Some Comments on a Few Intriguing Seals Found in the EBA Settlements at Hacılar Büyük Höyük and a Seal from Burdur Museum

Abstract

Located 27 km. southwest of Burdur and named after the nearby village of ‘Hacılar’ Fig. 1 the settlement was discovered in 1956 by James Mellaart, who was investigating a group of painted pottery that had been found at Burdur, and he began excavations here the following year1. The Hacılar excavations, which continued for four years, brought to light impressive and authentic finds that revealed the existence of a culture previously unknown on the Anatolian Plateau and also introduced concepts such as the Neolithic and Chalcolithic to the world of scientific research. The fact that the excavations site where significant and impressive finds had been uncovered was left without the work being completed led to unfortunate consequences in the following years, such as illegal digs and damage to the settlement. As a result of the research project that was started in 1976 in the same region by Refik Duru long after the end of the Hacılar Excavations, all the stages of which the writer of this article was involved in2, Burdur and its surrounding area has become one of the best known regions for the prehistoric periods of Anatolia