New findings at the Karahantepe excavation site

Important findings dating back to the Neolithic period have been encountered during excavations in the Karahantepe region of Şanlıurfa. Numerous wolf jaws, leopard, vulture, and fox bones, as well as hearths, were discovered at the excavation site. Officials, who announced that the 2024 excavation work has been completed, stated that the findings in the region offer new clues about prehistoric life.

Emphasizing that excavations were carried out in 14 separate areas at Karahantepe, Karul stated that they have encountered new findings at the historical site.

Stating that they focused particularly on public structures in Karahantepe this year, Karul spoke as follows:

"We are continuing our work on the public building complex that we had largely uncovered previously. There is a central structure here, and we knew there were smaller buildings attached to it that were also constructed for public purposes. We began excavating one of these last year and continued this year. When we reached the floor level of the structure, we encountered an area resembling a room separated by standing stones on a bench. We saw that the interior of this area was filled with red sterile soil and that, in parallel with this filling process, stone vessels and plates were left inside the room. The vessels are made of black chlorite stone and are entirely decorated with geometric and animal patterns. At the same time, within this context, we encountered different groups of findings such as stone objects we call batons and beads. Within this context, we saw numerous wolf jaws, leopard, vulture, and fox bones. We understood that the foxes were left inside the context with their pelts."

Explaining that every artifact unearthed is very valuable, Karul expressed that they have obtained important clues about the past through the findings.

Pointing out that more time is needed to interpret Karahantepe, Karul said the following:

"Undoubtedly, we are just uncovering the findings; we need some time to evaluate them. But the presence of numerous hearths in the remaining part of the building, and large bull horns, and even skulls left on the floor, allowed us to understand that this area had a function related to cooking and was part of the public building complex. We also encountered ovens within the structure. The presence of numerous hearths inside the structure we uncovered at Karahantepe has shown us an environment we have encountered for the first time."