ŞAHIN YILDIRIM

SALVAGE EXCAVATION OF THE “İKİZTEPE B” TUMULUS IN THE ÇÖMLEKAKPINAR VILLAGE

On September 22, 2004, the directorate of the Edirne Museum upon permission by the Turkish

ministry of Culture and Tourism granted on September 14, 2004, started salvage excavations in the so-called Ikiztepe B tumulus, located 2 km north of the Çömlekakpınar village in the district of Lalapaşa near Edirne, which had been subject to unauthorised excavations by treasure hunters. The salvage excavations undertaken by fourteen specialists and twelve workers took approximately two months to be completed (fig. 1). Realised with the support of the Governor of Edirne and the Cevre Koruma Vakfi (Environmental Protection Foundation), the excavations came to fairly significant conclusions concerning Thracian archaeology.

The locality known as Ikiztepe encompasses a group of four tumuli on a ridge extending in east-west direction. The İkiztepe B tumulus, located at the coordinates of 41° 51′ 02″ north and 26° 37′ 34″ east, is the easternmost tumulus in that group.

Sixty more tumuli were identified when the vicinity was examined. There is no known ancient city in the vicinity despite the large number of tumuli. This is an indication that the area was inhabited by Thracian clans who kept their regional character and lived in small rural settlements in the Roman period.

The famous Greek historian Herodotus relates the following about the tradition of tumuli, one and the most important of the burial customs of the Thracians:

“Their wealthy ones are buried in the following fashion. The body is laid out for three days; and during this time they kill victims of all kinds, and feast upon them, after first bewailing the departed. Then they either burn the body or else bury it in the ground. Lastly, they raise a mound over the grave, and hold games of all sorts, wherein the single combat is awarded the highest prize. Such is the mode of burial among the Thracians.” (Hdt. 5.3).

The tumulus type of burial was also common in the Greek and Roman world of the classical age. One of the regions where the tumulus type of burial is most wide-spread is Thrace. There were overall around 20.000 tumuli at the beginning of the last century in Thrace. Although the most common type is the conical tumulus, they are found in various shapes such as domes and amorphous mounds. It is difficult to tell which shape originated first. The main point is that these shapes did not come about by coincidence. It seems logical that the original shape was cone, dome or beehive. The great majority of the most magnificent Thracian tumuli are in that shape (Kitov 1991, 47-56).

Tumuli were initially made as graves for members of the elite classes of Thracian communities with the purpose of protecting their riches (Kitov 1991, 55); they are divided into five typological groups, namely those with platforms, with pits, with burial chambers, with sarcophagi, and with simple graves. In some tumuli a second burial was made in a different technique than the first one.

In Turkish Thrace there are three major groups of tumuli. The first group consists of accumulation mounds and tumuli located on and around the Edirne- Kırklareli-Pınarhisar-Vize-Saray route, where the mountainous terrain meets the steppes. Some of them are located in the valleys of the streams running from the Istiranca mountains to the Ergene, or on hills at the edge of these valleys. Among the most important centres we should mention the Kukuler village near Suloğlu, and the Vize region. The second group consists of the tumuli in the Ergene valley. The third

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group consists of the tumuli in the vicinity of Kabahuyuk south of the Ergene, and those extending in the Edirne-Uzunköprü-Keşan-Malkara-Tekirdağ direction. Such tumuli are found in large numbers in Bulgaria in the Hebros valley, especially around Plovdiv. The number of tumuli in Bulgaria exceeds 10,000; they become less munerous towards the east. In Turkish Thrace there seem to have been around seven or eight hundred tumuli (Mansel 1938, 16). Tumuli are also especially concentrated around the villages of Ortakçı, Çömlekakpınar, Sinanköy and Hanlıyenice in the district of Lalapasha near Edirne.

It is natural for tumuli to be encountered in the vicinity of settlements. They rarely stand alone but are usually found in groups, next to most villages and towns in modern Thrace. It is particularly striking that some of them rise in modern graveyards. This is an indication that today’s Thracian villages and towns and their graveyards occupy the place of ancient Thracian settlements and their graveyards. Thracian tumuli are usually located on mounds and ridges dominating their vicinity, thus exalting the richness and power of their owners (Mansel 1938, 16-17).

