This year's excavations in the "Pteria Ancient City" located near the village of Şahmuratlı in Yozgat province's Sorgun district in central Turkey have ended. An excavation team of 45 under the supervision of the American archaeologist Scott Branting discovered significant remains in the ruins of the ancient city.
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| The excavations in the ruins of Şahmuratlı and Kerkenes have been carried out for the last 20 years and they might continue for many more years [Credit: Daily Sabah] |
This year's excavations mainly focused on the northern part of the ancient city, focusing on the ruins of several houses. According to the archaeologists, the city block which they excavated this year is only one of 757 city blocks in the ancient city. A team of 30 academics and students from various universities, together with 15 villagers from Şahmuratlı, participated in the excavations.
The vice president of the excavations, Yasemin Özarslan of Koç University's Department of Archaeology, said they launched this year's excavations on May 15 and stressed that they discovered very important findings during the dig. Özarslan said, "We excavated some buildings and open air spaces located in the northern part of the city. The archaeological team managed to finish the dig on a building with columns. Avenues and roads furnished with stones have been unearthed this year. We successfully unearthed some of these roads. Some objects from 700 B.C., meaning belonging to the Iron Age, have been discovered."
Source: Daily Sabah [July 27, 2016]
