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Çine-Tepecik Excavations

Çine-Tepecik Excavations, which started as the Council of Ministers’ excavation in 2004 with the approval of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, were conducted under the presidency of Prof. Sevinç GÜNEL. Çine-Tepecik archaeological settlement is located 1 km east of Çine Stream (Marsyas) within the borders of Karakollar Village in Çine District of Aydın Province (Map 1) (Günel, 2006, 2014a). In the excavations that have been proceeding since 2004, cultural layers covering the whole time interval from the Late Neolithic / Chalcolithic period to the Bronze Age have been discovered (Table 1) (Günel, 2015).

 

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                                       Map 1: Location of Çine-Tepecik Mound (Günel, 2014)

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                                 Chart 1: Stratigraphic Development of Çine-Tepecik Mound (Günel, 2015)

 

 Findings to date belonging to the Middle and Early Chalcolithic period in the earliest cultural layers of the settlement of Çine-Tepecik indicate a development parallel to the Neolithic period in the region (Günel 2010a, 2011, 2014b, 2016). Besides, various finds dating back to the early times of the Chalcolithic Age (chipped stone and bone tools, ceramics) show that Çine-Tepecik's relations with the Aegean World also date back to a very early time (Günel 2011). The location of the settlement as well as the existence of natural roads and routes towards all geographical directions, especially the valleys opening to the Aegean coastline, have a significant role in the formation of these relations (Günel 2011, 2014a). Also, we can say that the 2nd Millennium ruins unearthed in a broader area of the settlement provide a better understanding of this central location of Çine-Tepecik. Studies have shown that the settlement had an impregnable defense system (fortification structure) in the second half of the second millennium BC (Günel, 2010b, 2012, 2016). Within the context of the relations of Western Anatolia with the Aegean world, we should remark that the paint-decorated Mycenaean ceramics obtained from the settlement signal the period (Late Hellas III B-C) in the Aegean (Late Hellas III B-C) (Günel, 2012, 2015, 2016). On the other hand, the seal impressions unearthed are an indicator of the political and economic relations of Çine-Tepecik not only to the Aegean world but also to the Hittites (Günel, 2012, 2015). All these show that the people of Çine-Tepecik had a direct relationship both with the Mycenaean world and the Hittites in the second millennium (Günel, 2016). Findings obtained from the cultural layer belonging to the Late Bronze Age showed that a fire destroyed the settlement (Günel, 2012). In addition, roof-tile tombs unearthed so far in the northwest of the mound show that the area was a cemetery in the upper phase of the settlement (in the Hellenistic period) (Günel, 2006, 2008, 2012a, 2012b).

 

  The bioarchaeological investigation of human skeletal remains unearthed in the excavations of Çine-Tepecik is continuing multidimensionally. In this context, a master's thesis on ancient mtDNA has been completed so far (Yorulmaz, 2019). Scientific activities related to this were attended (Yorulmaz et al., 2018), and a presentation was made on bioarchaeological studies (Büyükkarakaya, 2018). Communities of Çine-Tepecik, KarataÅŸ-Semayük, and Laodikeia/Kandilkırı have been studied comprehensively in an ongoing genome-level project on the Southwest Anatolian Bronze Age communities.

 

References

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Büyükkarakaya, A.M. 2018. From The Bioarchaeological Point Of View Of Human Skeletal Remains In Çine-Tepecik

Examination. 40. International Symposium on excavation, research and Archaeometry,

May March 07-11, 2018, Troy Cultural Center, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart

University, Çanakkale-Turkey

 

Büyükkarakaya, AM. 2017-2018. Çine-Tepecik archaeological settlement human skeleton

ancient DNA isolation from remains and mtDNA haplogroup analysis”

(Hacettepe University BAB project)

 

Gunel, P. 2006. 2004 Excavations Of The Çine-Tepecik Mound. 27. Excavation Results Meeting. Culture

and Ministry of Tourism Dösimm Publishing House, Ankara, 19-28.

 

Gunel, P. 2008. Excavations At Çine-Tepecik Höyük In 2006. 29. Excavation Results Meeting. Culture

and Ministry of Tourism Dösimm Publishing House, Ankara, 73-90.

 

Gunel, P. 2010a. Mycenaean cultural impact on the China (Marsyas) plain, southwest

Anatolia: the evidence from Çine-Tepecik, Anatolian Studies, 60, 25-49.

 

Gunel, P. 2010b. 2008 Excavations At Çine-Tepecik. 31. Excavation Results Meeting. Culture and

Ministry Of Tourism Dösimm Publishing House, Ankara, 459-473.

 

Gunel, P. 2011, A Study On Prehistoric Cultures Of The Region In The Light Of The Çine-Tepecik Excavations

Review, Information Production From The Black Sea To The Euphrates. Articles Gifted To Önder Bilgi,

ed. A. Öztan-Åž. Dönmez, Bilgin Culture And Art Publications, Istanbul, 217-232.

 

Gunel, P. 2012a. Excavations At Çine-Tepecik Höyük In 2010. 33. Excavation Results Meeting. Culture

and Ministry of Tourism Dösimm Publishing House, Ankara, 19-37.

 

Gunel, P. 2012b. Menderes region BC. 2. Millennium City: Çine-Tepecik, Colloquium

Anatolicum XI, 55-80.

 

Gunel, P. 2014a, 2 BC. The Place Of The Thousand Çine-Tepecik Settlement In The Archaeology Of Western Anatolia

and contributions, N. Çınardalı-Karaaslan, A. Aykurt, N. Kolankaya-Bostancı and Y.

H. Erbil (ed.), ArmaÄŸan Erkanal'a ArmaÄŸan, A Look At Anatolian Cultures /

Compiled in Honor of ArmaÄŸan Erkanal, some observations on Anatolian Cultures,

Hacettepe University Press, Ankara, 243-256.

 

Gunel, P. 2014b. New Contributions regarding Prehistoric Cultures in Meander Region: China-

Tepecik, B. Horejs-M. Mehofer (ed.), Western Anatolia before Troy. Proto-

Urbanisation in the 4th millennium BC?, Wien, 83-103.

 

Gunel, P. 2015, Çine-Tepecik: New Contributions on Late Bronze Age Cultures in Western

Anatolia, N. Chr. Stampolidis, C. Maner, K. Kopanias (eds.) NOSTOI. Indigenous

Culture, Migration, Integration in the Aegean Islands, Western Anatolia during

the Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age, Istanbul, 607-626.

 

Gunel, P. 2016, Çine-Tepecik Center in the Historical Geography of western Anatolia', ANTAHŠUM sar

” Crocus", P. Erkut-D. Sir Gavaz (ed.), Ancient Anatolian Studies and Hittites

A dedicated Life, Studies in honor of Ahmet Unal gift, Archaeology and

Art Publications, Istanbul, 281-292

 

Indefatigable, P. , Ozer, F. , Büyükkarakaya, A.M. , Mehmet, P. (2018). Ancient DNA

Investigation on the Çine-Tepecik Archaeological Community: mtDNA

Haplogroup Analysis. 5th Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Symposium, Izmir,

Turkey (18-20 July 2018).

 

Indefatigable, P.. 2019 Archaeogenomic Analysis Of Human Skeletal Remains In Çine-Tepecik.

Prepared By: Hacettepe University Institute Of Social Sciences

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