Ancient Near East

New data obtained during excavations on Van Castle has revealed that Lake Van was much smaller 7,000 years ago and has risen over time to reach its current size. 

Koç University Press has published a book titled ?Nostoi. Ind?genous Culture, Migration and Integration in the Aegean Islands and Western Anatolia during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age.? 

Excavation work has been continuing on Van's Çavu?tepe Castle, which dates back to the Urartian era and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the province.

Excavations that have been continuing in Alacahöyük, one of the centers of Hittite civilization and considered Turkey?s first ?national excavation field,? have unearthed nearly 3,700-year-old hair ties and jewelry made of animal horns.

The head of the excavations, Professor Aykut Ç?naro?lu, said they had found the hair ties during excavations in the chambers of the mine factory. 

Excavation work at Ovaören village in Central Anatolian Nev?ehir province has brought to light a settlement in ancient Yass?höyük dating back to 1,700 B.C.

The ancient site could, however, even date back to 6,000 B.C., said the head of the excavation team and the director of the Gazi University Archaeology Department, Yücel ?enyurt.

The doyen of Turkish archaeology, Professor Halet Çambel, who died on Jan. 12 last year aged 98, was honored by Google with a doodle for her birthday on Aug. 27. 

Amid excavations at four different ancient sites in the Central Anatolian province of Yozgat, a cuneiform tablet has been unearthed in the U?akl? Mound at the Büyük Ta?l?k village.

After 2700 years the walls of Urartu Castle have been unearthed in the Ayanis neighborhood of the eastern province of Van. 

Excavations at the Urartu Castle site, situated 38 kilometers from Van, have been ongoing for 25 years, leading to new discoveries every day. After the discovery of the temple, this year the walls, a defining part of the castle, have been unearthed. 

The Kültepe-Kani?-Karum trade colony in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri continues to amaze archeologists, with an expert at the dig revealing that tablets citing women?s rights were discovered at the Bronze Age settlement.

A research assistant at the Department of Archaeology in the Faculty of Letters at ?zmir's Aegean University has conducted studies on the reproduction of ancient Urartian red polished pottery, a kind of Urartian ceramic that looked like metallic potteries and were distinctive in color, surface treatment and firing.