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ARCHAOLOGISCHE

MITTEILUNGEN AUS

IRAN UND

TURAN

Band 41

2009

Separatum

A

M

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T

Excavation of the Bozkurt kurgan cemetery, 2007:First preliminary report

By Aynur Ozfırat

Schlagworter: Kleinasien, Ostanatolien, Bozkurt/Melecami Rock, Bronze- bis Eisenzeit, Graber/SiedlungenKeywords: Asia Minor, Eastern Anatolia, Bozkurt/Melecami Rock, Bronze to Iron Ages, graves/settlement

The Bozkurt kurgan cemetery is located on the wes-tern skirt of Agrı Dag (Mount Ararat), 16 km northof Dogubayazıt. The first excavation began there in2007.1

The presence of the kurgan type of monumen-tal tombs built with heaps of stone has long beenknown in the northeastern part of eastern Anatolia.However, no kurgan has been archaeologically ex-

Fig. 1Topographic plan ofthe Bozkurt Region

1 Our excavation was carried out with the permission of the Tur-kish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, General Directorate of Cul-tural Heritage and Museums. I wish to express my appreciationto the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums forgranting me permission and for its support. The project was al-so supported by TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technical Research

Council of Turkey, Project No. SOBAG-105K063) and TTK (Tur-kish Historical Society). I wish to thank them for their support ofthis project. I am especially grateful to Veli Sevin for providingconsiderable and valuable assistance.

cavated in Turkey in the course of the century thatelapsed since the excavations by E. Ressler of theKucuk Catma kurgans near Kars in 19002 and thoseby P. K. Kuchin at Koprukoy near Erzurum in 1916.3

On the other hand, numerous kurgans have beenexcavated, studied and published in the neighbour-ing regions of Georgia, Armenia, Nakhichevan andIranian Azerbaijan.

Our surveys on the East Anatolian High Pla-teau, conducted since 1995, have documented thepresence of numerous kurgans of various sizes,thus shedding light on the western expansion ofthis culture.4 The conclusions resulting from oursurveys indicate that kurgan types of tombs are dis-tributed inside an imaginary line extending fromMus to Erzurum on the west and another line fromMount Tendurek to the Aladaglar in the south. Afew examples are found in the Caldıran-Ercis-Patnosregion to the south of Mount Tendurek and the Ala-dag, which lies in the northern part of the Lake Vanbasin. Except for a few examples, the Lake Van ba-sin lies outside the distribution area of the kurganculture. Kurgan type tombs identified thus far be-long to a period that lasts from the end of the EarlyTranscaucasian period through to the Middle IronAge, as is the case in southern Caucasia.

The Bozkurt kurgan cemetery is one of thoseidentified during our surveys; no traces of a nearbysettlement were identified (Fig. 1; 2). The cemeteryis located at the northeastern end of the Dogu-bayazıt plain upon a low and wide slope on thewestern skirt of Mt. Agrı. It covers an area of about12 km2, starting from the village of Bozkurt and ex-tending northwards. The first excavations haveshown that the majority of tombs are of the kurgan

type. Potsherds collected on the surface in thecemetery date mostly to the Middle Bronze Age(MBA) and Late Bronze Age (LBA)/Early Iron Age(EIA). In the region of Melecami Rock to the northof the village and southwest of the cemetery areapotsherds of Late Chalcolithic period, Early BronzeAge (EBA) and the Middle Ages were also found.Possibly there was a Late Chalcolithic settlementon top and on the skirts of the Melecami Rock. Inaddition to the few sherds collected there, potteryof the EBA was found in the trench to the south aswell.

