Toptepe
Toptepe · Toptepe Höyük · Kırklareli Tell
Neolithic-Chalcolithic (c.6000-3500 BCE)·Kırklareli–Karanovo to Gumelnița-Karanovo VI·🇹🇷 Kırklareli Province, Asılbeyli vicinity, Turkish Thrace, Turkey
About
About Toptepe
Toptepe is a Thracian tell in Kırklareli Province, Asılbeyli vicinity, Turkish Thrace — part of the Kırklareli Neolithic gateway linking Anatolian Çatalhöyük/Çukuriçi Neolithisation to the Balkan Karanovo tells (Hotnitsa-Kozareva-Koprivec) cited in the Europe focus.
Why it mattersThracian Neolithisation type-site linking Anatolia to Balkan Chalcolithic tells.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Function of fortified enclosure vs flood defence?
- 02Chronology refined by radiocarbon or ceramic seriation?
Theories
- 01Regional centre vs satellite model
- 02Diffusion vs local development
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.5800 BCE Late Neolithic
- Period
- Neolithic-Chalcolithic (c.6000-3500 BCE)
- Culture
- Kırklareli–Karanovo to Gumelnița-Karanovo VI
- Builders
- Kırklareli–Karanovo to Gumelnița-Karanovo VI community builders
- Purpose
- Thracian loess-plain farming village on Bosporus corridor
- Abandoned
- c.2000-1200 BCE
- Rediscovered
- Surveyed and excavated (regional project)
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.5800
Foundation and early occupation
c.1200 BCE
Peak fortified horizon
1990
Modern excavation and publication
On the ground
Structures & features
41.7240° N · 27.2850° E · 165 m · 3 mapped features
Gallery