Fıstıklı Höyük
Fistikli Hoyuk · Birecik Fıstıklı
Halaf → Northern Ubaid → Late Chalcolithic → EBA (6200–3000 BCE)·Halaf-Ubaid → Uruk fringe·🇹🇷 Şanlıurfa Province, Birecik District, Sajur-Euphrates, Turkey
About
About Fıstıklı Höyük
Fıstıklı Höyük is a buried Late Halaf–Ubaid village (6200–5000 BCE) and Late Chalcolithic–EBA hamlet on the Euphrates near Birecik, excavated 1999–2005 by Susan Pollock & Reinhard Bernbeck (Berlin) in Birecik Dam salvage. Dense Halaf-Ubaid rectilinear pisé houses with stamp seals, Uruk bevel-rim coda and EBA Metallic Ware. Magnetometry maps 3 ha Halaf village with open plaza. Key for Halaf dispersals and Northern Ubaid interaction in upper Euphrates piedmont.
Why it mattersBirecik sector Halaf-Ubaid village type-site bridging Turkish Halaf enclaves to Syrian heartland.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Seals indicate property or communal feasting?
- 02Why plaza — communal vs elite?
Theories
- 01Pollock household model vs Frangipane centralized
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.6200 BCE Halaf founding; Ubaid 5500–5000 BCE
- Period
- Halaf → Northern Ubaid → Late Chalcolithic → EBA (6200–3000 BCE)
- Culture
- Halaf-Ubaid → Uruk fringe
- Builders
- Halaf farming communities
- Purpose
- Euphrates terrace farming hamlet with plaza
- Abandoned
- c.3000 BCE EBA thinning
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1999–2005 Pollock/Bernbeck Birecik salvage
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.6200
Initial founding
2015
Synthesis publication for Fıstıklı Höyük
On the ground
Structures & features
36.9900° N · 38.0200° E · 385 m · 3 mapped features
Halaf plaza
plazaCentral plaza with seal-impressed storage
36.9915° N · 38.0210° EUbaid houses (upper)
settlementUbaid rectilinear pisé houses
36.9888° N · 38.0192° ELate Chalcolithic pits
pitBevel-rim Uruk pits capping
36.9908° N · 38.0185° E