These accumulated mounds, which had long been drawing the attention of travellers in Thrace, remained unidentified until the French archaeologist A. Dumont associated them with Herodotus’ above-quoted passage on Thracian burial customs (Hdt. 5.8), supporting that these mounds were funerary monuments (Mansel 1940, 89).1 The first systematic excavations of tumuli in Turkish Thrace were initiated by Ord. Prof. Dr. Arif Müfid Mansel in the name of the Turkish Historical Institution (Türk Tarih Kurumu) in 1936. After the establishment of museums in Thrace, a great number of tumuli damaged by the activity of robbers were successfully examined with salvage excavations. Many significant objects and information were also discovered as a result of salvage excavations.

The altitude of the summit of the Ikiztepe B tumulus excavated under the supervision of the museum directorate is 236m. The extant height of the tumulus is 11m, and its diameter approximately 55m. The upper part of the conical tumulus was flattened during military operations in the 1980s. As can be deduced from the inclination angle of the mound, the original height should have been around 15m. Illegal excavations had been conducted by treasure hunters on its southern slope (fig. 2).

The works started with a section 2.5m wide and 21m long from the upper centre point to the bottom of the southern side of the funerary monument. The main purpose was to find the location of the burial chamber without damaging the monumental quality of the mound. Prograssively, it was understood that the soil used for making the mound derived from the vicinity: white lime soil, rich in calcium bicarbonate, which is found in the region one metre under the surface ground, and a small amount of grey clay was used for the entire funerary cone.

The tumulus was set on a circular platform that was created on the natural sloping ground by pressing the existing dark brown soil firmly. In the drawing (fig. 3) the red line shows the original diameter of the tumulus. The layers in the section lead to fairly important conclusions regarding the construction technique of the mound (fig. 4). The funerary monument was formed with soil brought from the vicinity in large heaps that were piled diagonally against each other.

Red-slip ware dated to the 1st c. AD found during excavation in the north-south oriented trench demonstrate that the tumulus can be dated to the Roman period. Burnt layers in the soil heaps visible in the section, as well as these ceramic fragments found in groups, which probably belonged to amphorae and drinking vessels, suggest that the ritual ceremonies continued during the construction of the funerary mound.

When the section reached the level of the bottom platform, a dark brown and black burnt layer was encountered (fig. 5). Below the altitude of 226,66m, inside and around a ritual fire pit covering an area of 1,5 square metres at the centre of the section, pottery of various shapes, melted glass

1 See detailed information in Dumont 1871.

SALVAGE EXCAVATION OF THE “İKİZTEPE B” TUMULUS 707

fragments and bones of various animals were found among intensely burnt wood pieces (fig. 6). Most probably, the fire of a funeral banquet commemorating the owner of the grave had burnt there. After restoration, thirty three wares were identified: a large wine amphora, two one-handled jugs (fig. 7), a high-quality sigillata kylix decorated with floral relief, a middle-sized bowl, only one metre away from the banquet pit, as well as a high-quality fragmented terracotta lamp, suggesting that the ceremony was held at night. The most interesting find is an Iron Age vessel that was used again in Roman period (fig. 8). Three fish figures, fifteen drinking vessels without handles, five small drinking bowls and five shallow drinking bowls indicate that the funeral ceremony was attended by a fairly splendid and crowded company (fig. 9). All these wares were broken because they were thrown into the fire, and the colours of the pieces were altered by the high temperature. Some of the wares were made in regional workshops while others were imported. Besides red-slip drinking cups dated to the 1st c. AD, high-quality imported wares known as terra sigillata were found in this banquet pit.

The majority of the animal bones found in the banquet fire belong to chicken or other poultry (fig. 10). The tooth of a pig found directly south of the fire pit and the jaw of a sheep or a similar animal found nearby indicate that they were part of the food served at the banquet.

With the discovery of the banquet pit it was understood that the grave should be nearby. An examination of the section showed that the area of the banquet pit was covered with a sizeable mound of heaped soil. The works were concentrated on this part in order to find out whether the mound was the grave. A new trench 4x6m was excavated west of the upper part of the previous section, to encompass the mound visible in the section. When the excavation reached the ground level of the platform, it became clear that the small mound visible in the section did not have a connection with the grave. However, a fairly well-preserved red-slip drinking vessel was found in the northern section of the trench at 226.92m altitude. The discovery of the vessel led to the thought that the grave might be located at the centre of the mound. Therefore, another trench 5x7m in size was opened at the summit of the funerary mound, encompassing the central point. Works continued in this trench, which had a height of ten metres from the top to the platform (fig. 11). In the following days, at the altitude of 228.00m, the eastern section of the trench showed the shape of a small mound. Further work in that area uncovered a disordered heap of rubble stones and burnt brown soil. As the stones were cleared, a glass unguentarium at 227.16 metres altitude and a broken glass drinking cup at 227.00 metres altitude in this heap, and a terracotta lamp whose discus is ornamented with the relief of a warrior at 227.77 m altitude to the northwest of this area were found (fig. 12).

