Türkiye plans to turn the Neolithic settlement of Sayburç into an open-air museum after archaeologists uncovered about 70 structures across a 2,700-square-meter area, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said.
Ersoy made the announcement after meeting with Necmi Karul, coordinator of the Taş Tepeler archaeological project, as well as senior officials from the Culture and Tourism Ministry. The meeting focused on excavations and recent discoveries at Karahantepe and Sayburç, two sites in Şanlıurfa that are providing new insights into the transition to settled life in the Neolithic period.
“We are preparing for a new era in Şanlıurfa, southeastern Türkiye, where some of the greatest transformations in human history took place,” Ersoy said in a social media post following the meeting.
He said the discoveries at Karahantepe and Sayburç were shedding light on the emergence of permanent settlements and large communities following the Ice Age.
Karahantepe contains some of the earliest known examples of architectural features such as stairs and windows, as well as discoveries that researchers say could provide insights into the origins of mythology. Excavations have also revealed evidence related to the architectural development and lifestyles of Neolithic communities.
Sayburç, which dates to the middle of the ninth millennium B.C., is a multilayered archaeological site that was occupied from the Neolithic period through the Roman era and into modern times. Its long history has led researchers to describe it as a “living mound.”
During the site's sixth excavation season, archaeologists uncovered about 70 well-preserved houses and other structures in an area covering 2,700 square meters.
The excavations have also produced reliefs, human sculptures, monumental T-shaped standing stones and bases featuring human faces, providing further evidence for understanding Neolithic art and society.
The structures at Sayburç document a major change in architectural design, from circular to rectangular buildings. They also offer clues about the emergence of the concepts of houses and households, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry.
Ersoy said the government plans to preserve the archaeological settlement as an open-air museum while converting traditional village buildings in the surrounding area into a pioneering village museum.
The site's location, close to Şanlıurfa's city center and along the road to Gaziantep, as well as its position among archaeological sites west of the city, is expected to make Sayburç an important stop on the Taş Tepeler archaeological route.
Traditional village buildings on land acquired for the project are expected to be restored and incorporated into the village museum.
The planned museum development is part of Türkiye's broader “Heritage to the Future” and Taş Tepeler projects, which aim to excavate, conserve and promote the country's archaeological heritage through scientific research.
