- 1 The author would like to thank the General Directorate of Cultural Assets and Museums and the Direc (...)
1Elazığ Prehistoric Archaeological Survey Project (EPAS) was conducted within the boundaries of the Central District of the modern Elazığ Province in 2022 under the permit issued by the General Directorate of Cultural Assets and Museums, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey. Systematic surveys were carried out in the first season (2020) in Uluova and its vicinity and in the second season (2021) in Kuzova and its vicinity (for details see Özdemir, 2021; Özdemir, 2022). Investigations in the third and final season of the project in 2022 targeted the documentation of settlements dating to the periods from the Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Ages in the vicinity of Harput Plateau and Elazığ Plain within the boundaries of the Central District of Elazığ Province.1
- 2 As the EPAS team, we thank Archaeologist Bilal Aydın of Elazığ Museum, the Ministry Representative (...)
- 3 Because the statue head in question is housed in the storage of Elazığ Museum, the object was exami (...)
2The geographical extent of the research area covered by EPAS encompasses the territories of the villages that are administratively attached to the Central District of Elazığ Province. In this context, 18 villages were visited in the vicinity of Harput Plateau and Elazığ Plain, which fall within the boundaries of the Central District, and six archaeological sites were identified and documented in this research area.2 Four of the documented sites were previously registered mounds, while the remaining two were unregistered. Bureaucratic procedures were initiated for the recommendation of these sites to the Regional Board of Cultural Assets in Diyarbakır to be included in the national register of archaeological sites for protection. In addition to the archaeological sites, investigations carried out by the EPAS team included the examination of the alleged findspot of a stone statue head that was reported to be found in a well in Aksaray neighbourhood of Elazığ Central District and brought to the museum by local inhabitants.3
3The first systematic archaeological surveys in the western portion of the Upper Euphrates basin, where Elazığ lies, were carried out within the framework of the Keban Dam Salvage Archaeological Project. After the completion of the Keban Project, field surveys had ceased for long decades in the region. After this long interruption in research history, EPAS is the first project that has been initiated with the objective of investigating the prehistoric settlement history of the region. Investigations in 2020 resulted in the identification and documentation of 38 archaeological sites (Özdemir, 2021) and continued in 2021 with the identification of 22 more archaeological sites (Özdemir, 2022). In the 2022 field season, six more sites were identified, with which the total number of investigated archaeological sites after the third and final season of EPAS reached 66.
4Elazığ Prehistoric Archaeological Survey Project (EPAS) was planned as a three-year-long project, geographically encompassing the Central District of Elazığ Province and villages administratively attached to this district. In the third season of EPAS in 2022, six archaeological sites, including previously registered and unregistered ones, were identified during investigations that focused on the documentation of settlements from the Neolithic through the Bronze Ages in the villages located in Harput Plateau and Elazığ Plain (Fig. 1). Although the focus of investigations carried out by EPAS are the prehistoric periods (from the Neolithic through the Bronze Ages), the remains of later periods from the Iron Age through the Middle Ages were also documented when encountered at the new sites that were visited in 2022. Sites documented in 2022 were numbered in the order they were registered by EPAS, that is, sequentially following the sites registered in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, presented in Table 1, below. Accordingly, registered site numbers in 2022 began with EPAS Site No. 61 (for EPAS Site Nos. 1-38, see Özdemir, 2021, Table 1; for EPAS Site Nos. 39-60, see Özdemir, 2022, Table 1). For those sites that are already registered or have previously been published, site names follow the official name in the records; for those sites that have not been previously registered, sites are named by EPAS following the name of the nearest village (köy) or locality (mevki).
Fig 1 Map showing the boundaries of EPAS 2022 research area in Harput Plateau and Elazığ Plain with location of investigated sites
Map prepared by Enes Karadeniz.
Table 1 List of archaeological sites where cultural heritage remains were documented by EPAS in 2022 in the vicinity of Harput Plateau and Elazığ Plain.
|
EPAS Site No.