Excavations

In 2007, seven kurgans were explored in the north-western part of the cemetery, and two graves, pos-sibly of the low kurgan type, were revealed on thesouthern skirts of Melecami Rock (Fig. 3). Except forone tomb, all of the kurgans had been robbed dur-ing illicit diggings. Only kurgan 7 contained in situfinds. As we did not yet know the characteristics ofkurgan type tombs, during that excavation weworked in particular on those that were destroyed.We hoped to collect information about such tombsbefore launching extensive excavations. Accordingly,the common features of the kurgans are as follows:The mounds were formed by piling up unworkedsmall stones. They have a height varying from 0.80m to 1.50 m, and their diameter varies from 8 m to12 m. The graves underneath the heap of stone areeither stone cists or simple pits. The stone cist inkurgan 7 is rectangular (1.20 # 1.60 m), 1 m deepand extends in an east-west direction. Dispersedbone remains of animals, one pot and one bowlwere recovered from the grave. Although the otherexcavated tombs had been destroyed by illicitdiggings, they were clearly of the same type. Thepottery recovered from these tombs dates to theMBA.

The two graves explored on the southernslope of Melecami Rock are stone cists. They musthave been covered with large slabs, but such a slabwas preserved only on grave 1. These graves mayhave had low kurgans. Due to the intensity of illicitexcavations in this part of the cemetery, we werenot able to identify the superstructure clearly, andthe burial types of the skeletons inside could notbe determined with any certainty.

Kurgan 1 (K1)

Located in the northwestern area. A pile of smallstones makes up the mound, which currently risesto about 0.60 m. Its diameter at the base is 12 m

Fig. 2Bozkurt. General view

2 Martirosyan 1964, 58; 61; Ozfırat 2001b, 67–68.3 Martirosyan 1964, 75–77.4 Ozfırat 2001b, 71–75; Ozfırat 2006; Ozfırat 2010; Ozfırat inpress.

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Fig. 3Bozkurt. Plan.K1–7 ¼ Kurgans,M1–2 ¼ Melecami,Rock, graves

Excavation of the Bozkurt kurgan cemetery, 2007: First preliminary report 235

and 4 m at the top. The original total height ofthe burial mound could not be determined, but itis estimated to have been ca. 1 m (Figs. 4–6). Themound is encircled with stones. Situated under themound was a cist of 1.20 m depth, 1.80 m lengthand 1.20 m width. This rectangular grave extends inan east-west direction. It was built of roughlyworked blocks of 0.80 # 0.40 m. No cover slab wasfound. Very few finds were recovered, includingsome animal bones in the west of the grave and afew potsherds.

Kurgan 2 (K2)

Located in the northwestern area. A pile of smallstones makes up the mound, which is currentlyca. 0.90 m in height. The diameter at the base is8 m and 2.50 m at the top. The original total heightof the mound could not be determined, but it isestimated to have been ca. 1 m. Situated under themound was a cist of 1.30 m depth. Its structure

could not be determined; however, basing uponthe stones at the bottom of the grave, it was rec-tangular and extended in an east-west direction.The bottom blocks measure 1.05 # 0.50 m. It wasbuilt from roughly worked stones. No cover slabwas found. No finds were recovered.

Kurgan 3 (K3)

Located in the northwestern area. A pile of smallstones makes up the mound, which is currently ca.1.00 m in height. The diameter at the base is10.00 m and 4.00 m at the top. The original totalheight of the mound could not be determined, butit is estimated to have been ca. 1.50 m. Situatedunder the mound was a stone cist of 1.20 m depth.The rectangular grave measures 1.20 # 0.60 m andextends in an east-west direction. It was built fromroughly worked blocks. No cover slab was found.No finds were recovered.

Kurgan 4 (K4)

Located in the northwestern area. A pile of smallstones makes up the mound, which is currently ca.1.25 m in height. The diameter at the base is 10 mand 4.00 m at the top. The original total height ofthe mound could not be determined, but it is esti-mated to have been ca. 1.00 m. As the grave wasentirely destroyed, its structure could not be deter-mined. Very few finds were recovered, includingpotsherds of the MBA and Middle Ages.

Kurgan 5 (K5)

Located in the northwestern area. A pile of smallstones makes up the mound, which is currentlyca. 0.80 m in height. The diameter at the base is13 m and 5.00 m at the top. The original totalheight of the mound could not be determined, butit is estimated to have been ca. 1.50 m. Situatedunder the mound was a cist of 2.00 m depth. Therectangular grave measures 1.20 # 0.75 m and ex-tends in a southeast-northwest direction. It wasbuilt from roughly worked blocks measuring0.50 # 0.30 m. No cover slab was found. Very fewfinds were recovered, including potsherds of theMBA, LBA/EIA and Middle Ages.

