4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

Ankara University Faculty of Language, History-Geography, Archeology Department Lecturer Prof. Dr. Fikri Kulakoğlu stated that they found many animal bones and large storage logs in the basement of a large building in the region in 2021.

A member of the Kültepe Excavations Committee, zoo archaeologist Prof. from the University of Salento, Italy. Pointing out that Dr Claudia Minniti carried out scientific studies on these animal bones, Kulakoğlu said, “For the first time, a lion’s jawbone was found in Kültepe.”

Kulakoğlu said that mostly ceramic, metal and bone objects were unearthed during the excavations related to the period called “Anterior Asian excavations”.

“These are the animals that we would consider bred in this region”

Pointing out that the bone finds are extremely important for Kültepe and Anatolia, Kulakoğlu said:

“During the excavations we made this year, we found a group of bones of two lions, bears, mountain sheep, deer and wild pigs in a trench. These bones were found in bulk. All of these animal bones belong to large, large and wild animals. For the first time, we found two separate jawbones from two different lions, a very large bear, and bones from a large deer in this period in Anatolia.

It is necessary to evaluate them as follows, these are the animals that we will accept to be raised in this region. Animals living around Erciyes or in mountainous areas or up to Sivas. There are no lion bones unearthed in other regions dating back 4,000 years. Of course there are bones from several million years ago. But these are two of the earliest examples from human settlement. We date these bones to 4,000 years ago. These are wild animals, they must be hunted and brought to Kültepe..”

“Animal bones may be related to mythos”

Expressing that these animal bones found in Kültepe may be related to a myth, Kulakoğlu said:

“There is a tablet found in Boğazköy, its name is the Anitta tablet. According to this tablet, the king named Anitta captured Nesha with his father, and they did not touch anyone. They even built palaces and temples. These bones were found in the area of ​​these temples and palaces. In the inscription allegedly written by this king, it is written that he went hunting.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: A 51,000-year-old carved bone is one of the world’s oldest works of art, researchers say

‘I hunted and brought back more than 100 animals, including two lions, leopards, panthers, bears, deer and wild animals.’ he writes. This is the area right next to the temple. Of course, we don’t think for sure that these bones are related to this story, but there is a high probability that they are. Because there are traces of injury among the animal bones we found, so these were brought by hunting. This must have a historical significance and a relationship with a subject in Kültepe..”