©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project

Yassi Höyük / Gordion

For site maps and drawings please click on the picture...

maps

For photographs please click on the photo...

Yassı Höyük / Gordion
Type:
 Mound
Altitude:
 700 m
Region:
 Central Anatolia
Province:
 Ankara
District:
 Polatli
Village:
 Yassihöyük
Investigation Method:
 Excavation
Period:

     

Location: It is located next to the Yassihöyük Village; north of the Polatli District; west of Ankara Province. The cemetery of the second millennium BC lies immediate southeast of the village.
Geography and Environment: It is located on the eastern side of the Sakarya River. It is one of the biggest mounds in this region. It is considered as the ancient Gordion settlement of the Phrygian Period together with the settlements in the vicinity. The ridges on the south house tumuli. The area between tumulus H and I on the first ridge; east of the river; some 850 km northeast of the mound was employed as a cemetery.
History:
Research and Excavation: From 1949 to 1967 excavations was conducted under the directory of R. Young. Following Young, K. de Vries led the excavations from 1968 to 1987. K. Sams took over in 1988 and remained as the site director until 2012. Between 2007 and 2013, the excavations at Gordion were suspended due to preparations for the publication. Excavations started again in 2013 with C.B. Rose as the site director. Gordion is included in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Stratigraphy: The stratification of Yassi Höyük was identified in the northern trench. Due to the water table emerging 2 m under the EBA level, the excavation was terminated. Layer I: Hellenistic Period Layer II: 5th century BC Layer III: Iron Age (Phrygian Period) Layer IV: Iron Age (Phrygian Period) Layer V: Late Hittite period Layer VI: EBA phase III. The stratification during the last campaign started with LBA. A a result of the recent studies on the stratigraphy of Gordion as follows [http://sites.museum.upenn.edu/gordion/tr/tarih/kronoloji/, 11.5.2016, 17:30]: 0: Modern (1920s) 1: Middle Age (10th-15th century AD) 2: Roman Period (1st century BC-4th century AD) 3A: Late Hellenistic Period (260 (?)-100 BC) 3B: Early Hellenistic Period (330-260 (?) BC) 4: Late Phrygian Period (540-330 BC) 5: Middle Phrygian Period (800-540 BC) 6A-B: Early Phrygian Period (900-800 BC) 7: Early IA (1100-900 BC) 9-8: LBA (1400-1200 BC) 10: MBA (1600-1400 BC)
Small Finds: Architecture: Early Iron Age Gordion (1200-950 BC) is known only from very limited, deep sondages on the eastern part of the Citadel Mound. Based on the data obtained so far, this period is represented by small villages consisting lightly constructed houses. The earliest phase is stratified directly above the LBA level with no sign of a stratigraphic break to indicate a significant hiatus after the fall of the Hittites. There are clear changes between the LBA and the Early Iron Age in terms of architecture and subsistence economy. In Early IA, architecture is represented by a number of pit-houses. These houses consist of shallow rectangular pits sometimes paved with flat stones The walls above them were made from a framework of reeds and branches covered with mud plaster. In Early Phrygian Period (950-800 BC), Gordion became a citadel with substantial fortification walls and monumental buildings. This dramatic change in the character of the site can be linked with the formation of a Phrygian political state, under a central authority that could oversee the organization necessary for such major works. The earliest of the excavated elite burial mounds, Tumulus W (see also Gordion Tumulus W), was also built during this period, cal. 850 BC. On Gordion's Citadel Mound, the Early Phrygian citadel (Late 10th century-9th century BC) is the premiere showcase for monumental Iron Age architecture in Central Anatolia. On the southeast side of the mound, the gate complex leading into the citadel is located. It takes the form of a ramped approach-way, flanked by massive courts and leading to a double-doored gatehouse. The gate complex belongs to an earlier period. The stone walls beside the approach-way are still preserved to a height of about 10 meters. The northern court was used as a roofed storeroom for a while. The extensions of the citadel's fortification walls have been uncovered to the northeast, northwest, and southwest. Within the citadel, two main districts have been unearthed. The Palace Area consists of two large open-air courts that are divided by a thick partition wall. To the southwest of the courts lies the Terrace Complex. This complex consists of two long, multi-unit buildings facing each other across a broad street, all elevated on a terrace that is as much as two meters higher than the level of the Palace Area. The buildings along the southwestern side of the Palace Area (Megarons 1-4) and those in the Terrace Complex were all destroyed in the great fire that occurred around 800 BC. The megarons were built with mudbrick on stone foundation. Among the megarons, Megaron 2 is noteworthy. It has a peeble-paved floor with complex decoration in its main room. There is an elevated platform in the front. Figural and abstract designs incised on its external walls. In front of the building, and perhaps belonging to it, a stone roof-crown or akroterion was found. Megaron 2 could be a temple due to its features. It was probably dedicated to the Phrygian mother goddess Matar. Megaron 3, which is the largest one, contains a great number of artifacts. These are a wealth of luxury items: much fine pottery, bronze vessels, and furniture with ivory and metal fittings and inlaid ivory plaques. Megaron 3 was probably used as a reception and audience hall. In Middle Phrygian Period (800-500 BC), a new citadel was built after the heavy fire occurred around 800. This new citadel was built on a higher level than the old one. It is the replica of the old one. The monumental gate complex is located in the southeast. The massive rubble underpinning of the new gate was kept in place by a stepped retaining wall of multicolored worked blocks that may have risen as high as 20 meters above the outside ground level. The retaining wall no doubt also figured prominently in the defense of the New Citadel. The city wall of the new