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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Tülintepe |
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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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830 m |
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Region:
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Eastern Anatolia |
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Province:
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Elazig |
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District:
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Merkez |
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Village:
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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EBA I EBA II |
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| Location: Before it was inundated by Keban Dam; the site used to lie approximately 21 km east of Elazig; between and close to the old Elazig-Bingöl railway and highway. |
| Geography and Environment: Tülintepe is one of the five mounds; inundated by Keban Dam. Moreover; soil from Tülintepe was used to construct a new railway; because Elazig-Bingöl railway and highway were going to be inundated. Therefore; upper parts of the mound were removed by a bulldozer; thus destroying the upper layers. Tülintepe was 200x250 m in area and 16.60 m high before the destruction. Geophysical analyses suggest that the deposit of the mound still continues down to 5/6 m below the surface [Esin-Arsebük 1974b:137; 139]. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: The accessibility of the mound by railway on the north and by motorway on the south attracted the attention of many researchers conducting survey in the Eastern Anatolia region. The history of Altinova/Uluova Research; including Tülintepe as well; begins with the 1945 surveys conducted by Kiliç Kökten for TTK (Turkish History Foundation) in Eastern Anatolia; it is mentioned in the reports of P. Meriggi; and C. Burney; who conducted surveys in Eastern Anatolia; reports the sherds collected from the surface of the mound. The photograph displaying the condition of the mound before the destruction was published by P. Meriggi. Removal of the upper levels resulted in the larger excavation of the lower levels. In 1966; surveys for documenting the sites that were going to be inundated by Keban Dam were conducted by METU; Department of Restoration and Preservation of Historical Heritage. In 1967; surveys were jointly conducted by the University of Istanbul Prehistory Department and the University of Michigan Anthropology Museum. Then; excavations were conducted by U. Esin and G. Arsebük from the University of Istanbul Prehistory Department from 1971 to 1974 [Özbasaran 1992:1; 53]. |
| Stratigraphy: The pottery recovered during the excavations and the surface collection carried out by the excavation team before the excavation has laid out that the site had been inhabited during the Chalcolithic Age; the EBA; the MBA-LBA; the Iron Age; the first millennium BC and the Ottoman Period. The excavators report the presence of EBA I-II finds comparable with phase G-H of the Amuq Plain [Esin-Arsebük 1982:table at 121]. |
| Small Finds: Architecture: The EBA layers of Tülintepe were completely demolished as a result of the above mentioned destruction. The city walls; a stone paved well dug into the layers of Chalcolithic Age and a four-cornered building with mudbrick wall on a stone socle around it were rescued as they were on the plain level. The city walls built on the layers of Chalcolithic Age surround the EBA acropolis. The test trenches opened on the northern parts revealed only a portion of 41 m long of the city walls. The walls are battered and destroyed in some places. Having a 2 m thick foundation; only a 1.2 m high portion of this foundation was uncovered. The wall is not pierced by a gateway; and there are no projections to function like towers. As the portion of the wall extending to the west or east is deeper; it was not traced in this part. Uneven big and little quarry stones were erected since the faced stones placed in the outer part. The gap between the stones was filled by loam mortar. It is suggested that the city wall was pretty higher than what survived and the superstructure was; probably; of mudbrick. Absence of any small finds related with the wall gave rise to dating problems; still unsolved. Another element survived from the EBA settlement is a stone well of 3.5 m in diameter and in a dimension which could have been built by means of a scaffolding inside a big pit dug by cutting the lower levels of the Chalcolithic Age in depth [Esin-Arsebük 1974:68]. The wall of the well was built by big flat flagstones in a single row attached by clayed mortar. No stairs were found. They; probably; used wooden ladder for this purpose. As the opening of the well was demolished during the digging operation of earth filling required for the railway in 1966; it is unknown to which phase of EBA it belongs. The excavation started to reach out to the bottom of the well which is as wide as a vegetable garden well was stopped because the water table was reached at a depth exceeding 6 m. It is noted that to supply water; the inhabitants opened the well very deep since the water table of the plain was lower than the present. Upon completion of its function; it was employed as a garbage pit and things as various as whole vessels; hearth stands; various tools; spindle whorls; animal bones; horns; and awls in bone were thrown into the pit. Pottery: Samples of the black-red-brown burnished ware called Karaz ware were recovered from the well. Samples of the handmade painting decorated ware bear geometrical and schematized animal figures applied by red; brown and black paint on a light colored wash. Limited number of the wheel-made fine ware (simple plain ware); the tannan ware (metallic ware) and the reserved slip decorated ware complete the pottery industry of EBA. The sections other than the slopes of the EBA settlement yielded intact cups and sherds. Metal: A metallic hoard dating from the EBA by the typical features of the metallic items was recovered by coincidence during the removal of soil for the railway. This hoard of weapons; probably in bronze; consists of a short sword and five spearheads. Conserved at the Museum of Elazig; the short sword resembles the daggers with its triangular tang and long; thin blade. The tang doesn't have a rivet hole. The nearest example to it is the short sword of Alacahöyük dated to the EBA III. The spearhead with a tang and a two-compartment blade; second compartment looking like a large leaf is a very popular type in Anatolia from the beginning of EBA (based on the hoard of Aslantepe VIA) to the end. The types of spearheads were not used only in Anatolia; but also in Mesopotamia (for expansion see Harmankaya 1993:374). Some are produced curved to prevent the slipping of the wooden handle. Except one; all the spearheads were intentionally folded to prevent the re-use. The water well on the southern part of the mound yielded copper slags [Esin 2000a:88]. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: Demolition of Tülintepe provided; probably; a larger excavation of the Chalcolithic Age layers than the other settlements yielding the finds of the same period; but restricted the illumination of the settlements belonging to the EBA and upper layers. The presence of wall remains ca. 130 m in diameter indicate the defence requirements of a somewhat big city compared to its age. The water well; 3.5 m in diameter might have been built for the water requirements of a big population. Tülintepe; probably; housed a palace of the ruler/principal for a period of time. The hoard finds might have been the grave goods rather than finds employed during the daily life. Probably; finds like vessels; etc. used to be found at such graves were destroyed by bulldozer during the destruction operation. Or they were underestimated by the people who found them. The hoard finds are dated to the second half of the third millennium BC depending on the similarities in their form [Harmankaya 1993:374]. The dates can be taken earlier by the help of the Arslantepe finds. |
