©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project

Kulaksizlar

For site maps and drawings please click on the picture...

maps

For photographs please click on the photo...

Kulaksızlar
Type:
 Workshop
Altitude:
 60 m
Region:
 Aegean
Province:
 Manisa
District:
 Akhisar
Village:
 Kulaksizlar
Investigation Method:
 Survey
Period:
 Late

     

Location: The site lies northeast of the city of Manisa; west of the village of Kulaksiz which is 16 km southeast of Akhisar; in Balikburnu Mevkii between Kulaksiz Village and Akhisar-Gölmarmara road. Although it would be rather true to the fact to label the site as Balikburnu Mevkii; it is referred as Kulaksizlar; by the name of the village it is connected to; in the publications.
Geography and Environment: Marble idols; marble vessel pieces; idol cores; flakes; and sherds are scattered in an area of approximately 12 000 square meter. Harmandali Mountain lying in east-west direction is located north of Kulaksiz Village and Akselendi Plain is located west of it. There are current marble quarries in Harmandali Mountain. It is assumed that those who worked the atelier labeled Kulaksizlar were using the same quarries and were possibly settled in Balikburnu Mevkii. Approximately 5 km Northeast of Kulaksızlar Locality is Harmandalı marble quarry. This region contains the marble quarries that supply the marble requirement of antique city of Thyateira until Late Antique Age [Akdeniz 2010:69].
History:
Research and Excavation: The site first came to be known when the villagers from Kulaksizlar took a marble idol and its pieces; recovered by chance; to Manisa Museum in 1991. The fields from which the finds came were first surveyed by R. Dinç in 1994 and then in 1995. The result of the first survey was 392 finds in two days. Today; it is assumed that many idols in the collections of the museums in Europe are of this origin. The site is surveyed by E. Akdeniz in 2007 and 2008 [Akdeniz 2010:70]. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Stratigraphy: The surface material implies the existence of several phases.
Small Finds: Pottery: Sherds collected from the surface of this atelier (?) site constitute the 10 % of the whole assemblage. All sherds fall in the time period between Late Neolithic Age and EBA. All have sand; quartz; and mica temper with a few having chaff as well. They bear black; dark brown; red; brown-yellow or buff slips. Relative chronology for the sherds is accomplished by Dinç mostly due to formal properties. The sherds with forms parallel to Kuruçay Level 8; Pekmeztepe VIIIB; Khios; Ayio Gala Upper Cave; Karain; Besik-Sivritepe; Kiliktepe; Beycesultan XXXV; and Kumtepe I b are dated to Early and Late Chalcolithic Ages. It is claimed that the strap-handle is typical of Early Chalcolithic Age of Western Anatolia [Dinç 1997:264]. Ground Stone: The working of the marble that most probably came from the quarries up in Harmandali Mountain; was a process with different phases before the raw material became an idol or a vessel. The finds; therefore; include the coarse core; sketch; and the produced object together with the tools to work the marble into the object such as stone hammers; pointed tools; pumices for scraping. The tools are made of either pebbles or hematite. Among the 15 types of idol heads found during the 1994 survey; the abundance of head and arm pieces of the Kilya type idols is striking and is considered as a proof for this site to be the origin of the mentioned type. The dating of the first appearance of Kilya idols as Late Chalcolithic Age has become certain with the examples from Karain; Pekmez Höyük (Aphrodisias); Besik-Sivritepe; and Kumtepe I b [Seeher 1992:157]. Three Late Neolithic-Early Chalcolithic pieces are captured during the surveys carried out by E. Akdeniz in 2007 and 2008. The first piece is a bowl with rounded mouth and a vertical posture. Its paste is black and contains sand, mica and quartz added. Both of the surfaces, inside and outside of the bowl which is a hand made plain ware are brown. It is baked at a medium heat. Similar wares are found on the surface at Moralı and in Layer IV at Ulucak. The second piece belongs to a later period pot which has a slightly rounded mouth and excurving convex posture. Its paste is black and contains lots of mica and quartz added. The surface inside the bowl which is handmade and features no coating is red. It is baked at a medium heat. Similar wares are found in Layer XXXVII of Beycesultan from Late Chalcolithic Age. The last piece is a flattened base. Its paste is grey and contains mica and quartz added. It is coating is grey. Similar finds are among those Late Chalcolithic Age findings collected from Beycesultan [Akdeniz 2010: 71].
Remains:
Interpretation and Dating: Balikburnu Mevkii/Kulaksizlar stands as an interesting atelier site for the Aegean World still and definitely requires systematic excavation. Some of the pieces of pottery captured during the surveys carried out by E. Akdeniz in 2007 and 2008 belong to Late Neolithic-Early Chalcolithic Age during which pottery production was non-existent in Kulaksızlar. No artwork is found that can absolutely be classified as Kulaksızlar produce in Akhisar, Akdeğirmen, Kennez, Akselendi, Kızlaralanı, Moralılar II, Rahmiye II and Refik Arslan Mounds where the materials found were contemporary with Kulaksızlar materials. It is believed that the producers in Kulaksızlar probably lived in the close-by area on a slope or a summit in the East-Northeast of the workshop, or on a settlement on the plains which is not yet located or remained under the alluvial deposition. However the data gathered make it evident that Kulaksızlar was an important workshop which produced various marble-stone products including Kilya Figurines especially in the Chalcolithic Age in Western Anatolia. The mound marketed these artworks widely with the help of its geographical location's advantages [Akdeniz 2010:73-75].


To List