|
Site Name
|
Site Type
|
Chronological Periods Documented at Site
|
Nearest Modern Village / Neighbourhood, Locality
|
|
61
|
Körpe Höyüğü
|
Mound
|
Early Bronze Age (I-III)
Iron Age
|
Körpe village,
Alacayolutepeler locality
|
|
62
|
Gümüşbağlar Höyüğü
|
Mound
|
Early Bronze Age
|
Gümüşbağlar village,
Akpınar locality
|
|
63
|
Nevruz Ormanları
|
Mound
|
Middle Bronze Age
Middle Iron Age
|
Harput village,
Nevruz Ormanları locality
|
|
64
|
Kesrik
|
Mound
|
Early Bronze Age (I-III)
Early Iron Age
Middle Ages
|
Kızılay (Kesrik) neighbourhood, Köy İçi Aşağı Mahalle locality
|
|
65
|
Karaçalı Höyüğü
|
Mound
|
Early Bronze Age
Iron Age
Middle Ages
|
Körpe village,
Karaçalı locality
|
|
66
|
Mağaradamı Höyüğü
|
Mound
|
Pre-pottery Neolithic (?) Early Bronze Age
Middle Bronze Age
Iron Age
|
Salkaya (Hersenk) village, Mağaradamı locality
|
|
Aksaray Adamı / Aksaray Man
|
Flat settlement
|
Pre-pottery Neolithic (?)
|
Aksaray (Sarayatik) neighbourhood, Sürsürü Yolu locality
|
5The mound lies at Alacayolutepeler locality, 2 km northwest of Körpe village and 150 southwest of the dirt road that connects Körpe and Altınkuşak villages (Fig. 2a-b). The mound was visited for the first time by the EPAS project team in 2021. It has an ovoid form measuring 180 m north-south and 160 m east-west and it lies at 1097 m asl (above sea level). An old stream bed runs from southeast to northwest about only 50 m from the northern and the north-eastern skirts of the mound. The mound lies in a flat and open landscape overlooking the agricultural plain. Intensive accumulation of stone rubble on the mound implies that it hosts a fortified settlement. Terracing for agriculture has caused considerable damage to the contours of the mound on all its skirts. An intensive distribution of ceramic sherds, few obsidian tools and fragments, and ground stone tool fragments were encountered on the surface of the mound and its skirts. Surface finds date to the Early Bronze Age (EBA I and EBA III) and Iron Age.
Fig 2a Körpe Höyüğü, general view
Fig 2b Körpe Höyüğü, surface finds from the mound.
6The mound lies at Akpınar locality in Gümüşbağlar (Mürüdü) village, 900 m northeast of the village centre and 250 m west of the Elazığ-Pertek highway (Fig. 3a-b). The site was investigated for the first time by the EPAS project team in 2021. The mound has an ovoid form, measuring about 80 m across and it lies at an elevation of 1238 m asl. A stream bed runs southeast-northwest north and east of the mound. The western portion of the mound is destroyed severely by construction equipment and large amounts of earth have been removed from the western slope of the mound. In the archaeological strata visible in the sections cut by cranes, many amorphous ceramic sherds datable to the Early Bronze Age were exposed, some of which were collected as part of the surface assemblage to be studied by the EPAS survey team. In addition, remains of stone wall foundations were also exposed in this section. Ground stone tools were found on the surface of the mound. The mound settlement dates to the Early Bronze Age.
Fig 3a Gümüşbağlar Höyüğü, general view
Fig 3b Gümüşbağlar Höyüğü, examples of ceramics from the mound
7The archaeological site that is officially registered as “Nevruz Ormanları Tarihi Yerleşim Alanı” (Nawruz Forest Historical Settlement Area) lies in the woods known as Nevruz Ormanları by local inhabitants within the boundaries of the Harput neighbourhood (Fig. 4a-b). The settlement site lies on Kureyşler Tepesi (hill), about 1 km southeast of Harput settlement centre and 500 m southeast of Harput Fortress. The hill lies at 1370 m above sea level. The Kureyşler hill, on which Nevruz Ormanları is located, is a natural rocky outcrop that measures 260 m across north-south and 315 m across east-west. This hilltop settlement spreads over a wide area. The spatial distribution of ceramics on the surface indicates that the entire area on the top of the hill was inhabited. The settlement is founded on top of a rocky ridge like the nearby Harput Fortress overlooking the Elazığ Plain. The western slopes of the hill face Harput Fortress. Archaeological evidence for an Urartian Period site was encountered here including Urartian rock signs and ceramics. Traces of Urartian masonry such as rock-cut steps and niches were observed on the cliffs west and north of the hill, indicating that this area was in use in the Middle Iron Age.
8In 2016-2018, remains of a Middle Bronze Age settlement were encountered on the northern portion and the southern and eastern skirts of the mound during the salvage excavations carried out by the Directorate of the Elazığ Archaeology and Ethnography Museum in the area where the Harput Rock Relief was discovered, and thus the site was dated to the Middle Bronze Age (Demir et al., 2016, xv). The intensive distribution of ceramic sherds on the surface of the mound indicates that the site was inhabited in the Middle Bronze Age and the Middle Iron Age.
