The location of Çayönü, in a fertile plain between the Upper Tigris and the intermontane basins beyond the Taurus, linked both to east and west.

The axis marked by a red line, followed by the Assyrian and Roman road systems, passes through Ergani basin, in which the site is located.

A location-map of the site (after Özdoğan), overlain on 30m Landsat imagery. The site itself overlooks the floodplain of a stream descending from the mountains. A nearby railway-line emphasises its location on a natural routeway.