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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Anitkabir Tümülüsü 2 |
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Type:
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Tumulus |
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Altitude:
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m |
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Region:
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Central Anatolia |
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Province:
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Ankara |
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District:
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Merkez |
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Village:
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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| Location: It lies 82 km west of the Tumulus No.1 in the present area of Anitkabir to the west of Ankara. |
| Geography and Environment: |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: It was discovered by R.C. Thompson in 1910. Marked as no. 4 on the layout he published, it is in fact the tumulus no. 2 in the Anitkabir area. It was the second tumulus excavation conducted by a team under the direction of N. Firatli in 1945. |
| Stratigraphy: |
| Small Finds: Architecture: It measures 2-3 m in height, and 20-25 m in diameter. The grave pit opened into the virgin soil measures 4.8x3.8x2 m in dimensions. The grave was opened with long edges being in the east-west and short edges in the north-south directions as it was in the tumulus no. 1. The floor of the grave pit was sandy, probably paved with branches or grass. The greatest difference from the Tumulus No. 1 is the absence of an open-top wooden basin in the pit. Instead, there are pebbles surrounding the pit. The pit is enclosed by a 50 cm wide wall-like structure made of clean cobble stones. The height of these stones down to the bottom of the grave is 1-1.2 m. One side of the stones lean on side of the pit while the side facing the grave bears traces of material such as branches, grass and hay, which seemingly helped to prevent collapse of the stone wall. After the grave pit was filled up with soil, the state of the cobbles arranged like in a dry wall was maintained. The dead was buried after being cremated and the ashes were put into the urns. Also found are large stones scattered around the grave pit. They are believed to have been used to support the burial gifts or they were thrown together with superimposed soil. The section opened at the tumulus revealed some information about the construction and form of the mound. Actually the grave was covered with soil not exceeding 4-4.5 m in height in a smaller diameter. The soil consists of virgin soil in colored layers brought from the neighbourhood. Pottery: At the very center of the grave pit, red and grey colored vessels, apparently 5 of them according to their profiles, were found as scattered around. Apparently they were on top of each other and side by side while traces of mat can be observed among the ones on top of each other. The most intact vessel in pale red yielded human ashes. Another red vessel had also ashes. However, other vessels were empty, and they were most probably used to protect the burial gifts. Human Remains: Traces of ashes and small bone fragments, identified as human bones, were found near the northeastern corner of the grave pit. However, as no skeletal remains were found neither in the tumuli no. 1 and no. 2, it should be considered that the tradition was to bury the ashes of cremated bodies. Metal: The grave pit yielded spearheads, an iron fork, bronze molds and heads of hobnails. Traces of fabric attached to one of the handles and fragments of some vessels strenghten the possibility that these vessels might have been wrapped by a fabric. Two fragments of an iron tripod were found side by side on the southwestern corner of the pit. It has a ring stand with ends of the legs first bended outward, and then downward to step on the ground. The parts touching the ground are flat and somewhat large. As seen in the tumulus no. 1, opening the grave pit into a soil which maintained the humidity resulted in oxidation and corrosion of the metal goods in tumulus no. 2. Miscellanous: The deposit of the grave pit yielded a bronze pin head (?), a stone fragment with a simple profile, a winged arrowhead and sherds of the red-grey Phrygian ware. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: |
