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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Kalinkaya |
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For site maps and drawings please click on the picture...  |
For photographs please click on the photo...  |
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Type:
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Mound and Cemetery |
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Altitude:
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1150 m |
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Region:
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Black Sea |
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Province:
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Çorum |
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District:
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Alaca |
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Village:
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Merkez |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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| Location: It lies 3 km northeast of Alacahöyük; northwest of the Alaca District; southeast of Kalinkaya quarter; southwest of the Çorum Province. |
| Geography and Environment: Kalinkaya is located in a region comprising high hills; narrow valleys and rocky terraces on the northern border of the Central Anatolia plateau. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: It was excavated by R. Temizer and M. Akok between 1971 and 1974 which was initiated due to the damage caused by the treasure hunters and neighboring villagers taking soil as usual. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism. |
| Stratigraphy: No information is available about the stratification as the excavation reports were not published. Surface finds revealed that the site was first occupied at the end of the fourth millennium BC Finds of the third millennium BC and sherds dating to the second millennium BC were recovered. Remains from the transformation period between Chalcolithic Age and EBA-MBA (from the 4th Millenium to early 2nd Millenium) were unearthed during the 1971 and 1973 campaigns. It can be roughly divided in four periods; the bottom level (a) Chalcolithic, then the next level (b) EBA, which can be sub-divided into two levels, the next one which is level (c) maybe the "transformation" level representing the bridge between EBA and MBA cultural characteristics. The uppermost settlement area remains were dated to 17th century BC Old Hittite period [Zimmermann 2009:273]. |
| Small Finds: Architecture: Remains of constructions with mud-brick walls on stone foundations were uncovered. However they were brought to light in very bad conditions. Clay: Terra cotta animal figurines and a disc-headed flat idol were recovered. Human Remains: 34 graves including 72 burials were uncovered on a ridge in the settlement and adjacent to the settlement [Angel-Bisel 1986:12]. Vast majority of them is simple earth graves while thirteen are pithos graves and one is a cist grave [Özgüç 1978:35;footnote 38]. Some of the graves dated between 3100 BC and 2300 BC (Chalcolithic Age and EBA) are pithos graves facing the east. They are all reported dating to EBA. Some of them were capped by broken pithoi; and the burials were placed; their heads oriented toward the west. Double burials were found in some of the earth graves. Skeletons of Kalinkaya Cemetery were examined by J.L. Angel and C. Bisel in detail [Angel-Bisel 1986:12-30]; particularly concentrating on their genetic structure; diseases; etc. Most of them are in poor condition. Only six adult skeletons could have been completed. As grave goods; copper/bronze sun discs; daggers; bracelets; pins were recovered in addition to the whole types of pottery. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: Kalinkaya excavations were mainly concerned with the burial finds rather than the recovery of EBA settlements. It is reported that the grave goods are not similar to the cemetery finds of Alacahöyük; but they are smaller and simpler [Yakar 1985a:202]. Yet; it is difficult to compare them with the Alacahöyük graves. No detailed publication is available yet for interpretations. |
