The year 2021 brought some outstanding archaeological discoveries made in the area of Turkey. The attention of many archaeologists and historians was focused on the Taş Tepeler (Stone Hills) project that aims to study the area where the gigantic change in human history took place in the form of a transformation from hunter-gatherer lifestyle to the agriculture.

Text by our correspondent from Didyma, Glenn Maffia. Photos by Carole Raddato.

Given the tremendous feedback from my previous article, I delved a little deeper into the ancient city of Magnesia on the Maeander to relay a brief description of Magnesia’s turbulent history, the city’s main deity Artemis and specifically her temple, whilst also expanding further upon the Temple of Zeus.

Possibly the most amazing archaeological discovery announced in November 2021 from the area of Turkey was the discovery of seven skeletons during the excavations carried out in the area of the Bukoleon Palace. The researchers suggested that these may be the remains of the victims of the massacre carried out by the Crusaders in Constantinople. Moreover, the prehistoric past of Asia Minor was the hot topic, for instance an architectural structure thought to be 7-8 thousand years old was found in Domuztepe Mound while a 4,500-year-old structure containing a jar, many pots, and food fossils has been unearthed at the Yumuktepe Höyük. Also, in the 5000-year-old Panaztepe settlement located in the Menemen district of Izmir, structures thought to belong to the oldest period of the city were found. Finally, a study of pieces of woven fabric discovered in the Neolithic city of Çatalhöyük revealed that the textiles, dated to between 8,500 and 8,700 years old, were made of bast fibres from oak trees.