Kilise Tepe


Kilise Tepe is a mound in Mersin Province, Turkey. It was formerly known as Maltepe. The original name of the mound is not known and Kilise Tepe in Turkish means "church-hill" referring to a church ruin.

Geography

The mound is situated in the rural area of Mut at close to road connecting Turkish state way to Gülnar. Its distance to Mut is and to Mersin is. It is just west of the Göksu River.

History

The earliest settlement is dated to third Millennium BC. During the Hittite Empire era, it was used to control the road between the Hittite lands in Central Anatolia and the Mediterranean ports. At the end of the 13th Century BC, the settlement was burnt down, like much of Anatolia at the time. In its wake, a reconstruction began, but this too was destroyed in the middle of the 12th Century BC. Mycenaean LHIIIC pottery from Cyprus and Crete was found in this layer, dating from 1200 to 1150 BC. Settlement continued during the Hellenistic period, but there is no indication of a settlement during the Roman period. The ruined church is an early 5th century Byzantine church.

Excavations

The excavations began in 1994 as a joint effort between Cambridge University and Newcastle University and continued until 1997.After a pause the excavations resumed in 2007. The Cambridge team is headed by Nicholas Postgate and is responsible for the Iron Age excavations. The Newcastle team is headed by Mark Jackson and is responsible for the Byzantine excavations. This work continued until 2011. The Turkish collaborators were Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University in the 2010–2011 term and Bitlis Eren University in later terms. The findings are exhibited in Silifke Museum.