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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Yügücek |
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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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128 m |
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Region:
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Marmara |
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Province:
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Bursa |
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District:
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Iznik |
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Village:
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Merkez |
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Investigation Method:
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Survey |
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Period:
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Ceramic |
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| Location: This site is northeast of the city of Bursa; 1 km south of the town of Iznik; west of the Iznik-Yenisehir highway. |
| Geography and Environment: The mound; which is 3 m high and has a 100 m diameter; is 1 km from the Iznik Lake in the fertile Iznik Plain. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: Many researchers who conducted research in the Iznik Region have visited this site. In 1948 K. Kökten; in 1960 J. Mellaart; in 1965 D.H. French conducted research at this site [French 1967b:55]. The final researcher in the area was Biernoff in 1966. The mound can easily be spotted from the highway. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism. |
| Stratigraphy: French; who has conducted a lot of research in this area; believes that it is an Early Bronze Age site [French 1967b:55; site 26]; while Biernoff reports that he found Neolithic pottery on the site. |
| Small Finds: Pottery: Biernoff found only one sherd that is Neolithic in date on this mound [Biernoff 1967:fig.1/1]. This is a necked mouth piece and resembles Fikirtepe ware. Biernoff notes that this sherd has some badly worn decoration on it. The non-slipped side of the sherd has been decorated with two red adjacent triangles. The outer surface has then been burnished. The triangles are solid. Biernoff notes that this motif can be found both in Turkey and in Greece and points out that Mersin Yumuktepe Proto-Chalcolithic Layer XXIV yielded such material. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: This rim sherd that has a classically Fikirtepe-type profile is decorated with a motif unknown to Fikirtepe. It is difficult to declare that there is a Late Neolithic component of the site of Yügücek-Iznik based on one sherd. Neither Mellaart nor French found any Neolithic material at the site. The Late Neolithic of this site should be viewed with skepticism; although it is not surprising that there is a site contemporaneous with the site of Fikirtepe in the Iznik Region (see the sites of Ilipinar; Marmaracik; Mentese; Yenisehir II). |
