Türkiye has launched archaeological excavations at a previously unexcavated Phrygian-era burial mound in Ankara as part of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Heritage for the Future Project, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said.
Ersoy said the excavations began at Tumulus BT10, located in the Western Necropolis dating to the Phrygian period in the Bahçelievler-Emek area of Ankara.
The tumulus is dated to between 800 and 550 B.C. and had never previously undergone archaeological excavation, according to Ersoy. Researchers expect findings from the site to provide new information about Phrygian burial practices, daily life and the ancient history of Ankara.
"We are beginning a new chapter in Ankara's 2,800-year-old Phrygian heritage," Ersoy said in a post on the Turkish government's NSosyal social media platform.
The excavation team will be led by Professor Atakan Akçay. Following the archaeological work, the ministry plans to establish an archaeological park in the area, which Ersoy said would create a new destination for cultural tourism in the Turkish capital.
"We are bringing our heritage beneath the soil to light through science, protecting it and carrying it into the future," Ersoy said.
