Alaca Höyük

40.23416666666734.696111111111Koordinaten: 40 ° 14 ' 3 " N, 34 ° 41' 46" E

Alaca Höyük (also Alaca Huyuk ) is a settlement mound in the same village in the district of the Turkish province of Çorum Alaca in Central Anatolia, 25 miles from Boğazkale away. It is equated with the Hittite Zippalanda ( Popko 1994) or Arinna, the cult of the sun goddess ( Erkut, 1992).

History

Alaca Höyük was probably inhabited already in the Chalcolithic period in the 4th millennium BC. In the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, it was a settlement of pre- Hittite, non- Indo-European Hattians, which is confirmed by the princely tombs found, among other things. In the time of the Hittite Empire 1600-1200 BC, it was an important city, but was overshadowed by the not far distant capital Hattusa. A possible identification with Zippalanda, Kussara or Arinna has not been established. During this time, the settlement was extended with a fastening at least two goals. Provisionally With the downfall of the Hittite empire ended the history of the city. In the early first millennium BC, the site was occupied briefly by Phrygians.

History of Research

Alaca Höyük was discovered in 1836 by the English geologist and explorer William John Hamilton. Initial research took Theodor Makridi 1907 before. In the 1930s, the Turkish archaeologists Hamit Zübeyir Koşay and RO Arık the so-called princely graves uncovered during excavation work on behalf of Turk Tarih Kurumu. Since 1997, excavations are underway by the University of Ankara Aykut Çınaroğlu. Since 2009, the German Mining Museum in Bochum the metal finds from the graves of Alaca Höyük examined in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara as part funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation project metal finds from the Early Bronze Age tombs of Prince Alacahöyük. The finds are exhibited in the local museum except in Ankara and Çorum in the Archaeological Museum.