An ancient marine fossil dating back 66 million years and a 4,000-year-old love flower seed (Centaurea tchihatcheffii) uncovered during excavations at Külhöyük in Ankara’s Gölbaşı district are shedding light on the region’s natural and cultural history.
Derya Yılmaz Tekin, an associate professor in the Archaeology Department at Ankara University and head of the Külhöyük excavations, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that researchers discovered the fossil at the 5,000-year-old Hattian and Hittite settlement, along with the seed inside a vessel dating to the Hittite period.
Tekin said the fossil is an important find for understanding Ankara’s natural history. The fossil belongs to a snail-like marine organism scientifically classified as Gastropoda, she said.
Botanical samples taken from a round vessel found in a room of a Hittite-era structure were examined by archaeobotanist Emel Oybak Dönmez, a professor in the Biology Department at Hacettepe University, according to Tekin.
The analysis identified what researchers believe is the oldest known seed of the love flower, which is native to the region. Researchers are examining the seed alongside other plant remains recovered during the excavations to determine how they may have been used.
Possible clues to Hittite medicine
Tekin said cuneiform records show that the Hittites used certain plants for medicinal purposes, adding that some of the botanical remains found at Külhöyük may have served similar purposes.
"We are still researching it," Tekin said, noting that the purpose for which the seed was placed inside the vessel remains unclear.
Researchers have recovered numerous seeds during the excavations and are comparing them with the contexts in which they were found to better understand their possible uses, she said.
"We may perhaps be able to talk about Hittite medicine as well," Tekin said. "We think some of these botanical remains may have been used for treatment purposes."
Tekin said the team is preparing a new scientific study focusing particularly on whether the plants found at the site were used in Hittite medicine and pharmacy.
Fossil points to ancient sea
The 66-million-year-old fossil provides a different glimpse into the region’s distant past.
Tekin said the fossil belongs to a marine snail-like organism and dates to a period when the ancient Tethys Sea covered parts of what is now Central Anatolia.
The Tethys Sea existed roughly 200 million years ago and covered a large area of what is now central Anatolia, she said. The fossil is believed to have belonged to an organism that lived during the sea’s later stages.
"An archaeological find was made within an archaeological layer, but it was a geological find," Tekin said. "This was an interesting result for us. We believe the residents of Külhöyük probably brought the fossil to the settlement."
Similar fossils have previously been reported around the Polatlı area, Tekin said, adding that the team is drawing on the work of paleontology experts to assess the fossil’s origins.
The discoveries at Külhöyük are offering researchers clues not only about the settlement’s Hittite-era inhabitants, but also about the much older natural environment of the region.