Two children’s skeletons found in Arslantepe Mound

MALATYA

Skeletons of two children from 3,600 years ago have been found at UNESCO heritage site Arslantepe Mound, which has a history of some 7,000 years in the eastern province of Malatya.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Francesca Balossi Restelli, associate professor and the head of Arslantepe Mound excavations, said that they would complete the excavations, which have been going on for two months, on Oct. 7.

Stating that they reached the Late Chalcolithic layers during this year’s excavations and found elite houses there, Restelli said: “We are now at the ground of the houses. We found a lot of ceramics on the soles; small, large and very different ceramics. There are ceramic pots and small glasses, and we found cupboards made of seeds and mud. There are three rooms full of ceramics. We are removing them now, and we will take samples from the base for chemical analysis. We can get more information with this analysis.”

Noting that they also found needles made of animal bones in the houses, Restelli said that needles were used in making clothes at that time.

Stating that vases and large jars were also discovered during the excavations and that they were used for the preservation of agricultural products, Restelli noted that two of the jars contained the skeletons of two children.

Highlighting that the skeletons found in the jars belong to the Late Chalcolithic period in 3,600 B.C., Restelli said that the exact date of the skeletons and whether the children had any disease would be revealed at the end of the examination.

Stating that they also found a cheese container from the Chalcolithic period, Restelli said: “It is not clear yet how they used it, but we will do some research to find out. It was found in houses dated to the Late Chalcolithic period. At that time there were animals like the ones today; people used cows, goats and sheep in Arslantepe. We found a lot of animal bones.”

Restelli stated that they also carried out excavations dating back to the late Hittite period to the north of the mound.

“We are reaching the new layer there. There was a very large monumental building on it which we removed. The walls start again in the current excavations. Here in the wall, we found a gold earring dating back to 900 B.C.”

Noting that Arslantepe is a very important mound, Restelli said: “It is a very beautiful place to live, right on the edge of the Malatya plain. Therefore, the settlement here continued for thousands of years. So we can work here for hundreds of years. Archaeologists will find some really cool stuff, and we will be able to understand history a lot better.”