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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Boncuklu Tarla |
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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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Flat Settlement |
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Altitude:
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482 m |
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Region:
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Southeastern Anatolia |
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Province:
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Mardin |
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District:
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Dargeçit |
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Village:
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Ilisu |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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Aceramic |
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| Location: It is located in Ilısu Village in Dargeçit District of Mardin Province. |
| Geography and Environment: Boncuklu Tarla (Zeviya Maherk) is located to the north of the area in which Nevala Zeviya Maherk and Bike Mahmut creeks meet. It covers an area of 3.5 ha [Ökse et al. 2014:104]. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: It was studied during the survey named "Ilısu Dam Construction Area Survey 2008" by T. Ökse and her team [Ökse et al. 2010]. In 2008, it was examined within the scope of "The Area Survey of the Ilısu Dam Embankment" by H. Taskiran and M. Kartal. During this survey, surface collection was performed as well [Taskiran-Kartal 2010]. Mardin Museum conducted excavations at the settlement between the years 2012 and 2017 at intervals. |
| Stratigraphy: The settlement is dated to the Pre Pottery Neolithic B. |
| Small Finds: Architecture: The cultural deposition with a thickness of 2 m, which has five phases, were excavated in an area of 350 square meters. The excavations were carried out in the trenches of K-L 9-10, M11 and I 16. In the west section of Trench K9, two building levels were determined. In building level 1, some parts of the foundation of the south walls belonging to the room were exposed. The room is in square plan and it has a solid floor constructed on the pavement made out of small pebbles. The thickness of this floor plastered with lime and clay is 17 cm. The room yielded a great number of obsidian and flint stone finds, beads and animal bones. In the center of the trench, another lime-plastered floor with a thickness of 4 cm was found. The 70 cm thick wall belonging to the building level 2 was unearthed below this solid floor. The wall extends in the east-west direction. The floor of the square planned room is made out of lime and mud. A great number of small and large ground stone finds were found on the floor. It was determined that the 2.5 m long south wall of the room was used in two phases as well. The wall was built with small and large stones and after reaching 2 m in the north-south direction; the wall becomes a large wall, the center of which has a channel. The continuation of the wall in Trench KI9-1 has the same appearance as well. The cultural deposition with four phases was determined in the sounding that was opened in order to understand the depth and stratification of the cultural deposit of the settlement. The deposit is 2.1 m thick. In the ashy soil, which is located under the 10 cm thick floor comprises of clay and lime, a large number of animal bones were found. The pebble paved floors, one of which is 6 cm thick (upper) and the other one is 4 cm thick (lower), were determined in this soil. The lowermost floor is located on top of the virgin soil. The existence of the microlith industry among the finds recovered from the sounding indicates the Pre Pottery Neolithic. Moreover, it is possible to say that the settlement could be dated back to the Epipaleolithic Period. Two building levels were discovered in the east section of Trench K9. In the building level 1, a compacted oval floor that was built with large and small rubble limestone was found. The floor was formed by placing limestone rubbles side by side with mud mortar. To the southeast of this floor, a round pit, the outer wall of which was built with limestone rubbles, was exposed. The pit yielded a large number of animal bones. Another floor made out of pebbles and compacted soil was found in the south of the floor. This floor was bordered by a wall erected with irregular limestone rubbles in the south. In the south corner of the trench, the wall built with large stones with a width of 45 cm was encountered. To the north of the wall, a pit with a diameter of 80 cm is located. The floor of the pit is quite solid and made out of compacted mud. Small pebbles were paved under the mud plaster. It was seen that this floor has damaged the east section of the wall belonging to the building level 2. Another pit was found near the east profile of the trench. It is possible that this shallow pit with a depth of 7-8 cm was used as a hoarding area or workshop. In the south of the trench, a stone wall with a width of 40 cm belonging to the building level 2 was exposed. The wall was built with pebble stones. To the north of this wall, there is a channel with a width of about 20 cm and a depth of 8-10 cm. The floor with a thickness of 29 cm was unearthed in the east of Trench L9. The floor was built with large limestone fragments and the spaces among these stones were filled with mud mortar mixed with pebbles. To the north of the floor, two walls and a floor are located. These walls were built with large limestone blocks and they have the appearance of partition walls. The round terrazzo floor in the east of the wall is 22 cm thick. Pestles, beads, burnishers and a pendant were found on the floor. To the west of Trench K10, a wall remain with a width of 80 cm is located. The south edge of the wall joins another wall extending in the east-west direction. Rubble stones were found inside the room in the north of the wall. The room is entered from the north wall. Two building levels were determined in the west of Trench M11. The flat terrazzo floor located between two walls and the pavement consisting of pebbles belongs to the building level 1. Stone beads, flint and obsidian debitage and limestone figurines depicting stylized humans were found on the floor. The walls belonging to the building level 2 are 40-80 cm thick. These walls were erected with medium sized pebbles. The floor in the north of the trench was formed with broken limestone pieces and clay. Three adjacent units were found in front of the one of the wall and these units were bordered by stone rows. The floors of these units were paved with broken stone pieces. They were probably used for storage purposes. An oval platform formed with pebbles was found on the virgin soil in the west of Trench I 16. There are three thin, long and oval partitions formed with stone rows in the south of the platform. A flat stone with a length of 1 m and a width of 0.5 m was found in the north of the platform. The existence of the cut marks on the surface of the stone and the abundance of the animal bones in the west of the platform indicate that this area could have been used for butchering. It was seen that some of the stones found inside the oval platform bear hollows. These hollows make one think that these stones were used as workshop. These stones used in the construction of the platform indicate secondary use. They probably belong to the earlier period [Ökse et al. 2014]. Small Finds: All of the trenches yielded stone beads, grinding stones, pestles, idols, arrow heads, stone axes and animal bones [Ökse et al. 2014]. Chipped Stone: Flint and obsidian are the main raw material in the chipped stone industry. Both raw materials were knapped in the settlement. The bullet-shaped bladelet cores are typical in blade production. There are also microblade cores. The microliths and large tanged arrowheads are among the main tools in the settlement. The microlith industry consists of obliquely-truncated backed bladelets. There are Byblos points and their derivatives among the tanged arrowheads. A great number of end scrapers and round end scrapers made on blades were found. Among the chipped stone tools, there are also crested scrapers that are regarded as heavy-duty tools. One of the typical stone tools found in the settlement is stone borer. Sickle blades and blade fragments are noteworthy as well [Ökse et al. 2014:107]. Human Remains: In Trench K9, an intramural burial was found below the lime-plastered floor. The grave located near the bottom of the wall has been severely damaged. Scattered beads were found within the burial. In addition, there is also a pendant in the form of bull head. In Trench K10, long bones (such as humerus and leg bones) were unearthed in the area where the door opening reaches to the room. The orientation and the type of burial could not be determined [Ökse et al. 2014]. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: The uppermost level of the settlement was dated to the Pre Pottery Neolithic B. However, the remains recovered from the lower levels indicate the existence of Pre Pottery Neolithic A and Epipaleolithic periods. Therefore, Boncuklu Tarla is important in representing the earliest phases of the transition to the settled life. The smalls finds bear similarities with the ones found in Çayönü and Göbekli Tepe. The settlement reflects the period of at least 5000 years of the humankind [Ökse et al. 2014:107]. |
