Warehouse Complex Found at Hattusa
Hattusa, situated in central Turkey, was later the capital of the Hittite Empire and is now a UNESCO-listed site. A team led by Professor Dr. Andreas Schachner has uncovered a storage complex dating to the era of Assyrian merchant colonies. The structure dates to around 1800–1750 BCE, placing it in the Middle Bronze Age, and contained sixteen large jars that were likely used for storing agricultural goods.
The complex sits on a steeply terraced hillside. The vessels probably held provisions and farm surplus brought in from the surrounding countryside during the Karum period. Their total capacity cannot yet be established, however, because a landslide destroyed the upper parts of many jars; in most cases only the bottoms remain. About 30 meters to the northeast, archaeologists in the 1960s found another building with similar features.
What the Finds Mean
Schachner believes the two locations may have formed part of a larger trading and storage center serving pre-Hittite Hattush. Soil samples are being taken from the bases of the jars for archaeobotanical analysis to identify seeds and microscopic plant remains. The Middle Bronze Age warehouse appears to have been destroyed by a huge landslide, and later the Hittites constructed new buildings on the same ground.
Before Hattusa became the political heart of the Hittite state, it was known as Hattush. The city grew into the capital of an empire that dominated much of Anatolia during the second millennium BCE. Hattusa is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the Hittite cuneiform tablets from Boğazköy-Hattusa are included in UNESCO's Memory of the World register.
An older burial complex, about 2,300 years old, was previously found at Hattusa. In one well-preserved grave, excavators discovered an intact skeleton and a knife beside its right shoulder, though the knife's function is still unknown. These finds further demonstrate Hattusa's central role in the study of ancient Anatolian history and Assyrian trade connections.
The newly found warehouse complex once again underscores the region's importance for early trade and economic development. Further study of the finds may shed light on Middle Bronze Age commercial routes and cultural interactions, while preserving such sites remains essential to understanding human history.