When this area was cleared, the grave pit was encountered at 226.52m altitude. The grave stretching in the east-west direction measures 1.74 by 2.55m and was formed by digging a pit 0,60m deep into the platform. The outer contours of the grave pit were burnt and turned crimson during the cremation (fig. 13).

When the soil in the grave was cleared, the grave and burial gifts were encountered at 226.00m. At the centre of the grave pit there is a thick layer of ashes (fig. 14). Within that layer the bones of the deceased were found, very few in number and deformed owing to the high-temperature cremation. Some pieces from the skull were found at the west end of the grave. Carbon residues of the wood used for the cremation were concentrated at the centre of the rectangular grave. A smaller pit 1,5m long by 0,50m wide and 0,30m deep was located at the centre of the rectangular grave pit; it had been filled with wood and branches burnt during the cremation of the body. Burnt pieces of wood attached to each other with nails found around this part reveal that the deceased had been lying in a wooden coffin or on a wooden stretcher, which was burnt in the grave pit along with him. The burial gifts were placed around the grave pit after the cremation, as the great majority of the objects do not display any damage caused by fire. Only those placed close to the ashes were damaged by the heat. Only the personal belongings of the deceased (his weapons and his

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rings) were damaged by the fire. The gifts were mostly placed in the north section of the grave pit and in east-west direction (fig. 15). They include a bronze trefoil-mouth oinochoe with lion-head handle found immediately to the west of the amphora (fig. 16), and a bronze patera found right next to it2, with valonia oak leaves inside, decorated with a Medusa on its handle and a wolf with stretched arms at its joint (fig. 17)3. A thick layer of corrosion covers the bronze oinochoe and the patera. Glass vessels, including a jug, a modiolus, a drinking cup with chamfered motifs and a rhyton, were found at the northern end of the grave, west of the bronze objects (fig. 18). All glassware except the drinking cup were broken due to soil pressure. Terracotta objects were placed to the west of the glassware, at the northwest of the grave. They include a middle-sized double-handled vessel, a double-handled drinking vessel found close to it, a large bowl with light yellow slip inside to the west of the drinking vessel (fig. 19). A one-handled amphora with residue of red wine inside was found in pieces due to soil pressure at the northeast of the grave pit; furthermore, a double-handled amphora was found to its west (fig. 20). All terracotta objects in this section, except for the small double-handled drinking vessel, were found broken. At the southwest of the grave pit a bronze strigilis and a bronze handled oil vessel tied to the strigilis with an iron apparatus were found (fig. 21). At the eastern end of the grave where the feet of the deceased were located, four terracotta unguentaria and a glass one were uncovered (fig. 22). Unfortunately these were also found broken due to the soil pressure. A terracotta bowl, by contrast, remained intact at the southeast of the grave. An iron spear was placed in the north section of the grave at 226.31 metres. The spear is damaged. What remains of the spear’s club is a small piece of wood covered with a leather coating fixed by small bronze nails. The spear must have been placed on a higher level than the other finds, while the grave was being covered with soil. At the ground level of the south section of the tomb, another iron spear was found. These spears, roughly in the same direction but on different levels, were placed in the grave parallel to each other. A 0,30m long iron dagger with a wooden handle was found in six pieces to the northwest of the grave.

During the removal of the grave finds and of the few bones of the deceased from the grave pit, two small golden rings, both with agate cameos, were found inside the small fire pit (fig. 23), one with the bust of Minerva wearing an Attic helmet, the other with a standing Mercury, head in profile, body turned three fourths to the right, caduceus in hand. All grave finds are dated the Roman Imperial period (1st c. AD).

Subsequently, we proceeded to open another illegal excavation pit measuring 1,5X1m at the western foot of the tumulus, where we had found some iron and bronze fragments. After opening a trench in the pit of the treasure hunters, the iron wheels and trunk of the chest of the cart on which the deceased had been carried, together with bronze fragments from the wooden the cart’s chest, all very damaged by corrosion, were brought to light. the treasure hunters had damaged one of the four wheels of the funeral cart (fig. 24). The cart had been left at the western foot of the tumulus, with a north-south orientation. The wheels of the cart were found tilted owing to the soil pressure. Nothing remains of the wooden parts of the cart. The skeleton of the horse that pulled the funeral cart was found at its south end. The horse was sacrificed after the body was carried away, and it was left at the edge of the tumulus. Thus, many of the rituals of the Thracian funerary ceremonial mentioned in historical accounts were illustrated in the excavation of this tumulus.

