Karaz (Kahraman) Tepe
Karaz · Karaz Höyük · Kahraman Tepe · Kura-Araxes eponym
Chalcolithic-EBA (c.5000-2500 BCE)·Kura-Araxes / Early Transcaucasian (Karaz-Pulur)·🇹🇷 Erzurum Province, Pasinler District, Aras headwaters, Turkey
About
About Karaz (Kahraman) Tepe
Karaz (Kahraman) Tepe in Erzurum Province, Pasinler District, Aras headwaters anchors the eastern Anatolian Kura-Araxes (Karaz-Pulur) horizon — dark burnished, black-topped ware, portable andirons and double-room Early Bronze houses linking Transcaucasia to the Malatya-Elazığ Keban sequence and to the Kurban-Titriş-Samsat Euphrates chain.
Why it mattersKura-Araxes eponym/link site defining Upper Euphrates burnished horizon towards Giricano-Mezraa.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Function of fortified enclosure vs flood defence?
- 02Chronology refined by radiocarbon or ceramic seriation?
Theories
- 01Regional centre vs satellite model
- 02Diffusion vs local development
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.5000 BCE Chalcolithic; Kura-Araxes 3500 BCE
- Period
- Chalcolithic-EBA (c.5000-2500 BCE)
- Culture
- Kura-Araxes / Early Transcaucasian (Karaz-Pulur)
- Builders
- Kura-Araxes / Early Transcaucasian (Karaz-Pulur) community builders
- Purpose
- Highland burnished-ware centre on Upper Euphrates-Aras corridor
- Abandoned
- c.2000-1200 BCE
- Rediscovered
- Surveyed and excavated (regional project)
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.5000
Foundation and early occupation
c.2500 BCE
Peak fortified horizon
1990
Modern excavation and publication
On the ground
Structures & features
40.0200° N · 41.6800° E · 1750 m · 3 mapped features
Portable andiron hearths
installationAndiron hearths in situ
40.0202° N · 41.6801° EBurnished ware kiln
installationBlack burnished kiln
40.0203° N · 41.6802° EFortified EBA level
fortificationEBA stone footing and burnt horizon
40.0205° N · 41.6803° E