Usakli Hoyuk (also known as ''Kusakli, Kusachakly, Uçaklı'') is located at Büyüktaslik Village in the district of
Sorgun,
Yozgat Province
Yozgat Province ( tr, ) is a province in central Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Çorum to the northwest, Kırıkkale to the west, Kırşehir to the southwest, Nevşehir to the south, Kayseri to the southeast, Sivas to the east, Tokat to the ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, to the north of Mount
Kerkenes. It was an important
Hittite city that flourished in the second millennium BC, and was identified as a possible location of the ancient city of
Zippalanda Zippalanda was a Hattic administrative and religious center of the Hittite Old Kingdom. Although its name was known from inscriptions, it was not until the latter 20th century that scholars placed it in Sorgun District of Yozgat Province, Turkey, ...
, the centre of the cult of the Storm God.
Description
The settlement consists of a high mound with a slightly sloping large terrace. The central mound is about 2 hectares, and the whole settlement covers an area of 10 hectares. It is located on the southern bank of Egri Öz river, in the northern part of a large, fertile plain. It is two days' walk (about 40 km) from there to the Hittite capital
Hattuša.
This site should not be confused with
Kuşaklı Höyük in
Sivas Province
Sivas Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey. It is largely located at the eastern part of the Central Anatolia region of Turkey; it is the second largest province in Turkey by territory. Its adjacent provinces are Yozgat to the west, Kays ...
, Turkey.
Archaeology
The settlement started at the end of the 3rd millennium BC, and continued through the Middle to the Late Bronze Ages, which witnessed the greatest urban development of the site. There was also the Iron Age occupation continuing to the late Roman and Byzantine eras.
Recent excavations have been focused on four excavation areas. They were labelled as A, B, C and D.
Area C includes the acropolis and its eastern slope. Iron Age (8th-6th centuries BC) city walls were excavated comprising a strong defence system with high ramparts erected using large stones.
Three other excavation areas are in the lower area of the city. In Area B, a large Late Roman structure was found.
In Area A, remains of monumental Hittite temple dated to the Late Bronze Age (14th-12th centuries BC) were exposed.
Hittite palace
In Area D, to the south of the acropolis, a Hittite palace was discovered. This has been labelled as Building III. According to the results of geomagnetic surveys, this Building III extends 65 meters from west to east and 20 meters from north to south.
In 2019, the excavations of the palace were expanded to the west and east, and they brought to light numerous other rooms. The excavators found that all rooms appeared empty, so the building was probably abandoned and cleared out in a planned manner. The destruction by fire, the traces of which are detectable everywhere, probably occurred afterwards.
Exploration history
For many years there was some confusion about the name and the exact location of this site. The first scholar who visited Usakli in 1926 was the Hittitologist
Emil Forrer
Emil Orgetorix Gustav Forrer (also Emilio O. Forrer; ; 19 February 1894, Straßburg, Alsace-Lorraine – 10 January 1986, San Salvador) was a Swiss Assyriologist and pioneering Hittitologist.
Moreover, Emil Forrer developed a deviant interdiscip ...
, and he referred to it as "Kusachakly", based on some old maps.
In 1928, it was
:de:Hans Henning von der Osten who visited the site, and he referred to it as 'Küchük Köhne'. But he may have confused it with some other mound nearby.
Some other scholars also visited this location later, but the whole situation was clarified only by Geoffrey D. Summers in 1993–1994, who did a complete archaeological survey and mapping of the site. He was working within the framework of the
Kerkenes Project.
Archaeological surface survey campaigns were conducted in 2008–2012, and excavations took place in 2013–2015. This work was led by a team headed by Florence University Professor
Stefania Mazzoni.
Four pieces of cuneiform script and pottery were found at the site. Among them is a fragment of a Hittite tablet that was discovered at the base of the mound during the 2009 survey. It is most likely a magical ritual of the Hittite Imperial era, probably to be dated to the Middle-Hittite period.
Oldest mosaic floor
Excavations undertaken at Usakli during 2018 revealed a world's oldest mosaic stone floor associated with a large building of Hittite date.
:"Only what seems to be the south-eastern edge of the design is well preserved, and this appears as a frame consisting of three narrow parallel bands of stones of white, black-blue and white again; the stones of the external white band are laid with their thin edges uppermost so that they are a narrower final border."
The whole floor area of about 3 by 7 meters was believed to have been covered with the mosaic, consisting of 3147 stones of different shapes and sizes. The stones are laid flat on the tamped earth.
