8,200-year-old workshop in Yeşilova Mound

A workshop dating back 8,200 years, showing the village life, pleasure, eating and drinking culture of the people of İzmir, has been unearthed in Yeşilova Mound in the Bornova district of İzmir.

Archaeological excavations continue in the Yeşilova and Yassıtepe mounds with the support of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, Bornova Municipality and Ege University.

Ege University Faculty of Letters Archaeology Department member and head of the excavations, Associated Professor Zafer Derin said, "We have been working in the Yeşilova Mound for about four months. We can unearth striking finds. We found a workshop showing the village life, pleasure, eating and drinking culture of the people of İzmir, especially in the first village life. Here, there are 10 villages built on top of each other. These villages, dating back to the Neolithic period, have been destroyed and rebuilt."

Stating that they found stone and bone tools in the workshop, Derin said, "There are mainly axes and cutters. It is a beautiful structure with many bowls and pottery depicting the life in antiquity. We also found many crustaceans called solens, which reveal the village's connection with the sea. We think they ate these solens while working. The first society of İzmir, who lived in the Neolithic period, tried to produce and maintain their connection with the sea throughout their lives," he said.