©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project

Tepecik - Çiftlik

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Tepecik - Çiftlik
Type:
 Mound
Altitude:
 1450 m
Region:
 Central Anatolia
Province:
 Nigde
District:
 Çiftlik
Village:
 Merkez
Investigation Method:
 Excavation
Period:

     

Location: The site lies northwest of the city of Nigde; 1 km east of the small town of Çiftlik.
Geography and Environment: The mound lies in a small valley between two streams; immediately east of the Melendiz Mountains. It has a 200 m diameter and is 4-5 m high. The mound is currently plowed and used as an agricultural field. This process has caused much damage to the mound. The valley that the mound lies in is rich in water sources and has very fertile soil. Obsidian resources are located very close to the mound and have been used by the inhabitants of this site.
History:
Research and Excavation: The mound was discovered in 1966 by I.A. Todd. In 1973; it was surveyed by M. Fornaseri of the Malatya; Aslantepe crew; who was searching the area to try and discover where the Late Chalcolithic chipped stone tools at Aslantepe may have come from. Another collection was conducted on the mound in 1990 by a Japanese team led by Omura; who were surveying the Central Anatolian region. The excavations were initiated in 2000 under the leadership of E. Biçakçi of Istanbul University and E. Faydali from Nigde Museum. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Stratigraphy: Beneath the surface soil was reached the burnt and ashy first level. The second level was reached in all tree of the trenches. In the areas where this level was well preserved; remains that appear to have a few building pheses were revealed. In addition to Neolithic finds; the site yielded both Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age finds. Stratigraphy become clear after 2004 season excavations and reported as below: Late Period (Late Roman-Byzantine) Middle Chalcolithic Early Chalcolithic Transition Period: Early Chalcolithic-Neolithic Neolithic [Biçakçi et al. 2006:223]. More accurate information was obtained on the culture deposit locations of Tepecik-Çiftlik levels thanks to the radiocarbon dating results at the end of the 2007 researches. According to radiocarbon dating the primary phases of level 3 were dated to 6000 BC. The dates based on the specimens taken from the center of level 4 suggest approximately 6300 BC. Based on this information it may be mentioned that the level 3 of Tepecik-Çiftlik which was dated to Early Chalcolithic Period started circa 6000 BC. The level 4 which is assumed to be the final level of Neolithic Period may be dated to circa between 6400/6300 BC and 6000 BC [Biçakçi et al. 2009:210]. After ten years of field work, five main occupational phases were determined: I. Late Roman-Byzantine (Level 1, represented by heavily disturbed graves) II. Middle Chalcolithic (Level 2, mainly exposed in the nortwest section of the excavation area) III. Early Chalcolithic (Level 3, exposed over almost all of the excavation area) IV. Pottery Neolithic Upper Phase (Level 4 and 5) V. Pottery Neolithic (Level 6 to 9, known from a deep sounding in Trench 16K) [Biçakçi et al. 2012].
Small Finds: The pits which are partly mixed with the surface sol and gray burned areas are dated to Middle Chalcolithic. There are no continuous deposits or architectural remains belonging to this period; but some pits and potsherds found with the burned areas. Under this mixed layer lies Early Chalcolithic period and it consists of 4 layers. The upper layer has ended by a heavy fire. There are very few architectural remais belonging to this period against the numerous in situ finds at the burned deposits. Under the burned layer there were rather well-preserved building remains and few in situ finds of Early Chalcolithic found. The buildings in these layers have lots of reconstruction phases. Early Chalcolithic layers are represented by upper layers of builings A and D; three lower layers of buildings A and D; buildings F; AC; U and S. Most of the finds from Chalcolithic layers are potsherds and chipped stone tools. During 2004 season excavations the red burned deposit on building D and the baulk between trenches 17J and 17K yielded lots of finds. Among the in situ pots there are ones with relief decoration which are not known from previous seasons. There are also two big daggers found at the same are [Biçakçi et al. 2006:224]. Building remains were found in ruins that belong to the lower phases of level 3 during 2007 campaign. It was found that the single room buildings have square plans. These buildings extend alongside the east side of a wideopen area [Biçakçi et al. 2009:207]. The most common bone finds inside level 3 during 2007 campaign are the awls. This is followed in quantity by a large amount of "phalanx idols" made of the phalanx bones of wild horses and wild donkeys. The sherds decorated with relief descriptions of human and animal figures suggest that this kind of pottery became more common during the late Early Chalcolithic Period at Tepecik-Çiftlik. There was a large amount of red slipped, burnished, necked, crested large size jugs. Besides, also a large amount of finds were found that belong to the grindstone tool industry. A large portion of these finds were worn due to frequent usage and possibly were reused in the construction of new buildings. Axes made of polished stones, sling stones, various upper and lower grinding stones, pestles, grindstones, burnishing stones, elaborately worked maces, soft tuff finds worked by chiseling with unidentified purposes and loom weights are among other finds [Biçakçi et al. 2009:208-209]. An obsidian workshop was discovered on the northwest section of Trench 16M in Level 3 in 2010. Obsidian blades and flakes in various sizes were recovered in the workshop, as well as an antler and hammer stones used for production of blades. The wall remains on the BK building in Trench 16L were removed and the construction plan of the BK building was clearly exposed. The northern and the eastern sections of the building have been damaged. The south and the east walls were constructed outwards. Therefore, small "apses" were created inside the building. Inside the apsis on the south, a furnace facing to the north was placed. Numerous renewal phases were discovered on the oven floor. There is a storage room in quadrangular shape which was formed by using thin clay walls and divided into units inside. Although in small amount, carbonized grains were recovered inside. The storage room was damaged, just as the northwest section of the BK building, by a large pit which was opened afterwards. In the middle section of the building, various bone and obsidian finds as well as potsherds were found in situ on the floor. Also, adjacent to the east wall, there is a "bench" formed with a few rows of stone inside the building. A melted material which became slag as a result of high heat was found in Trench 17 in the burnt area which was called "Room BF" in previous years. The wall remains which the different structuring and the phases can be observed together and a platform formed with flat stones were exposed in the trenches of 16K and 17K near the U building. Inside the building, where the vertically placed stones and the special features plastered with clay several times were exposed, ground stones reminiscent of a "bench" were found in situ. In the south section of Trench 18L, the north part of the building belonging to Level 3 was exposed. A furnace with a probable cupola which was renewed and used many times is located on the northwest corner of the building. The opening of the furnace faces to the south [Biçakçi 2012:70-72].
Remains:
Interpretation and Dating: The vessels with relief decoration are compared with Kösk Höyük vessels; and based on this comparison it is suggested that the settlement in Tepecik-Çiftlik may have continued in Early Chalcolithic. The mound is located very close to Göllü Dag; which is one of the most important obsidian sources of Near East. The excavations are expected to give information about the settlements of the societies that are related to these sources.


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