Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi

Abstract

This report presents the preliminary results of salvage excavations carried out at Murat Höyük in 2019. Excavations at Murat Höyük (and nearby Murat Tepe) constitute the first scientific archaeological excavations conducted within the boundaries of Bingöl province. Murat Höyük is located on the bank of the Murat River in Solhan district of modern Bingöl province in Eastern Anatolia. Because the mound remained within the water reservoir of Aşağı Kaleköy hydroelectric dam, Murat Höyük was registered among threatened archaeological sites by Erzurum Regional Board of Cultural Heritage Preservation in 2018. Subsequently, salvage excavations were initiated at the site by a team of specialists under the directorship of Elazığ Museum, which lasted for one intensive field season in 2019 prior to the inundation of the mound. Four main cultural periods were documented during excavations (from top to bottom): Phase I: Medieval Period, Phase II: Middle Iron Age, Phase III: Early Iron Age, and Phase IV: Early Bronze Age. The earliest habitation of the mound dates to Early Bronze III (2500-2200 BC) in regional chronology. Until the initiation of salvage excavations at the nearby site of Murat Tepe in 2018, archaeological investigations in Bingöl province had remained limited to surface surveys. As such, our knowledge about the cultural sequence of the region from the Bronze Ages to the Medieval Period was restricted to surface finds. Murat Höyük and Murat Tepe excavations have thus begun to fill this lacuna in our knowledge by providing archaeological finds from secure contexts in a stratified sequence. Further interpretations of our findings from especially the multi-period mound of Murat Höyük will undoubtedly contribute greatly to the archaeology of the region and neighboring regions.