Büklükale is an archaeological site located in

Kırıkkale province Kırıkkale Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province of Turkey. It is located on the crossroads of major highways east of Ankara leading east to the Black Sea region. Its area is 4,791 km2, and its population is 277,046 (2022). With its ...

, central Turkey near the town of Karakeçili. It is located about 50 km northwest from yet another important archaeological site of

Kaman-Kalehöyük Kaman-Kalehöyük is a multi-period archaeological site in Kırşehir Province, Turkey, around 100 km south east of Ankara, 6 km east of the town center of Kaman. It is a tell or mound site that was occupied during the Bronze Age, Ir ...

. The site is about 30

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s in area. During the Middle Bronze Age, Buklukale became a part of the

Hittite Empire The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

. The location of Büklükale is significant because it is situated on the west bank at the narrowest point of the

Kızılırmak River The Kızılırmak (, Turkish language, Turkish for "Red River"), once known as the Halys River () and Alis River, is the longest river flowing entirely within Turkey. It is a source of hydroelectric power and is not used for navigation. Geogra ...

and served as an important crossing point through the ages. There is a

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

(13th century A.D.) bridge there, and the remains of a Roman bridge.

History

The site was settled in the Early Bronze Age period (the third millennium BC).

Early Bronze

In the Early Bronze, the

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 ...

n Trade Network may have crossed at this junction of the Kızılırmak River, connecting Central Anatolia with Western Anatolia (Asia Minor).

Middle Bronze

In the Middle Bronze, the site was an important crossing on the Kızılırmak River for trade routes going east to west. It may have been part of the Assyrian Trade Network. Compared with the Early Bronze, Central Anatolia was less focused on trade with Western Anatolia, which became more directed towards the Aegean. In contrast, Central Anatolia trade moved eastwards to the

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

. There was a walled Lower Town over-topped by a rocky outcrop at the riverside which contained significant buildings surrounded by a 7-meter-high cyclopean wall. According to the excavators the upper city buildings were built around 1980 BC, destroyed around 1860 BC, and then rebuilt to be destroyed again in 1680 BC.

Oldest glass

Some of the oldest glass in the world has been found at Büklükale and the nearby Kaman-Kalehöyük. This glass is estimated to be 3600-year-old

600 BC The year 600 BC was a year of the Roman calendar, pre-Julian Roman calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as year 154 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 600 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno D ...

Late Bronze

Hittite Period

The Kızılırmak river functions as a border with the

Hittite Kingdom The Hittites () were an Anatolian Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in modern-day Turkey in the early 2nd millen ...

proper on the east side and the imperial frontier on the west side. Major roads went from Central Anatolia to

Afyon Afyonkarahisar (, 'poppy, opium', ''kara'' 'black', ''hisar'' 'fortress') is a major city in western Turkey. It is the administrative centre of Afyonkarahisar Province and Afyonkarahisar District. Its population is 251,799 (2021). Afyon is in the ...

. A fragment of a Hittite cuneiform tablet was found here during excavations in 2010. This is the most westerly find of any cuneiform tablet in Turkey to date. The tablet has since been transcribed and translated. Recently a tablet was found written in the Hurrian language containing a purification ritual.

Excavations

The Japanese archaeological team from the Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology that excavated Kaman-Kalehöyük also conducted excavations here under the direction of K. Matsumura beginning in 2009.Weeden,Mark, "Hittite Epigraphic Finds from Büklükale 2011–14", Anatolian Archaeological Studies, 19, pp.81–10, 2016

References

{{Reflist Archaeological sites in Turkey Turkey in the Roman era Roman archaeology Ancient Roman architecture