Ceramic furnace found in Tepecik Mound

AYDIN

A ceramic furnace dating back 3500 years has been unearthed in Tepecik Mound, a trade center in the past in the western province of Aydın’s Çine district.

Excavations in Tepecik Mound, which is located among olive trees and cornfields on the Çine Plain, are being carried out by Sevinç Günel, a professor at Hacettepe University’s Archaeology Department.

During the 17-year excavations in the mound, three towers, a room, where the items used by the rulers of the period for official visits were kept, and the furnace were unearthed, as well as obsidians used in tool making at that time.

Works recently resumed on the mound, where excavations were suspended last year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Günel said that there was an uninterrupted life in the region 7,500 years ago.

Noting that they found traces of life from every period in the mound, Günel emphasized that this proved that the region was a strong economic center.

Noting that it was a settlement dating back to the Chalcolithic period (5000-3000 B.C.), Günel said that during this year’s excavations, they identified an area where ceramics, which were important in the trade of the city, were produced.

“The area we work in has architectural remains and finds dating back 3,500 years. That’s why we think it is a ceramic furnace. There are ceramic pieces on its floors, and there is a hard-filled adobe floor. There are also containers around it. There are samples of containers for mass production. It will become clearer as we work over a wide area in the coming days,” Günel said.

Emphasizing that the ceramic furnace covers an area of 3 meters, Günel said they would try to understand the trade volume in the region with the findings they will obtain.

She stated that they also found a storage room 20 meters away from the area.

“We found pieces of jars and containers, which were broken and containing products, together. They were found in severely damaged condition, and the reason for this is the flooding at that time. Accordingly, as a result of the collapse, we collect the broken containers in the area that we describe as a warehouse,” Günel said.