Ancient flute on display at museum

BİLECİK

The remains unearthed during the two-year excavations in the northwestern province of Bilecik’s Bahçelievler neighborhood have been put on display at a museum for the first time.

Among the pieces exhibited is an 8,600-year-old three-hole flute.

Excavations carried out in the garden of an apartment in the Bahçelievler district revealed that the region was one of the first settlements in Western Anatolia.

As a result of two years of work, 11 human skeletons, which are considered to be 8,500 years old, were found in the excavation area, as well as a three-hole musical instrument from the same period, seeds such as wheat, barley and lentils.

The director of the Bilecik Archeology and Ethnography Museum and the head of the excavation, Harun Küçükaydın, explained that the finds that changed history were found by chance.

“The excavations unearthed the first finds dating back to approximately 9,000 years ago. We first found a skeleton dating back about 9,000 years. Again, one of the firsts, we found a musical instrument called the flute, which dates back 8,600 years. We have finished examinations on the finds and confirmed that they are from 9,000 years ago,” he said.