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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Palanli Pirun Siginagi |
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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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Rock Shelter |
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Altitude:
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m |
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Region:
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Southeastern Anatolia |
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Province:
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Adiyaman |
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District:
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Merkez |
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Village:
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Palanli |
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Investigation Method:
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Survey |
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Period:
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EP |
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| Location: This rock-shelter site is reported to be between the village of Pirun and the village of Palanli; which is approximately 8-9 km north-northeast of the city of Adiyaman; close to the Palanli Valley through which the Degirmentepe Stream flows. Although it is noted that the site is along the Adiyaman-Malatya highway; an exact location or landmark is not provided. We have included this site separately rather than together with the "Palanli Keçiler Cave" site; researched by Bostanci and Anati; because the descriptions indicate that this is a different cave/rock-shelter (see Keçiler Magarasi). It is a great loss to Turkish archaeology that this site cannot be located because it houses the earliest cave paintings found in Turkey. |
| Geography and Environment: The area is mountainous and rich in water sources. Although it has been reported that the cave/rock-shelter has three chambers; two with engravings; the publications do not provide exact dimensions or other characteristics. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: This rock-shelter (occasionally described as a cave) and the engravings of schematic human and animal figures were discovered in 1938 by E. Pittard; Sevket Aziz Kansu and Hamit Zübeyr [Pittard 1939:fig.1-2]. Numerous later archaeologists searched for these carvings but they were never found again. It is assumed that since 1938 the outer face of the cave wall with the carvings either cracked and collapsed or that the etchings were worn away. Anati; who did research in the Keçiler Cave confirms that the drawings are not among the wall paintings and carvings there [Anati 1968:29]. Kökten suggests that these lost wall paintings must be in the village of Palanli near Pirun. Kansu does not specify where they might be but indicates that the lower carvings are older than the upper ones [Kansu 1946:fig.53]. Pittard suggests that the wall paintings resemble Magdalénien cave paintings but cannot assign them to a period [Pittard 1938:3; Pfannenstiel 1941:18]. Bittel suggests that the depicted animals are Near Eastern wild goats; Capra bircus L. and Capra aegagrus [Bittel 1950:15]. Anati believes that although they are similar to the Palaeolithic Kilwa paintings and the Neolithic rock art in the Jordanian Plateau; the schematic depictions indicate that they are later in date. Kökten; Bostanci and especially Pittard and Kansu make no inferences about the dating of these paintings. Kansu suggests that they resemble the Upper Palaeolithic cave paintings in North Africa and Spain [Kansu 1971:217-218]. |
| Stratigraphy: |
| Small Finds: We are not informed whether the 1938 research crew who surveyed the area collected any artifacts. No mention of chipped stone tools is made. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: |
