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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Pirot Höyük |
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Type:
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Mound |
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Altitude:
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663 m |
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Region:
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Eastern Anatolia |
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Province:
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Malatya |
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District:
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Kale |
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Village:
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Kiyicak |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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Middle Iron Age |
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| Location: The mound lies approximately 42 km east of Malatya; in Kuyucak/Kiyicak (Pirot) Village of the town of Merkez Kale; on the southern bank of Euphrates. It also known Ikiz Mound. |
| Geography and Environment: Previous to its inundation; the mound used to lie on a low elevation of an aged terrace of Euphrates. It is also called by the name of Ikiz Höyük since it has two cones. The 25 m high; large mound measures 140 m in South-North axis and 95 m in East-West axis. The eastern cone is elliptic and steeper; while the western cone is lower and broad [Karaca 1981:109-110]. The lower terraces of the mound and the western elevation is occupied by the modern village and the east of it is severely destructed by ditches and pits due to taking away soil and stones from the mound by villagers [Karaca 1983:69-70]. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: It was surveyed by H.H.von der Osten [von der Osten 1929: 99], K. Kökten [Kökten 1947], P. Meriggi [Meriggi 1962: 268] and in 1977 by M. Özdogan [Özdoğan 1977: 55]. And, it was excavated in 1978, and between 1980-83 under the direction of Ö. Karaca. |
| Stratigraphy: The excavations yielded following levels: Levels I-II: Middle Age and Byzantine Period Level III: Iron Age Levels IV and V: 2nd Millennium BC Levels VI-X: Early Bronze Age without any phase distinction, while the level VI is dated to the last phase of EBA III [Özgen 1985:39]. Levels XI and XII are dated to the Late Chalcolithic Age. |
| Small Finds: Architecture: The 1982 campaign focused on plan squares E-F-G/9 in the building level III. The plan square E/9 didn't reveal any architectural remains while it yielded cylindrical terra cotta loom weights with concave side walls, and a double handled jug inside a large amphora. Two adjacent rooms were uncovered at plan square F-G/9. Based on its plan, the wall that belongs to the Hittite Empire Period was used during the construction of the building. It appears that the occupation was terminated due to a great fire. Abundant number of timbers was used as construction material during this period. It seems that the rooms consisted of two storeys. The central beam that supported the upper storey was of wooden pillars. Pottery: A double handled jug inside a large amphora was uncovered in the room within the plan square E/9. The sherds are usually in pinkish, light brown, brownish and beige in color, and their pastes are grit-, mica- or organic tempered. Small Finds: Among the Early Iron Age finds the most interesting one is a cylindric seal. The seal was made of stone and the figures were engraved very schematically. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: The excavations performed at Pirot Höyük suggest occupation during the Iron Age. The architectural remains of the Iron Age has been destroyed. At present, the mound has been flooded by the reservoir waters of the Karakaya Dam. |