Fig 4a Nevruz Ormanları, general view
Fig 4b Nevruz Ormanları, examples of ceramics from the mound
9The archaeological site that is officially registered under the name “Kesrik Kilise Kalıntısı” (Kesrik Church Remains) in the south-eastern portion of the Elazığ Plain, is in fact a large mound with a wide base. The mound lies at Köy İçi Aşağı Mahalle (‘Village Centre Lower Neighbourhood’) locality within the administrative boundaries of the modern Kızılay (Kesrik) neighbourhood (Fig. 5a-b). The site is situated 185 m east of Kazım Karabekir Street, 260 m west of Cahit Dolakay Boulevard, which connects to the Elazığ-Diyarbakır highway, and 110 m north of Kesrik Mosque.
Fig 5a Kesrik Church remains, aerial view
Fig 5b Kesrik, surface finds from the mound
10The archaeological site was discovered by chance during the construction of residential high-rises by TOKİ and only the area where the church remains are located was registered as a cultural heritage site. The church is built on top of a mound, and its remains cover an area of about 25 m (east-west) x 18 m (north-south) on the eastern part of the mound. The settlement area consists of a mound formation, which contains the area that is officially defined as the registered site “Kesrik Church Remains”, and the mound measures about 200 m along the east-west axis and 150 along the north-south axis. The church on the mound lies at 1006 m asl.
11In its original form, Kesrik used to be one of the largest mounds in the Elazığ Plain; unfortunately, however, it has been severely disturbed in recent years due to modern construction activity. Until a few years ago, there were mudbrick village houses on the mound near the registered site Kesrik Kilise Kalıntısı. These buildings were damaged during the 24th January 2020 earthquake, after which a verdict was issued for their demolishment, and the construction of new subsidised housing was initiated by TOKİ. During the construction of residential high-rises, the church remains were identified and registered on the mound, nevertheless, construction activity continued. Our investigations documented that the original contours of the mound were much wider and higher than currently visible.
12An intensive accumulation of obsidian tools, ceramic sherds, and animal bones was found in the foundation trench of the TOKİ buildings just south of the Kesrik church remains. Additionally, stone foundations of walls were observed in the sections exposed in foundation trenches of the TOKİ buildings south and west of the church.
13In addition to the finds gathered from the TOKİ construction site, our team also documented ceramic sherds and few obsidian tools and fragments on the surface of the mound and scattered around its skirts. Surface finds are dateable to the Early Bronze Age (EBA I and EBA III), Early Iron Age, and Middle Ages (13th-14th centuries AD).
14Karaçalı Höyüğü is one of the two archaeological sites that were identified by EPAS for the first time in 2022. Karaçalı mound lies at Karaçalı locality in the commons of Körpe village (Fig. 6a-b), 2.21 km northwest of the village settlement centre and 1 km southwest of Ebil locality, which lies within the boundaries of Kaplıkaya village. Karaçalı Höyüğü lies on the northern slope of a northeast-southwest-orientated ridge where the village commons are located, overlooking the plain. It can be surmised that the site was chosen for a settlement area because of its strategic location. Highland pastures lie to the south of the mound, and it is surrounded by a fertile plain north, west, and east. This intermontane plain that lies in a naturally defensible spot is suitable for agriculture and it is irrigated by a freshwater spring located near the mound.
15The mound measures 185 m across the north-south axis, 150 m across the east-west axis, and lies at 1099 m asl. Illicit excavations on the mound have left sections where archaeological strata are exposed, and stone foundations of architectural remains can be observed. Ceramics collected from the surface date to the Early Bronze Age, Iron Age, and the Middle Ages. Additionally, few fragments of ground stone tools and obsidian tools were found on the surface of the mound.
Fig 6a Karaçalı Höyüğü, general view
Fig 6b Karaçalı Höyüğü, surface finds from the mound
16Identified as an archaeological site for the first time by EPAS in 2022, Mağaradamı Höyüğü (mound) lies at Mağaradamı locality in Salkaya (Hersenk) village, about 650 m southeast of the village centre and 300 m west of the Elazığ-Pertek highway (Fig. 7a-b). The settlement site lies on top of a north-south-orientated ridge. The area where archaeological finds were encountered extends about 365 m along the north-south axis and 150 m along the east-west axis. Stone wall foundations south of the hill, documented by our team, may belong to the early modern period. Located on the northern slope of the rocky ridge at 1052 m above sea level, the mound has an ovoid form with a diameter of ca. 90 m.
