18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The 20-million-year-old fossil of a sea creature in the ancient city of Tyana may have been used as a means of payment

During the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Tyana in the Kemerhisar district of Niğde, a 20-million-year-old fossil thought to belong to a sea creature was unearthed.

Head of the excavation committee and Aksaray University Archeology Department Lecturer Assoc. Dr. Osman Doğanay told Anadolu Agency (AA) that Tyana is the most important city in the Cappadocia region.

Stating that it is known from written documents that the city has been inhabited continuously for at least 4,000 years, Doğanay said that there are many remains of the Bronze and Iron Age, Hittites, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman civilizations in the city.

Ancient city of Tyana
Photo: Abdullah Özkul / AA

Stating that they started sounding excavations in the south to reach the early period findings of the city, Doğanay said, “We have reached a depth of 4 meters during the excavations that have been going on for 2 months. We have now reached the early phase of the Bronze Age and artifacts from that period. We will reach information and documents. We will prove with archaeological documents the clear information that the settlement in Tyana dates back at least 5-6 thousand years from today,” said.

Nearly 200 museum-worthy artifacts were found in a single sounding
Nearly 200 museum-worthy artifacts were found in a single sounding. Photo: Abdullah Özkul / AA

Used as a means of payment

Emphasizing that they reached nearly 200 museum-worthy artifacts in a single sounding, Doğanay continued his speech as follows:

Tyana find
Photo: Abdullah Özkul / AA

Ceramics and idols are expected finds during the excavations, but we found fossils of sea creatures in the layer belonging to the earliest phase of the Bronze Age. We determined that the fossil was a ‘nummulites’ type sea crustacean from 20 million years ago. We also found small, round discs in the same layer. We speculate that these discs were also used as a means of payment along with the fossil since there are similar examples in Egypt, so apart from ingot (a flat copper plate made of cowhide, used as a means of exchange before the coin was invented) as the earliest means of payment, such discs were also used as a means of payment. “We think that fossils of sea creatures were also used. Of course, we only have one example. We think we will have more of these fossils in the coming season.”

Noting that according to the findings, organized human life in the ancient city of Tyana dates back at least 5,000 years, Doğanay said, “In terms of live life, 20 million years ago, this place was perhaps a seafloor or consisted of a receding sea. “He couldn’t have brought the fossil from far away. He collected it from somewhere around here and maybe he was using it as a means of payment,” he said.

Related Articles

For the first time, researchers discovered bioarchaeological evidence of familial embalming in early modern France

16 November 2024

16 November 2024

A unique discovery has revealed new insights into the burial rituals of early modern Western Europe: For the first time,...

1,600-year-old Roman-era wine shop unearthed in Greece

29 January 2024

29 January 2024

A team led by Scott Gallimore of Wilfrid Laurier University and Martin Wells of Austin College discovered a 1,600-year-old Roman-era...

9,000-Year-Old Rock Art Suggests Early Humans Interacted with Dinosaur Footprints

22 February 2025

22 February 2025

In Brazil, researchers have made an extraordinary discovery of ancient rock art dating back over 9,000 years, found alongside dinosaur...

Young Metal Detectorist Discovers Huge Viking Treasure Hoard in Denmark

23 April 2023

23 April 2023

A group of hobby metal detectorists has discovered two Viking treasures buried a few meters apart near the ruins of...

Archaeologists discover a hidden Maya burial chamber in the walled enclosure of Tulum

28 December 2023

28 December 2023

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered a hidden Maya burial chamber concealed within a...

Archaeologists may have found the lost 2,000-year-old ancient city of Bassania in Albania

19 June 2022

19 June 2022

Polish archaeologists may have discovered the 2,000-year-old lost city of Bassania in Albania. The remains of two large ancient stone...

Historical Armenian church 500-year-old in southeastern Turkey set to be restored

6 February 2022

6 February 2022

Work has been initiated to transfer the historical Armenian Church, which was built in the 16th century in the province...

A well-preserved comb discovered in a 4th-century rare Alemannic chamber grave in Germany

4 September 2024

4 September 2024

During a rescue excavation in the center of the village of Gerstetten, located in the Heidenheim district of southwestern Germany,...

8000-year-old unique “fish-figure” small home tool found in Turkey

20 October 2021

20 October 2021

During this year’s excavations in the Yeşilova and Yassıtepe mounds in İzmir, a unique “fish-figure” small home tool was found....

“Urartian Royal garbage dump” was found during excavations at Ayanis Castle

3 September 2022

3 September 2022

During the excavations carried out in the Ayanis Castle, which was built by the Urartian King Rusa II on the...

An ancient Roman road has been discovered in the Venice Lagoon

24 July 2021

24 July 2021

Researchers discovered a Roman road submerged in the Venice Lagoon. The finding suggests that substantial communities may have existed in...

Oldest footprints of pre-humans identified in Crete

11 October 2021

11 October 2021

Six million-year-old fossilized footprints on the island show the human foot had begun to develop. The oldest known footprints of...

Metal Scraps were Used İnstead of Money in Bronze Age Europe

8 May 2021

8 May 2021

Bronze scrap uncovered in hoards in Europe was used as currency, according to researchers from the Universities of Göttingen and...

Archaeologists Discover Assyrian-Style Leather Armor 2,700 Years Old in China

11 December 2021

11 December 2021

The new research shows that the unique leather armor found in a horse rider’s tomb in Northwest China was made...

1,400-year-old temple from the time of the East Anglian Kings discovered at Suffolk royal settlement

21 November 2023

21 November 2023

Archaeologists have uncovered a possibly pre-Christian temple from the time of the East Anglian Kings at Rendlesham, near Sutton Hoo...