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More than 500 artifacts found in ancient settlement site in west Turkey

19 August 2010 23:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Archaeologists have found more than 500 historical artifacts at a 5,000-year-old settlement site in west Turkey, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported Thursday, APA reports quoting news.yahoo.com website.

The 554 artifacts, which were discovered in the past three months of excavation, were mostly ceramic pots, goddess figurines, idols and weapons made of metals and bones, the agency quoted professor Nejat Bilgen, head of the excavation team at the Seyitomer Mound in Kutahya Province, as saying.

Excavation work was going on at a layer believed to have come into existence after a strong earthquake in Middle Bronze Age, said Bilgen.

Every year, more than 1,000 historical artifacts were found at the mound, where excavations started in 1989, according to Bilgen.

Located in a coal reserve zone in Kutahya, the Seyitomer Mound is an ancient residence site measuring 150 meters by 150 meters dating back to the Chalcolithic age and was originally 23.5 meters high above its surroundings, the agency reported.

More than 250 people were working at the Seyitomer Mound for excavations, which would continue till November, said Bilgen.