|
©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
|
|
|
|
|
|
Karagündüz |
|
|
For site maps and drawings please click on the picture...  |
For photographs please click on the photo...  |
|
Type:
|
Mound |
|
Altitude:
|
1800 m |
|
Region:
|
Eastern Anatolia |
|
Province:
|
Van |
|
District:
|
Merkez |
|
Village:
|
Karagündüz |
|
Investigation Method:
|
Excavation |
|
Period:
|
Early Iron Age Middle Iron Age Late Iron Age |
|
|
|
  |
|
| Location: It lies where the Eski Karagündüz (Sarokonis) Village is located; 6 km north of the Erçek Sub-District; 34 km northeast of Van Province. Van-Özalp motorway passes from 4.8 km southeast of the mound. New village is being established 2 km northeast of the mound due to the increase in the water level. |
| Geography and Environment: It is located on the western end of the Erçek Düzü formed by the Memedik Stream spilling to the lake on the east- northeast of the Erçek Village. It is reported that the trade road running from Özalp and reaching out to Van passed through this lowland and the mound is the highest mound of the Van region. It is claimed that the mound which measures 8-9 m in height and ca. 75x50 m in dimensions has a 6-7 m thick cultural deposit belonging to EBA. There is a carved marble stone with the dimensions of 145x107x53 cm on the mound. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: It was introduced as an EBA settlement by C.A. Burney in 1956 [Burney 1958:178; 192]; and excavated by V. Sevin from 1995 as the waters of the Lake Erçek rose and threatened the mound [Sevin 1996:338-339]. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism. |
| Stratigraphy: Layering of the mound is as follows; 1. building level: Middle Age cemetery 2. building level: Middle Age 3. building level: Late Iron Age 4c. building level: Middle Iron Age (Post Urartu, Med) 4b. building level: Middle Iron Age (Urartu Period) 4a. building level: Middle Iron Age (Urartu Period) 5. building level: Early Iron Age 6. building level: Middle and Late Bronz Age 7. building level: Early Transkafkasian Period |
| Small Finds: Architecture: The mound measures 75x50x5 m in dimensions. 1.5 km to the west is a necropolis dating to 1000 BC. Nine graves were uncovered so far in the necropolis. Six of them are of chamber graves with a rectangularlike plan. The ceilings collapsed. Their height ranges from 2 to 2,5 m. A spectacular building complex was built in the northern section during the Urartian Period. Strecthing in northeast-southwest, this building complex has foundation walls of 1,40 to 1 m thick stone blocks. It consists of an open courtyard, paved partially or completely with stones, and closed parts. Covering an area of at least 400 squaremeters, the building can be associated with the traditonal Urartian large houses with courtyard. The mound is ca. 8-9 m high. With its tomb structures, burial traditions, metal technology and pottery, it shows that the Early Iron Age culture of the Van Region was in close relationship with Urartians. Grave: Each chamber houses between 20 and 80 burials depending on the size of the grave. With the arrival of each new body, the previous ones were pushed back to have room, which is a tradition we are familiar from the classical Urartian tombs. Presumably buried as wrapped with a cloth or dressed, the bodies were left with some accompanying presents. Among them, the consistent ones are a terracotta bowl with an open mouth, served as a set for each body, and jugs with narrow mouth and high or low necks. The graves also yielded vertebrae fragments of animals. Next to each grave, there is a hearth. Pottery: There are many ceramic finds, which can be divided into two groups. The first group consists of mainly pink and wheelmade ware. Among the favourite forms are carinated bowls with incised horizontal groove decoration below the rim, and small jugs with "s" profile, frequently with bubbles on the shoulders. The second group consists of red-brown, thick and brightly slipped ware. The pottery include various types such as the ones with trefoil mouth, inverted-everted rims, and squat bulged body. Among the terracotta spindle whorls, cornelian and pottery, glossy red-slipped trefoil mouth jugs, fragments of vessels with high stands, bowls with simple rims or thickened out rims are noteworthy. The shape-repertoire of the pottery unearthed from Layer 3 which represents late Iron Age during 1998 excavations is very limited. Most of the findings are made from tile-red pastes which are then coated with whitish-crème while some are decorated with paint. The decorations are applied on light background either with only tile-red paint or only with brown paint or with black and red-brown paint together. One of the most frequently encountered patterns of decoration is thick band patterns applied over the flattened rims of pots in clusters of triangles, zigzags, or parallel or curved lines. The most common paint decorated vessels are pots with everted rims, which are sharp profiled and round bodied and sometimes with omphalos. The wide rims of pots and internal surfaces of vases with long necks are decorated with adjacent triangles in this is common decoration perception known from Eastern Anatolia and Northwest Iran. The most interesting group among the paint decoration are animal figures. This type of decoration is mostly seen on pot-belied pottery in which somewhat thick layer of coating is applied on the pastes which are brown or pinkish, and motives are painted over this coating as a single motive (tile-red) sometimes, or as usually is the case as a double (black and tine, black and brown color, etc.). Lion and water bird figures are of particular significance among the figures of animal species [Sevin et al. 2000:410-411]. Jewellery: The most remarkable ones include metal artifacts, bronze pins and bronze rings. Also found are blue beads, a bronze ring and again a bronze plate. Seal: Two seals uncovered, one in bronze and the other in black stone (diorite) clearly bear Urartian characteristics. Other: The most interesting burial presents are ornaments in iron and ceremonial weapons. Among them are bracelets, anklets and rings, all made by hammering technique, eyed pins and daggers, spearheads, large and small blades and a mace and a chain. Also found are terracotta spindle whorls, cornelian, blue beads and a bronze plate. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: The Early Iron Age necropolis at Karagündüz demonstrates presence of a cultural union between the Lake Erçek, and northern, eastern and western shores of the Lake Van during the Pre-Urartian Period. The excavations revealed that the classical Urartu Kingdom has been also essentially represented in this site as it was in the mound of the Van Fortress. The excavations at the Karagündüz Mound clearly demonstrated that the basin of the Lake Van underwent significant changes following the collapse of the Urartu Kingdom during the second half of the VIIth century BC, resulting in a major decline in each aspect. No architectural remains are detected during the survey carried out in 1998 in Layer 3 where Late Iron Age was represented. This fact suggests that the North end of the mound (where the trench is opened) is used as an outdoor workshop or storage area as is the case with 2nd structure layer [Sevin et al. 2000:410]. |
