Bronze Age Sites of Anatolia

Site co-ordinates are provided in decimal latitude and longitude values. Click on a data source under the Satellite View column to see the site from above, or click the button in the Coordinates column to paste a location’s co-ordinates to your device’s clipboard. Sites with accompanying websites are now being added to the Web column.

The co-ordinates of sites listed with a ? are uncertain: either the reference is inexact or tentative, or the location’s attribution is unsafe. Please feel free to suggest updates and provide corrections.

Some of the major sites are shown on the map below.

 
A number of sites are mentioned in Hittite tablets but their specific locations have yet to be confirmed. Many have been identified with Classical sites, but these connections are not certain, even when the location of the Classical settlement is known. In some cases, the link with the Classical site is tenuous: based on philological and/or geographical similarities rather archaeological or textual evidence. Where modern locations are given, these may be where sites have been confirmed or simply where they are believed to be, often by way of the siting of their Classical counterparts.

Sites whose names are known but whose locations are unknown (even lacking a Classical equivalent) are listed separately.

Anatolian Sites

SiteSatellite ViewCoordinatesWeb
Ankuwa (mod. Alisar Höyük)?
Hittite joint capital, inhabited from LN to LBA.
Apasa (class. Ephesus)
Capital of Arzawa. One Mycenaean grave found containing LH IIIA1 pottery.
Arapkahve
Surface finds from Late FN, EBA.
Arinna (mod. Alaça Höyük)?
Hittite city.
Asar Tepe (Urganlı Höyük)
Surface finds include a few EBA sherds, but more MBA and LBA.
Assuwa (class. Assos)?
Capital of the Land of Assuwa? The classical site was founded c.1000
Atriya (class. Stratoniceia)?
Lukkan city fortified by Mursili II (‘Annals’) and later raided by Hattsili III (‘Tawagalawa Letter’).
Attarimma (class. Telmessos; mod. Fethiye)?
Lukkan city seized by Madduwatta (AhT 3) and latter burned by Piyamarada (AhT 4).
Aura (class. Amorium/Aiorion)?
City visited by many Hittite kings on their way to the West. Identified by Garstang (1959).
Awarna (class. Xanthos)?
Lukkan city captured by Tudhaliya IV (Yalbürt inscription).
Bahçe Tepe
Surface finds from EBA I-III, MBA, LBA are typically Anatolian.
Bakla Tepe
Settlement dating to the FN with EBA I and II remains, LBA chamber tombs and much imported painted Mycenaean ware. The tell is now an island in a hydroelectric lake.
Bayraklı (clas. Smyrna)
EBA II-MBA city below classical site.
Beşik Tepe
Burial mound with notable LH IIIB goods.
Beytiköy
Surface finds from EBA I-III, MBA, LBA are typically Anatolian.
Büyükkale
Fortified Classical citadel with surviving LBA Cyclopean traces.
Çatal Höyük
Chalcolithic city extending back to the Neolithic.
Çine Tepecik Höyük
Continuously inhabited from the LN until LBA. LH IIIB/C pottery found, plus two seal impressions marked “[Tark]asnaya ve Pisurailix” or “[Tark]asnapiya ve Surailix”, possibly a reference to Tarkasnawa of Mira.
Deş Tepe
Surface finds from Late FN, EBA I-III, MBA, LBA.
Didyma
LH IIIA2 Mycenaean finds suggest earlier site beneath the Classical city.
Erythrae
Classical site showing traces of earlier Mycenaean pottery.
Fıraktın Relief
Three sections show posthumous Hattusili III making an offering to the storm god, the sun goddess and Hattusili’s wife Puduhepa, and a Luwian hieroglyphic inscription describing Puduhepa as “daughter of the land of Kizzuwatna”.
Göz Tepe
MBA-LBA citadel.
Hanay Tepe
Early, Middle, Late BA site.
Hanyeri Relief
Relief of the bull god Sarruma and a warrior identified by an inscription as “Ku(wa)lanamuwa... son of a king”. A second inscription refers to “Tarhunta-piyama” — possibly the prince Tarhunta-piya who is named in the Hemite relief.
Hattusa
Capital of Hatti.
Hemite Relief
Warrior relief identified by inscription as “Tarhunta, prince, Son of Tarhunta-piya, prince”. A Tarhunta-piya is named in a Treaty of Hattusili III and Ulmi-Teshub of Tarhuntassa (HDT 18B §15).
Hinduwa (class. Kandyba)
Town
Huwalusia (class. Colossae)?
Iasos
Minoan (MM II-LM II) then Mycenean (LH IIIA) ‘colony’ port
Ikkuwaniya (class. Ikonion, mod. Konya)
City on the Northern border between Tarhuntassa and Pitassa.
İmamkullu Relief
A warrior reflief identified by the inscription as prince Kuwalanamuwa, possibly also named in the Hanyeri and Manisa reliefs.
Iyalanda (class. Alinda)
City of the Lukka lands.
Kadıkalesi Anaia
