Ordu Ethnographical Museum to display ancient masks, busts

More than 20 busts and masks, which were unearthed in the 2,300-year-old Ordu Kurul Castle and estimated to be 2,100 years old, will be exhibited at the Ordu Paşaoğlu Mansion and Ethnography Museum.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Uğur Toparlak said that the Ordu Kurul Castle, which is located within the borders of Bayadı neighborhood of Ordu's Altınordu district, is the first archaeological and scientific excavation site in the Eastern Black Sea region.

Stating that the excavations in the castle, which started in 2010, continued with the support of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the Turkish Historical Society and the Ordu Metropolitan Municipality, he emphasized that very important artifacts have come to light as the results of the ongoing excavation at the architectural structure.

Toparlak reminded that a one-meter marble statue of the mother goddess Kybele was found in 2016. "As a result of the ongoing studies, the other parts of Kybele were also found."

"This castle was also used as a military area. We found war materials and coins of the period. By examining these, we reached the historical coding of the region, especially the castle. In this sense, we have determined that the castle has a history of 2,300 years," he said.

Stating that excavations continued last year in the northern part of the castle under the presidency of Ordu Museum Directorate and the scientific consultancy of Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University's head of Archeology Department, Professor Süleyman Yücel Şenyurt, Toparlak said: "The castle was not only used in war and military fields, we also saw the traces of ritual activities. We found more than 20 terracotta busts and masks, which are the biggest...