Environmental and cultural impacts of the 8.2 ka event in Yenikapı (İstanbul/Türkiye)

The Neolithic lifestyle, which began in the 12th millennium BP with the emergence of villages in the core region extendingfrom Iran to central and southeastern Anatolia and Syria, began to spread to neighboring geographies, such as the Marmara region,in the 9th millennium BP. During the 8.2 ka event that occurred between 8300 and 7900 BP, cold and dry conditions prevailed in thenorthern hemisphere. During the winter months, the humidity decreased and cooling of about 6 ± 2 °C was observed. In order totest whether the 8.2 ka event was also effective in the İstanbul region, a set of inorganic geochemical data obtained from the clay unitdeposited in an anoxic swamp next to the Neolithic settlement in Yenikapı were evaluated. In this clay unit, drilling was undertaken,and a 789-cm-long core was obtained. According to the age model prepared with 14C ages, the deposition of this clay unit was dated to11,000 and 7500 years BP. In this regard, the changes in some elements in the clay unit were analyzed with an ITRAX core scanner. Thesechanges were interpreted in the context of climatic and some other environmental parameters, such as clastic input, redox conditions,salinity, and biological productivity, and then the complex relationship among the climate-environment-humans was evaluated. InYenikapı, the 8.2 ka event could be detected in the geological-geochemical record. This climatic event, although represented by dryclimatic conditions, had no noticeable effect on the archaeological findings that constitute the cultural data of the Neolithic Period.