Kayseri survey

Kayseri Survey

A survey of the Kayseri area was begun in 2008 by Fikri Kulakoğlu and the Kültepe team. The aim is to find sites named in the texts of the Assyrian Colony period, in order to identify the route from Kültepe to the Malatya area. The research is guided by the texts but Hittite reliefs such as Imamkulu (70 km southeast of Kayseri) provide another potential source for roads in the area.

Sites in the region of Kültepe, such as Sultanhisar and Kululu, were inspected by Tahsin Özgüç but there is still much work to do in the area. In 2008 the team visited five sites. Dolma Tepe, a small site on the Kayseri-Sivas road, is the closest to Kültepe. It contains holes from illicit digging. The pottery belongs to the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, with the latest from the Alişar III period. Hazarşah, on the Kayseri-Malatya road, has also been disturbed. The pottery there dates from the late 3rd millennium to the 1st millennium BC. Kale Höyük, in the middle of Kayseri, and Kumhöyük have also been disturbed. The pottery from both is later than the period of investigation, while Ziyaret Tepe produced only medieval pottery.

The area of the survey will be expanded in future seasons.