©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project

Pazarli

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Pazarlı
Type:
 Mound
Altitude:
 1075 m
Region:
 Central Anatolia
Province:
 Çorum
District:
 Merkez
Village:
 Çikhasan
Investigation Method:
 Excavation
Period:
 Early Phrygian Middle Phrygian Late Phrygian

     

Location: It lies at Karapinar Mevkii; between the villages of Mustafa Çelebi and Çikhasan; 1 km northeast of Çikhasan Village; south of Çorum. The site had been named as Pazarli by the excavator probably because of the former name of the village. It is locally known as Kale.
Geography and Environment: The settlement is surrounded by small hills pierced by streams. The natural defenses provided by the rocky block of limestone; probably; played a significant role while choosing this site for occupation. The Karapinar Özü; passing by this block; flows through a narrow strait in waterfalls and joins the Alaca River on the north. The small streams reaching this stream carved small caves by eroding the limestone rocks. At present; it is a densely wooden area.
History:
Research and Excavation: Upon discovery of some painted terracotta panels with reliefs dating to the Phrygian Period by the villagers of Pazarli within the cultural deposit on a rocky mass locally called Kale, systematic excavations were initiated to determine the source of these finds between 1937 and 1938 under the direction of H. Z. Kosay of the Turkish Historical Society. The hilltop was excavated to expose the entire Phrygian settlement. It is reported that the building remains on the ridge of the hill have been revealed due to erosion as this section did not allow heaping of soil.
Stratigraphy: H.Z. Kosay reports that the cultural levels continue from the Chalcolithic Age to the Classical Period. Mainly the Iron Age levels were excavated. As a result of the excavations and based on the information provided by Kosay, it appears the hill contain Chalcolithic Age, EBA (probably EBA II), MBA-LBA and Iron Age (Phrygian and Hellenistic Period) levels [Kosay 1941a:2-3]. Three Phrygian building levels were identified. The lowest level is the most important one and it seems that it was partly abandoned following a fire.
Small Finds: Architecture: The settlement at building level 1 was surrounded by defence walls which strecth partly forming angles, and partly strecth in straight line, and towers were built on four corners to suit the topography of the land. The domestic buildings of the building level 2 were built completely using these defence walls. It was found out that the buildings in the building level 3 were partially projected from the defence walls. Square planned towers were erected close to each other on the vulnerable spots in the fortifications, and thick main walls were built between those towers making inward angles to facilitate the defence and trap the attackers. The main walls leaning against towers on one side and against steep rocks on the other stretch in straight line on the easy-to-defend spots. The tower walls and main walls were partly built on the bedrock, and partly on the clay soil. The gaps between the walls made of undressed and attached large stones were filled with smaller stones. The remains indicate that the superstructure of the tower walls and the main walls were made of adobe. At the plan squares K/8, L/7 and L/6, there is a stepped gate paved with small stones in the form of a pedestrian walkway. These steps appear in the form a fan making a curve towards the east as entered to the fortress. Although the wall of the Pazarli Fortress is similar in style to those at Alisar and Gavurkale, they are not exactly the same. The domestic buildings of the building level 1 were built inside the fortress in order to suit the inclination of the land and benefit from the beautiful view. The rugged terrain between these houses were leveled and supported by walls of different lengths, resulting in many terraces. The foundation walls of such domestic buildings were constructed using undressed stones and loam mortar. Most of them were seated on the main bedrock or on the very hard earth ground. Red adobe walls were erected over those foundations. The rear sides of these domestic buildings lean against the rock, and their adobe walls were supported by a second retaining wall. It seems that they were two-storey buildings, and a large amount of wooden beams and girders were used for their construction. The top of these buildings were covered with wooden roofs and barrel vaults. They were also covered with roof tiles. The rooms are mostly in rectangular plan, and there are also small rooms in square plans, but overall they compose a large rectangular form. The interior walls were plastered with a white and resistant soil while the exterior surfaces were coated with terra cotta plaques decorated with reliefs in various colors. These red-brown reliefs depict war scenes and wild animal hunting scenes as well as decorations with geometric and plant motifs. The roofs which were covered with white and red roof tiles and equipped with decorated gargoyles are complementary to these magnificent wall coatings. These decorations are not observed inside the buildings. This type of wall coatings were previously seen at Akalan, Gordion, Burdur Döger, Sardis and Menemen/Larisa. The plan squares I/11 and J/11 yielded two pavements decorated with nail shaped mosaics at the Phrygian building level 1 inside two identical halls of 7x3.5 m, divided by a partition wall. These pavement mosaics were made in a geometric decoration style by alternating use of 7 cm long nails in black and cream composed of spherical heads and globular sections arranged adjacently on a sturdy layer of clay. The mosaic pavement was delimited by side walls decorated with a white clay frame and small cobble stones. The remains of the adobe wall erected on these foundation walls were found in situ. Such mosaic pavements were also seen at Gordion and Kozluca Village of Mecitözü. The buildings in the building level 2 were again built over the defense walls as they were in the building level 1. However many sidewalks were unearthed at this level. They share their construction technique and plan. It is believed that use of relief decorated panels were less in this level. In the building level 3 some domestic buildings are simpler. There are extramural residences as the population increased during that period. Pottery: The Phrygian pottery uncovered at Pazarli are parallel to the ones at Alisar, Alacahöyük and Gordion. The number of painted ware is more than the Phrygian grey and black painted ceramics at Pazarli. a) Matt Painted Pottery: Consists of two types of ware; white and red washed on red. 1. Only the red slipped ware include decorations with blackish and dark red geometric lines. 