citadel is located outside the city wall of the old one and these walls are higher. Within the fortifications, the principal districts are virtually the same as in the old citadel. Two large courtyards in the east are surrounded by megarons. To the west, two rows of buildings facing each other across a wide street are located. The Lower Town's residential area was built on fill or an earth terrace adjacent to the massive fortification walls. Here were large stone buildings to the east and small mudbrick houses to the west [http://sites.museum.upenn.edu/gordion/tr/tarih/demir-cag-gordion/, 11.5.2016, 17:30]. In 2013, the huge street passing through the middle of the mound was excavated in order to understand the development of the citadel during Early, Middle and Late Phrygian periods. This street was used as the main passageway of the city for almost 600 years. Remains of a monumental structure built with stone and mudbrick were found during the studies carried out near the entrance of the street. This area is located below the Building with Mosaic that was excavated by R. Young in previous years. Building with Mosaic is decorated with multicolored pebbles. It was probably built with the Persian master of the region. In the trench opened in this area, remains dated from Early Phrygian Period (9th century BC) to Early Roman Period (1st century AD) were exposed. In this area, a stepped stone ramp or an independent wall on the terrace wall was unearthed. This remnant extends in the southwest-northeast direction. It is 9 m in length. However, it is seen that the wall continues outside the trench as well. The remote sensing system studies show that the wall extends 20 m towards the east and about 10 m to the west. The ramp and independent wall were built with limestone blocks. It forms a rectangular plan. 13 steps of the ramp were exposed. It is believed that the ramp lies 3-4 m more to downward. It is possible that the ramp and the wall supported by the ramp is about 10 m high. These remnants belong to the city wall of citadel system and they are possibly connected to a door. This wall and ramp could belong to Early Phrygian Period [Rose 2015:494-495]. The 2014 studies concentrated on two trenches. The city wall dated to three different periods as Early Phrygian (9th century BC), Middle Phrygian (8th century BC) and Late Phrygian (6th century BC) was exposed. Although the Early Phrygian city wall and ramp don't follow a straight line, it extends through the trench. The part of the wall, facing the east, was built in angular. This angle is in the same direction with one of the streets in the Lower City. The western part of the street heading from the Lower City to the citadel was exposed. It is found out that this street was transformed into a ramp. After the fire about 800 BC, the Early Phrygian wall was built to support the Middle Phrygian wall that was probably built at the beginning of this century. It is seen that the back façade of the wall is about 8 m wide. Although the bastions of the Middle Phrygian main gate have the same monumental features, this is too much glorious for a city wall. It was built with colored stones like the Middle Phrygian Gate. Therefore, one can see the gate clearly when approaching the citadel. The second trench is the Terrace Building. This building was used as textile center during the 9th century BC. The excavations aimed to obtain evidence about industrial activities dated before the construction of the Early Phrygian building and the terrace (825 BC) leaning to it. A hearth with a diameter of 25 m was found at a depth of 4.5-5.5 m from the building floor. The potsherds found around and on the hearth are dated to EBA. The domestic remains dating to EBA were also exposed in the upper layer and in the east of the hearth. There is a pit, interior section and edges of which are plastered, with a diameter of 2 m. This pit contains handmade red burnished potsherds, a red burnished depas, sheep/goat, deer and cattle bones together with midden remains. Bone shuttles, needles, two spindle whorls and two broken loom weight were found in the Early Phrygian midden in the upper layer. Apart from these, charcoal remains and pottery sherds were also recovered. There is a site that was described as a monumental castle (which is in the same size with Küçük Höyük in Lower City) located 1 km west of _ç Kale Höyügü, in the western edge of the Outer City. The Lower and Outer City are separated from each other by city walls and these areas were planned as two different sites. What remains unclear is this separation is related to social stratification or not [Rose 2016:469-471]. The 2015 studies continued in the trench opened in the previous season and the trench was enlarged. The entrance gate and the complex, city walls and bastions dated to the 9th and 4th century BC were exposed. It is assumed that the city walls were built simultaneously with the construction of the monumental structure in Early Phrygian Period (9th century BC). The ramp or the stepped terrace that is higher than 2.5 m supports 3 m high city wall. 13 stairs of the stepped terrace were exposed during the excavations and it is seen that the terrace continues downward. Therefore, it is possible to suggest that the terrace and the wall of which the terrace supports may be more than 10 m high. A new bastion was exposed in the west side of the road heading to the citadel. To the south, there is another bastion that is similar to the citadel bastion. The excavations point that the bastions are parallel to the Middle Phrygian stepped terrace and it is hoped that these two areas will be linked in 2016 studies. These two bastions form a fan-shaped entrance opening to the road extending to the west. It is unclear that this road turns to the north, to the citadel or not. During the 2015 excavations, the north part of the road was exposed. In this area, a line of stone comprising neatly cut stones was found. The upper section of this stone line was collapsed. The collapsed stones were examined and it is seen that this was a wall built with polychrome stones (at least %15 percent of which built with bright red stones). After Persians captured the city, the outer city wall became useless [Rose-Salzmann 2017:167-169].
Remains:
Interpretation and Dating:


To List