Kaman-Kalehöyük
Coordinates: 39 ° 21 '46.3 " N , 33 ° 47' 12.2" E
Kaman-Kalehöyük is an archaeological site in the central Turkish province of Kırşehir . A settlement hill (Turkish: höyük ) rises up today due to the constant laying of rubble and resettlement during the last at least 4000 years . To the south of the hill are the Japanese archaeologists' research center and the Kaman Kalehöyük Museum .
location
The Kalehöyük is located about 1.5 km north of the village Çağırkan in the district of Kaman in the province of Kırşehir , northeast of the Tuz Gölü and about 100 km southeast of Ankara . The area is Central Anatolian salty dry land. The well-known Göç Yolu road used to run just south of the settlement hill. Today the Ankara – Kırşehir highway runs north.
Research history
In 1985, the "Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan" (from which the "Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archeology" later emerged) began its first excavations, which have continued to this day. Japan recently donated a hill-shaped museum to Turkey.
history
What is certain is that there was no post- Hittite settlement break. Kaman experienced all phases of Hittite settlement. Already in Layer IVa there was an Assyrian influence.
Periods / Stratigraphy
(after Omura 2011, pp. 1099–1100)
I: Middle Ages (finds: hair brooches, 1 ceramic bowl, ear and finger rings, stone lamp, coins, etc.)
II: Iron Age settlements Finds: fibulae and arrowheads, including some in Scythian style. Decorative plates made of animal bones, painted ceramic. In addition Phrygian , Achaemenid and possibly an Elamite stamp seal.
- IIa 1–2 Hellenistic Period ( Alexander the Great and later)
- IIa 3–5 Late Iron Age ( Lydian , Achaemenid)
- IIa 6 - IIc 1 Middle Iron Age (Phrygian rule)
- IIc 2–3 Middle Iron Age (Alişar IV)
- IId 1–3 Early Iron Age ( Dark Age )
III: Hittite period
- IIIa 15th ~ 12th century BC Chr. Hittite Empire
- IIIb 17th ~ 15th century BC BC Old Hatti Empire
- IIIc 20th ~ 17th century BC Assyrian colonies
IV: Pre-Hittite Period
- IVa Intermediate Period
- IVb Early Bronze Age
architecture
In Stratum IIIb (ancient Ethite) round structures about 15 m in diameter were found with walls that were originally around 5 m high. Post holes (50 to 70 cm in diameter) were found in a "Round Structure 2" . The round walls were built with stone bricks measuring 20 × 20 cm. In addition, only small, one to two-room houses and a five-room house, all also made of carved stone, were found for Layer IIIb. From Layer IIIc there is a nine-room building, however completely destroyed by the round structures erected on it. Finds: A Phrygian-Hittite stamp seal from Layer IIa, which testifies to a mixture of the Hittite and Phrygian cultures. From layer IIIc (time of the Assyrian trading colonies) the main finds were fire-damaged human skeletons, both in the courtyard of the nine-room building and within the ruins. In addition to the skeletons, copper alloy daggers, swords and spearheads were found, one of which was stuck in a skull.
Inscriptions
Hieroglyphic inscription on a clay bull: CERVUS3-ti-wi (ya). Dated around 14th century BC. BC, subsequently thrown into a round structure.
photos
Kalehöyük Archaeological Museum near Kaman
Japanese park at the Kalehöyük Museum
Entrance to the Kalehöyük Archaeological Museum near Kaman
literature
- Masao Mori, Sachhiro Omura: A Preliminary Report on the Excavations at Kaman-Kalehöyük in Turkey, in: P. Mikasa (Ed.): Essays on Ancient Anatolia and its surrounding Civilizations. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 1995.
- Masako Omura: Stamp Seals from Kaman-Kalehöyük dated from the 1st Millennium BC, in: P. Mikasa (Ed.): Essays on Ancient Anatolia and its surrounding Civilizations. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 1995.
- Sachihiro Omura: Preliminary Report on the 22nd Excavation Season at Kaman-Kalehöyük in 2007. In: Anatolian Archaeological Studies 17, 2008, pp. 1-43 PDF .
- Sachihiro Omura: Kaman-Kalehöyük Excavations in Central Anatolia. In: Sharon Steadman (Ed.): Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2011, pp. 1099-1110.
