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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Altintepe |
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For site maps and drawings please click on the picture...  |
For photographs please click on the photo...  |
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Type:
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Cemetery |
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Altitude:
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m |
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Region:
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Eastern Anatolia |
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Province:
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Van |
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District:
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Merkez |
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Village:
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Merkez |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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Middle Iron Age |
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| Location: It is located near the Fortress of Tuspha (Van) at the city center of Van. It became part of the city along with the enlargement of the city center. |
| Geography and Environment: It is delimited by the Industrial Bazaar to the north, and by a railway to the south. To the west, it extends inwards the Iskele Quarter, probably down to the bank of the Lake Van. It stretches for 1-1.5 km in the east-west direction, and a few kilometers in the north-south direction. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: Being heavily destroyed due to illicit diggings, the necropolis was discovered during the construction of the Van-Agri motorway, and a small sounding was carried out in the same year. The second campaign between 1997 and 1999 was conducted under the direction of V. Sevin and E. Kavakli. |
| Stratigraphy: The necropolis area of Altintepe yielded Middle Iron Age (Urartu) finds from the public graves. The excavators believe that it may also have been occupied during the Early Iron Age. |
| Small Finds: Pottery: Although the Altintepe graves have been looted to a great extent, there are numerous material left, mainly consisting of sherds. Plenty of bright red polished, rounded or trefoil jugs are observed. Some bear incised hieroglyphs particularly on the lugs. Mines: Among the metal finds, iron swords and knifes within iron, wooden and bronze scabbards and bronze bracelets decorated with dragon heads, broochs and fibulas are interesting. An iron horse bit was uncovered. Also found are numerous bronze and silver earrings. Stones: Plenty of beads made of stones such as agate, cornelian and magnesite were recovered. Graves: Up to now, a total of 37 graves have been excavated in the Altintepe necropolis, and three types of burial was identified; rock graves, urn burials and simple earth graves. Rock Graves: Reaching up to 33 for now, the rock graves are mainly located on the section where rock rises, opening onto a surface on the southern skirts of the necropolis. All carved into a soft limestone, they differ substantially in direction, size and masonry although they have common characteristics. It is believed to have been associated with the financial status of the families. Some appear like small cavities with a size of 1.3x1.26x1.1 m while some others measure 3.2x2.65x1.75 m; 3.55x2.2x1.9 m and 3.5x2.8 m in dimensions. All of the underground graves are accessible through a well-like dromos of 0.9x0.9 m in average. Some of them have small steps, which were carved into the walls to facilitate descending down to the steep and narrow entrance area. Except one, each grave has one chamber, and the height ranges from 2 m to 0.86 m. There is only one grave with a regular rectangular-like plan. All the other chambers, except this one, have a very rough masonry, differing widely from the Urartian graves which have a formal appearance. They have eliptical, rounded, L-shaped, roughly quasi-square shapes while some are formless cavities. Some of the grave chambers have very small niches on their walls. Urn Burials: Some of the Urartu people cremated their deads, and placed their ashes and bones in urns (vase), and then buried. Both cremated and buried people were lying next to each other in the same graves. Although the fact that why two different burial traditions existed in the same cemetery is still unknown, it is considered that it can be explained by the presence of two different ethnic groups consisting of the Urartu Kingdom, or social differences. The urn burials are the second major group of burials at Altintepe following the rock graves. As distinct from the rock chambers, they are individual graves. Among the personal ornaments inside the urns are stone, and rarely wooden beaded, necklaces, bronze broochs, rings and bracelets. Some gifts were left outside the urn. Some undisturbed ones included bronze belts. Simple Earth Graves: The skeletons in these graves were found buried into simple pits opened directly into the soil. So far only two of such graves were excavated. The heads of the two skeletons which were buried into the pit, one in hocker position, and the other in semi-hocker position, face northeast. Sherds of bright red burnished pottery and spiral bronze earrings, ring in a few rows, and beads around the wrist and neck were found in these graves. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: Simple temple tombs are distinct from the classical Urartian graves. This suggests that they may have been dated to an earlier period, Early Iron Age. Even tough the graves at Altintepe were looted to a great extent, still there are many artefacts. The Van/Altintepe necropolis is the widest public Urartian cemetery, which has been systematically excavated so far. The cemetery has suffered from numerous illicit diggings as it is located at the city center. |
