A small tomb was found in the ancient city of Bathonea in Avcilar, on the shore of Kucukcekmece Lake, with the permissions granted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Kocaeli University.
Prof. from Kocaeli University. Dr. A small tomb was found during the Bathonea excavations in the Kucukcekmece Lake Basin, initiated in 2007 under the direction of Sengul Aydingun and continued since 2009. Istanbul Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Dr. During his visit to the excavation site, Coskun Yilmaz went to the area where the tomb was located and participated in the cleaning work for a while with a small brush. Coskun Yilmaz spoke to the DHA reporter regarding the excavations and the baby grave, which is considered to belong to a girl.
“HIGHLY IMPORTANT”
Dr. Emphasizing the importance of the Bathonea excavations, Yilmaz said:
“The Marmaray excavations have made an important contribution to the history of Istanbul. The Haydarpasa and Besiktas excavations in Kadikoy have provided another richness. This is a much longer-term excavation, a wider geography. It is an extremely important excavation site. I witnessed the following in my today’s investigation: In each subsequent process, we are faced with new finds and documents that can enrich the history of Istanbul in a very geographical and historical way. The child’s grave we are in is one of the interesting examples of this. These excavations are the history of the city we live in. It is extremely important in terms of reflecting what kind of heritage we have in terms of revealing its richness and historical layers. Our excavation director continues this work with great patience and stubbornness. Our Ministry is also mobilizing all kinds of opportunities. Excavations in this region will continue in a wider area with a larger team.”
“GIVES TIPS ON BURIAL CULTURE”
Istanbul Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Dr. Coskun Yilmaz, emphasizing that the child grave found is 1,500 years old according to the first information, made the following assessment:
“According to preliminary information, this tomb is 1,500 years old. One of the interesting things is that the child burial in this tomb also gives clues about its traditional burial culture. Besides the way of laying and other ornaments and entertainment items belonging to the child, it is also the funeral burial of the period. “This tomb is important in that it gives extremely important data about the culture of the cemetery. There is a metal bracelet in the tomb, a green entertainment device that we think will sound a bell, a metal bracelet. The tomb has not been fully revealed, but for me it is a very striking point; we can see its teeth. I mean. “One of the points in the body that does not decay is the teeth. In fact, the jaw structure stands with all its limbs, and we see the main elements of the skeleton.”
Prof. Dr. Sengul Aydingun added that after the completion of the work on the tomb, a research will be conducted on the gender and age of the baby as a result of the examination to be carried out by the expert in the excavation team.
