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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Bozcaada / Tenedos |
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For site maps and drawings please click on the picture...  |
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Type:
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Flat Settlement and Cemetery |
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Altitude:
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20 m |
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Region:
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Marmara |
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Province:
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Çanakkale |
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District:
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Bozcaada |
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Village:
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Merkez |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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EBA II |
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| Location: The cemetery is located at the Cumhuriyet Quarter in the center of the island Bozcaada (Tenedos) in the Aegean Sea; outside the Dardanelles Strait; southwest of the Çanakkale Province. |
| Geography and Environment: The findspot starts near the foothill of Yeni Kale; situated almost inside the modern settlement of Bozcaada; and then spreads out to the east disappearing under the city on the south. The ancient name for Bozcaada is Tenedos. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: It was excavated by E. Ataçeri and S. Ergovan in 1959 upon the discovery of some graves during the foundation construction of a school. The excavations were continued by I. Aksit in 1969; T. Özkan in 1990 and N. Sevinç in 1992. The prehistoric graves and settlement could have been found only after 1992 [Sevinç 1994:314; Sevinç 1995:113-114]. The excavations interrupted after 1993 campaign and with a single season activity in 2001 completed. The last fieldwork in Tenedos is the investigation conducted by A.Y. Tavukçu in 2002 [Tavukçu et al. 2004:68]. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism. |
| Stratigraphy: The presence of overlapping graves belonging to several periods indicates that it was used as a cemetery from the EBA to the Ottoman Empire Period. |
| Small Finds: Architecture: The 1993 excavation yielded traces of a circular wall and a mudbrick wall on the bedrock. The exposure of a stone paved floor filled with clayed earth evidences the presence of a prehistoric settlement. The graves brought to light above this floor indicate that the settlement is older than the graves. No information is provided about the finds of the settlement. Human Remains: The 1992 excavation aimed to verify the burial traditions and borders of the cemetery revealed a 160x90 cm sarcophagus without a lid; but with plenty of grave goods datable to Troy I. This indicates that the cemetery was in use since EBA. The dead buried in semi-hocker position was accompanied with a spiral headed pin next to his head; a handmade vessel with a lid and pierced lug on his chest; a terra cotta spindle-whorl; and a worked shell at his feet. The head of the skeleton was oriented toward the south. The 1993 excavation yielded another sarcophagus housing two skeletons buried in hocker position. The grave was supported on four sides with stones. The sarcophagus is in the north-south direction. A simple pit burial by its side evidences the presence of several types of graves. A few finds were recovered as grave goods. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: Bozcaada is on a heavy traffic of the sea trade. The EBA cemetery and settlement is significant for the settlement history of the island. Not only the modern cemetery but the ones dating from the Roman; Hellenistic; and other periods partly destroyed the EBA cemetery. The vessels recovered from the graves are compared with the finds at Karatas-Semayük. |
