Istanbul's Oldest Burial Site Is Found in Subway Construction

A nearly 3,500-year-old burial site was discovered in Istanbul's Be?ikta? district during excavation for a newly connected metro project Kabata?, Be?ikta?, Mecidiyeköy and Mahmutbey. This article explains the key facts and context behind burial.

Key Facts About Burial

The director of Istanbul Archeological Museum, Zeynep K?z?ltan said the cemetery is a burial burial called "kurgan", adding that this is the oldest burial place in Istanbul that may belong to Turkish culture. States and ancient Altai in the Black Sea region.

According to archaeologists, Kurgans is a type of burial place often characterized by soil and rock pile on a burial chamber. They are a form of burial characteristic of the Bronze Age peoples, and have been found from the Altai Mountains to the Caucasus, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria.

Why Burial Matters

Kurgans is used in the prairie regions of Ukraine and Russia, and the use of this form of burial spread to eastern, central and northern Europe in the 3rd millennium BC.

K?z?ltan believes that the result of an anthropological analysis of the skeleton will help learn the origin of the oldest Istanbulites.

A number of burnt bone containers were also found at the site, indicating that the person used the cremation method at the time. According to the x-ray investigation of bones, the corpses were burned at temperatures of 700-800 degrees Celsius.

K?z?ltan assumes that this burial site belongs to the Central Asian Turks from the Northern Black Sea region and adds that future X-ray and DNA analyzes will confirm again the current conjecture. in.