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Unusual Funeral Rites Discovered in an Early Bronze Age Mound in Azerbaijan
Five burials uncovered inside an Early Bronze Age mound in southern Azerbaijan show that the dead were laid to rest in markedly different ways. Archaeologists found one person tightly curled on the right side, another extended on the back, and fragmented human remains placed inside an upright ceramic vessel. The discoveries come from one of…
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4,200-Year-Old Wall Emerges at a Vast Settlement Across the Dardanelles from Troy
Seven meters beneath Maydos Kilisetepe, archaeologists have reached a defense wall built more than four millennia ago. The Early Bronze Age structure once protected a coastal settlement comparable in size to Troy, although only a small fraction of the mound has been explored. The wall was uncovered at Eceabat on the Gallipoli Peninsula, close to…
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5,000-Year-Old Drainage System Reveals Early Planning in Western Türkiye
Archaeologists excavating Liman Tepe, a prehistoric coastal site in western Türkiye, have uncovered a stone drainage system built approximately 5,000 years ago. The channels ran between terraces at different elevations and probably directed rainwater toward a designated part of the site. Located in Urla, İzmir, Liman Tepe was an important coastal centre during the Early…
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5,000-Year-Old Melos Obsidian Found at Çaltılar Höyük Reveals Aegean Connections
Archaeologists excavating Çaltılar Höyük in southwestern Türkiye have uncovered stone tools made from obsidian originating on the Aegean island of Melos. The discovery shows that the highland settlement was connected to long-distance exchange networks around 5,000 years ago, linking the Aegean islands with inland Anatolia. Çaltılar Höyük lies in the Seydikemer district of Muğla, around…
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Stone Axe Handed to Polish Heritage Officials May Point to Early Bronze Age Mierzanowice Culture
A stone axe handed over to heritage officials in Lublin, eastern Poland, may belong to the Early Bronze Age Mierzanowice culture, despite sharing features with better-known Corded Ware axe forms. The object was delivered to the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Lublin by Roman Szymajda. According to the office, it will soon…
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5,000-Year-Old Pithos Burial Discovered in Coastal Attica Reveals Complex Bronze Age Rituals
An exceptionally preserved Early Bronze Age pithos burial has been uncovered in eastern Attica, revealing complex funerary architecture and long-lived ritual activity along the coast of the Aegean. The discovery was made during rescue excavations carried out since 2024 in the town of Rafina, ahead of riverbank stabilization works. Dated to the Early Bronze Age…
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5,000-Year-Old Winepress and Canaanite Ritual Site Discovered near Megiddo
Long before the rise of ancient Israel, people in the Jezreel Valley were already producing wine and performing sacred rituals. Recent excavations east of Tel Megiddo have now brought these forgotten practices to light, exposing a 5,000-year-old winepress and a 3,300-year-old ritual complex tied to the Canaanite cult. The discoveries, announced by the Israel Antiquities…
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Traces of a 5,000-year-old earthquake have been uncovered beneath Çayönü, one of the oldest agricultural settlements in southeastern Turkey
Beneath the rolling plains of southeastern Turkey, archaeologists have uncovered traces of a devastating earthquake that struck some 5,000 years ago, toppling a rectangular mudbrick structure at Çayönü, one of the earliest agricultural communities in human history. The discovery offers rare evidence of prehistoric seismic activity in the heart of ancient Upper Mesopotamia — and…
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A Hand Missing One Finger: The 5,000-Year-Old Trace of Mourning Unearthed in Küllüoba
There are moments when archaeology does more than uncover the past — it touches something recognizably human.In the Early Bronze Age settlement of Küllüoba, deep in the plains of western Türkiye, archaeologists have unearthed a clay vessel unlike any other: a 5,000-year-old pithos grave bearing the image of a hand — carved with one finger…