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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Karaoglan Mevkii |
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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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1050 m |
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Region:
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Aegean |
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Province:
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Afyonkarahisar |
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District:
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Ihsaniye |
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Village:
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Yaylabag |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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EBA II EBA III |
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| Location: It is next to a gas station on the southeastern corner of the Gazligöl Thermal junction at some 20th km of the Afyon-Eskisehir highway; 20 km north of the Afyonkarahisar Province as the crow flies. Being on the eastern side of the highway; it is easily accessible. It was first named as Karaoglan Höyügü as it was located at Karaoglan Mevkii [Ilasli 1992:95]; then it was changed to Karaoglan Mevkii in order to prevent any confusion with Karaoglan Höyügü near Ankara. |
| Geography and Environment: It measures ca. 3 m in height above road level and 80-120 m in diameter. It is an oval; flat and wide mound. Western section revealed that the cultural deposit is not thicker than 2 m [Topbas et al. 1998:fig.15]. Virgin soil was reached at 1.2 m through a sounding opened in square N8. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: It was discovered during the permission procedures of an application for building a gas station at this site in 1986 by the Museum of Afyon. A sounding was carried out under A. Ilasli in 1987 in the area the gas station and resting facilities would have been built on the western slope of the mound as well as the northern slope. It was re-excavated under A. Topbas and A. Ilasli with the participation of T. Efe in 1990 since the stones of foundations were removed. The second excavation was conducted on the southern slope. The site was re-documented in 2005 during the fieldwork of Phygrian Valley Tourism Zone Project. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism. |
| Stratigraphy: The excavations yielded remains of a settlement; dated to EBA II by the researchers; lasted 100-150 years having various building phases (at least three building levels). Although limited numbers of sherds dating to EBA III were recovered from the northern and western sections of the mound; there are no architectural remains from that period. |
| Small Finds: Architecture: Presence of a city wall with towers and structures adjacent to this wall expose a city settlement. City walls are best traced on the southern part of the settlement; erected on the slopes as to encircle the round settlement. It has a construction technique in which the big stones; sometimes 1 m high; are carelessly placed on the outer surface and filled in with rough stones. Width of the city wall varies between 100 and 150 cm. This defence wall was supported by three towers or bastions on the southern section. The towers were not built in the same size. The one in the middle is higher than the others. The southeastern part has been pierced by which can be considered as an entrance. A pillar stone exposes that there was also a prentice here. A sounding carried out near the eastern tower revealed that the exterior walls are deeper than the lateral walls. Even tough it is unknown how the superstructure of the wall went on; it can be claimed that it was made of mudbrick. Civil constructions inside the fortification wall are placed in a radial plan oriented to the center. A few rooms of those buildings were uncovered near the big tower on the south and northwest. They are four-cornered and crooked structures. Between the buildings lie stone paved streets. As a part of the construction technique; small rough stones were attached by loam mortar. Excavation carried out in a building near the big tower yielded the presence of a door descended with two steps on the north in the lower phase while it was bricked up in the upper phase. It is suggested that there might be a courtyard or a square in the center like Demircihöyük [Topbas et al. 1998:25]. It is clear that the site underwent a massive fire. In one of the buildings; big pithoi and loomweights were recovered; buried into the earth. Ceramics: Analysis of finds exposes the presence of a single cultural phase. Common type of ware is the burnished and red washed ware of EBA II of Central West Anatolia. Samples of gray and black ware are rare [Topbas et al. 1998:38]. Red washed and burnished ware is divided into four sub-categories; paste and surface color in buff; sand tempered; well fired and white painted. There are also a restricted number of samples so called red-orange washed ware of Altintas as it is seen in the Altintas region and dated to EBA III. Forms of bowls; spouted pitchers; jugs; deep jugs narrowing through the rim; plates and jars are common in EBA II [Topbas et al. 1998:40-41]. Three types of decorations are seen as grooved; relief and painted. Grooved decoration is very characteristics of EBA for Central-West Anatolia region; particularly the handles of the spouted pitchers were given the grooved style by twisting and partly shaping them during the production. Exterior surfaces of some handles were also decorated with grooved/excised lines in parallel to each other. Button-like projections on the upper part of the vessels were placed for decoration purposes. There are various forms of decorations with white-beige paintings on red with unwashed or red washed backgrounds. For bowls; red decorations were usually applied on interior surfaces. Exterior surfaces are sometimes red washed; sometimes left with patterns without applying any red wash. Patterns like chevrons; serpentine waved lines; dots and lines in different directions are common. Clay: Finds like terra cotta animal figurines in light brown; spindle whorls and decorated spindle whorls are very rare. Ground Stone: Fragment of a green shaft-holed axe and an idol with broken arms and disc-head constitute the other elements of EBA culture. Karaoglan Mevkii is poor in small finds; most probably resulting from the fact that the excavated areas were largely the city walls. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: Even tough it was a small settlement; it probably housed a significant city as it was defended by a thick city wall [Topbas et al 1998:fig.2]. It can be suggested to house a city like Demircihöyük of Eskisehir although it was not completely excavated. It can be proposed that we came across a local culture functioned as an important step between the northern and southern cultures during EBA II in the Central-West Anatolian region. As of small finds; the site yielded finds identical to Kusura; Beycesultan and Demircihöyük settlements. |
