YORTAN MEZARLIĞI HAKKINDA YENİ GÖZLEMLER

Abstract

Excavations at the Early Bronze Age Cemetery ofthe Yortan excavations were began in 1898 or 1900 by P. Gaudin, a French engineer ofthe Otoman Empire railway. Even though over 100 graves were cleared during their two-season-long campaign, the site has not been researched since. In 2007Adnan Menderes University, Department ofArchaeology started a new TUBITAKproject in Manisa Province in Western Anatolia. During the 2008 survey the project team discovered the location of the forgotten Yortan cemetery. The biggest clue in this quest was the realization that the Kirkagac ruins and the Gelen(m)be motorway were indicated on Gaudin's map of the Yortan cemetery. Today the site is called Taban Tepe. In his notes, Gaudin refers to Yortan by a similar name: Tabak Tepe. A sounding at nearby Cavdar Tepe, presumably the associated settlement with the abovementioned cemetery yielded no results. Surveys in following seasons made it clear that Cavdar Tepe was in fact the mound located 200 m north of Taban Tepe, known today as Tepe. This means that both Taban and Degirmentepe are located near the Bakircay (Kaikos) stream as reported by Gaudin. Interestingly, Gaudin's report states that there was a mill located west of the hill. The ruins of this mill (in Turkish Degirmen ) mentioned by Gaudin were found during our final survey season in the vicinity of Degirmen. Most of the Early Bronze Age pottery sherds collected from Tepe were found in the part that is under cultivation. The surroundings of both Taban and Tepe are damaged due to modern agricultural activities. But the tops of both mounds, used by the Phyrgians as a cemetery, remain intact because the deposits overlie rocky outcrops. The most important question that remains to be answered is where the occupation associated with the settlement may be.