26 March 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

A first in 35 years! Child grave with bracelets and gifts found in ancient city of Kelenderis

During this year’s excavations in the ancient city of Kelenderis, founded on the Mediterranean coast in the southern province of Mersin 2,800 years ago, a commercial production furnace and a child’s grave with glass bracelets and gifts inside have been discovered for the first time.

In the ancient city of Kelenderis, which is located next to the fisherman’s shelter in the Aydıncık district on the Mersin-Antalya D400 highway, the excavation and restoration/conservation works started in 1987 continue uninterruptedly.

There have been exciting developments in the studies carried out this year under the coordination of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Batman University.

For the first time, the skeleton of a child, who was buried with 4 solid glass bracelets on his arm, gifts, clothes and a wooden coffin, was found in the ancient city, where nearly 150 tombs were found around the Odeon in 35 years.

In addition, during the excavations conducted in the region, a furnace, which is thought to be used for tile production, was unearthed for the first time, documenting commercial production.

Photo: İHA

Head of Excavation about the discovery, Assoc. Dr. Mahmut Aydın gave information.

“Excavations continue for 12 months of the year in the ancient city of Kelenderis. This year, we have completed the excavation and consolidation of the caves, the sitting area, and the supporting walls behind the Odeon structure. Now we found a furnace that excites us. We knew for years that there was production here, but we couldn’t find the oven. The oven is 1,300 years old. We think that roof tiles were produced inside the furnace. Because during the excavations we carried out last year and this year, a large amount of roof tiles, dated to the seventh century, were found around the furnace. Since the roof tiles were faulty, we found them scattered around it. When we completely empty the inside of the furnace, we might find even more faulty roof tiles.”

Speaking about the child’s grave, Assoc. Dr. Mahmut Aydın said, “We have previously uncovered nearly 150 tombs here, but none of them had burial gifts. In this one, we uncovered four glass bracelets, an inscription on a ceramic piece, and a cup. This was a first. At the same time, there were several baby graves around this child’s grave. We understand from here that a part of the Odeon was used as a children’s burial area. When the carbon 14 analysis results come, we will be able to identify them more clearly. But we believe that this area was used as a burial area in the Middle Ages. As it is different from other burials, we will only be able to determine exactly when the child died with carbon 14 analysis.”

Assoc. Dr. Aydın added that excavation and repair works were carried out for 12 months in order to bring the ancient city of Kelenderis together with the visitors.

Banner
Related Post

Ancient fish processing factories were discovered in ancient Roman city of Balsa, Portugal

18 July 2022

18 July 2022

In the Roman city of Balsa, one of the most important and symbolic archaeological sites in southern Portugal, archaeologists have...

World’s Largest Geoglyphs Found in the Thar Desert

29 May 2021

29 May 2021

A massive spiral encompassing 100,000 square meters unearthed in the Indian desert may be the greatest drawing ever drawn. The...

Hellenistic cremation tomb found in Istanbul’s Haydarpasa excavations

11 April 2022

11 April 2022

A brick tomb belonging to the Hellenistic period (330 BC – 30 BC) was found during the Haydarpaşa excavations, which...

Oldest Direct Evidence for Honey Collecting in Africa

18 April 2021

18 April 2021

Honey is an important food source that has been considered a very important healing source in the history of civilizations....

New fortifications unearthed in Porsuk Mound excavations

11 August 2021

11 August 2021

In the excavations of Porsuk Mound, which is an important Hittite settlement and where traces of settlement remains can be...

Palau’s green pyramids: could be a geo-archaeological project

19 February 2022

19 February 2022

Archaeologists from Kiel University’s Institute for Ecosystem Research (CAU) and the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) studied the so-called “Pyramids of...

2000-year-old passage found after Latrina at Smyrna Theater

28 January 2022

28 January 2022

Archaeologists discovered a 2,000-year-old passage that was 26 meters long and constructed in an “L” form in the theater part...

A new study shows that the cave paintings at Cueva Ardales are the work of Neanderthals

21 August 2021

21 August 2021

A study of pigments used in murals in the Cueva Ardales caves in southern Spain has revealed that Neanderthals, long...

4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

14 September 2021

14 September 2021

Excavations continue in Kültepe, the starting point of Anatolian written history. During the excavations, a 4,000-year-old lion jawbone was unearthed....

14,000 years old vessels made by Hunter-gatherers in Japan

1 May 2022

1 May 2022

The Late Pleistocene inhabitants of Tanegashima Island were making pottery about 14,000 years ago. In the Jomon period, people obtained...

Archaeologists found a 2,000-year-old Roman road in Cluj-Napoca in northwest Romania

23 January 2023

23 January 2023

Archaeologists from the National Museum of the History of Transylvania have discovered a well-preserved 2,000-year-old Roman road in the city...

The ancestors of many animal species alive today may have lived in a delta in what is now China, new research suggests

20 April 2022

20 April 2022

The ancestors of many animal species alive today may have lived in a delta in what is now China, new...

An exciting discovery in Hattusa, the capital of the Hittites

11 September 2022

11 September 2022

It is aimed to reach new information about the traditions of the Hittite civilization with 249 new hieroglyphs discovered in...

New discoveries show that Claros continued to serve as an oracle center after Christianity

14 September 2022

14 September 2022

Game boards and forked cross motifs dating to the fifth and seventh centuries AD were discovered at the ancient Greek...

Receding waters in Lake Van reveal rock-cut Urartian port

22 September 2022

22 September 2022

Located in the eastern province of Van in Turkey, the falling water level of Lake Van, with the decrease in...

Comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *