Çayönü, a Neolithic settlement located in present-day Diyarbakır in southeastern Türkiye, some 300 kilometers (186.41 miles) away from famed Göbeklitepe, offers clues for scientists determining the genetic past of people in this northern part of the wider Mesopotamian region. Comprehensive DNA analysis of skeletons dating back to 8,500 B.C. helped them understand the medical practices of old times as well.

A finding on the skull belonging to a young girl, for instance, points out the earliest examples of primitive surgeries, which apparently continued for centuries in the region, in the form of cauterization. Their findings also prove a "genetic flow" from Mesopotamia to inner parts of Anatolia.

Archaeologists and other experts are part of a research project called NEOGENE, funded by the European Union and spearheaded by scientists from Hacettepe and Middle Eastern Technical (METU) universities.

Out of 33 skeletons they found, they managed to obtain DNA from 13 so far, shedding light on a chapter in Anatolian history. The research shows Northern or Upper Mesopotamia was a place where different cultures mingled some 10,000 years ago. On Çayönü mound, they discovered a high genetic diversity among people who lived between 8,500-7,500 B.C.

Ruins of that period reveal significant changes in architecture while elsewhere, little was changed. Anthropology experts discovered artificial skull modification and cauterization among skeletons.

Professor Yılmaz Selim Erdal, an anthropologist from Hacettepe University, said it was difficult to obtain ancient DNA in the region due to high temperatures, noting that DNA analysis in Göbeklitepe for instance, was impossible due to the lack of apropriately buried human remains and lack of collagen facilitating the task. Yet, in Çayönü, they managed to acquire DNA from skeletons and their study so far had the highest sampling group of its kind for Northern Mesopotamia. "Our studies led us to important information about the population history of the region, the switch to settlements from nomadic life and domestication of animals. One of the most important findings was about the kinship between early Neolithic communities. In that period, it was a tradition in Anatolia and nearby regions to bury the dead under the floor of houses and our analysis showed this was also the case in this region and most of those buried in the same house were relatives," he told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Wednesday.

"We also found one of the earliest examples of cauterization as a method of treatment. A skull we found had marks of infection inside and we proved that it was likely treated with a method involving rituals. We also found traces of artificial skull shaping procedures, which led to foreheads stretching farther to the top of the head, as a result of permanent wrapping of the head starting from infancy. Our findings point to the presence of communities with extended skulls," he said.

Associate professor Ezgi Altınışık from Hacettepe University Department of Anthropology said the genetic structure of regional people had genetic traces from communities on the eastern and western sides of the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent refers to the crescent-shaped region in the Middle East stretching from Iraq and Syria to the west of Iran and north of Kuwait, as well as Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan. "It has more to do with the central location of Northern Mesopotamia in southwestern Asia and this is reflected in the gene pool," she said. She added that although diversity was high, it did not change significantly for 1,000 years. "One finding we had, on the remains of a 2-year-old girl, showed that she had a genetic structure closer to communities in the eastern side of Fertile Crescent and this indicates that Çayönü received migration from that area," she said.