Norşuntepe is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in

Elazığ Province Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia Region, Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. Founded in and around the former city of Harput, it is located in the uppermost Euph ...

(

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

). The site was occupied between the

Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

and

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 ...

and is now partially submerged by Lake Keban. It was excavated between 1968 and 1974.

The site and its environment

Before it was flooded, Norşuntepe was located on the Altınova Plain near the mouth of the

Murat River The Murat River, also called Eastern Euphrates (, , ), is a major source of the Euphrates River. The Ancient Greeks and Romans used to call the river ''Arsanias'' (). It originates near Mount Ararat north of Lake Van, in Eastern Turkey, and flows ...

(downstream from the town of Palu, Elazığ). It is now partially submerged by the reservoir created by the Keban Dam; its top is still above the water level. The site consists of a central hill or "acropolis" measuring and high, making it the largest tell in the area. The central hill is surrounded by lower terraces encompassing an area of .

History

Norşuntepe was occupied from the

to the

. The excavators have recognized 40 different occupation levels ranging in date from the fifth millennium BC to ca. 600 BC. Its occupation levels overlap to a large degree with those excavated at nearby Arslantepe.

Chalcolithic

The Chalcolithic occupation at Norşuntepe can be divided in 3 phases. The oldest Phase I dates to the Middle Chalcolithic and included Ubaid-type pottery. Phase II represents the Late Chalcolithic and during its final levels, more complex architecture appeared in the excavated area.

Phase II: Metallurgy and arsenical bronze

Also during Phase II,

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and

arsenical bronze Arsenical bronze is an alloy in which arsenic, as opposed to or in addition to tin or other constituent metals, is combined with copper to make bronze. The use of arsenic with copper, either as the secondary constituent or with another component ...

production was practiced at the site. Norşuntepe provides first clear and unambiguous evidence of arsenical bronze production in this general area before the 4th millennium. It demonstrates that some form of arsenic alloying was being deliberately practised. Since the slag identified at Norşuntepe contains no arsenic, this means that arsenic-bearing materials were added separately. The evidence was discovered at the levels with Ubaid style ceramics, where also were found a number of structures related to the Mesopotamian architectural traditions. A related site in the area from the same time period is Değirmentepe, where arsenic-bronze was also produced around 4200 BC.

Phase III

The final Chalcolithic phases were characterized by small-scale single-room houses.

Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...

from the different Chalcolithic levels provided dates between 4300-3800 BC.

Early Bronze

After a hiatus, Norşuntepe was again occupied during the

Early 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 ...

. The site reached a size of 3.2 hectares in the Early Bronze I and II periods and then shrank to 0.8 hectares in EB III. During this period, the site was surrounded by a

mudbrick Mudbrick or mud-brick, also known as unfired brick, is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of mud (containing loam, clay, sand and water) mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE. From ...

city wall built on a stone foundation. There is evidence for

production and some sort of palace or large, central building appears at the site in the final phases. In terms of material culture and architecture, there are clear parallels with

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

, and the Kura–Araxes culture. The latest Early Bronze Age phase in Norşuntepe ends in fire.

Middle Bronze

The

Middle 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 ...

settlement is smaller than its precursor and no evidence for a palace has been found.

Late Bronze

The Late Bronze Age remains at Norşuntepe was heavily disturbed by later Iron Age activity, but some larger buildings have been excavated.

Hittite period

From around 1350 BC onwards, the Hittites gained influence in this region fighting the Mitanni Empire.

Iron Age

The Early Iron Age at Norşuntepe (1150–800 BC) is characterized by a shift away from Hittite material culture, possibly as a result of the influx of immigrants such as the

Mushki The Mushki (sometimes transliterated as Muški) were an Iron Age people of Anatolia who appear in sources from Assyria but not from the Hittites. Several authors have connected them with the Moschoi (Μόσχοι) of Greek sources and the Geor ...

. The settlement seems to have been restricted to the south terrace and may have had a rural character.

Urartu period

During its final occupation phases (800–600 BC), Norşuntepe was part of

Urartu Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom centered around the Armenian highlands between Lake Van, Lake Urmia, and Lake Sevan. The territory of the ancient kingdom of Urartu extended over the modern frontiers of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia.Kleiss, Wo ...

. A building with a large, columned hall was located on the mail hill, whereas a second large building, possibly a

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...

, was excavated on the south terrace. A cemetery located on the hill top included a burial chamber where three horses together with gear and weapons were buried. The hilltop was again used as a

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 ...

during the

Medieval Period 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 World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Excavations

It was excavated between 1968 and 1974 under the direction of German

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

Harald Hauptmann as part of the salvage project to document

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

s that would be flooded by the construction of the Keban Dam.von Gladiß, Almut, and Harald Hauptmann, "NORŞUNTEPE", Antike Welt, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 9–19, 1974 Excavation of the site focused on three areas: the western slope, the so-called "acropolis" area, and the south terrace.

References

Archaeological sites in Eastern Anatolia Geography of Elazığ Province Chalcolithic sites of Asia Bronze Age sites in Asia Iron Age sites in Asia Urartian cities Tells (archaeology) Archaeometallurgy Kura-Araxes culture {{DEFAULTSORT:Norşuntepe