Re-evaluating Cambaztepe in the Context of its Yamnaya (Pit-Grave) Origin, the Anatolian Trade Network and Possible Early Migrations towards Anatolia in the 3rd Millennium BC

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to re-evaluate Cambaztepe, located approximately 12 km west of the Silivri district center of İstanbul, where rescue excavations led by the İstanbul Archaeology Museums in 2015 were carried out. Cambaztepe is a burial mound dated to the Early Bronze Age II (EBA II) within Anatolian chronology. It also has a secondary burial context dated to the Iron Age. Although there is no absolute dating, Cambaztepe is currently believed to be the earliest burial mound in Türkiye’s European territory (also known as Eastern Thrace), considering the burial position and the grave goods and/or finds. The excavation team has published only a preliminary report and two papers, of which one was published in a popular magazine. The possible relationship between Cambaztepe and Yamnaya (Pit-Grave), and other related cultures was not examined in the preliminary report. Furthermore, the preliminary report provides inaccurate and misleading suggestions about the way the deceased were placed in the grave and the grave finds. In addition to other evidence, the way the deceased were placed in the grave as a semi-supine position indicates that the Cambaztepe EBA II grave context is related to the Pit-Grave or other cultures with Pit-Grave traditions in the Balkans. However, the grave structure in round shape with a floor of stone slabs and the grave finds, consisting of a beaked jug of inland Western Anatolian origin and a dagger of Anatolian origin, make Cambaztepe different from contemporary burial mounds in the Balkans. The existence of a cremation burial is sufficient to make concrete suggestions in the context of possible early migrations from Europe to Anatolia in the 3rd millennium BC, even though the exact nature of these migrations remains unknown, whether they involved the population movement or transfer of ideas-ideology-beliefs (or a combination of both). Likewise, the Cambaztepe EBA II grave context has a potential to define the mechanism of migration from Anatolia to Europe more precisely. The Cambaztepe EBA II grave context should be placed at the date range 2700–2500 BC, based on the burial practice observed in the Balkans and the grave finds of Anatolian origin.