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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Tekeköy |
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Type:
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Flat Settlement and Cemetery |
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Altitude:
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70 m |
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Region:
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Black Sea |
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Province:
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Samsun |
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District:
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Merkez |
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Village:
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Tekeköy |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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EBA III |
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| Location: It lies in the valley of Findicak extending from the village known as Tekeköy or Tekkeköy to the south; on the south of the railway and motorway between Samsun and Çarsamba; about 16 km southeast of the Samsun Province. Being named after the nearest village; the exact location of this flat settlement and cemetery is not well defined in the publications; it is only said that it is located where two narrow valleys; getting narrower toward the south; 300 m far from a Cave "A" controlled again by a small sounding; join and start to widen [Kökten et al.1945:383]. At present; Tekeköy became a quarter of Samsun and lost its village structure with the apartments built. This modern settlement is expected to expand through the valley in a near future. The settlement is surrounded by steep rocks on the east and southeast. |
| Geography and Environment: There are a lot of rock shelters and caves on the ridges of the valley irrigated by the Findicak and Çinarlik streams. The terraces in front of the shelters on volcanic rocks look suitable for settlement. The settlement located on one of these terraces or slopes attracted the attention by its pottery finds. It is reported that the site was employed as a tobacco field; 100x50 m in dimensions during the excavation [Özgüç 1948:56]. It is surrounded by steep rocks on the east and southeast. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: The findspot was excavated in 1940 by a 11x7 m trench under K.Kökten; N. Özgüç and T. Özgüç who were conducting a survey in the region. The excavation was carried out as a small sounding aiming only to identify the settlement plan of the Samsun region since the sherds collected from this flat area; employed as a field at present; are comparable to the ones at Dündartepe. The EBA cemetery uncovered in lower levels was a big surprise. |
| Stratigraphy: The cultural deposit of the Hittite Period sherds up to 1.5 m depth below the surface of the field yielded an EBA deposit of 160 cm thick beneath followed by a 4 m thick cemetery level reaching to the virgin soil at 5.40 m depth. It is reported that the cemetery level has also three sub-levels [Kökten et al. 1945:385]. The amazing thing is the finds of sherds; loomwieghts; spindle whorls; millstones; maces; axes; etc. recovered from the levels identified as cemetery and an upper deposit level of 160 cm thick. The excavators points out that this confusing situation can be explained in a way that the main settlement of this cemetery is the upper level. According to S. Dönmez; the cultural level I belongs to an EBA I-II settlement and an EBA III cemetery while the cultural level II belongs to MBA. |
| Small Finds: Architecture: The excavation did not yield any remains of an architecture of wattle and daub survived within a 1.6 m thick EBA layer. The lower cemetery level is still undetermined; neither the place they were settled. Pottery: Vessels and sherds of handmade; plant and straw tempered; brown ware with black exterior and interior surface; red interior surface and black exterior surface were recovered. Chipped Stone: Retouched and untouched blades are chipped from both flint and obsidian. Ground Stone: Flat axe; mace head and hand-mills were recovered. Bone/Antler: The ends of shaft-holed hammer hoes made of deer bone stem are glossy because of employment. The excavators report that such hoes are not seen in Central and Western Anatolia; and can rather be comparable with Southeastern Europe [Kökten et al. 1945:387]. Metal: Metallic finds like earring; fragments of bracelet; knife; nail; spearhead; etc. were recovered [Kökten et al.1945:387]. Human Remains: The excavation was carried out on a 7x11 m area dug from 3.10 m to 5.40 m and from 1.64 m to 4.62 m and yielded 17 skeletons. The three phased cemetery revealed 4 skeletons in the lowest level; 6 in the middle level and 6 in the the upper level. The dead were interred into simple pit burials. The floor of the grave pit was paved with earth; a mixture of sand and cobbles. The burials were placed in full or semi-hocker position leaning on their right or left sides. Some were placed straight (not contracted). There is no specific orientation; it differs. Although a vast majority of them is single burials; one of the graves yielded two skeletons side by side. Both adults and infants were buried in a mixed order alongside. Bowls and jugs were left as grave goods largely behind the skull and rarely near the waist. The dagger near the waist and earrings near the skull indicate that they were buried with their personal belongings. Copper/bronze weapons like dagger and knife were also placed on the arms. The traces of loosely woven textures on the daggers; probably; belong to fabric of their clothings. One of the vessels left as grave goods is black washed and burnished. Another sherd of black washed vessel bears relief of a human face. Plenty of several types of dagger blades in copper/bronze were recovered from the graves as grave goods. Metallic objects are largely recovered from the second and third phases of the cemetery [Özgüç 1948:56]. The excavators indicate that the weapons are of Black Sea types. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: This settlement excavated years ago still has its mysteries. No architectural remains like stone foundations; mudbrick walls were uncovered neither in the lower level of EBA or in the upper level of Hittite Period. As traces of the wooden (heavy log and wattle) architecture specific to the Black Sea can only be noticed by careful observations; no remains of such an architecture were identified during the excavation. Another difficulty with Tekeköy settlement is if the layer identified as cemetery with three sub-phases has a settlement level for this cemetery. If the flooded deposits of a near settlement were not excavated; it is incorrect to define it as a layer. This interpretation by the excavators; probably; resulted from the fact that the architecture of wattle and daub could not have been uncovered in the lower levels. As the excavation reports were not published in detail; it is difficult to make precise comments about it. Depending on the burial customs of the Ikiztepe (Samsun) settlement; it can be suggested that Tekeköy was first employed as a cemetery while the surrounding area was occupied; then this occupation expanded to cover the cemetery and the architecture was based on wooden structures. The cemetery of Tekeköy has distinctive characteristics with its burials in various positions (hocker; semi-hocker and straight); absence of grave goods in some graves and burials in different orientation. The pottery finds expose that the settlement and cemetery of Tekeköy are comparable to Dündartepe and Ikiztepe. It is noted that the settlement and cemetery couldn't have been found by the team of U.B. Alkim since they were completely demolished by the modern settlement. Latest research showed that the cemetery of EBA III was not as rich as Ikiztepe. |