Kurgan 6 (K6)

Located in the northwestern area. A pile of smallstones makes up the mound, which is currently

Fig. 4Bozkurt, Kurgan 1


Aynur Ozfırat236

ca. 0.70 m in height. The diameter at the base is7 m and 3.50 m at the top. The original total heightof the mound could not be determined, but it isestimated to have been ca. 1.00 m. As the gravewas entirely destroyed, its structure could not beidentified. No finds were recovered.

Kurgan 7 (K7)

Located in the northwestern area (Figs. 7–9). A pileof unworked small stones makes up the mound,which is currently ca. 0.70 m in height. The diam-eter at the base is 9.50 m and 3.50 m at the top.Situated under the hill a stone cist of 1.00 m depthwas observed. The rectangular grave measures1.20 # 0.60 m and extends in an east-west direc-tion. It was built from roughly worked blocks. Itssuperstructure consisted of piled up stones. Thegrave contained a human skeleton, one bowl andone pot (Fig. 18; 19; 21,16–17). The pile of stoneson top damaged the skeleton, so that its positioncould not be precisely determined, even though it

was found in situ. The associated pottery belongsto the MBA.

Grave 1 (M1)

Located on the southern slope of Melecami Rock(Figs. 10–12). Due to the fact that many tombs arelocated very close to one another there as well asthe fact that grave 1 was heavily damaged, the typeof this grave could not be determined. Possibly ithad a low mound. The rectangular grave itself wasof the stone-cist type. It measures 1.80 # 1.20 mand extends in a northeast-southwest direction. Thecist was built of two rows of roughly worked stonesand covered with large slabs, of which only oneslab measuring 1.40 # 1.20 m has survived. Thegrave was used for multiple burials: Three humanskulls were found, and the bones were found dis-persed inside the grave.

Grave 2 (M2)

Located on the southern slope of Melecami Rock.As in the case of Grave 1, the type of grave couldnot be determined, but possibly it had a lowmound. The rectangular grave itself was a stonecist measuring 1.50 # 1.00 m and extending in aneast-west direction. The cist was built from roughlyworked blocks. No slab belonging to the super-structure was found. The bones were found dis-persed inside of the grave. Few finds were recov-ered, including a potsherd from the MBA and thefragment of an obsidian tool.

Finds

Apart from the ceramics uncovered in situ in KurganNo. 7, all of the other pottery fragments are surfacefinds and cover an uninterrupted time span fromthe Late Chalcolithic through the Middle Iron Age/Urartean period.

Pottery of the Late Chalcolithic period wasfound extensively to the south of Melecami Rock(Figs. 13; 14). Two groups could be distinguished:Red-brown chaff-faced ware and cream-slippedchaff-faced ware. Apart from these large groups,there is only one fragment that belongs to the Sioniware (Fig. 13,1). This fragment has a simple rim,vertical neck and globular body. Its fabric is darkgrey in colour, and the slip is the same colour; thepaste is medium sand-tempered and handmade.On the rim are notches that are characteristic of thisware. The fragments of red-brown chaff-faced ware(Figs. 13,2–9; 14) and of cream-slipped chaff-faced



Aynur Ozfırat238

ware (Fig. 13,10–18) usually have buff, brown orred fabric, a slip of the same colour as the paste orin a cream colour; they are medium to coarse sand-and plant-tempered, medium fired, unburnishedand handmade. The usual shapes are pots, andthese usually have a simple rim, neck and globularbody, except for one example with a simple, closedmouth and globular body. Traces of plant temperare clearly discernible on the pots’ surface.

