NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT FOUND BENEATH MODERN ISTANBUL

A team of Turkish archeologists has unearthed traces of a Neolithic settlement dating back over eight millennia in Pendik district in Istanbul (Turkey).

The site was uncovered during the construction of a railway project in Istanbul's Marmaray. The findings include ancient houses, skeletons, cemeteries and various tools such as spoons, needles and axes that indicate a history of 8,500-year-old settlement at the area.

Most of the found skeletons were buried in a fetal position, where the arms are embracing the lower limbs. As thousands of mussel shells were discovered in the area, experts suggest that the residents of the ancient village must have consumed large amounts of clams.

The Culture and Tourism Provincial Manager Ahmet Emre Bilgili said that a new museum is needed to display the discoveries that date back to the Neolithic.

Edited from PressTV (14 January 2013)
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