Location
Sefertepe is located 72 km east of downtown Şanlıurfa, 25 km west of Viranşehir district, on the border of Eskikale and Kırbalı districts, about 50 km from Göbeklitepe and 20 km from Karahantepe. The settlement is bordered by the Viranşehir Plain to the north and east and the Tek Tek Mountains to the south and west. The nearest water source is the Yukarı Cırcıp Stream. Sefertepe is the most easterly site of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlements known from the Şanlıurfa Plateau.
Resarch History
During a lecture given by Ahmet Cihat Kürkçüoğlu at Harran University on Neolithic societies in the region and Göbeklitepe, a student in the class had said that there was a similar site where he lived. As a result of the research done after Kürkçüoğlu visited the site with his student, it was found that it was, in fact, an archaeological not registered yet. Later, it was registered as a second-degree archaeological site with the name, Sefertepe in 2013.
A. Cihat Kürkçoğlu, Bahattin Çelik, and Muharrem Oral carried out research in the area between the years of 2000 and 2003 and found pillars with their tops visible on the surface and Neolithic chipped stones. In addition, a T-shaped pillar and two limestone blocks unearthed during illegal excavations on the hill were moved to the southern part of the hill and placed under protection (Pic. 1). In 2021, archaeological excavations started in the settlement as part of the Şanlıurfa Neolithic Research Project - Taş Tepeler. The excavations in the settlement are carried out as a joint project of the Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, Istanbul University, under the supervision of Şanlıurfa Museum.
Archaeological Research
The majority of the structures that have been excavated at Sefertepe so far consist of quadrangular buildings (Pic. 2-3), which are also found in other Neolithic settlements in the region, especially at Göbeklitepe (Figure 2-3). Based on the architectural tradition, it is possible to say that these buildings belong to Phase B of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. The architecture also shows the use of building elements such as benches and platforms as well as broken grinding stones in the wall sequences. The floors of the buildings were made with mortars made from a mixture of lime and clay.
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Pillars
A total of 10 pillars, three of which are T-shaped and seven of which are quadrangular, were unearthed during the excavations at Sefertepe. A space where one of the T-shaped pillars is located was unearthed to the floor and it was observed that the upper and lower parts of the east-facing face of the pillar were decorated with relief and incised techniques similar to those found in other contemporary Neolithic settlements. The motifs of the decorations are in geometric forms, and it can be seen that different shapes are engraved on the upper and lower parts (Figure 4-5). The placement of four of the quadrangular pillars is different from the other pillars. It can be seen that two quadrangular pillars were placed opposite each other in two different rooms. Apart from these pillars, a quadrangular limestone block was found which was placed horizontally and raised on rows of stones. Similar stone blocks are also found in the Neolithic settlements in the Tigris basin (Gre Filla and Boncuklu Tarla) and are called platforms, pillars, or columns (Pic. 6).
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Find Assemblage
Chipped stone samples made mainly of flint and to a lesser extent of obsidian are observed at Sefertepe. The finds include flakes, blades, cores, end scrapers, side scrapers, and points. The chipped stone finds consist of mortars, pestles, upper and lower grinding slabs, stone vessels, chisels, adzes, and whetstones. Bone finds are numerically less in number compared to the chipped stone and groundstone finds and consist of awls and needles. (Pic. 7-8-9-10)
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Small Finds
Among the small finds with symbolic characteristics are beads, ring-shaped pieces, and stone objects that are worked. Among these, beads constitute the numerically dominant group. Among the beads, which show a wide variety in terms of both raw material and form, there are examples that can be defined as the Sefertepe type as well as the forms seen in other settlements. The main raw material types include jade, serpentine, limestone, igneous labradorite, and bone. The bead forms include disc/round, micro disc/round, quadrilateral, and drop-shaped specimens as well as a specimen produced in the shape of an animal head (snakehead). (Pic. 11-12-13-14)
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Another important example in the group of worked stone objects is the find made of limestone containing tuff and carved and embossed with the same number of circles (13) but arranged differently on the front and back surfaces. Linear lines are also carved between these circles. A similar example was also found during the surveys (Pic. 15). Text: Emre Güldoğan, Photos: Sefertepe Project Archive
Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism
Istanbul University
Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum
Governorship of Şanlıurfa
Sub-Governorship of Viranşehir
Viranşehir Municipality