The EBA sherds are few in number. They werefound in a sandy area to the south of MelecamiRock and its extension towards the village. As theground water is very high there, their context is notclear. These fragments belong to the Kura-Araxesculture and consist of two groups: Cream-slippedburnished ware and bichrome burnished ware (Figs. 15–17). The sherds of the bichrome bur-

nished ware have a brown and red fabric, while thesurfaces and sections look black due to firing; theslip is the same colour as the paste, with coarse ormedium sand temper. They are mostly badly fired,burnished and handmade. The necks and mouthsof the vessels that look black are cream or red dueto firing (Figs. 15; 17,3–7). The cream-slipped warehas the same characteristics, but is distinguishedby the cream slip on the exterior surface (Figs. 16;17,1–6). The vessel forms in both groups do notdiffer. Pots have vertical rims, long necks and ovalbodies, while the bowls have simple or evertedrims and globular bodies.

The MBA pottery comprises red-brown bur-nished ware and black burnished ware (Figs. 18–21).Fragments of red-brown burnished ware came fromsouth of Melecami Rock and from Kurgan 7 (Figs.18; 19; 21,14–17). The black burnished ones came

Fig. 10Bozkurt, Grave 2at Melecami Rock

Fig. 11Bozkurt, Grave 2at Melecami Rock

Fig. 12Bozkurt, Grave 2 at Melecami Rock

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Fig. 13Bozkurt–MelecamiRock. Late Chalcolithicpottery (Red-brownchaff-faced)


mainly from Kurgan 5 and another kurgan to theeast of Melecami Rock (Figs. 20; 21,1–13). All arewheel-thrown, have mostly a medium sand temperand are medium or badly fired and burnished. Theburnishing on the pottery of this period is notshiny. Red-brown burnished ware has a brown andred coloured fabric and the same colour of slip,while the black burnished ware has sections and

surfaces in black; these sherds are brown, the col-our of the paste, on the interior. The bowls havesimple grooved rims, closed mouths and globularbodies, while the pots have simple rims, low necksand oval bodies. The decorated body fragments ofpots belong to the black burnished ware. All ofthese fragments are decorated with combed bandsand triangles, which are typical for the South Cau-casian MBA. They have very close parallels in Tria-leti, Uzerliktepe, Lori Berd, Lcasen, Aric, Metsamor,Keti, Verin Naver, Sisian and Kultepe II.

The pottery of LBA/EIA comprises red-brownware and grey-black ware (Figs. 22; 23; 24,1–19).Some of these sherds came from Kurgan No. 5,from south of Melecami Rock and the kurgans eastof them. They usually have a medium sand temper,are medium or badly fired and were wheel-thrown.The fragments of the red-brown ware have a brownor red fabric, the same colour of slip and can beburnished or not (Figs. 22; 23; 24,11–19). Grey-black ware has dark grey or black sections and sur-faces; some examples are burnished, while someare not (Fig. 24,1–10). Both groups comprise onlypots of two shapes: The first has simple rims, lownecks and globular bodies, while the second grouphas simple and thickened rims, high necks and ovalbodies. The decoration consists mostly of grooves,incised triangles and series of notches. Thesepieces, like those from the previous period, havevery close parallels in south Caucasian sites, suchas Elar, Keti, Horom, Lori Berd, Dvina, Artik, Lcasen,Metsamor, Kultepe I and II.

Fig. 14Bozkurt–Melecami

Rock. Late Chalcolithicpottery (Red-brown

chaff-faced)

Fig. 15Bozkurt–MelecamiRock. Early Bronze

Age bowls (Bichromeburnished ware)

Fig. 16Bozkurt–Melecami Rock. Early Bronze Age jar (Cream-slipped bur-nished ware)

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"

Fig. 17Bozkurt–Melecami Rock. Early Bronze Age pottery

Fig. 18Bozkurt, Kurgan 7. Middle Bronze Age bowl (Red-brown burnishedware)

Fig. 19Bozkurt, Kurgan 7. Middle Bronze Age jar (Red-brown burnishedware)

Fig. 20Bozkurt, Kurgan 5. Middle Bronze Age jars (Black burnished ware)


Fig. 21Bozkurt. Middle Bronze

Age pottery. 1–7,Kurgan 5, black burnis-hed ware; 8–13 Mele-

cami Rock, blackburnished ware;

