Bademağacı Höyük
Bademağacı Höyük · Bademagaci · Bademağacı · Kestel Bademağacı
Early Neolithic to Early Bronze Age·Antalya-Lake District → Early Bronze (Taurus piedmont)·🇹🇷 Antalya Province, Döşemealtı – Antalya Plain north, Turkey
About
About Bademağacı Höyük
Neolithic to Early Bronze tell (c.6500–2800 BCE, 9 levels) at Taurus foothills / Antalya plain ecotone, excavated 1993–2004 by Refik Duru & Gülsün Umurtak. Famous for Level 2 megaron-plan Early Bronze houses (pre-Hittite megaron prototype), Level 4 Late Chalcolithic burnt village with in-situ pottery, and Neolithic monochrome/red slipped ware preceding Hacilar. Bridge between Antalya coastal KARAIN-type Mesolithic and interior Anatolian Neolithic; shows west-Anatolian megaron house origin.
Why it mattersEarliest megaron houses — origin of Hittite/Mycenaean megaron; Antalya-to-interior Neolithic bridge.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Megaron — indigenous or Aegean import?
- 02Monochrome Neolithic relation to Hacilar
Theories
- 01Taurus piedmont as megaron hearth linking Europe-Anatolia
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.6500 BCE EN Level 9; megaron EBA c.3000 BCE Level 2
- Period
- Early Neolithic to Early Bronze Age
- Culture
- Antalya-Lake District → Early Bronze (Taurus piedmont)
- Builders
- Piedmont farmers
- Purpose
- Foothill village controlling Antalya Plain–Burdur pass
- Abandoned
- c.2800 EBA then gap to Classical
- Rediscovered
- 1993 Umurtak-Duru systematic
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1993
Istanbul University excavation opens
c.3000 BCE
Megaron house quarter builds (pre-Troy I)
c.4200 BCE
Chalcolithic burnt destruction layer
On the ground
Structures & features
37.1900° N · 30.4800° E · 340 m · 3 mapped features
EBA Level 2 megaron quarter
houseRow of 5 megara with porches and hearths
37.1901° N · 30.4801° ELate Chalcolithic burnt house
houseBurnt Level 4 house with complete vessels
37.1899° N · 30.4799° ENeolithic Level 9 trench
sectionEN monochrome houses at base
37.1900° N · 30.4800° E