Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus | Explore & Learn

Death and Burial: Anatolia

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The most widespread form of burial was in large jars. However, other forms are also known, as at Alaca Höyük, in northern central Anatolia, where thirteen tombs were discovered containing the flexed remains of males and females buried together. This may have been the cemetery of a local elite. The bodies were positioned in one corner of the shallow pit facing south with a pile of funerary objects in front of them. The wooden tomb roof was flat and covered over with earth. The tomb's perimeter was marked with stones. The dead were richly adorned with gold pins, diadems, and belt buckles and gold leaf figures with repoussé designs. Also found were a wooden chest inlaid with gold and silver, spherical mace heads, battle axes, a dagger blade, and bronze standards. The standards depict stags or bulls, some encircled by a disk, or open work of lattice.


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Images, from top to bottom: Long-stemmed goblet, late 3rd millennium B.C.; Early Bronze Age. Anatolia, Alaca Höyük, Tomb K, Al.K4. Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Turkey 8776. Open-worked standard, late 3rd millennium B.C.; Early Bronze Age. Anatolia, Alaca Höyük, Tomb E. Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Turkey 7128. Bull standard, late 3rd millennium B.C.; Early Bronze Age. Anatolia, Alaca Höyük, Tomb C. Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Turkey 11850.

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