Karahöyük (Konya)
Konya Karahöyük · Konya Karahöyük, Karahoyuk
Early Bronze Age II-III peak; MBA-Hittite reuse·Central Anatolian EBA (Konya Plain) → Hittite Lower Land·🇹🇷 Konya Province, Meram District, Konya plain, Turkey
About
About Karahöyük (Konya)
Largest Early Bronze Age tell on Konya plain (c.33 ha walled town) excavated by Sedat Alp (Ankara University) 1953–. MBA Karum-period and Hittite levels overlie EBA city with aniconic stelae, seals and Anatolian black burnished wares. Controls konya-plain obsidian road to Hasan Dağ. Lower EBA town buried under colluvium and modern fields; upper mound 18 m high with Hittite terrace. Key for understanding EBA urbanisation on plateau before Alishar and Boğazköy.
Why it mattersLargest known EBA town on Konya plain; informs plateau EBA hierarchy between Karahöyük, Alishar and Acemhöyük.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Definition of buried lower EBA town wall from resistivity vs auger
- 02Hittite Lower Land capital vs village status
Theories
- 01Alp plateau urbanism model vs eastern highland diffusion
- 02Obsidian vs overland copper trade primacy
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.2700 BCE EBA I urban foundation; Hittite reoccupation c.1600 BCE
- Period
- Early Bronze Age II-III peak; MBA-Hittite reuse
- Culture
- Central Anatolian EBA (Konya Plain) → Hittite Lower Land
- Builders
- EBA plateau town council; Hittite Lower Land governors
- Purpose
- Walled emporium on plain controlling obsidian-salt routes
- Abandoned
- c.1180 BCE Hittite collapse abandonment
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1953–89 Sedat Alp (Ankara), 1990s Berkaya salvage
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1953
Alp opens Step-trench revealing EBA citadel wall
1988
Large EBA lower town traced by geophysics (33 ha)
On the ground
Structures & features
37.8270° N · 32.5070° E · 1020 m · 3 mapped features
EBA citadel wall
fortification3 m thick EBA mudbrick wall on stone
37.8272° N · 32.5075° EMB karum quarter
settlementKarum-style MBA houses with seals
37.8270° N · 32.5071° EBuried lower EBA town (33 ha)
settlementGeophysical wall around lower plateau town
37.8265° N · 32.5070° E