The beginning of the Neolithic way of life in northwestern Anatolia is dated to around the mid-7th millennium cal BC. However, the process of Neolithization in this region differs from that of western Anatolia. The data from the new excavations have yielded information not only on the processes of Neolithization but have also revealed contrasts between two entities. In northwestern Anatolia, including the area surrounding the Bosphorus, which was already inhabited during the Mesolithic period, the Neolithic elements integrated with the Mesolithic infrastructure. On the contrary, the sites in the southeast of the region in particular, where there is no Mesolithic sub-stratum, bear more elements in common with central Anatolia. After this period, in the beginning of the 6th millennium cal BC, a slow change occurred in the region. Evidence of strict rules in settlement layout and the differentiation of cultural assemblages suggest that the region was being shaped by a new dynamic. This period lasted until the mid-6th millennium cal BC, when drastic changes began to take place in northwestern Anatolia, which can also be traced to the Balkans and the whole Anatolian Plateau. During this time, settlements in the northwestern Anatolia become smaller in size and permanent structures make way for small huts and later, in a hundred years, most of the settlements in the region were deserted.