Tatarlı Höyük (Ceyhan Plain Cilician Mound)
Tatarlı Höyük Ceyhan · Tatarlı · Ceyhan Tatarlı
Chalcolithic through Iron Age (Chalcolithic, MBA, LBA Kizzuwatna, Iron)·Cilician → Kizzuwatna/Hittite → Neo-Assyrian·🇹🇷 Adana Province, Ceyhan District, Ceyhan River plain, Turkey
About
About Tatarlı Höyük (Ceyhan Plain Cilician Mound)
Tatarlı Höyük (Ceyhan Plain Cilician Mound) is a multi-period tell/ancient village in Adana Province, Ceyhan District, Ceyhan River plain, Turkey — Cilician plain gateway controlling Ceyhan crossing and Cilician Gates–Dörtyol corridor Excavated evidence reveals Cilician → Kizzuwatna/Hittite → Neo-Assyrian cultural horizons with mudbrick architecture. The mound 300×250 m, 22 m high; lower town 25 ha (geophysics anomaly) preserves stone-socle mudbrick, hittite pisé glacis, iron age casemate technique. Position on Adana Province illustrates key cilician stratigraphy linking kizzuwatna to hittite empire and cilician gates trade.
Why it mattersKey Cilician stratigraphy linking Kizzuwatna to Hittite Empire and Cilician Gates trade.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Tatarlı = Hittite Tarša or separate Cilician town?
- 02Iron Age destruction — Assyrian or local?
Theories
- 01Girginer Kizzuwatna continuity vs. Hittite colonial model
- 02Cilician Gates vs. Ceyhan harbour route debate
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; MBA 2000 BCE; Hittite–Kizzuwatna 1600 BCE; Iron Age Neo-Assyrian
- Period
- Chalcolithic through Iron Age (Chalcolithic, MBA, LBA Kizzuwatna, Iron)
- Culture
- Cilician → Kizzuwatna/Hittite → Neo-Assyrian
- Builders
- Cilician plain communities, Kizzuwatna princes, Assyrian administrators
- Purpose
- Cilician plain gateway controlling Ceyhan crossing and Cilician Gates–Dörtyol corridor
- Abandoned
- c.500 BCE Achaemenid reorganisation
- Rediscovered
- Surveyed 1991, excavated 2007–present Girginer (Çukurova Univ)
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
2007
Girginer opens Tatarlı-Ceyhan trench, MBA levels found
2015
Hittite seal and Kizzuwatna ceramics published
2020
Magnetometry maps 25 ha lower town and harbour anomaly
On the ground
Structures & features
37.1528° N · 35.9031° E · 75 m · 3 mapped features
Hittite–Kizzuwatna Citadel Wall and Gate
fortificationLBA citadel wall with Hittite-Kizzuwatna seals
37.1529° N · 35.9032° EMBA Lower Town Harbour/Canal Anomaly
hydraulicLower town anomaly interpreted as canal/harbour
37.1526° N · 35.9029° EIron Age Assyrian-Style Palace Terrace
palaceIron Age palace terrace with Assyrian ceramics
37.1529° N · 35.9032° E