17The rocky terrain rises south of the mound and the wide open plain lies north of it. The mound is situated in a naturally defensible area on the rocky outcrop, surrounded by abundant freshwater springs and creeks in small valleys to its east and west. Our team also discovered a cave with a nearby freshwater spring on the cliffs of the rocky outcrop north of the mound.
18Remains of stone wall foundations and large storage jar sherds were encountered in archaeological strata exposed in sections cut by mechanical excavators on the mound. Moreover, many microlithic obsidian tools and an obsidian arrowhead that may belong to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period were found in this area. In addition, many ceramic sherds, fragments of ground stone tools, and obsidian tools were found on the surface of the mound. Finds from the stratigraphic section and the surface indicate that the mound was settled in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, and Iron Age.
Fig 7a Mağaradamı Höyüğü, general view
Fig 7b Mağaradamı Höyüğü, surface finds from the mound
19During our surveys in the region, we learned that a stone statue head was found in a water well in the garden of a private house on Sürsürü Road in Aksaray (Sarayatik) neighbourhood of the Elazığ Province Central District in 2021. The statue head was brought to Elazığ Museum by local inhabitants who claimed to have found it (Fig. 8). The house in question, which lies within the geographical boundaries of our research area, was visited and the well and its vicinity were examined by the EPAS team, but no trace of archaeological remains was encountered. The well is about 15 m deep, and water is still accessible.
Fig 8 Aksaray Man
20As part of investigations carried out in the Aksaray neighbourhood that falls within the research area of EPAS, our project also applied to the Directorate of Elazığ Museum for a permit to examine the stone statue head in question and after the permit (Research Permit No. E-86982568-155.99-2592634 dated 08.06.2022) was issued the object was analysed in the storage room of the museum by our team. The anthropomorphic head is carved from a volcanic rock, and it is broken off at the back. Eye sockets and the nose are carefully executed in detail. Paint remains between the lips just below the nose indicate that the teeth were depicted with paint. It has not been possible to determine whether the statue head is an authentic archaeological object. If the object is genuine, then it must be contemporaneous with the remains documented by Taş Tepeler Project in Şanlıurfa region and thus would be dated to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period.
21The authenticity of this object can potentially be determined by two methods, provided that necessary permits are granted by the authorities. The first method is to pump the water out of the well and climb down inside the well to search for traces of archaeological strata or contexts at the level where the artifact was retrieved. Alternatively, the second method would be to utilise Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to identify features underground in and around the well. GPR collects data by sending high-frequency electromagnetic waves under the surface of the earth and by measuring the travel-time of the signal as it bounces off the features and facets it hits and returns to the surface. The differences between the signals from different spots are then used for delineating the boundaries of geological or archaeological subterranean features. If there is an intermediate facet sandwiched between rocks of different dielectric characteristics on both sides, the electromagnetic wave would be refracted from this surface and the collected measurements would yield detailed information about the invisible features.
22In other words, if the technical methods described above are employed in the area where the stone statue head was found, we would be able to document potential archaeological features associated with the context this object is originating from, which would aid us in confirming the authenticity of the artifact.
23The third and the final season of EPAS – Elazığ Prehistoric Archaeological Survey Project, which aims at the documentation of archaeological sites dating from the Neolithic through the Bronze Ages in Elazığ Province Central District, was conducted in 2022 in the vicinity of Harput Plateau and Elazığ Plain in accordance with the planned agenda of the project. Six archaeological sites were identified and documented in this final field season. Surface collections indicate that the settlement sites were inhabited mainly in the Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Middle Ages. One of the mounds has yielded small quantities of finds displaying the characteristics of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period.
24Evaluation of settlement patterns based on the archaeological sites identified by EPAS in the 2022 field season in the vicinity of Harput Plateau and Elazığ Plain and detailed analyses of the ceramics from the survey assemblages are ongoing. Preliminary observations on the categorisation and the dating of the ceramic assemblages from the survey season are presented below in comparative perspective with the findings of EPAS in the previous seasons and extant evidence from earlier surveys in the region.
25Among the sites visited by EPAS in 2022, Mağaradamı has yielded a large quantity of obsidian microliths, which bears witness to the presence of a Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period settlement at the site. In Elazığ region, the closest parallels for the obsidian microlithic tools found at Mağaradamı mound are known from Boytepe (Özdemir, 2021, pp. 175-176, Fig. 30). In addition to the archaeological sites, our team investigated the intriguing case of a stone statue head, which was allegedly found in a well in the Aksaray neighbourhood of the Central District and brought to the museum by local inhabitants. Whether this statue fragment is a genuine archaeological artifact retrieved from its original context or not could not be determined with certainty. If it is authentic, then it may be dated to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic.
