bahattin ÇELİK

Hatice TOSYAGÜLÜ ÇELİK

In the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, especially at the beginning of the 9th millennium BC emerging of the density of the settlements and increasing in number of the similar settlements in Urfa region show how attractive the region in the Neolithic Period. It can be understood from the similarity of the finds from the settlements that the connections between the centers are more intense than expected. Sefer Tepe, Kurt Tepesi, Hamzan Tepe, Taşlı Tepe, Karahan Tepe and Harbetsuvan Tepe are the centers show similar features especially with "T" shaped pillars. In 2017 excavations with Şanlıurfa Museum started at Harbetsuvan Tepe, which has similar and same size T shaped pillars with Göbeklitepe’s 2nd layer. These were rescue excavations mostly carried out to understand the extent of the damage caused by illegal excavations and new architectural and archaeological finds were unearthed. The presence of the pillars, in the middle of the rectangular structures or within the walls, unearthed from the Harbetsuvan Tepe excavations show it’s similarity with the structures of 2nd layer of Göbeklitepe. There are finds unearthed unique to this period such as a piece of sculpture with phallus, pillar with arm and finger relief, Byblos arrowheads, flat axes, obsidian arrowhead, small decorative stone plaque, basalt pestles and big stone bowls. Harbetsuvan Tepe excavations definitely revealed it’s a new center which has a second cult center features besides Göbekli Tepe. In addition, the importance of Harbetsuvan Tepe increased one more time when the Karahan Tepe excavations started in 2019 which is on 7 km northeast of Harbetsuvan Tepe. In this study new architectural and archaeological finds unearthed from Harbetsuvan Tepe excavation in 2019 will be evaluated.

Key words: Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period, Urfa Region, Urfa Bölgesi, Harbetsuvan Tepe, Göbekli Tepe, Neolithic Period Architecture, Ecology of Tek Tek Mountains.