Çukuriçi Höyük
37.92916666666727.359444444444Koordinaten: 37 ° 55 ' 45 "N, 27 ° 21' 34" E
The Çukuriçi Höyük (Turkish: " hill in the Valley " ) is a prehistoric Tellsiedlung in western Turkey, about a kilometer southeast of the ancient city of Ephesus, located in the south of the modern town of Selçuk in the province of İzmir. Since 2006, the reference is systematically excavated.
History
The Çukuriçi Höyük is located in a very fertile plain today amidst blooming orchards. Excavations have shown that it is the in the countryside clearly visible mound around a prehistoric Tell ( Höyük ) is: Through the millennia- long service as a settlement at the same location caused massive, superimposed layers of culture, which have grown to an artificial hill. This form of settlement is in the periods of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age (. 8 -2 millennium BC) from the East to Southeast Europe typical in western Anatolia few Tells are up to date, however, excavated and studied systematically. On the Çukuriçi Höyük been a total of five superimposed settlements from different periods were excavated to varying degrees. They allow a first insight into the history of this settlement mound.
Already at the end of the 7th millennium BC ( Late Neolithic period around 6200-6000 BC), the square was used as a living area. What remains of a house from the Frühchalkolithikum show, which was built from stone plinth walls with mud walls, the people settled here probably to about 6000 BC The food was varied, even in this early stage, was based mainly on animal husbandry of pigs, sheep, goats, cattle. Was supplemented diet by hunting hare, fox, red deer and aurochs and the collecting seashells. For the first time also succeeded in the detection of deep-sea fish, suggesting a sea journey beyond the borders of the Aegean. Obsidian has been demonstrated by the around 300 km from the island of Melos. In addition, contact was with Eastern Anatolia, Mesopotamia and the Near East. A craft specialization of people settled here shows, among other things to the high-quality ceramic vessels and the beaten stone tools that were produced mainly from imported obsidian. This early settlement was after its destruction, the cause of which is still unclear, abandoned and derelict apparently.
The next following currently secure use of space can be only around 1500 years later, in developed 4th millennium BC, prove. For the period around 2900 BC can prove an extensive metalworking. Without further interruption of the hill was now continuously inhabited until about 2500 BC, before it was abandoned again in this period of the early Bronze Age. The Early Bronze Age is a period of great and lasting changes in the Aegean and in Southeastern Europe. Probably triggered by the need for metals and their trade and the resulting wealth created the first proto- urban centers and large fortified settlements. The role of western Anatolia in this important phase of development of human societies is still unclear in many areas. On the Çukuriçi Höyük a large and multi-room buildings were built of massive stone pedestals with clay walls at this time. The most recent of these settlements has been destroyed by force, possibly an earthquake and not rebuilt. The Fund spectrum points to a number of different and specialized activities within the settlement. Of particular importance is the production of copper objects, their production can be demonstrated by the cast in the form of a pre- and post-processing in the forging process. In the eating habits of the residents as a major change compared to the previous periods, is observed: As pets, especially sheep and goats are on Çukuriçi Höyük now held, are hunted hare, fox, wild boar and fallow deer, extended to the hunting of wolves, bears and various species of birds. The sea is being increasingly used as a food source: In addition to the already proven for previous periods recycling of mussels is for the early Bronze Age, also fishing in the shallow as in the deeper waters to prove.
Surroundings
The reconstruction of the prehistoric landscape, originally extending coastline, the existing environmental resources and, finally, the climate and their changes over millennia forming complexes central question in the study of the hill in his micro-regional environment. Against this background, it is clear that the settlement history can only be understood with the involvement of various disciplines. Therefore, the since 2007 working on the Çukuriçi Höyük research team of the Austrian Archaeological Institute consists of the fields of archeology, archaeo, archaeozoology, Archaeobotany, anthropology, climatology, physics and the paleogeography and geology / mineralogy.
Importance
The excavations on the Çukuriçi Höyük rendered the oldest settlement of Ephesus, which begins at least 8200 years ago. Geological drilling at the foot of the hill can be more settlement phases expected, nor will sooner reach back into history. It is already the Çukuriçi Höyük but one of the oldest places - not only in the metropolitan area of Ephesus - been rediscovered. Central questions after the spread of the Neolithic way of life from the inside to Anatolia to southeast Europe only form an aspect in the study of the tell. The function of the hill in the 4th millennium that took place in this period cultural developments that eventually led to the new epoch of the Bronze Age, form an additional broad field of research with many unanswered questions. Finally, the Çukuriçi Höyük, with its well-preserved settlement remains of the Early Bronze Age also has potential to capture the sustained cultural changes in the early 3rd millennium BC better. Its location at an intersection between the cultural regions of Anatolia and the Aegean also allows research on large-scale contacts and relationships, without which some of the developments are not possible in the history of mankind.