26Ceramic sherds belonging to the most characteristic pottery group of the Early Bronze Age in the region, namely the Karaz / Kura-Araxes Wares, were found at Körpe, Gümüşbağlar, Kesrik Kilise Kalıntısı, Karaçalı, and Mağaradamı. Comparable examples are known from many sites investigated by EPAS in 2020 and 2021 field surveys (Özdemir, 2021; Özdemir, 2022) and from the Keban Dam basin (Altınova Plain) settlements like Norşuntepe (Hauptmann, 1982, pp. 20-21, 26, Pl. 23, 47), Tepecik (Esin, 1979, Pl. 58.1, 61-64), Korucutepe (Kelly-Buccellati, 1974, pp. 46-48), Han İbrahim Şah (Ertem, 1972, p. 66, Pl. 42.1-3), and Pulur-Sakyol (Koşay, 1976b).
27Examples of the most characteristic local ceramic ware of the Early Bronze Age III, the Malatya-Elazığ Painted Wares, were encountered at Kesrik Kilise Kalıntısı, Körpe, and Mağaradamı in 2022. These painted assemblages were also identified by EPAS in 2020 at Körkuyu, Könk, and Çağlar 2 (reported in Özdemir, 2021) and in 2021 at Kalkantepe and Gözpınarı (reported in Özdemir, 2022). In the region, the closest parallels of this painted ceramic ware are known from Norşuntepe (Hauptmann, 1974, Pl. 74.1; Pl. 79.4-9; Hauptmann, 1976, pp. 48-49, Pl. 44.5-6, 51.1, 51.6, 51.10, 52.1-2, 53.3-8; Hauptmann, 1979, Pl. 31, 45.2-3, ), Tepecik (Esin, 1970, Pl. 20-24; Esin, 1971, Pl. 92.2), Tülintepe (Esin, 2000, p. 88), Yeniköy Höyüğü (Koşay, 1976a, p. 176, Pl. 110-112), Kalaycık (Serdaroğlu, 1970, p. 34, Pl. 11-13), Han İbrahim Şah (Ertem, 1972, p. 65, Pl. 41.3-5; Ertem, 1974, p. 61, Pl. 58.4-5) in Keban Dam basin, and Köşkerbaba (Bilgi, 1987a, Pl. 125, 131; Bilgi, 1987b, Pl. 140, 150) and Şemsiyetepe (Darga, 1987, Pl. 185-187) in Karakaya Dam basin (for Malatya-Elazığ Painted Wares, see Marro, 1997).
28Sherds in the characteristic Groove Ware of the Early Iron Age were encountered at Kesrik and Mağaradamı. Glossy Red Pottery sherds, dateable to the Middle Iron Age, on the other hand, were discovered at Nevruz Ormanları. In addition, local, utilitarian Iron Age ceramics were identified at Körpe and Karaçalı. Comparable Iron Age ceramics were found at many sites in the region investigated by EPAS in 2020 and 2021 (Özdemir, 2021; Özdemir, 2022). The closest parallels to these Iron Age assemblages are known from Yıldıztepe, Genefik, Bahçecik (Sevin, 1988; Sevin, 1889; Köroğlu, 1996), Değirmentepe Höyüğü (Duru, 1979, Pl. 5.5), and Norşuntepe (Hauptmann, 1976, Pl. 46, 54-56; Hauptmann, 1982, Pl. 22.5). Ceramics from more recent periods like the Middle Ages and the Ottoman Period were also encountered, albeit limited, at certain mounds, e.g., Kesrik and Karaçalı.
29The 2022 field season of the Elazığ Prehistoric Archaeological Survey Project (EPAS) lasted for 12 days within the boundaries of the research area identified in and around Harput Plateau and Elazığ Plain, with which the EPAS Project ended. In this final season, six settlement sites yielding prehistoric finds were identified and only one artifact, the obsidian arrowhead from Mağaradamı, was submitted to the Elazığ Museum as an inventoried archaeological object.
30In conclusion, after three seasons of EPAS, our findings corroborate that Elazığ was intensively settled through the periods and hosted many culture groups from the early prehistory to the Iron Age. In three seasons alone, 66 archaeological sites were identified within the defined research area of EPAS. Renewed investigations in the region with the onset of the EPAS Project have resulted in the identification of previously unregistered archaeological sites and cultural heritage assets, as well as the documentation of the current state of previously known archaeological sites. Ongoing evaluation of settlement data, ceramic studies, and analyses of ground stone and obsidian finds will soon contribute to new datasets and revised observations on the settlement history and material culture assemblages of the region.