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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Imamoglu Höyük |
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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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Mound |
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Altitude:
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693 m |
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Region:
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Eastern Anatolia |
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Province:
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Malatya |
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District:
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Battalgazi |
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Village:
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Imamli |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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EBA III |
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| Location: It was located 800 m southwest of the Imamli Village of the Battalgazi District; northeast of the Malatya Province. It has been partly damaged by the flooding of the Karakaya Dam. It remained like an island for a long period of time. The latest excavation held in 1987 was conducted when it was an island. It is coded under P50 / 3. |
| Geography and Environment: Imamoglu Höyügü was located on a cobbled alluvial cone formed probably by the Euphrates; where the Höyük Stream and the Kirmizi Stream join. It was overlooking the Euphrates. It measured 14 m in height and 100 m in diameter. It was a conic hill with steep slopes. There was a small terrace on the north. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: It was first introduced by K. Kökten in 1945 under the name of Imamli; and re-documented by Serdaroglu and Özdogan during the survey they conducted in the region. It was excavated under E. Uzunoglu of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum between 1980 and 1987 (8 seasons). The excavation was mainly confined with the cone and the slope. Test trenches were opened on the northern and eastern terraces. The cobbled virgin soil was reached at 13.51 m through the stepped trench on the west [Uzunoglu 1988:210]. |
| Stratigraphy: The stratification of Imamoglu Höyügü is as follows; Layer I: Roman /Late Hellenistic Period Layer II: Iron Age Layer III: Late Bronze Age Layer IV: Middle Bronze Age Layer V: Early Bronze Age (?): Chalcolithic Age There are several building levels of EBA. The excavator indicates them with capital letters like EBA III C. |
| Small Finds: Architecture: Significant buildings were identified in the building levels of EBA. Three circular/elliptical houses (M 24; M 25 and M 29) uncovered between 5.50 and 6.67 m above the burnt and collapsed walls of the stepped house dating from the EBA III B under the building level IV C dating from the MBA were dated to EBA III C by the excavator. Likes of those houses were found at Arslantepe. Inside the houses; 3-4 m in diameter; remains of benches and pillars were uncovered [Uzunoglu 1989:73]. Square 6 I yielded a four-cornered house. The other buildings of this level were probably destroyed by the buildings of MBA. The most significant building level of layer V yielded a big house/villa suggested to cover the entire uphill. Only 9 rooms of this house were excavated [Uzunoglu 1988:plan 2]. It was called "Stepped House" by the excavator. Southern (M 19) and northern (M 16) kitchens were completely uncovered. The 5x5 m southern kitchen is entered through a stepped room (M 18) on the west. The M 18 is a big room with a size of 8x10 m. In front of the northern wall; there is a stairs of clay. The building is 4 m long and 1.25 m wide; and it consists of seven stairs. The first stair is wide; and it functions like a landing. The staircase provides the passage from the big room to the store room (M 14) which is 2 m above. The base of the staircase and the northern wall of the room were white washed. On the wall; there is a drawing of staircase with 11 steps in black. It is as if a plan of the staircase drawn onto the wall. There are concave lines on the base [Uzunoglu 1987:217; pic.17]. The northern kitchen houses almost all evidence providing information about the daily life of EBA. There are immovable like a sitting bench alongside the northern wall; a grinding bench in front of the western wall; a mudbrick vessel (storage jar) next to it; a domed kiln with a triangular ash-hole; a central hearth surrounded with channels; etc. The floors of the rooms were plastered with clayed earth. The three layered plaster and 8-10 layered filthy-white paint expose that the building was settled for a long period of time and renewed from time to time. It is clear that it underwent a massive fire. It is dated to EBA III B by the excavator. The other rooms of the big house such as the temple are suggested to be located on the terraces inclining from north to south in the unexcavated slopes of the mound. This house is claimed to belong to a ruler in power during EBA III B [Uzunoglu 1987:218]. Two front ends of a horseshoe-like hearth with a circular ash-hole in front resemble a schematized human face in triangular form. It was found during the excavation aiming to uncover the settlement under the stepped house. Like of this hearth is reported to be found at Köskerbaba [Uzunoglu 1989:75]. Five rooms (M32-35) surrounding this room belong to a complex identical to the stepped house. This cultural layer should be evaluated within EBA III A-EBA II B compared to the finds in the vicinity of Keban. It was found between ca. 5.02 - 7.02 m. 13 floors of EBA I and II were added up at the stepped western trench. The third level from up to down yielded a room with a window as well as a domed kiln and a horseshoe-like hearth. They are all dated to EBA II. Further down; there is a terrace wall suggested to be built on the cobbled cone at the end of EBA I. Pottery: Presence of thin ware is reported in the building level EBA III C while the level of EBA III B yields samples of the Karaz ware and the painting decorated ware [Uzunoglu 1988:pic.13.]. Also found are mono-coloured kitchen ware; cooking pots; lids; mugs; storage jars; etc. Samples of the painting decorated ware are handmade. They were carefully painted with eggplant purple; black and dark brown on a cream or beige background. The decorations were usually applied on neck or rim in triangles; crossing lines; parallel horizontal bands and shaded triangles. The relief decorated Karaz vessel recovered from EBA I of the stepped trench has a long neck; carinated shoulder and flat bottom. A painting decorated vessel is suggested to date back to EBA I-II. Clay: Two clay closets with seal impressions were recovered from a storehouse of EBA III B. In the cylindrical seal; a male with a phallus; a serpentine and a bull-man approaching it were depicted. The oldest examples of male figures with phallus go back to the period of Ur Dynasty III. Therefore; this level can be dated to the second millennium BC. Flora: As a result of the analysis carried out by E. Oybak and S. Demirci on residues of Imamoglu Höyügü; it was proposed that EBA people consumed food like barley and lentils [Oybak-Demirci 1997:173-176]. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: The EBA settlements of Imamoglu were dated depending on the similarity of the pottery rather than its architectural remains. The upper building level of circular houses (EBA III C) is dated to the Phase J of the Amuq Plain based on the fine ware while the building level of the stepped house (EBA III B) to the Phase I of the Amuq Plain. The building level of EBA II is included in the Phase H of the Amuq Plain based on a relief decorated vessel also found at Arslantepe; Gelinciktepe; Pulur; Norsuntepe and Tepecik settlements. The pithoi full of wheat and barley recovered from the storehouse expose that the house of the ruler underwent an abrupt fire. The other pithos is suggested to be full of fried meat [Uzunoglu 1986:184]. |
