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Alacahöyük

Q558861

Alacahöyük: Prehistoric and Hittite town in Central Anatolia; its ancient name is unknown.

Royal tombs

Alacahöyük has been occupied since the Neolithic and was an especially important in the Early and Middle Bronze Age. Several "royal tombs" date back to this period. Among the objects that archaeologists have discovered inside, are two-handed cups (which were quite common in Anatolia) and poorly understood "sun disks" made of bronze or silver. Whatever the meaning of these objects - the First Law of Archaeology applies - they illustrate a high level of workmanship. This town was occupied by people speaking the Hattic language.

Towards the end of the third millennium, Indo-European tribes started to settle in Anatolia, bringing several languages, including Nešili. The speakers of that language took over Alacahöyük and also settled in nearby Hattusa, which they made their capital and was the basis of an empire. After their capital, they are called Hittites. In Alacahöyük, they built a palace and a gate (flanked by two sphinxes), which date back to the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BCE.

The site remained in use in the Iron Age and is considered Phrygian.

This page was created in 2017; last modified on 6 August 2020.

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