Kaman-Kalehöyük (Çağırkan Central Mound)
Kalehöyük · Kaman-Kalehöyük Archaeological Mound · Çağırkan Höyük
Early Bronze through Ottoman (EB, MBA, LBA-Hittite, Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman)·Central Anatolian → Hittite → Phrygian (Mushki) → Achaemenid·🇹🇷 Kırşehir Province, Kaman District, Central Anatolia, Turkey
About
About Kaman-Kalehöyük (Çağırkan Central Mound)
Kaman-Kalehöyük (Çağırkan Central Mound) is a multi-period tell/ancient village in Kırşehir Province, Kaman District, Central Anatolia, Turkey — Multi-period town mound controlling Kızılırmak basin trade and obsidian route; Japanese-Anatolian stratigraphic type-site Excavated evidence reveals Central Anatolian → Hittite → Phrygian (Mushki) → Achaemenid cultural horizons with mudbrick architecture. The mound 280×240 m, 11 m high; lower town 9 ha (geomagnetic) preserves stone-socle mudbrick with timber lacing, hittite ashlar foundations, phrygian pisé technique.
Position on Kırşehir Province illustrates longest continuous central anatolian sequence 3rd millennium bce to ottoman — key for hittite-phrygian transition and chronology.
Why it mattersLongest continuous Central Anatolian sequence 3rd millennium BCE to Ottoman — key for Hittite-Phrygian transition and chronology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Nature of EB III burning layer — invasion or ritual?
- 02Source of Phrygian painted ware — local or Gordion import?
Theories
- 01Omura Central Plateau continuity vs. collapse model
- 02Hittite provincial capital vs. fortified village debate
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.3000 BCE (EB I founding); Hittite reoccupation 1650 BCE; Iron Age Phrygian
- Period
- Early Bronze through Ottoman (EB, MBA, LBA-Hittite, Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman)
- Culture
- Central Anatolian → Hittite → Phrygian (Mushki) → Achaemenid
- Builders
- Hattian-Bronze communities, Hittite administrators, Phrygian resettlement
- Purpose
- Multi-period town mound controlling Kızılırmak basin trade and obsidian route; Japanese-Anatolian stratigraphic type-site
- Abandoned
- c.1400 CE gradual abandonment after Seljuk
- Rediscovered
- Surveyed 1980s Mikami, excavated 1986–present Omura (Japanese Institute)
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1986
Omura opens Japanese Kaman-Kalehöyük trench, EB I ceramics found
1992
Hittite seal impression and Iron Age gate published
2010
Archaeological Museum opens at Çağırkan with in situ finds
On the ground
Structures & features
39.3459° N · 33.7913° E · 1070 m · 3 mapped features
North Stratigraphic Trench (EB–Hittite sequence)
citadelDeep sounding exposing EB I to Hittite Levels IV–IIIb
39.3461° N · 33.7915° EHittite Iron Age Gate and Fortification
fortificationPhrygian-Hittite casemate and city gate
39.3456° N · 33.7912° EJapanese Expedition Lower Town Geomagnetic Anomaly
geophysical anomaly9 ha lower town with street grid (magnetometry)
39.3464° N · 33.7920° E