Aşıklı Höyük
Coordinates: 38 ° 20 ′ 57 ″ N , 34 ° 13 ′ 47 ″ E
The Aşıklı Höyük is a Tell the Aceramic Neolithic in the Anatolian highlands. It is located at 1100 m above sea level on the banks of the Melendiz near the village of Kızılkaya in the district of Gülağaç , about 25 km southeast of Aksaray in the province of the same name .
The Tell is around 230 × 240 m in size and protrudes around 15 m over the surrounding plain. The site was excavated between 1989 and 2001 under the direction of Ian A. Todd, identifying four cultural layers. The oldest was only excavated and consisted of round mud buildings of unclear function. The overlying layer with a total of 10 construction phases, however, has been extensively examined. It existed between 8,500 and 7,400 BC. BC and is therefore older than the more famous Çatal Höyük . In this phase the houses were built close to each other, with the settlement being accessed by a partially paved path and streets branching off from it. Similar to Çatal Höyük, the buildings here must have been accessible via their flat roof. Mud bricks were used as building material and were sealed with colored plaster or white clay.
In addition to the buildings, 65 graves were found on Aşıklı Höyük. These were located under the floors of the houses and were furnished with rich accessories, some of them made of copper. The dead were all crouched and were probably wrapped in mats. Remains of ocher were found on some skeletons , others showed traces of fire.
A special building surrounded by a kind of casemate wall was also excavated within the settlement area . The building had a hard lime-clay-earth floor and inside it was equipped with reddish painted clay benches. The skeleton of a woman with a child was found in this building, the woman exhibiting a trepanation of the skull , which she had only survived a few days. The stone tools consisted mainly of obsidian , which was obtained from the deposits of the nearby volcanoes Kayırlı and Nenezi Dağ . The processing of the raw material took place in open spaces within the settlement between the houses.
The Musular site is perhaps a suburb of Aşıklı Höyük.
Finds from Aşıklı Höyük are on display in the Aksaray Museum, including the trepanned skull.
literature
- Ufuk Esin : Aşıklı Höyük , in: The oldest monuments of mankind. 12,000 years ago in Anatolia. Exhibition catalog Karlsruhe, Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-2072-8 , p. 114.
