In the heart of Antalya province, Türkiye, lie the ancient Lycian city of Myra and its port, Andriake, where it is believed that Saint Paul and his fellow prisoners were embarked on their way to Italy. Recently, excavations by Akdeniz University at the site revealed a remarkable find: millefiori (“A Thousand Flowers”) glass plaques . […]
Anatolia
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Balıklı, The Neolithic Settlement of Semi-Subterranean Houses Accessed Through the Roof at the Dawn of Agriculture
Recent research at the Balıklı site, near major obsidian sources, has provided new and important findings about the initial processes of sedentarization on the central Anatolian plateau and the interactions between the region’s earliest Neolithic communities. Located just 14 kilometers northeast of the iconic Aşıklı Höyük site, Balıklı reveals marked differences in the organization of […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Carvings at Göbekli Tepe are the World’s Oldest Calendar, Created to Commemorate the Comet Impact that Gave Rise to Civilization
Carvings on a stone pillar at the 12,000-year-old archaeological site of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey may represent the world’s oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet impact, according to experts. These intricate carvings, which adorn a site thought to have functioned as an ancient temple complex, suggest a sophisticated understanding of […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
Persian Gold Coins Used to Pay Mercenaries Found in the Ancient Greek City of Notion
A team of researchers led by Professor Christopher Ratté from the University of Michigan has uncovered a treasure trove of Persian gold coins in the ancient Greek city of Notion, located in western Turkey. The find, consisting of a collection of gold coins known as darics, is believed to have been used to pay mercenary […]
Posted inAncient Greece
Termessos, the Impregnable Mountaintop City Alexander Never Conquered
Located about twenty kilometers from Antalya, in the Güllük Dağı National Park, there is a place called Karabunar Kiui, where the Archaeological Site of Termessos is located. It hosts the well-preserved remains of the ancient city of Termessos, a city-fortress that mythology attributes to the founding by the Homeric hero Bellerophon, and whose location at […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
Clay Tablet with Cuneiform Writing Found, Contains Furniture Shopping List from the Bronze Age
In a significant archaeological discovery, the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, Mehmet Ersoy, has announced the discovery of an ancient cuneiform tablet at the site of Aççana Höyük, also known as the ancient city of Alalah, located in the district of Reyhanlı, Hatay. This tablet, which has been hidden for millennia, has come […]
Posted inAncient Rome
The Temple of Hadrian at Cyzicus was the Largest Built in Antiquity, and its Corinthian Capitals the Largest Ever Sculpted
Founded by Greek colonists from Miletus in the 7th century BC and located on a peninsula in northwest Anatolia, the city of Cyzicus was one of the most thriving metropolises of the ancient world, flourishing in the shadow of the imposing Dindymus mountain massif and bathed by the waters of the Propontis strait, which connected […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Fewer than 1000 People Lived in Çatalhöyük: Researchers Reassess the Population of Neolithic Villages
A recent interdisciplinary study combining archaeology and ethnography has cast doubt on historical population estimates for Neolithic villages, specifically in Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Historically, it has been claimed that this settlement housed between 3,500 and 10,000 people. However, new research suggests that these numbers are a significant overestimation. Using a review of the distribution of residential […]
Posted inIron Age Archaeology
Iron Age Urartian Fortresses with Shrines and Open-Air Altars Discovered in Türkiye
Archaeological excavations, ongoing since 2016 within the bounds of Tunceli province in central-eastern Türkiye, aim to identify new Iron Age and Antiquity settlements in the region and examine archaeological remains lacking sufficient information. Recent work uncovered a new archaeological site, Masumu-Pak Fortress, while also examining in detail some features of the already-known Aşağı Doluca Fortress. […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Oldest Evidence of Ornamental Ear and Lip Piercing in the Neolithic Period Discovered
Archaeologists have unearthed the earliest known evidence of ear and lip ornamentation in the Neolithic period at the site of Boncuklu Tarla in south-east Türkiye. The findings, which date back to around 10,000 BC, shed new light on the body modification practices of early sedentary communities and challenge existing narratives about the origins of such […]
