Turkey’s First Archeopark in the NW province of Bursa’s Nilüfer Opens

Houses dating back 5,550 years and other aspects of Turkey’s archaeological history will soon be opened at one of Turkey’s first Archeoparks in the northwestern province of Bursa’s Nilüfer district.

Specialists have been working on the ancient sites of Miletepolis, Apollonia ad Ryndacum and Lapadion in preparation for the opening of the archeopark. Archaeologists have also been focusing their efforts on examining the Aktopraklık Mound, which dates back to between 6500 and 5500 B.C., making it one of the oldest villages in northwestern Anatolia.

Scientists have extracted 15 structures so far and have created an exhibit out of four of them, according to Dr. Necmi Karul at the Prehistory Department of Istanbul University. “Every year with new data, we make changes to our exhibits. In the following days, we are going to introduce the Chalcolithic Era through new exhibits,” the professor said.

 “Even the archeologists have a hard time making sense of the data, but we want to simplify the data to present it to the public. For example, many items are in pieces but when the pieces are put together, they comprise the furnishings for a house,” Karul said.

 “After a nine-year process, we have enough data to make an exhibit out of a village. We added a furnace and storage to the log cabins in the archeopark,” he said.

The excavation work at the site and the preparations for the opening of the archeopark are being supported by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, Istanbul University, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, as well as some industrialists.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News