[SunkenCiv]

The site is one of a number of such small sites in the area, and given the claimed lack of change, my guess is that they came in from elsewhere and weren't around more than a few centuries. OTOH, the much larger Catal Huyuk in Anatolia, which was occupied a little more than 3000 years (sprang up 8500 BC, burned about 5500 BC, with the survivors apparently building a new site nearby which lasted perhaps a couple of generations), was about 30 acres in extent, involved in the obsidian trade, and similarly distinctive. One guess is that the layout of the town was developed in an area now on the continental shelf, and that the culture migrated up as the glaciers melted and sealevels rose.

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[SunkenCiv]

Catal Hoyuk (sez 7500 BC, rather than 8500 BC):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catal_hoyuk

[colorado tanker]

One guess is that the layout of the town was developed in an area now on the continental shelf, and that the culture migrated up as the glaciers melted and sealevels rose.

The layout of the settlement, with the wider "front" facing the water does remind me of a seaside design.

The Iron Gates have served as a choke point for centuries for people coming up the Danube from the Black Sea.