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Stone Circles, a Modern Builder's Guide to the Megalithic Revival

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<< Text Pages >> Ikiztepe - Ancient Village or Settlement in Turkey

Submitted by bat400 on Wednesday, 20 October 2010  Page Views: 6157

Multi-periodSite Name: Ikiztepe Alternative Name: İkiztepe
Country: Turkey Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
 Nearest Village: Ikiztepe
Latitude: 41.614400N  Longitude: 35.870300E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
no data Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Ancient Village in Samsun, Turkey.
Bronze Age settlement. The village was home to about 300 people at its peak, around 3200 to 2100 BC. Artefacts found here include ceramics, bronze rings and bracelets, bone needles, figurines, javelin points, and other metal implements.

The villages lived in rectangular, single-storey houses made of logs, each with a courtyard and oven.
A website for Samsun shows a hilltop, semi-subterranean stone building as well. Ikiztepe Kazisi website.

Note: Dr. Önder Bilgi talks about his discovery of a razor-sharp 4000-year-old scalpel. See comment.
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 58.3km SW 219° Oymaagac Mound Artificial Mound
 67.1km SE 133° Tekkekoy Caves Cave or Rock Shelter
 107.4km S 182° Amasya Museum* Museum
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 142.1km SSW 213° Çorum Archaeological Museum Museum
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 188.4km ESE 114° Kurul Fortress* Hillfort
 195.5km SW 223° Boyali Hoyuk Ancient Village or Settlement
 205.1km SSW 211° Yazilikaya* Carving
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 211.8km SSW 199° Usakli Mound* Ancient Village or Settlement
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"Ikiztepe" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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Obsidian used as ancient scalpel found in Turkey's Samsun province by davidmorgan on Thursday, 21 October 2010
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From Andy B:

A piece of obsidian (volcanic glass) dating back 4,000 years and believed to have been used as a scalpel for surgery has been unearthed during excavations carried out in the Black Sea province of Samsun.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Professor Önder Bilgi, the chairman of the excavations, said that the work in the ruins of the İkiztepe village in Samsun’s Bafra district had begun in 1974.

“During this year’s excavations, which started July 15, we discovered a piece of obsidian that was used as a scalpel in surgeries. Obsidian beds are generally situated in the Central Anatolian region of Cappadocia. We think obsidian was brought to this region through trade,” Bilgi said. “As this stone is very sharp and hygenic, it was [likely] used as a scalpel in brain surgeries. Glass scalpels are still available.”

The excavations have also revealed that there was continuous settlement in the region between 4000 B.C. and 1700 B.C.

Weapons, devices, ovens and ornaments were unearthed separately during the excavations, showing that the inhabitants of the İkiztepe region played an important role in the development of mining in Anatolia.

Some of the findings discovered in the excavations are being displayed at the Samsun Archaeology Museum.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=0806131406627-2010-08-09
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Re: Ikiztepe by davidmorgan on Thursday, 21 October 2010
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İkiztepe ancient site, which was discovered by archaeologists in 1940 in the Black Sea city of Samsun's Bafra district, is being excavated for 36 years and nearly 11,550 artifacts have been unearthed so far. This year's excavations has restarted in the region and will continue until Sept. 10

Excavations at İkiztepe, which have continued in the Black Sea province of Samsun’s Bafra district since 1974, are being carried out in the area again this year.

İkiztepe was discovered in 1940 by archaeologists who carried out excavations in the Dündartepe region around Samsun.

Many artifacts from the early Bronze Age (3000-2000) and the Hittite period (1900-1800 BC) have been unearthed so far during the excavations led by the Istanbul University Archaeology Department’s Professor Önder Bilgi.

“This year’s excavations, which have continued in İkiztepe for 36 years, will end on Sept. 10,” said Bilgi, adding that they finished works in one area last year and searched for layers of the early Bronze Age period.

“The number of findings that have been unearthed in İkiztepe reached nearly 11,550. Last year’s excavations were carried out at Hill One and have ended. This year’s excavations continue on a slope that we call İkiztepe. A team of 34 people, including five students and three expert anthropologists, is working there. Last year significant artworks were found, revealing the cultural development in the region. We also had a chance to profile the layers of the early Bronze Age. Two furnaces and two graves have been unearthed so far,” Bilgi said, adding that the excavations shed light on the cultural history of the central Black Sea.

Settlements until 1700 BC

During the excavations, which had been carried out at the ancient site, traces of Caolithic period (between 5000-4000 BC) were found, which revealed that the settlement existed there until 1700 B.C.

A tumulus from the Hellenistic period (330-39 BC) was found as well as a number of artworks and remnants from the early Bronze Age. Weapons, furnaces, symbols, jewelry and stone tablets found during the excavations show that the people of İkiztepe played an important role in the development of the Anatolian art of mining. It is known that they used a mixture of copper and arsenic in metal objects, and it is estimated that they obtained copper from the Merzifon region and arsenic from Gümüşhacıköy in present-day Amasya.

The most interesting findings unearthed during the excavations are skulls, which underwent surgical operation. In the graveyard on the highest hill in the ancient site, dating back to 2300-2100 BC, eight out of the 690 skeletons had skulls with traces of surgical operation. These skulls have archaeological importance since they are the only ones unearthed in Anatolia. They also show that people who lived there did not have the characteristics of Mediterranean people but of southern Russians and Bulgarians.

Some of the findings from the İkiztepe excavations are being displayed at the Samsun Archaeological and Ethnography Museum.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=0717104921378-2010-07-19
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Scalpels and skulls point to Bronze Age brain surgery in Turkey by bat400 on Wednesday, 20 October 2010
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Submitted by coldrum --

New Scientist: You have found what appear to be scalpels.

Önder Bilgi: That's right. We have just found two cutting blades made of obsidian, a volcanic glass that forms a sharp edge when it fractures. The obsidian must have been imported from another region as there is no natural source of it in the area. We found the blades next to a circular clay platform that may have been used for religious ceremonies. The blades are double-sided, about 4 centimetres long, and very, very sharp. They would still cut you today.

What makes you think they were used for surgery?

We have found traces of cuts on skulls in a nearby graveyard. Out of around 700 skulls, 14 have these marks. They could only have been cut with a very sharp tool. At this time, 4000 years ago or more, it could only have been an obsidian blade. The cut marks show that a blade was used to make a rectangular opening all the way through the skull. We know that patients lived at least two to three years after the surgery, because the skull has tried to close the wound.

Have you uncovered any clues to why this surgery was performed?

There seem to be three main reasons. The first is to relieve the pressure of a brain haemorrhage; we found traces of blood on the inside of some of the skulls. The second is to treat patients with brain cancer, as we can see pressure traces from the cancer inside some of the skulls. And the final reason was to treat head injuries, which seem to have been quite common. The people of Ikiztepe got their copper from mines in the local mountains, and we think they had to fight other local people for access to it.

Are there any other examples of such early skull surgery?

A few skulls with cut marks have been found at other Bronze Age sites in this region, but other than these I have not found any parallel. There is a Neolithic skull found at a site in central Anatolia with a hole drilled into it. But the surgeons at Ikiztepe were cutting a rectangular opening. It is a much more sophisticated technique.

What kind of items have you unearthed?

As well as the houses we have found mainly metal objects, such as weapons, tools, jewellery and religious symbols. The inhabitants were skilled at metallurgy, unusually so for the period.

You have been digging at the site for 37 years. Why has it taken so long?

Wooden architecture is much more difficult to excavate than stone architecture. It is difficult to locate it in the soil. We have to use very small tools, like brushes and spatulas. But we will continue to dig here until we reach virgin soil.

Source: New Scientist.
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