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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Kussaray |
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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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1095 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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Merkez |
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Village:
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Kussaray |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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EBA II |
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| Location: It is located in the Düvenci Plain; southwest of the Çorum-Samsun highway; between the village and the motorway; 400 m northwest of the Kussaray or Kizsaray Village; some 15 km northeast of Çorum Province. |
| Geography and Environment: It looks like a flat hill; 20-25 m high; covered by limestones. Excavation yielded a cultural deposit of ca. 4 m thick. It is suggested that a 150x100 m sized part of the hill was ringed by fortification walls. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: It is excavated by H.Z. Kosay in 1966 for the appeal of Milli Egitim Bakanligi (Ministry of Education) when it was heard that a few tablet pieces were found on the surface of the mound. The location of the three trenches is not reported in detail by the excavator. The excavation could not continue for long since no tablets were recovered in Hittite levels and because of the troubles in nationalization of the site (for details; please see: Harmankaya et al. 1998:Kussaray). |
| Stratigraphy: 4 layers were uncovered. Virgin soil was not reached. Layer identified as EBA (second layer) has three building levels. The one in the middle underwent a massive fire. The lowest layer is informed to belong to the Late Chalcolithic Age. |
| Small Finds: Architecture: Due to the confined excavated area; the architectural plan is poor. The superstructure of the buildings with single lined stone foundations is of mudbrick. Inside a structure; its plan not published in the excavation report; a hearth of 1.5 m diameter was uncovered accompanied with a brazier next to it. Pottery: Likes of small cups recovered at the Ahlatlibel and Alacahöyük excavations were also found here. Even tough their characteristics are not reported; it is understood from the footnotes that they have a straw tempered paste and a red surface color. Clay: Loomweights and spindle whorls in terra cotta were found. Chipped Stone: Plenty of blades; largely in flint; were recovered. Human Remains: Two graves were brought to light from EBA levels. Both belong to dead buried in hocker position into simple pit burials. The burials were not leant to a specific side. One of the graves yielded a couple of bronze earrings in spiral form on both ears of the dead [Kosay 1968:pic.19-20]. An infant skeleton was found disarticulated next to the above mentioned hearth. Excavator reports the presence of pithos graves he claimed to belong to this age in the bottom of the rocks on the western foothill [Kosay 1968:89]. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: Kussaray Höyügü is one of the settlements excavated by a sounding only for a week and hence introduced without any details about its finds just like many other settlements in Anatolia. Therefore; it is very difficult to summarize its EBA features and include the finds in the Anatolian chronology. It was attempted to be dated on the basis of the similarities with Alacahöyük and Ahlatlibel only. It can be dated to the second half of the third millennium BC. |
