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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Bekçitepe |
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For photographs please click on the photo...  |
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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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Aegean |
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Province:
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Manisa |
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District:
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Saruhanli |
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Village:
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Alibeyli |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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Archaic |
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| Location: It lies 250 m east of the Alibeyli Town in the Saruhanli District of Manisa. |
| Geography and Environment: Located on a natural elevation in a diameter of 25 m, and height of 5 m, Bekçitepe lies 300 m southeast of the Mangaltepe Tumulus. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: It was looted by means of illicit diggings in 1960 to 1966. A cleaning work was conducted in 1981 under the direction of K. Nayir, the Director of Manisa Museum. |
| Stratigraphy: |
| Small Finds: Arhitectural Material: Lying in the north-south direction, the entrance of the grave is from the north. The dromos, with a dimension of 2.4x1.48 m, is 2.1 m high. The ceiling was built with calcerous blocks while the walls were erected with large and small natural limestones and plastered with clay mortar. The floor is made of compacted soil. The floor of the rectangular anterior chamber, was paved with two blocks in a section of 1.6 m until the grave chamber. The remaining sections are of soil. The side walls were erected using corbelling technique, and the edges using marble blocks with fascia. Other sections were built with smoothly burnished limestone blocks. The grave chamber, 2.28x2.38 in dimensions and 2.08 m in height, was built with limestone blocks in corbelling technique, and then covered with smooth blocks. The access from the anterior chamber to the grave chamber with a square plan is provided by a rectangular door. The doorjamb holes at the entrance suggest a single-wing wooden gate. Failed to have been recovered, the gate seems to have been locked by the bolt hole on the left side of the entrance. Fragments of two marble klines were found across the entrance and in front of the eastern wall. Two legs of the kline in fron of the eastern wall, and one leg of the other are decorated with palmettes and volutes. Other artifacts uncovered also bear volute decorations. The decorations in relief were colored in red, blue, green and black. The head of the klines, which helped in dating, were carved like a pillow, and the part for belly has three holes with unknown function. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: No artifacts other than klines were found. Based on the klines, tumulus can be dated to 525 to 500 BC. |
