AbstractThis study investigates the relationship between environmental change and the origins of agriculture in the Near East, with special reference to the Konya and Beysehir‐Sušla Basins of south central Anatolia. The Konya Basin, now largely dry, was formerly occupied by an extensive lake, which last attained a high level between 23,000 and 17,000 years ago. It is concluded that there was only an indirect link between the drying up of the former Konya Lake and the appearance of early agricultural (Neolithic) settlements on the floor of the plain. An equally important factor was the creation of new land and water resources which resulted from changes in river regimes and alluvial sedimentation after the end of the Pleistocene. Neolithic sites were not only clustered on water‐retentive alluvial soils, but have also been partly buried by Holocene alluviation. The revised site chronology which follows from these geoarchaeological observations has significant implications for the interpretation of the Neolithic settlement system in south central Tu