Preliminary Results on Flood Disasters in the Elbistan Plain during the Second Millennium BC: Findings from the Elbistan Karahöyük Excavations

Authors : Bora Uysal

Pages : 119-130

Doi:10.26650/anar.2024.30.1447862

View : 35 | Download : 30

Publication Date : 2024-09-04

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Elbistan Karahöyük is located in the centre of the Karahüyük neighbourhood, 10 km northwest of the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaraş province. On the western edge of the mound flows the Hurman Stream, and on the other side is Hamzatepe, another centre connected to the mound. These two centres, situated in the southwestern part of the Elbistan Plain and north of the Şar Mountain, are located side by side on either side of the Hurman Stream flowing into the Ceyhan River. Excavations carried out at Elbistan Karahöyük since 2015 mostly focused on the Iron Age and Late Bronze Age levels. The excavations conducted on the Northeast Slope of the mound aimed to reach the Middle Bronze Age layers and revealed two separate flood layers related to the flood disasters experienced at different times in the region. The 8th level, the oldest settlement level identified so far, was built on the flood layer left after a Middle Bronze Age flood disaster. Level 7, dated to the Late Bronze Age, was the site of the last flood disaster. These floods, caused by the Hurman Stream, must have affected all the mounds in the Elbistan Plain downstream from Tanır Yassıhöyük to Elbistan as much as Elbistan Karahöyük.
Keywords : Kahramanmaraş, Elbistan Karahöyük, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, Flood Disasters