5,000-year-old storage structure filled with mussel shells found at Yassıtepe Höyük

In the Yassıtepe Höyük (Yassı Mound) in Bornova district of Izmir, a 5 thousand year old structure estimated to have been used as a warehouse was discovered.

The first settlement in Yassıtepe mound started 8 thousand years ago. Excavations at Yassıtepe yielded finds from the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age and also the Roman Period.

The excavations also uncovered pottery sherds and architectural remains that provide important information about when agriculture began in the Aegean Region and how it developed.

Heading the excavations with the support of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and Bornova Municipality, Ege University Faculty of Letters, Department of Archaeology Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zafer Derin said that the excavations continue to determine how daily life and commercial life were carried out in the mound.

“We are in the Yassıtepe section of Yeşilova Mound, which is the second study area. With Yassıtepe, we are excavating both the first village settlement and the first city settlement of the city. We are trying to understand and learn about the life of the region. Yassıtepe is like a fortress where the commercial life of the city started at its most intense. This is a place where a fortress like the Troy settlement was established and intensive commercial activities were carried out with the surrounding area.”

Stating that during this year’s excavations in Yesilova, they found an area used as a 5 thousand year old warehouse, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zafer Derin said, “In Yesilova, we are primarily trying to understand what the daily life and commercial life was in the settlement. We found a warehouse during the excavations. There are large jars and containers in this warehouse. We know that they put liquids or other substances in the storages. We also know that they stored the mussels they collected intensively here. This shows us that they used the warehouse in commercial life as well as their daily lives.”

Zafer Derin said that they have determined that products such as grapes and figs were mostly stored in large jars and pots, which proves that trade in these products started 5 thousand years ago.

At the same time, the presence of dense mussel shells shows that they also stored mussels for trade and nutrition, Derin said, “This area is the best preserved center of Western Anatolia and a promising center for tourism. We will obtain new information about the products stored in the containers and in the settlement through analysis.”

Cover Photo: DHA