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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Coba Höyük / Sakçagözü |
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For site maps and drawings please click on the picture...  |
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Type:
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Mound |
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Altitude:
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620 m |
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Region:
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Mediterranean |
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Province:
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Gaziantep |
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District:
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Nurdagi |
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Village:
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Sakçagözü |
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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: It lies 3 km northwest of the Sakçagöz (Keferdiz) Village; west-northwest of the Gaziantep Province. |
| Geography and Environment: It measures 9 m in height together with the bedrock and 140x90 m in dimensions. It is one of the medium sized mounds of the Southeastern Anatolia region. The cultural deposit is reported not to exceed 6 m. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: The recovery of the reliefed orthostates in 1907 attracted the attentions; and caused the excavations conducted on the mound; known as "Mound A"; in 1908. The limited work time of Garstang's team; the existence of the orthostates; and the smallness of the mound caused the excavations start at this mound instead of other more important and big mounds [Garstang 1908:100Ğ101]. After a break; excavations were continued in 1911. The last excavation in Coba Höyük (or Jubba Huyuk as Garstang says) was conducted by J. Waechter with J. du Plat Taylor and M.V. Seton-Williams for the British Archaeology Institute in 1949 [du Plat Taylor et al. 1950:53-138]. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism. |
| Stratigraphy: As the excavation lasted very short; the settlements dating from the second millennium BC have been attested only in a very limited area. In the overall stratification of the mound [Harmankaya et al.1998:Coba]; the layers probably dating from the EBA were not identified clearly. It has two building levels (?) identified as Va and Vb at layer V probably dating from the Late Chalcolithic Age-EBA. The building level Va yielded material dating from mixed periods while the layer VI revealed lots of the orange colored samples typical for this region during EBA. |
| Small Finds: Architecture: Building level Va houses a grey ashy cultural deposit including fragments of mudbricks and plaster which exceed a thickness of 1 m [du Plat Taylor et al. 1950:78; fig.6]. The building level Vb revealed a 2 cm thick clay floor on the southwestern part of the trench. No traces of walls were observed in both building levels. Layer VI also has two phases. In VIa; fragment of a wall built of big stones borders the pebbled floor [du Plat Taylor et al.1950:80; fig.8]. Pottery: Level Va is interesting as it doesn't yield any painted ware like the other levels. Samples of the red Uruk ware; the red washed ware; the gray ware; the orange buff colored ware are observed [du Plat Taylor et al. 1950:103]. Among the limited number of sherds; forms of deep bowls; flat bowls and jars are seen. Two new types of ware are introduced at level Vb. One is the grit tempered and very well burnished ware with a paste colored in a range from buff to gray; orange-brown while the other one is the greenish cream thin pasted; wheel-made ware. The brown ware is dominant among the kitchen ware. Forms of bowls; jars and cooking pots are common. Although there are no major changes in the ware; new forms are introduced at layer VI. Other: Limited number of small finds was recovered from layers V and VI. The excavators evaluate the finds of V-VIII together. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: Even tough the restriction of the excavated area does not permit to make an exact interpretation; it is noted that the mound was not heavily inhabited on the basis of the poor finds. Layer V is dated to Uruk IV-Jamdat Nasr-Early Dynasty Periods in a range from 3200 to 2750 BC whereas the layer VI to the midst of the third millennium BC. |
