Recently dug turtle figurines expose ancient ritual heritage

BİLECİK

The team has uncovered around 25 turtle figures made of limestone. (AA photo)

Archaeologists at the Gedikkaya Hill and İn Cave excavation site in the northwestern province of Bilecik’s İnhisar district have discovered 25 turtle figurines dating from 14,500 to 11,200 B.C., pulling back the curtain on the area’s ancient ritual significance.

The figurines, discovered during excavations conducted by Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University, were identified as belonging to the Epipaleolithic Period, which spans roughly 20,000 to 10,000 B.C.

The excavation was carried out between May 18 and July 18 by a 14-member team led by Professor Deniz Sarı of Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University’s Department of Archaeology.

The team uncovered around 25 turtle figures made of limestone, some coated with clay. The largest measures approximately 30 centimeters in length and 20 centimeters in width.

Carbon-14 dating indicated that the figurines were made between 14,500 and 11,200 B.C. Researchers believe they were created for ritual purposes and deliberately placed inside the cave.

Sarı said the archaeological material at the cave was first identified during surface surveys in 2017, followed by rescue excavations conducted by the Bilecik Museum between 2019 and 2023.

“The turtle figurines we found this year have taken the ritual context of the cave to a different level,” Sarı said.

Sarı noted that most of the figurines had been shaped in a relatively amateurish manner, which researchers believe supports the theory that they were made for ritual purposes.

“During Hıdırellez, people make offerings, write their wishes on pieces of paper and then bury them somewhere. Here, too, there is an architectural arrangement forming circular rings. Around these, we found turtle figurines, mostly half-shaped or quickly fashioned from limestone, inserted into the ground,” she said.

Sarı said people living in the Epipaleolithic Period may have perceived Gedikkaya Hill as resembling a turtle, possibly leading to the development of what researchers interpret as a “mountain cult.”

“It may be too early to speak of such a cult for this period, but we know that most of the small figurines recovered appear to have been deliberately designed in the form of Gedikkaya Hill,” she said.

Sarı added that turtle symbolism was widespread in the Natufian culture of the Near East as well as in much earlier Upper Paleolithic cultures.

She said turtles have represented longevity and endurance in many cultures and suggested that the figurines may also have been created to symbolize these qualities.