The 2013-2015 Excavation Seasons at Uşaklı Höyük (Central Turkey)

The paper provides a summary of the principal results obtained from the first three seasons of exca- vation at Uşaklı Höyük, a multi-period site located on the southern bank of the Egri Öz Dere, not far from the city of Yozgat, on the Central Anatolian Plateau. The results of a five year survey (2008–2012) provided substantial evidence for the occupation of the site which extended from the Early Bronze Age to the Ottoman period, with some evidence of a Late Chalcolithic phase. Within this period, the most significant occupation dates to the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. Excavations carried out between 2013 and 2015 produced significant evidence dating to the Late Bronze and Iron Ages both on the high mound and on the large, extended terrace. Impressive architectural features in the form of granitic boulders were revealed in Area A and fragments of cuneiform tablets found on the slopes of the mound suggest the importance of the settlement at the time of Hittite rule over the region. The Iron Age period is also characterised by intensive building activity centred on the höyük. Here, in Area C a complex retaining structure consisting of a large stone glacis, walls and earthen fillings has been exposed.