The Yortan culture within the early Bronze Age of Western Anatolia
Yortan is a prehistoric burial site in the valley of Bakir Ăai (Kaikos) in western Turkey. It was found and excavated by a French engineer, Paul Gaudin, some eighty years ago, but results have never been properly published. The finds which constitute the material offerings to the dead are now widely dispersed between some seven European museums. The research aims at bringing, for the first time, this well known but improperly understood material of prehistoric Anatolia into one single body of finds, and in that sense it could be considered as the long overdue publication of the site. Two site plans which belong to the archives of the British Museum, Western Asiatic Department, are also brought to light for the first time and make an important addition to the understanding of the burial customs of Yortan and Bronze Age western Anatolia in general. Large pithoi, up to 2m in height, were used as coffins, where dead adults lay in a contracted position on, one side. Infants and children were put in smaller jars. The tomb furniture consists mostly of pottery in the form of jugs and jars, and, less frequently, bowls. Out of 107 burials, over 250 individual pots could be traced and illustrated. Yortan itself is without
Kiamil, T.
Archaeology
The Yortan culture within the early Bronze Age of Western Anatolia. Yortan is a prehistoric burial site in the valley of Bakir Ăai (Kaikos) in western Turkey. It was found and excavated by a French engineer, Paul Gaudin, some eighty years ago, but results have never been properly published. The finds which constitute the material offerings to the dead are now widely dispersed between some seven European museums. The research aims at bringing, for the first time, this well known but improperly understood material of prehistoric Anatolia into one single body of finds, and in that sense it could be considered as the long overdue publication of the site. Two site plans which belong to the archives of the British Museum, Western Asiatic Department, are also brought to light for the first time and make an important addition to the understanding of the burial customs of Yortan and Bronze Age western Anatolia in general. Large pithoi, up to 2m in height, were used as coffins, where dead adults lay in a contracted position on, one side. Infants and children were put in smaller jars. The tomb furniture consists mostly of pottery in the form of jugs and jars, and, less frequently, bowls. Out of 107 burials, over 250 individual pots could be traced and illustrated. Yortan itself is without
culture within early bronze age western_anatolia prehistoric burial_site valley western turkey find excavate french engineer paul never properly publish find constitute material offering dead widely disperse european museum aim_bring first_time well_know improperly understood material prehistoric anatolia single body find sense could consider long overdue publication site two_site plan belong archive british_museum western department also bring_light first_time make_important addition burial custom bronze_age western_anatolia general large height use coffin dead adult lay position one_side infants child put small jar tomb furniture consist mostly pottery form jar less_frequently bowl burial individual pot could trace illustrate without