Excavation and Research Project of Middle Bronze Age Layers of Beycesultan Höyük
Project no. 559 · Status: Kapanmış · 2017
Summary
With the beginning of the second millennium BC, a process was introduced in Western Anatolia in the context of both cultural and social organization, where more complex and local elements came to the fore. In Beycesultan Höyük, the cultural aspects of this process, which can be monitored without interruption, are of great importance, especially in terms of enlightening the cultural and chronological process of Central Western Anatolia. Excavations in Beycesultan Höyük in recent years have focused on the Middle Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age levels. As a result of these studies, the stratification of Beycesultan Höyük has been changed to a great extent. The Middle Bronze Age levels of Beycesultan Höyük, which constitute the subject of this project, are in the old stratification V and IV, 10-7 in new stratification. The Middle Bronze Age levels, which have been explored by us during the 2012-2019 excavation seasons, are still in their infancy, but have already yielded some new results, especially in a chronological context. In the early excavations, the dating of the Middle Bronze Age layers was mostly done with relative dating methods, and the result of the radiocarbon analysis obtained from the 5th layer was not supported by archaeological data, which caused the dating of the layers to not reach a satisfactory level. Radiocarbon analysis results obtained from Layers 10 and 7 associated with V and IVc as a result of the new excavations showed that these layers should be pulled earlier than the previously suggested dates.