Nearly 400 fossils, estimated to be 7.5 million years old, were found during the excavations on the shore of the Yamula Dam in Kayseri’s Kocasinan district.
Murat Adiyaman, a shepherd in the Kocasinan district of Kayseri, found a bone fragment on the shore of the Yamula Dam in Tashan District in 2017. In the examination of the samples taken here, it was determined that the bone fragments belonged to 6 to 7.5 million years ago.
In 2018, excavation work was started in the region with the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums. Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University Faculty Member Prof. Dr. In the studies initiated under the leadership of Oksan Basoglu, 7.5 million-year-old fossils belonging to the elephant, 3-hoofed horse, bovidae, rhinoceros and giraffe were found.
‘We have obtained very important fossil remains’
The fossils, which were brought to the Science Center and cleaned with the plaster jacket method, will be exhibited in the Fossil Museum. At the beginning of the excavations carried out in the summer this year, Prof. Dr. Oksan Basoglu and Prof. Dr. Pinar Gozluk Kirmizioglu took part.
Stating that this year’s field work has ended and laboratory work has begun, Head of Excavation Prof. Dr. Oksan Basoglu said, “This year’s excavations were very productive like the previous ones. We have obtained very important fossil remains. We have finds similar to the species we found before. We have now closed the land. We’re going to focus on the lab a little bit. Because we undertook to make replicas of these fossils. That’s why we have started an intensive laboratory work,” he said.
‘There are many fossils we cannot extract’
Stating that there are too many fossils that cannot be extracted, Prof. Dr. Basoglu said, “This year’s finds include three-toed horses, deer, elephants, rhinos and giraffes, similar to the previous ones. We continue with our living species of the same species. It is not possible to excavate for 12 months and stay in the field. We have now covered the land. There are too many fossils that we have not been able to unearth, even though we excavated only one locality this year. We bring the fossils to the laboratory, clean them, strengthen them and make them ready for exhibition. We will make a replica of the missing parts. We have nearly 2,000 fossils so far. This year, we found nearly 400 fossils. This is the period when we were able to extract the least fossils,” he said.
Giving information about the new studies, Prof. Dr. Basoglu said, “We will go back to the field when the weather gets warmer. We will concentrate on Tashan and Hirka. Another locality of ours is old Cardigan. Very intense finds are coming from Hirka. In the last week of October, we will have an aging study in Tashan and Hirka. We will do geological dating. We will give a point age to the fossils we find with the work we will do in the last week of October. I think these areas are very productive,” he said.
