Karahöyük-Elbistan Plains Satellite
Elbistan Satellite · Karahöyük Plain Satellite
Early Bronze to Iron (3000 BCE–600 BCE)·EBA Syrian → Hittite → Neo-Hittite Melid → Phrygian·🇹🇷 Kahramanmaraş Province, Elbistan District, Upper Ceyhan Plain, Turkey
About
About Karahöyük-Elbistan Plains Satellite
Karahöyük-Elbistan Plains Satellite is a 1.6-ha mound 6 km southwest of Karahöyük-Elbistan citadel on the upper Ceyhan plain (1130 m). Survey trenches reveal EBA Red-Black burnished ware houses, a Hittite storage pit with sealing of Tudhaliya, and a Phrygian reoccupation with grey ware — showing Elbistan plain's role as a Hittite–Melid–Phrygian hinge between Malatya–Elazığ and the Cilician Gates. Botanical remains track plain barley to highland pastoral shift at Bronze–Iron transition.
Why it mattersUpper Ceyhan plain hinge — Melid–Phrygian transition satellite on Elbistan pass
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Satellite as dependency of Karahöyük or autonomous hamlet?
- 02Phrygian grey ware — migration or trade?
Theories
- 01Summers Elbistan plain buffer — Hittite vs. local Late Bronze
- 02Phrygian expansion via Elbistan–Malatya
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 village; Hittite hamlet 1600 BCE; Phrygian farm 900 BCE
- Period
- Early Bronze to Iron (3000 BCE–600 BCE)
- Culture
- EBA Syrian → Hittite → Neo-Hittite Melid → Phrygian
- Builders
- EBA village founders, Neo-Hittite Melid chiefs, Phrygian migrants
- Purpose
- Plains satellite 6km SW of Karahöyük-Elbistan main mound — EBA–IA village on Elbistan plain monitoring Ceyhan headwaters and Malatya–Gölbaşı pass
- Abandoned
- c.600 BCE Achaemenid reorganisation
- Rediscovered
- Surveyed 1947 Alkım; Elbistan plain survey 1980s Brown & Summers
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1947
Alkım survey maps Elbistan satellite, EBA Red-Black ware found
1986
Hittite Tudhaliya sealing pit published
2004
Phrygian grey ware farmstead above Hittite level published
On the ground
Structures & features
38.2100° N · 37.1900° E · 1130 m · 3 mapped features
EBA Red-Black Burnished House
settlementEBA Red-Black ware courtyard house 2800 BCE
38.2108° N · 37.1906° EHittite Sealing Pit (Tudhaliya)
administrativeStorage pit with Tudhaliya sealing, 1400 BCE
38.2093° N · 37.1891° EPhrygian Grey Ware Reoccupation
settlementPhrygian grey ware farmstead above Hittite level 900 BCE
38.2111° N · 37.1907° E