Kazane Höyük North Burned Quarter
Kazane Höyük · Kazane Höyük Upper Town · Kazane Mound North
Halaf-Ubaid to Islamic (5500 BCE–1200 CE; peak EBA 2600–2000 BCE)·Halaf → Uruk → EBA Syro-Anatolian → Mitanni → Neo-Assyrian·🇹🇷 Şanlıurfa Province, Upper Euphrates, Turkey
About
About Kazane Höyük North Burned Quarter
Kazane Höyük North Burned Quarter is the 20-hectare northern sector of the massive 100 ha Kazane mound 15 km NE of Şanlıurfa, excavated by Patricia Wattenmaker. Sequence spans Halaf-Ubaid through Late Chalcolithic Uruk, Early Bronze Age burned palace complex, Middle Bronze 17 ha lower town, Neo-Assyrian and Islamic reoccupation. The EBA level produced a burnt vaulted administrative building with >100 sealings and carbonized grain stores.
Why it mattersLargest EBA center between Carchemish and Harran; key to understanding Uruk expansion and 3rd-millennium palace economy on Upper Euphrates.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Function of burned palace — palace vs redistribution center?
- 02Scale of Mitanni reoccupation relative to Harran
Theories
- 01Algaze: secondary Uruk enclave vs indigenous development (Wattenmaker)
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.5500 BCE (Halaf/Ubaid)
- Period
- Halaf-Ubaid to Islamic (5500 BCE–1200 CE; peak EBA 2600–2000 BCE)
- Culture
- Halaf → Uruk → EBA Syro-Anatolian → Mitanni → Neo-Assyrian
- Builders
- Halaf-Ubaid villagers; EBA palace builders
- Purpose
- Regional center controlling Harran-Plain–Carchemish caravan route; administrative palace and grain storage
- Abandoned
- c.1200 CE (late Islamic)
- Rediscovered
- 1992 Wattenmaker rescue before GAP irrigation
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.5500–4000 BCE
Halaf-Ubaid and Uruk occupation, ceramic kilns
c.2600 BCE
Burned EBA palace with sealings and granary
1992–2010
Virginia–Şanlıurfa Museum excavations (Wattenmaker)
On the ground
Structures & features
37.1197° N · 38.8459° E · 640 m · 3 mapped features
Kazane EBA Burned Palace
palaceVaulted mudbrick palace with 112 sealings and burnt grain silos
37.1207° N · 38.8465° EKazane Lower Town Kiln Quarter
workshopUruk–EBA ceramic mass-production kilns (Coba bowls)
37.1185° N · 38.8451° EKazane Halaf-Ubaid Deep Sounding
trench5 m sounding exposing Halaf painted wares and Ubaid grit
37.1202° N · 38.8449° E