Female skeleton was unearthed during the excavation archaeology in Turkey

During the excavation archaeology carried out in the Domuztepe Mound in the province of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, a female skeleton thought to date back to 7,600 years ago was found.

Under the coordination of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, under the chairmanship of Hacettepe University Faculty of Letters Archeology Department Lecturer Halil Tekin, excavations continue with a team of 15 archaeologists and scientists from 5 universities.

Photo: Tunahan Akgün/AA

A skeleton in the hocker position (legged on one side, with legs slanted towards the abdomen) was found in the tomb at Domuztepe. Which is considered to be one of the largest mound settlements in the late Neolithic period.

Scientists examined the skeleton in the excavation team.

Assoc. Dr. Tekin told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the study area is a mound settlement that represents the last phase of the Stone Age, dating back 9,000 years.

Explaining that the female skeleton found within the scope of this year’s studies was very remarkable and excited them, Tekin said:

“This skeleton identified belongs to an adult. It is important for us as it is a late neolithic grave because we have not encountered such a grave in any area we have excavated since 2014. It appears as a simple earthen burial. So far, there is no archaeological find next to it. They buried in what we call hocker in archeology. When we look at it from this direction, it is seen in the northeast-southwest direction. However, another extremely valuable find about the burial is the presence of bones belonging to small cattle. This indicates the existence of dead food; In other words, it shows that after his death, the survivors arranged a dead meal and regularly left the remaining bones in the tomb, which is one of the early examples of the tradition we see in many places, especially in Anatolia and the Near East.”

What is the excavation archaeology method?

Tekin pointed out that, based on the excavation archaeology, the skeleton belonged to 7500-7600 years ago.

“We don’t have the carbon 14 results yet. But when we start from the archaeological findings, we are talking about 7500-7600 years ago. We can say that it reduced to 5600-5500 years BC.”

Assoc. Dr. Tekin said that after the ancient DNA tests carried out in the laboratory of Hacettepe University Anthropology Department. And more different information can obtained.

Tekin stated that there is a settlement planning and understanding that can called characteristic for the region in the mound. Which consists of settlements with very different and features on top of each other.

He stated that the architectural structures unearthed show that the classical family structure is widespread in the said geography.

Tekin noted that the excavations in Domuztepe could be an important source of information not only for Turkey but also for Near East archeology.

AA/21.09.2022