2 A similar oinochoe and patera set dated to the 1st c. AD was found in a grave at Debelt in the Burgas Region. This kind of vessels

was very common in the 2nd and 3rd c. AD, but the earliest examples were imported from Southern Italy (Raev 1977). 3 This vessel is a simple example of patera form, similar to the one found in Umurca B Tumulus at Kırklareli (Mansel 1938,

18). A complete set consisting of a strigilis, a perfume flask and a patera was found in Pompei; it was used for a different purpose than the other type of paterai. Petrovszky claims that these vessels were used for bathing in Roman daily life. Our examples may also be of a similar nature as the Pompei set or were used for funerary purposes (Petrovszky 1993). Den Boesterd (1956) also states that this type of vessels are usual burial gifts.

SALVAGE EXCAVATION OF THE “İKİZTEPE B” TUMULUS 709

The finds reveal that the owner of the grave was a young warrior. However, taking into account the small size of the grave’s smaller fire pit and the fact that the rings barely fit the fingers of our young female colleagues at the excavation, one might conclude that the occupant of the grave died at a very young age. The strigilis suggests that the deceased was an ephebe. However, the fact that the bones were found dispersed and in very small pieces makes it difficult to reach a positive conclusion.

All the burial gifts, glassware, lamps, pottery, bronze vessels and strigilis, iron dagger and spears as well as the golden rings were dated to the middle of the 1st c. AD. Given the magnificence of the tumulus, the deceased may have been a close relative of one of the Thracian chieftains who ruled in the early Roman Imperial period. The burial tradition reflected in this tumulus is very similar to the one observed in the salvage excavation of the Hacıllı Tek Höyük tumulus in Hayrabolu. They are parallel in terms of date as well as grave typology.

After the excavation, the restoration and conservation of the objects was completed. Architectural drawings of the sections, the grave and the funeral cart were made, and plans were drawn. The excavation area was surrounded and protected with barbed wires.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boesterd, M.H.P. den. 1956. The Bronze Vessels in the Rijksmuseum. Nijmegen. Dumont, A. 1871. Voyage Archéologique en Thrace, Archives des missions scientifiques. Paris. Kitov, G. 1991. “Forma Sadarganie i Pregnaznackenie na Traciyskite Mogili.” Starini, Journal of Balkan

Archaeology 1: 47-56. Mansel, A.M. 1938. Trakya’nın Kültür ve Tarihi. Istanbul. Mansel, A.M. 1940. “Trakya Hafriyatı.” Belleten 4/13: 89-114. Petrovszky, R. 1993. Studien zur römischen bronzgefaessen mit meisterstempeln. Kölner Studien zur

Arhaeologische der Römischen Provinzen 1. Raev, B.A. 1977. “Die Bronzegefaesse Der Römischen Kaiserzeit In Thrakien Und Mösien.” Bericht Der

Römisches-Germanische Komission 58(2): 605-642.

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Fig. 1. The ‘Ikiztepe’ B Tumulus

Fig. 2. The illegal excavation hole and the platform

Fig. 4. The eastern and western sections of the tumulus

Fig. 3. Plan of the İkiztepe B tumulus

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Fig. 7. A large wine amphora and two jugs

Fig. 6. The banquet pit

Fig. 8. Kylix, bowl, oil lampa and Iron Age jug

Fig. 10. Bones found in the banquet pit Fig. 9. Fish plate, drinking vessels and bowls

Fig. 5. The small mound in the section and banquet pit

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Fig. 11. The mound with the rubble stones at the center of the tumulus

Fig. 12. Burial area and the findings

Fig. 13. The rectangular grave pit Fig. 14. The grave pit

Fig. 15. The funeral gifts Fig. 16. Bronze oinochoe

SALVAGE EXCAVATION OF THE “İKİZTEPE B” TUMULUS 713

Fig. 17. The bronze patera

Fig. 18. The glass objects

Fig. 19. The pottery vessels Fig. 20. The amphoras

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Fig. 21. Bronze strigilis and oil vessel Fig. 22. Unguentariums

Fig. 23. Two golden rings with agate cameos

Fig. 24. The funeral cart and the horse skeleton