The Oldest Known Stone Figurines of Anatolia: Kızılin Figurines

Abstract

Kızılin is a cave settlement in the Çakmak-Yağca area of Döşemealtı district in Antalya province. The settlement is 407 meters above sea level, 35 meters above the Kızılin Stream, and 107 meters above Antalya tufa plain. It is located in a narrow valley called Kızılin Stream. Kızılin is not the only EpiPaleolithic settlement in the region; there are also Öküzini, Karain-B, and Çarkini Epi-Paleolithic hunter-gatherer camps. Ground stone tools, beads from marine molluscs, and bone tools are important archaeological remains among the finds. However, the majority of the archaeological materials recovered are chipped stone finds. The uppermost levels of the archaeological sequence are represented by geometric microliths. These layers are referred to as Geological Level IIa and are light red in colour. Additionally, two human figurines are among the most significant finds of these levels. One of these figurines is a human head with a broken and missing body. Although the gender of the figurine is unknown, it appears to resemble a female head. The other figurine is a complete human representation of conjoined twins. An earlier chipped stone assemblage is found at Kızılin, where non-geometric microliths dominate the lower levels. These layers are named as Geological Level IIb. This layer is dark red in colour. The archaeological sequence of Kızılin was dated between 19455 and 13621 BC (cal.) by carbon 14 (AMS) method.

It is declared that scientific and ethical principles were complied with during the preparation of this study and all the works referred are mentioned in the bibliography.