2. The white washed ware decorated with geometric patterns mainly consists of the following: a) Decorations with dark brown or black geometric lines, b) Decorations with dark brown and red geometric lines, c) Decorations with simple and wide red bands, d) Decorations with white rim bands over red engobe, e) Decorations with concentric circles made with black/dark brown lines on red/white slip arranged side-by-side in the form of bands on the inside and outside, f) Decorations with plant and animal depictions along with dark brown and red lines. Depiction of a woman holding a rython in her hand is observed on the body of a white washed sherd. b) Monochrome (Single-Coloured) Pottery: 1. Completely or partly slipped ware on the inside and outside. They are wheelmade. Carinated, long spouted pots, and lids are observed. Some have buff colored slip instead of red. They all have ring shaped bases. 2. There are black slipped and polished on inside and outside. They have straight banded handles, ring bases and ring-shaped decorations. 3. All of the grey unslipped sherds are wheelmade, mainly burnished. Some of the grey and black sherds bear lines, seals or special signs on the bottom. A Paleo-Phrygian inscription was observed on a grey sherd found in 1937, but is undeciphered. 4. Coarse and grey sherds are mostly of kitchen ware. 5. Besides banded or round sectioned handles, there are reel-shaped examples, mainly observed in metallic Phrygian vessels. 6. Portable tripods with grey ring-sectioned examples are observed to be used as stands for pointed based vessels. Terra Cotta: a) Simple Roof Tiles: They can be classified into four groups. 1. Simple trapezoidal and grooved tiles with depressed corners, 2. Grooved angle tiles with red slip and high corners for roof gutters, 3. Red and white slipped ridge tiles, 4. Red slipped gutters. b) Architectural Coating Panels: Some have four corners and corniches, and some have a semi-circular top with a flat base. It is assumed that they were hanged on walls using the holes pierced on them, but none of them have traces of a screw or decayed wood remains. Based on their relief decorations they are grouped under certain categories; 1. Warrior Reliefs: Marching soldiers were depicted on four-cornered panels measuring 47x44 cm. They mostly look left. Some fragments with warrior depictions marching in opposite direction were also found. Some other panels depicting warriors with larger heads and larger shields were found, indicating availability of panels in various sizes. It is believed that the human heads do not depict specific people, but they illustrate stylized types. They don't bear any mustach or beard. In that way, they are different from the warrior depictions on Mycenaen vases. The aigrette on their helmets are in the shape of a crescent moon facing down. It is believed that the main casque was made of metal and the ear armor and the round shield were of leather. The soldiers wore dresses with short skirts. Their legs were depicted so expressively that they showed the action well, with their muscles visible although they were dressed. They wore shoes similar to gaiters or boots. The soldiers were depicted in attacking position, holding the spears with their right hands up in the air, and the shields with their left hands. Not all reliefs are white slipped, some have red slips. None of the decorations on the round shields look alike. The same is valid for ornaments on the dresses, which were mainly decorated with geometric motifs. 2. The lion-bull fight: A fight of a bull and a lion was depicted in two rows on a relief panel, which is 40 cm long, 26 cm wide and 3.5 cm thick. The bull in defensive position lowers his head toward the mouth of the lion. Only one single horn is visible on side view. The tail is between the rear legs. The lion's mouth is open and its tail is curved upward. The skins of the animals are ornamented with inconsistent lines in either red or dark brown. 3. Griffin: a) There are two griffins facing each other and an antilope lying in front of them on a panel with a somewhat large depression, that can be hanged on a wall with a rounded top and flat bottom. Some parts are missing. b) A large griffin was depicted keeping all four feet on the ground, the tail curved like a hook and up in the air on a four cornered panel. There is another one oppposite to it. There are two Centaurus standing against each other at the bottom of the panel, which is separated by a line. Their frontal parts are not human, but more like a horse. They carry different trees on their shoulders. 4. Wild goats: They were found complete. Only one of them has a broken cornice. It is 41 cm wide, and 28 cm long. Although these wild goats so called Elik in the region are seen at the Mount Karadag near Pazarli, it is believed that this motif and religious composition is related with the East. Similar depictions can be observed on the cylindrical seals of Northern Syria and Anatolia from the 2nd Millennium BC and decorations at Tell Halaf. 5. Centaurus: A panel decorated with a centaurus holding a branch in its hand was found near the ground surface in 1937, and it was reconstructed after its missing portions were found during the 1938 campaign. Other: Other finds include a bronze ladle, an arrowhead, a fibula, a furniture fragment in the shape of an animal's head, various loom weights and spindle whorls, rhytons, moulds for casting figures, two stays in the form of reels for placing the artifacts while baking inside an oven, a bone awl, a sewing needle and a knitting needle.
Remains:
Interpretation and Dating:


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