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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Kurban Höyük |
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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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418 m |
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Region:
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Southeastern Anatolia |
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Province:
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Sanliurfa |
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District:
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Bozova |
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Village:
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Çinarli |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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EBA III EBA II |
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| Location: The site used to lie on the south bank of Euphrates; 2 km west of the village of Cümcüme connected to Bozova District of the city of Urfa; previous to its inundation by Atatürk Dam Reservoir. It was 60 km north-northwest of the city of Urfa and 15 km from the district of Bozova. The location code is U 50 / 7. |
| Geography and Environment: Kurban Höyük is founded upon a low; 1.5 km wide terrace on the south bank of Euphrates and is surrounded by a higher terrace at the south. It is discovered that the first settlement of Kurban Höyük lies beside a natural water spring; at the edge of the alluvial plain of a valley that cuts one of the higher terraces. The mound has two low cones. The higher one on the south is 9-10 m high from the plain level and measures 250x180 m. The latter on the north is 4 m high and measures 170x120 m. Both mounds; in total; cover an area of approximately 6 hectares (250 m in east-west and 300 m in north-south direction). 3000 m2 of the mound is excavated and virgin soil is reached in three of the trenches [Algaze 1990c:4-5]. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: It is discovered by Ü. Serdaroglu in 1975 [Serdaroglu 1977:120]; during his research in Lower Euphrates Basin and is surveyed by M. Özdogan from the University of Istanbul Prehistory Department as a part of the 1977 Lower Euphrates Basin Surface Survey Project [Özdogan 1977:171]. The excavations were conducted between the years 1980-84 by L. Marfoe from the Chicago Oriental Institute as a part of the project for the sites endangered by Atatürk Dam. Widely excavated area and the virgin soil reached in several places yielded an exact stratification of the mound as well as playing a key role in the dating of other settlements in the Southeastern Anatolia Region [Marfoe 1983a:96-101; Marfoe et al. 1986:48-53; Verhaaren 1997:1068-1069]. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism. |
| Stratigraphy: Marfoe presents the following table for the stratification of the mound from upper to lower levels: Level I: Middle Age Cemetery (12th-13th Century AD) Level II: Early Abbasid Period (9th-10th Century AD) Level III: Transition from EBA to MBA Level IV: EBA II-III (Middle and Late Intermediate Phases) Level V: EBA I (Early Phase) Level VI A and B: Late Chalcolithic Age Level VII: Middle Chalcolithic Age Level VIII: Early Chalcolithic Age (Middle and Late Halaf Period) |
| Small Finds: Architecture (ascending order) Level V dated to the beginning of EBA is located where the northern mound is situated. This level yielded a big building with a stone paved courtyard. For several centuries; the site was not inhabited and in the midst of the third millennium BC constructions identified as Level IV were built. This level is subdivided into phases A; B and C. Phase C of Level IV is spread on the southern mound and the neck while phase B was uncovered on a very wide area on both hills. Phase B of Level IV yielded an occupation site covering a central settlement with a big construction ringed by a fortification wall and surrounded by quarters which were settled by lesser number of inhabitants. The outer areas were largely used as workshops. The site looks like a city having various functions. Houses are in a compressed plan separated by streets of which they are lined along both sides. The fortified big construction is suggested to be the house of a rich or powerful person or an administrative structure by the excavator. Lower part; Level IV A revealed compressed small rooms beneath this big building. In both building levels; this part is ringed by mudbrick fortification walls. In the area C of the northern mound; houses; some houses have courtyards without any roof; front of the street [Verhaaren 1997:1069]. Upper level of IV A revealed a smaller city compared to the one in Level IV B. A dense occupation is noticed in the southern mound. At Level III; revealing the transition from EBA III to MBA I; dimensions of the buildings get even smaller. This level is very well known since it was excavated in a wider area. Architectural remains are still in good conditions. Foundations and sub-foundations of the houses were built of orderly erected limestones. All of the houses with floors of compressed clay; are gathered in eight blocks having streets; courtyards and open areas in between. Emergence of classes like craftsmen is obvious. Pottery: Influence of Mesopotamia evident in the preceding levels disappears at Level V. Local features become dominant in the pottery. There are three groups of ware; wheel-made fine plain ware; self-slipped ware and coarse ware. Level IV yielded wheel-made plain ware; metal imitated ware (metallic ware); painting decorated ware (band decorations) and Karababa ware. Samples of painting decorated wares decrease and the influence of Anatolia in the industry becomes evident. Tub-shaped vessels; storage jars and three handled kitchen vessels proving the relation with Northern Syria are common. Characteristics of the wares in the previous level continue at Level III; and relations with Northern Syria are still obvious. Groove decorated goblets in Hama type; horizontal and wavy hatched tub-shaped plain vessels were found. Three handled vessels are still used. Metal: Copper finds start from Level V. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: Out of two levels of EBA; Level IV B revealed that the crowded settlement had all the characteristics of an urban population with its quarters. The big building ringed by fortification wall should be a location where both the ruler of the city lived in and local and commercial activities of the city are managed from. Workshops are also seen outside the fortification walls. It is suggested that Kurban Höyük was a significant settlement during that period. It is stated that the settlement shrank in subsequent level and probably became a subordinate town of another major settlement. Level III claimed to indicate the transition from EBA to MBA has a settlement plan of a town rather than a city. Following that period; the settlement was abandoned until the Abbasid Period for some reason. Probably the fresh water spring nearby disappeared or the change in the trade route resulted in the abandonment of the town. |
