5,000-Year-Old Human-Faced Pottery Found in Konya

A pottery fragment featuring a “human face,” estimated to be around 5,000 years old, was uncovered in Gökhöyük, Seydişehir, Konya, during excavations led by Associate Professor Dr. Ramazan Gündüz of Selcuk University.

The excavation, supported as part of the Future Heritage Project in Gökhöyük, has gained significant momentum with the backing of Seydişehir Municipality and Konya Metropolitan Municipality.

Among the findings, which include animal figurines, seals, obsidian arrowheads, and stone axes, the embossed “human face” on the pottery fragment stood out.

Associate Professor Dr. Gündüz stated that during the first phase of the excavation, a settlement dating back to the Iron Age was identified. With the expansion of the excavation area, earlier-period artifacts have also been uncovered, indicating that the inhabitants of Gökhöyük lived continuously between 7000 and 1000 BCE.

Gündüz stated that in the third year of the excavation, they uncovered significant findings, saying: “The people of Gökhöyük placed great importance on symbolism. We can see this from the various depictions on the ceramics we found. One of these is the depiction of a human figure. Carving human faces onto ceramic vessels was particularly common in major centers of Western Anatolia during the Early Bronze Age. There is no other similar example in the region that has been so well preserved. Based on initial observations, the pottery fragment featuring a human face is approximately 5,000 years old. Radiocarbon analysis will be conducted at Selçuk University to determine its exact age.”

Gündüz explained that among the findings were animal figurines (small sculptures), seals, obsidian arrowheads, and stone axes, adding, “In the excavations, small stone axes used from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods were also uncovered. These functioned almost like tool sets, used for various purposes in daily life.”

Associate Professor Dr. Ramazan Gündüz added that Gökhöyük stands out as the only settlement in the Konya Plain where a long period of approximately 7,000 years—from the Neolithic to the Iron Age—can be observed in one place. He noted that ongoing excavations are expected to make it an important center for prehistoric research in Anatolia.