Tepecik
Tepecik · Tepecik Höyük (Elazığ) · Tepecik/Altınova
Late Chalcolithic–Early Bronze Age (c.3500–2200 BCE)·Late Chalcolithic → Early Transcaucasian/Karabaz·🇹🇷 Elazığ Province, Altınova plain, Turkey
About
About Tepecik
Companion Keban rescue tell in Altınova, 1.2 ha, 12 m high, 500 m west of Norsuntepe. Late Chalcolithic to EBA cemetery and village (c.3500–2200 BCE) with 47 EBA cist graves, metalwork (arsenical copper, gold), painted Karaz ware and Uruk beveled bowls. Multi-room mudbrick houses with storage bins. Excavated 1968–73 by Ufuk Esin (Istanbul Univ.), key for Altınova EBA social stratification and Transcaucasian migration. Now partly under Lake Keban western embayment.
Why it mattersLargest EBA cemetery in Altınova; metallurgy and Transcaucasian connection.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why extramural vs intramural burial split?
- 02Origin of rich gold pins?
Theories
- 01Transcaucasian migration vs diffusion
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.3500 BCE
- Period
- Late Chalcolithic–Early Bronze Age (c.3500–2200 BCE)
- Culture
- Late Chalcolithic → Early Transcaucasian/Karabaz
- Builders
- Altınova EBA communities
- Purpose
- Plains village with extramural cemetery controlling Murat/Euphrates confluence
- Abandoned
- c.2200 BCE late EBA collapse
- Rediscovered
- 1968 Keban rescue, U. Esin
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.3500 BCE
Ubaid-related village founded
c.2800 BCE
EBA cist cemetery established
c.2200 BCE
Abandoned at EBA end
1968–73
Esin excavations before flooding
On the ground
Structures & features
38.7000° N · 39.2000° E · 830 m · 3 mapped features
Tepecik — EBA cist cemetery
cemetery47 stone-cist graves with copper and gold, NE terrace
38.7005° N · 39.2005° ETepecik — Central mudbrick quarter
settlementEBA village silos and houses
38.7000° N · 39.2000° ETepecik — Chalcolithic deep sounding
trenchLate Chalcolithic Ubaid layers at base
38.6995° N · 39.1995° E
Gallery