Değirmentepe or Değirmentepe Hüyük is an archaeological site which is located at 50 km north of the river

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

and at 24 km in the northeast of

Malatya Malatya (; ; Syriac language, Syriac ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city has been a human settlement for thousands of y ...

province in eastern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. It is now submerged in the reservoir area of the Karakaya and Atatürk dams. Rescue excavations were undertaken in under the supervision of Ufuk Esin of

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

and interrupted in by flooding of the dams.

History

Four archaeological layers whose dates are determined by techniques such as C14 and traces of fusion have been discovered in this mound: #

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

(late Roman-Byzantine period) #

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

(1000 BCE) #

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

ancient I (Karaz or

Khirbet Kerak Khirbet Kerak ( , "the ruin of the fortress") or Beth Yerah (, "House of the Moon (god)") (also Khirbat al-Karak) is a Tell (archaeology), tell (archaeological mound) located on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee in modern-day Israel. The te ...

culture, end of 4th millennium-beginning of 3rd millennium BCE) # Chalcolithic Age (

Ubaid period The Ubaid period (c. 5500–3700 BC) is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name derives from Tell al-'Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially in 1919 by Henry Hall, Leonard Woolley in 19 ...

, second half of 5th millennium BCE.)

Chalcolithic

The Chalcolithic Değirmentepe level of Ubaid-4 of the second half of the Vth millennium BCE, of which the sites of Tülintepe, Seyh Hüyük, and Kurban Hüyük are contemporary, contain

skeletons A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fram ...

adolescents Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with ...

with

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

deformed. The remains of this cultural phase belonging to the Chalcolithic are relatively well preserved. However, serious damage caused by occasional flooding of the Euphrates did occur, especially on architectural structures and the

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

. Cranial deformities are not observed on human remains discovered and identified in Iron Age periods and medieval levels from Değrentepe. The Chalcolithic period of this ancient village is characterized by rectangular mud brick houses that communicate with each other. We see the appearance of domestic animals such as

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

s, and

Bovinae Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The members of this group are class ...

than at the beginning of the Chalcolithic.

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seed ...

, and

peas Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum ...

were the most commonly cultivated plants. Many ceramics characteristic of Ubaid culture have been found at the site. Archaeologists have discovered 450 sealings there which indicate intensive commercial activities, and production management.

Metallurgy

Strong evidence of metallurgical activities has been revealed in levels 9 to 6, dating to the Ubaid period, and especially in level 7 (4166 +/- 170 cal BC). Hearths or natural draft furnaces, slag, ore, and pigment had been recovered throughout the site. This was in the context of architectural complexes typical of southern Mesopotamian architecture. Unusually, the metallurgical activities at the site appear to have been limited to the melting and casting of copper objects.

Arsenical copper Arsenical copper contains up to 0.5% arsenic which, at elevated temperatures, imparts higher tensile strength and a reduced tendency to scaling. It is typically specified in boiler work, especially locomotive fireboxes. It also helps prevent embri ...

objects were clearly manufactured on-site, yet the technological aspects of these productions remain unclear. This is because the primary smelting of ore seems to have been undertaken elsewhere, perhaps already at the mining sites. So questions remain as to whether or not arsenic was already present in the ores or added later. In contrast, the related Norşuntepe site provides a better context of production and demonstrates that some form of arsenic alloying was indeed taking place by the 4th millennium BC. Since the slag identified at Norşuntepe contains no arsenic, arsenic was added separately.Loïc C. Boscher (2016)
Reconstructing the Arsenical Copper Production Process in Early Bronze Age Southwest Asia.
Ph.D. Thesis. University College London. p.77

History

Chalcolithic

Metallurgy

References

See also