Coastal city revealing MBA and LBA Anatolian Gray and Gold Wash Ware as seen at Troia VI-VII. Mycenaean pottery finds are largely local imitations.
Kanesh (mod. Kültepe)
Assyrian merchant colony.
Karabel
Former site of monumental inscription to Tarkasnawa, King of Mira.
Kilise Tepe
Founded in the EBA, becaue a Hittite administrative centre (Level IIIa-e), then levelled adn rebuilt on a new layout (Level II). Administrative centre for the new semi-independent Tarhuntassa. Destroyed c.1170 (Level IId)
Kömür Adası
Surface finds include MM IB/II and LH III material indicating Minoan then Mycenaean ‘colonisation’.
Kücüktepe
Surface finds from Late FN, EBA I-III, MBA, LBA. Abundant AnatolianGold Wash and Gray Ware.
Küllüoba
EBA settlement above Chalcolithic remains.
Kum Tepe
Neolithic site inhabited into EBA I Early and possibly as late as MBA.
Liman Tepe
EBA port.
Madunassa (class. Sardis, mod. Sart)?
Lydian capital in the Iron Age: also the Bronze Age capital of Seha River Land?
Malatça Höyük (Biz. Meiros)
Putative Miran capital following discovery of Byzantine name Meiros.
Manisa Relief
Unknown deity with two Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions, one untranslated, the other said to identify “Prince Kuwalanamuwa”.
Midduwa/Malidiya/Melid (mod. Arslan Tepe)
Administrative centre with the kingdom of Isuwa stretching back to the Chalcolithic.
Milas Pilav Tepe
Surface finds show LN inhabitation onwards, with a partial 2m thick surrounding wall, terrace walls, and a chamber tomb containing LH IIIA-C pottery.
Millawanda (class. Miletus)
Minoan then Mycenaean ‘colony’ port.
Mira (mod. Beycesultan)?
Fortified city at the head of the Maeander River, founded in the Chalcolithic and comprising 40 levels, 14 in the EBA. Named on a seal found at the site (Woudhuizen 2018).
Mutamutassa (class. Mylasa, mod. Milas)?
City of the Lukka lands hidden under modern city.
Panaztepe
Hilltop city overlooking the Gediz River valley. Classical and later remains cover EBA, MBA and LBA. settlement. Cemetery yielded LH IIIA1-2 pottery, Aegean Type D sword.
Parha (class. Perge)
City on the Western border of Tarhuntassa, on the R. Kastaraya (class. Kestros).
Patara
City of the Lukka lands.
Pinali (class. Pinara)
City of the Lukka lands.
Priene
Classical city that superseded an older settlement below and now unknown.
Puranda (mod. Bademgediği)?
Dated to C16, Level III (destroyed by Mursilii?). New foundation (Level II) in C12. Surrounded by a Cyclopean wall 3.6m thick. Rich in LH II-III Anatolian Gold Wash, Red and Gray Ware. Much LH IIIC Early-Late Mycenaean material found.
Purushanda (mod. Acem Höyük)?
Pre-Hittite city from the MBA. Layers V and IV are pre-Assyrian Merchant Colony (*karum*) era; layer III is of that period during which it was destroyed by fire (c.1750 in the era of Anitta) and abandoned until the Hellenistic period.
Sam’al (mod. Zincirli Höyük)
EBA site abandoned during the Hittite and Mitanni periods but later reoccupied.
Sapinuwa (mod. Ortaköy)
Hittite administrative and religious centre, and one-time capital.
Sarissa (mod. Kuşakli)?
Tabikka (mod. Maşat Höyük)
Hittite city.
Tarsa (mod. Tarsus)
City in Kizzuwatna. LBA Tarsa destroyed by fire, but soon reoccupied. Shows Aegean immigration C12.
Tavşan Adası
Intensively used site from the Late FN once on a peninsula but now on an island. Many MM IB/II finds suggest Minoan colonisation. Workshops suggest a thriving commercial centre.
Talawa (class. Tlos)
Lycian hilltop citadel above City of the Lukka lands.
Taşçı Reliefs
Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions read “Manaaza/i... daughter of Lubakkis, the son of the military scribe”, and “Bodyguard Zida, servant of Hattusili, the Great King, the hero”.
Troy/Ilios/Hisarlık
Utima (class. Idyma. mod. Gökova)?
Lukkan city aided by Tarkasnawa of Mira (AhT 5). Identified by Garstang (1929).
Wallarimma (class. Hyllarima)?
Unexcavated classical site associated with the Lukkan town conqured by Tudhaliya I/II, later captured by Madduwatta (AhT 3). Identified by Garstang (1929).
Walliwanda (class. Alabanda)
City of the Lukka lands.
Wiyanawanda (class. Oenoanda)
City of the Lukka lands on Mira-Kuwaliya frontier as set by Mursili II (HDT 11).
Yalburt
Hittite water monument with inscription commemorating Tudhaliya IV’s campaign in Lukka.
Yumuk Tepe (mod. Mersin)
Zippalanda (mod. Çadır Höyük)?
Hittite administrative and religious centre.

 


The Luwian Seal of Tarkasnawa, Last King of the Bronze Age Anatolian land of Mira The Luwian Seal of Tarkasnawa, Last King of the Bronze Age Anatolian land of Mira
Copyright © 2024, Tony Smith