14–15 Melecami Rock,red-brown burnished

ware; 16–17 Kurgan 7,Red-brown burnished

ware

Aynur Ozfırat244

Potsherds of the MIA/Urartean period arevery few in number and comprise red-brown burni-shed ware and red polished (Biainili) ware (Fig.24,20–22). Two bowl fragments of the red-brownburnished ware have a thickened rim, an openmouth and a globular body (Fig. 24,20–21). Theyhave a brown and red coloured fabric and the samecolour of slip; they are burnished and wheel-thrown. There is a single piece of the well-knownUrartean pottery group, the red polished (Biainili)ware, which belonged to a jug or pot with a simpleeverted rim (Fig. 24,22).

Conclusions

Excavations at the Bozkurt kurgan cemetery areplanned to be continued in the coming years. Wehope to shed more light on the distribution anddating of kurgans on the East Anatolian High Pla-teau, whose existence is known in Central Asiasince the fifth millennium BC and in Caucasia sincethe second half of the fourth millennium BC.5 Insouthern Caucasia their appearance begins in thesecond half of the third millennium BC, such as inthe Martkopi, Bedeni and Trialeti kurgans.6 The pot-tery covers a time span from the Late Chalcolithicperiod to the Middle Iron Age, and the structures ofthe tombs of the Bozkurt cemetery display closeparallels with the sites in southern Transcaucasiaand Iranian Azerbaijan. The finds seem to confirmwhat is known about the relations between theEast Anatolian High Plateau, Central Asia andsouthern Caucasia.

Fig. 22Bozkurt–Melecami Rock. Late Bronze/Early Iron Age jar (Red-brown ware)

Fig. 23Bozkurt–Melecami Rock. Late Bronze/Early Iron Age pottery (Red-brown ware)

5 Anthony 1986; ˚C&)F),æŒŁØ 1995; Nagler 1996; Gimbutas1997.

6 Rubinson 1976; Djaparidze 1991, 325–337; Lordkipanidse 1991,54–92; Djaparidze 1995a; Djaparidze 1995b; Edens 1995;Kushnareva 1997, 81–207; Puturidze 2003a; Puturidze 2003b.


Fig. 24Bozkurt–Late Bronze/Early–Middle Iron Agepottery. 1–6 Kurgan 5,grey-black ware; 7–10Melecami Rock, grey-black ware; 11–19

Melecami Rock, red-brown ware; 20–21

Melecami Rock, blackburnished ware; 22

Melecami Rock,red polished ware

Aynur Ozfırat246

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Anthony 1986

D. W. Anthony, The ‘Kurgan Culture’, Indo-European Ori-gins, and the Domestication of the Horse: A Reconsi-deration. Current Anthropology 27, 1986, 291–314.

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O. M. Djaparidze, Die georgische Archaologie (Stein undBronzezeit) (Tbilisi 1991).

Djaparidze 1995aO. M. Djaparidze, Die Zeit der fruhen Kurgane. In: A. Mi-ron/W. Orthmann (ed.), Unterwegs zum Goldenen Vlies:Archaologische Funde aus Georgien (Saarbrucken 1995)69–78.

Djaparidze 1995bO. M. Djaparidze, Mittlere Bronzezeit. In: A. Miron/W.Orthmann (ed.), Unterwegs zum Goldenen Vlies: Archa-ologische Funde aus Georgien (Saarbrucken 1995) 79–94.

Edens 1995

C. Edens, Transcaucasia at the end of the Early BronzeAge. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Re-search 299/300, 1995, 53–64.

Gimbutas 1997M. Gimbutas, The Kurgan culture and the Indo-Europeani-zation of Europe: Selected articles from 1952 to 1993.Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph 18, Institutefor the Study of ManWashington D.C. (Washington 1997).

Kushnareva 1997

K. Kushnareva, The Southern Caucasus in Prehistory:Stages of cultural and socioeconomic development fromthe eight to the second millennium B. C. University Mu-seum Monograph 99 (Philadelphia 1997).

