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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Karaz |
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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 |
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Altitude:
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1800 m |
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Region:
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Eastern Anatolia |
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Province:
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Erzurum |
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District:
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Merkez |
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Village:
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Karaz |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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EBA II EBA I |
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| Location: It is located to the village of Karaz (Karamanlar); 5 km north of the Ilica Sub-District; about 16 km west-northwest of the Erzurum Province [Kosay-Turfan 1959:349]. |
| Geography and Environment: It is a medium sized mound; 16 m in height and ca. 20 m in diameter. It has been completely obscured by the houses of the modern village [Kosay-Turfan 1959:map.2]. Southern part faces the plain irrigated by the Karasu Stream. It is surrounded by a fertile land suitable both for cropping and pasture. It has been severely damaged by the local villagers who removed soil and stones from the mound. Leaders of the excavation claim that no good results can be obtained from the upper levels. To the south lies another flat hill; probably consisting of remains of a late period which this exposes that the mound has more than one core. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: Since it was near the province and severely damaged; it was given priority for excavation among other mounds like Sos and Tepecik located in the Erzurum Plain. It was introduced by H. Örs in 1941; and excavated under H.Z. Kosay and K. Turfan in 1942 and 1944 rather like a sounding opened in three places called clefts A; B and C. Although stepped trench B; 15x50 m in dimensions on the top hill yielded the stratification; no exact results were obtained due to the insufficiency of the excavation. Erzurum Plain is thought to be filled in time with the alluvium of Karasu. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism. |
| Stratigraphy: The 1.5 m thick level of Byzantine Period is immediately followed by an EBA level. Settlements dating from Byzantine and other late periods were almost demolished by the modern village. Virgin soil was not reached particularly due to the water table of the plain. It is claimed that a yellow colored embanked layer of 2.5 m thick having no indications of cultural deposit roughly separates the Late Chalcolithic Age and EBA while the section sketch included in the excavation reports of Karaz Höyügü illustrates that this yellow earth doesn't completely cover the layer underlying [Kosay-Turfan 1959:plan 3]. It is not possible differentiate the Late Chalcolithic Age/EBA I and the other phases of EBA based on the characteristics of pottery like it was done with the other contemporary mounds of Erzurum Plain. 1.5 m above the sterile yellow earth layer (level of EBA II) remains which underwent a fire were revealed. S. Güneri reports the presence of sherds dating to the midst of the second millennium BC during a survey conducted on the mound still being damaged [Güneri 1992:152]. An arrowhead recovered during the excavation is also dated to that period. Virgin soil was not reached. |
| Small Finds: Architecture: The thin and long trench in the form of a cleft produced poor results since the buildings couldn't have been uncovered completely even tough they yield a good plan. Excavators report the presence of rectangular structures with stone foundations and mudbrick walls. But; published plans do not provide a complete construction plan [Kosay-Turfan 1959:plan 2]. However; the hearths with horn projections uncovered at Karaz attracted the attention of the archaeological world. Those elaborately built hearths probably built for sacred purposes are evaluated among the immovable cultural values. Pottery: Upper levels (levels 2 and 3) yielded handmade; red-black washed and burnished ware while the lower levels (levels 3 and 4) yielded sherds of handmade; coarse or fine relief; groove and incision decorated; black-brown-gray washed ware. As indicated above; features of those wares are not provided in detail. Therefore; it is not clear if there is a progress throughout the building levels. Decoration styles are not rich. The vessels decorated with fine relief and incisions are accepted belonging to EBA II. Circles; spirals; serpentine patterns and filled in triangles are common as well as the forms of bowls with out-rolled rims; wide bowls; flat lipped jugs; deep; open vessels with small bottoms; two-handled; flat-bottomed vessels [Kosay 1948:166]. Chipped Stone: Samples of a blade dominated industry were recovered. Both obsidian and flint were in use. An amazing find is the long blades with jagged mouths like a saw which were probably used for various wood works. It is not reported if they have silicate brightness. Clay: Horseshoe-like movable hearths in terra cotta were recovered. Their exterior surfaces are burnished; and paste is slightly tempered with straw. They are in various forms; some having projections on the top to house the mace shaped pots. Position of the Karaz hearths in Near East was examined by W. Lamb [Lamb 1954:23-24]. Projections in one of those hearths called altar (sacred hearth) have a form resembling the head of an animal [Kosay-Turfan 1959:368]. Bones/Antler: Finds like beads; arrowheads; pins and awls were recovered. Some of the awls are shuttle-like while the arrowheads are spurred type. Metal: Copper and bronze pieces were recovered from several building levels. Metallic finds recovered on the yellow earth are higher in number compared to the ones recovered under. Shaft-holed axe with a curved tang was called "nacak" given the local name. Also found are subjects like chisel; pin; fibula [Egeli 1995:182; pl.2/1]; sickle and dagger. Out of those finds; two shaft-holed axes [Museum of Erzurum inv.no.69 and Kosay-Turfan 1959:409] were found to be made of copper [Esin 1969:135]. Other metallic finds of Karaz are also of copper. Exposure of very limited amount of arsenic in those finds evidences the use of arsenical copper tendrils [Esin 1969:135]. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: Kosay and Tufan propose that another excavation should be carried out by the University of Erzurum as they accept the insufficiency of the excavation they conducted in 1959. The restriction of the excavated area and the severe damage on the mound didn't provide sufficient information for interpretation. The reason why Karaz Höyügü is significant for the Anatolian archaeology is that it constitutes the roots of the Khirbet Kerak Culture of Palestine in Anatolia. Therefore; it is better to call it "Karaz Culture" [Arsebük 1979:81-82]. Finds belonging to that culture originate during the Late Chalcolithic Age-EBA I in Anatolia and last throughout EBA. It appeared in the northeastern part of Anatolia and around the Kura and Aras rivers in Southern Caucasia (Early Transcaucasian Culture) [Lamb 1954:26-28]; and later on extended onto Central and Southeastern Anatolia and even reached Palestine though the Amuq Plain during the last quarter of EBA. The culture is represented by very well burnished pottery in black-grey-red-brown surface colors as detailed in pottery section. Relation of this ware with dark colored burnished ware seen in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Ages was proved during the recent excavations carried out in the Keban region [Arsebük 1979:81-89]. Karaz stratification was re-evaluated by A. Sagona who examined the finds preserved at the Museum of Erzurum and compared them with the results of Sos Höyük excavation. For him; the lowest level of 3.5 m thick is dated to EBA I-II; middle level of 2 m thick to EBA III and upper level of 0.5 m thick to MBAa I-II [Sagona 2000:chronology table at fig.5]. |
