Maşat Höyük (Tapigga / Tapikka)
Maşat Höyük · Tapigga · Tapikka · Masat
Late Chalcolithic through Iron Age (Chalcolithic, EBA, Hittite, Iron)·Hattian → Hittite (Tapikka) → Phrygian/Kaska contact·🇹🇷 Tokat Province, Zile District, Yeşilırmak headwaters, Turkey
About
About Maşat Höyük (Tapigga / Tapikka)
Maşat Höyük (Tapigga / Tapikka) is a multi-period tell/ancient village in Tokat Province, Zile District, Yeşilırmak headwaters, Turkey — Hittite northeastern frontier archive town controlling Kaska border and Yeşilırmak corridor Excavated evidence reveals Hattian → Hittite (Tapikka) → Phrygian/Kaska contact cultural horizons with mudbrick architecture. The mound 250×200 m, 29 m high; lower town 15 ha (corings) preserves stone-footed mudbrick, hittite postern gate, burnished iron age handmade over wheel-made technique. Position on Tokat Province illustrates only hittite frontier archive in pontic fringe — 200+ letters documenting kaska wars and hittite diplomacy.
Why it mattersOnly Hittite frontier archive in Pontic fringe — 200+ letters documenting Kaska wars and Hittite diplomacy.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Were Maşat letters sent via pigeon or runner along Yeşilırmak?
- 02Kaska villages — sedentary or mobile in Maşat hinterland?
Theories
- 01Özgüç frontier archive vs. seasonal court model
- 02Kaska-Hittite acculturation hybrid ware 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.4000 BCE Late Chalcolithic; Hittite frontier town 1650–1200 BCE; Iron Age reuse 1000 BCE
- Period
- Late Chalcolithic through Iron Age (Chalcolithic, EBA, Hittite, Iron)
- Culture
- Hattian → Hittite (Tapikka) → Phrygian/Kaska contact
- Builders
- Hittite frontier administrators, Kaska-influenced local communities
- Purpose
- Hittite northeastern frontier archive town controlling Kaska border and Yeşilırmak corridor
- Abandoned
- c.1100 BCE post-Empire Kaska pressure; seasonal Iron reuse
- Rediscovered
- Surveyed 1943, excavated 1973–1984 Özgüç (Ankara Univ), tablets in Ankara Museum
- Excavation
- Excavated
1973
Özgüç opens Maşat trench, Level I tablet archive found
1980
110 Hittite letters published (Maşat corpus)
2002
Re-study confirms Kaska handmade ceramics in Hittite level
On the ground
Structures & features
40.1525° N · 35.7636° E · 785 m · 3 mapped features
Level I Hittite Tablet Archive Building
archiveBurnt administrative building with 200+ cuneiform letters
40.1527° N · 35.7638° EHittite Postern Gate and Casemate
fortificationPontic-style postern gate and glacis
40.1523° N · 35.7634° EKaska Handmade Ware Horizon
ceramic horizonIron Age Kaska handmade pottery level over Hittite destruction
40.1526° N · 35.7640° E
Gallery