Lordkipanidze 1991

O. Lordkipanidze, Archaologie in Georgien. Von der Alt-steinzeit zum Mittelalter. Quellen und Forschungen zurprahistorischen und provinzialromischen Archaologie 5

(Weinheim 1991).Nagler 1996A. Nagler, Kurgane der Mozdok-Steppe in Nordkauka-sien. Archaologie in Eurasien 3 (Espelkamp 1996).

Ozfırat 2001aA. Ozfırat, Dogu Anadolu Yayla Kulturleri (M.O. II. Bi-nyıl). Archaeology and Art Publication (Istanbul 2001).

Ozfırat 2001bA., Ozfırat, Erste Betrachtungen zum ostanatolischenHochland im 2. Jt. v. Chr. Istanbuler Mitteilungen 51,2001, 27–60.

Ozfırat 2006A. Ozfırat, Pre-classical survey in Eastern Turkey. Fifthpreliminary report: Van Lake Basin and Mt. Agrı Region.Studi Micenei ed Egeo Anatolici 48, 2006, 177–207.

Ozfırat 2010A. Ozfırat, Archaeological investigations in the Mt. AgrıRegion: Bronze and Iron Ages. In: P. Matthiae/F. Pin-nock/L. Nigro/N. Marchetti, with the collaboration ofL. Romano (ed.), Proceedings of the 6th InternationalCongress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East,5 May – 10 May 2009, «Sapienza», Universita di Roma.Volume 2. Excavations, Surveys and Restorations: Re-ports on Recent Field Archaeology in the Near East(Wiesbaden 2010) 525–538.

Ozfırat In pressA. Ozfırat, Agrı Dagı Kurganları. In Proceedings of the15. Turkish Historical Congress (Ankara 2006).

Puturidze 2003aM. Puturidze, Social and economic shifts in the SouthCaucasian Middle Bronze Age. In: A. T. Smith/K. S. Ru-binson (ed.), Archaeology in the borderlands: Investiga-tions in Caucasia and beyond. Cotsen Institute Mono-graphs 47 (Los Angeles 2003) 111–127.

Puturidze 2003bM. Puturidze, The picture of development of MiddleBronze Age cultures South Caucasian (Summary). In:V. Japakidze/D. Kacharava/B. Maisuradze/G. Kvirkvelia/M.Nioradze/R. Ramishvili/J. Amiranishvili (ed.), Problems ofCaucasian Bronze-Iron Age archaeology. Dedicated to the75th birth anniversary of Rostom Abramishvili. The Cen-tre for Archaeological Studies of Georgian Academy ofSciences, Dziebani, Supplement 10 (Tbilisi 2003) 57–58.

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˚C&)F),æŒŁØ 1995

6. ˝. ˚C&)F),æŒŁØ, ˆ.º8ª.Ø I – BCæ)º)FŁ) H.ØŒCBæ-ŒCØ Œ#º;$#&ß (9CæŒ,. 1995).

A y nu r O z f ı r a tMustafa Kemal Universitesi

Fen-Edebiyat FakultesiArkeoloji Bolumu

Tayfur Sokmen KampusuAntakya-Hatay, TURKEY

E-Mail: [email protected]

Summary

Our campaigns in the region of Agrı Dag (Mount Ararat)included surveys for the period from the Late Chalcolithicto the Late Iron Age and a new excavation at theBozkurt kurgan cemetery. The region is located in eas-tern Anatolia. Excavation of the Bozkurt kurgan cemeterystarted in 2007. It is a large cemetery on the westernslope of Agrı Dag. No traces of a nearby contemporarysettlement were found. The surface material collected da-tes from the Late Chalcolithic to the Middle Iron Age. Se-ven kurgans and two graves were excavated. Common

features of the kurgans are: mounds formed by piling upunworked small stones and varying in height between0.80 m and 1.50 m. Their diameter measures between8–12 m; under the kurgans are stone cist graves. Therewere no traces of the large slabs that covered thegraves. Bozkurt seems to have been the most importantMiddle Bronze Age site in the region. It compares closelywith sites in southern Transcaucasia. The first results addto our knowledge about the relations between the EastAnatolian High Plateau, Central Asia and the southernCaucasus.


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