Study of The Skulls from Karahöyük, Excavated Under The Auspices of The Turkish Historical Society

Year 1949, Volume: 13 Issue: 49, 11 - 20, 20.01.1949

Muzaffer Süleyman Şenyürek

Abstract

Karahöyük, 10 kilometers north-west of Elbistan in the vilayet of Maraş, was excavated in the summer season of 1947 by a party composed of Dr. Tahsin özgüç, Dr. Nimet özgüç and Mr. Lemi Merey, architect. In this excavation, carried out under the auspices of the Turkish Historical Society, cultural strata belonging to Roman, Post-Hittite, and Hittite periods were unearthed and the excavation was terminated in the Hittite stratum. A brief preliminary report has already been published by Dr. Tahsin Özgüç, the director of the expedition In Karahöyük two skeletons were found, buried in the city and under the houses, and the cranial fragments belonging to these two skeletons were brought to me for study. Dr. Tahsin Özgüç informs me that the first of these two skeletons was found in the third building level 2 of the Post-Hittite cultural stratum, which consists of four architectural levels. Only a bronze ring and an earring were found beside this skeleton encountered in a grave-pit, surrounded by sun-dried bricks and stones, under the house floor.

Keywords

Karahöyük, Anthropology, Anatolia, Hitites