New investigations at Çayönü led to a reconsideration of the radiocarbon data and the dating of the round building and early grill plan phases (Erim-Özdoğan 2011:192-193). Although in 1988 (Aurenche / Calley 1988:19), the than oldest dates (GrN 5953: 9595 +/- 60 BP; GrN 8103 10430 +/- 80 BP; GrN 4458: 9520 +/- 100 BP) were dismissed as too old by the excavator, they are now accepted dating the round house building phase to the very begining of the Holocene. A precise dating of the round building phase is very difficult due to the large ranges of the radiocarbon data (GrN 19481: 10020 +/- 240; GrN 19482: 10230 +/-200) and the plateau of the calibration curve for the early Holocene (Benz et al. 2012).

Radiocarbon data for the later grill plan buildings all date to the transition from the early to middle PPNB or middle PPNB, although the older phase of the grill plan buidlings is said to date to the PPNA (Erim-Özdoğan  2011: 193, footnote 22).

The sum of the dates for the channel-building phase, 8630-8245 BC, covers the whole early period.On the basis of the radiocarbon dates the “basal pits” can be dated to the earliest time range and this early phase is clearly separated from the younger cobble-paved buildings (∑: 8250-7880 BC) and of the still younger cell-building sub-phase (7510-7350 BC).

The latest early Neolithic layer, starting after a hiatus of about 100 years, is the transitional phase between the cell- and large-room buildings (7140-6820 BC). There is only a very slight, if any, time overlap of Çayönü with the site of Jerf el Ahmar on the middle Euphrates.