Since the edges of the mosaic are aligned exactly parallel to the outer walls of the entire building, it can be assumed that it was all created at the same time during the Hittite era.
Stone-covered floors are also known from the Hittite sites at Kuşaklı (Šarišša),
Šapinuwa and
Ḫattuša
Hattusa (also Ḫattuša or Hattusas ; Hittite: URU''Ḫa-at-tu-ša'', Turkish: Hattuşaş , Hattic: Hattush) was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of t ...
, but Uşaklı is the only known example from this period for a mosaic-like layout. Prior to this, the earliest known mosaic in Anatolia was thought to be a burnt structure in the so-called Burned Building in Phrygian
Gordion
Gordion ( Phrygian: ; el, Γόρδιον, translit=Górdion; tr, Gordion or ; la, Gordium) was the capital city of ancient Phrygia. It was located at the site of modern Yassıhüyük, about southwest of Ankara (capital of Turkey), in the ...
.
These excavations are being carried out as a joint project of the Turkish General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Museums,
Bozok University
Bozok University ( tr, Bozok Üniversitesi) is a university located in Yozgat, Turkey. It was established in 2006.
Affiliations
The University is a member of the Balkan Universities Network and Caucasus University Association Caucasus Universi ...
, and
Pisa University
The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe.
History
The Origins
The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...
of Italy.
Identification as Zippalanda
Zippalanda Zippalanda was a Hattic administrative and religious center of the Hittite Old Kingdom. Although its name was known from inscriptions, it was not until the latter 20th century that scholars placed it in Sorgun District of Yozgat Province, Turkey, ...
was a Hittite administrative and religious center known from ancient texts. It is known to be located somewhere near ''Mount Daha'', often identified with the modern Mount Kerkenes.
Uşaklı Höyük has been identified as one of the two plausible sites in this area along with
Çadır Höyük.
Site History
Çadır Höyük Archaeological Project - www.cadirhoyuk.org
The Weather god of Zippalanda
The Weather god of Zippalanda was a Hittite weather god, who was worshipped in the Hittite city of Zippalanda. The weather god of Zippalanda had several names, such as Ziplantil, Wašezzili,Piotr Taracha: ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia ...
was important among the Hittites and Luwians
The Luwians were a group of Anatolian peoples who lived in central, western, and southern Anatolia, in present-day Turkey, during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. They spoke the Luwian language, an Indo-European language of the Anatolian sub-fam ...
.
See also
* Alişar Hüyük
Notes
{{Reflist
Bibliography
*Anacleto D'Agostino (2020)
Tracing fire events and destructions of Late Bronze Age date: the end of the Hittite Building on the citadel of Uşaklı Höyük.
in ''Anatolia between the 13th and the 12th century BCE'' (Eothen 23). Edited by S. de Martino and E. Devecchi (pp.69-93). Publisher: Logisma
* S. Mazzoni e F. Pecchioli (eds), The Uşaklı Höyük Survey Project (2008-2012). A final report. Firenze: Firenze University Press.
* A. D'Agostino, V. Orsi 2015, The Archaeological Survey: Methods and Materials. The Uşaklı Höyük Survey Project (2008-2012). A final Report, (Studia Asiana 10). Edited by S. Mazzoni e F. Pecchioli Daddi. Firenze: Firenze University Press, 35-343.
* F. Pecchioli Daddi F. 2014, The Economical and Social Structure of a Holy City: the Case of Zippalanda, in: Gs Otten, StBoT. Edited by A. Müller Karpe, E. Rieken, W. Sommerfield, pp. 153–164. Wiesbaden.
* S. Mazzoni and A. D'Agostino 2015, Researches at Uşaklı Höyük(Central Anatolian Plateau), in: The Archaeology of Anatolia: Current Work (2013-2014). Edited by S. Steadman and G. MacMahon, pp. 149–179. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholar Press.
* S. Mazzoni, A. D'Agostino, V. Orsi 2010, New researches in the Hittite heartland: the Italian archaeological survey at Uşaklı/Kuşaklı Höyük (Yozgat - Central Anatolian Plateau). Antiquity 84/325 (September 2010), project gallery.
External links
at TAY Project - tayproject.org
The Archaeological Project at Uşaklı Höyük
A detailed map of the Central Anatolian Plateau with the location of Uşaklı Höyük.
History of Yozgat Province
Hittite cities
Archaeological sites in Central Anatolia
Former populated places in Turkey