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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Giricano |
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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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550 m |
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Region:
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Southeastern Anatolia |
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Province:
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Diyarbakir |
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District:
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Bismil |
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Village:
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Korukçu |
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Investigation Method:
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Excavation |
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Period:
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Early Iron Age |
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| Location: The site is located 11 km southeast of Bismil district in Diyarbakir province. |
| Geography and Environment: Tigris River meanders towards the south after a rocky outcrop located to the west of the mound. The settlement lies on a natural hill and as a result of this it does not have the risk of flood even when the river has the highest water level. The hill overlooks the river and also can control the wide valley on the north as far as the hills located 1.5 km away. The mound measures 170x120x25 m and it is possible to research the cultural layers in wide areas. The settlement of Ziyaret Tepe is located 3 km southeast of the settlement. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: A survey was conducted in 1988 by G. Algaze et al., but no report was published. It was excavated in 2000-2003 under the direction of A. Schachner in cooperation with the Diyarbakir Museum and coordination of ODTÜ TAÇDAM with financial support from the German Research Fund within the context of the Salvage Project for the Ilisu Dam. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism. |
| Stratigraphy: Depending on the evaluations made so far, it can be suggested that Giricano had been inhabited during the Iron Age, Late Bronze Age, second half of the 2nd Millennium BC, and from the Late Ubaid Period until the first quarter of the 3rd Millennium BC. Other than the mentioned periods, the upper sections of Giricano had been occupied as a cemetery area by the neighbouring populations during the Middle Age (ca.12th-14th century) [Schachner 2004:505]. |
| Small Finds: Architectural Remains: No remains for periods later than the 9th century were found at Giricano except two arrow heads from the Middle or Late Iron Age. Although the architecture of the Early Iron Age, very near the surface, has not been well preserved, there appears to have been a significant change in the construction technique where mudbrick was replaced with stone compared to earlier layers. To the north of the south trench 06, corner of a building and its inventory were exposed immediately beneath the surface. It seems that the two wheel-made and painting decorated jugs, which were uncovered as leaning against the corner of the preserved wall represent a different tradition as well as the hand-made painted samples uncovered along with grooved pottery. At Giricano, immediately beneath the surface, the latest building level has been destroyed to a great extent, and thus, no plan is available. The walls were entirely built of conglomerate stones indicating river layers which are composed of small and medium-sized limestones rounded as a result of abrasion by the river and small pebbles, which became compacted under pressure. No in situ finds are available from this layer; however, ceramics are remarkably distinct from the earlier samples. Pottery: Grooved sherds known from many other sites in the Eastern Anatolia are abundant. Also found are limited number of painted sherds. Two jugs were uncovered in situ in trench 06. With a distinct tradition, the pointed triangular decorations on these jugs along their body are highly characteristic. These figures on the light-colored and well-polished vessel were decorated in dark red/brown colors. They may be comparable with the Eastern Anatolian and Transcaucasian Late Bronze/Early Iron Age painted ware [Schachner-Schachner 2003:447]. Such decorations and vessel forms are different both from the pottery belonging to the second half of the 2nd Millennium BC and the above mentioned Early Iron Age samples. No precise information is available as related excavations are still going on. It is suggested that these artefacts can be part of the "west triangle" ware of the 5th -4th centuries BC, which were first uncovered in the Northern Iran [Schachner 2004:506]. The simple ceramic vessels uncovered from the uppermost level at Giricano are decorated with one or more grooves right beneath the rim. Simple and rounded rims are either upward or slightly inverted. Some of the vessels have bulb decorations on the outside. With various colors in black-grey, brown and red, they are organic- and mineral-tempered, mostly burnished. They are included in the typical Eastern Anatolian ware of the Early Iron Age, which are, in general, dated to the 11th to 9th centuries BC. As no remains pertaining to a later level were found, available material do not provide any clue about the end of this ceramic group. However, it is likely to limit their start with the mid-11th century BC based on the Middle Assyrian tablets found. This evaluation is supported by datings known from the Tigris Region and eastern part of the Central Anatolia [Schachner 2002:550]. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: As mentioned above, cultural traces of the Iron Age have not been well-preserved as they were close to the surface level and the mound was used as a cemetery. Presence of handmade grooved ceramics, a characteristic of the Eastern Anatolia, along with traces of dispersed architectural remains at the Trench 01 covering the uppermost sections of the mound represents a certain distinction from the earlier levels, and indicates that in general the settlement belonged to the Early Iron Age. Traces of the Early Iron Age found at Giricano can be dated around the late 11th century until the late 10th century. The walls identified in the Iron Age levels were entirely built of conglomerate stones indicating river layers which are composed of small and medium-sized limestones rounded as a result of abrasion by the river and small pebbles, which became compacted under pressure. Such a formation is observed on a steep rock on the bank of the Tigris near Giricano. The stones used for the settlement were probably removed from this site. Interestingly, such stones were only used for the levels pertaining to the later periods and the enclosure wall on the western slope [Schachner 2002a:550]. Furthermore, definite changes observed in the cultural development with the Early Iron Age indicate that the Assyrian domination was relatively short. Compared to previous periods, the Early Iron Age is the only period that we could have identified its influence in the Eastern Anatolia so far. However, we learn from the Neo-Assyrian sources that the cultures originating from the Eastern Anatolia dominated the Upper Tigris Valley only for a period of 150 to 180 years. The archaeological data from the excavations at Giricano and the development based on the historical sources ideally complement each other. As a hypothesis, it can be concluded that the Upper Tigris Region had an independent development course in general or it was part of the Northern Mesopotamia particularly during the prehistoric periods [Schachner 2004:514]. |
