Settlement in Yassıhöyük could date back to 6,000 B.C., say archaeologists

NEVŞEHİR - Doğan News Agency

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Excavation work at Ovaören village in Central Anatolian Nevşehir province has brought to light a settlement in ancient Yassıhöyük dating back to 1,700 B.C.The ancient site could, however, even date back to 6,000 B.C., said the head of the excavation team and the director of the Gazi University Archaeology Department, Yücel Şenyurt.A team of 23 archaeologists along with 26 people from Ovaören have been carrying out the excavation works, which were launched in 2007 by a decision of the Council of Ministers.Yassıhöyük along with Topakhöyük and its booms constitute the largest excavation fields in Turkey at some 350,000 square meters.The works revealed the oldest settlement, formed in Topakhöyük around 2,500 B.C., has been a rich settlement regarding the archaeological findings, build-up plan and tombs.“The printing of the seals [found during the excavation] shows that a trade colony had lived in the area. In Yassıhöyük, we have been trying to document the settlement of Hittites lying under these architectural layers dating back to the Iron Age. We have also revealed that this urban-looking settlement of Yassıhöyük was surrounded by defense systems in the Middle Iron Age, as in the Hittite Age. The ruins of seven-meter-long walls and the portals of the town in Ovaören-Yassıhöyük will become important tourism destinations in the near future, I believe,” said Şenyurt.