Uşaklı Höyük

Türkiye · Yozgat

SettlementExcavation ongoing
Approximate period2,300 BCE — 600 CELate Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman See on the map ↓

In brief

Monumental Hittite-period buildings and an early mosaic pavement have been found at the mound near Büyüktaşlık village. The identification of the site with Zippalanda is a research proposal; it has not been confirmed.

What was found?

  • 1Geometric stone pavement

    This is a floor pavement patterned with beige, red, and black stones. According to researchers, it may be considered an early experiment in mosaic technique.

  • 2Monumental Hittite temple

    This is a large building constructed with massive stone blocks in the lower town. Researchers interpret the structure as a temple and associate it with the worship of the Storm God.

  • 3Hittite palace remains

    This is a palace section situated on a raised foundation on the southern slope of the acropolis. It documents monumental administrative architecture at the settlement.

  • 4Iron Age fortification

    It consists of a sloping surface of large stones and the defensive arrangement rising above it. It shows that the hill was also arranged for defense after the Hittite period.

What does it point to?

The temple and palace show that the settlement contained large buildings with religious and administrative functions. According to researchers, the temple strengthens the proposed identification of Uşaklı Höyük with the Hittite city of Zippalanda; this identification has not been confirmed.

What did it teach us?

  1. Uncovered an early Hittite-period example of a patterned floor made with colored stones.
  2. Documented the presence of monumental structures of both temple and palace character at the settlement.
  3. Showed that the acropolis was arranged with a new fortification system during the Iron Age.

Images

Uşaklı Höyük 08
Ingeborg Simon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Latest news / selected archive

Reports of the discovery published in 2021 presented the Hittite-period geometric pavement, made of more than three thousand colored stones.

Record

Culture
Hittite, Iron Age Anatolian communities and Roman
Team / historical
Pisa Üniversitesi ve Yozgat Bozok Üniversitesi ortak projesi
Coordinates
39.8131°, 35.0526°

Sources

  1. usaklihoyuk.org
  2. bilimgenc.tubitak.gov.tr
  3. en.wikipedia.org

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