Çivril

About 10km/7mi south of the regional center of Çivril on the Beysesultan Tepesi, the archeologists Lloyd and Mellaart unearthed a prehistoric settlement. The excavations took place between 1954 and 1959 and the finds are now on display in an Ankara Museum. Evidence of settlement here exist from the Chalcolithic times (4500 B.C.) until the early Bronze Age (1250 B.C.) and again 400 years later until Byzantine times. For the Stone Age alone, 21 layers have been found within 11m/36ft of sediment. In layer V (1900 B.C.), the remains of a palace reminiscent of Knossos were found. It was destroyed in the 18th century B.C. by the Hittite Labarna. Within four Bronze Age layers were found the traces of a shrine with sacrificial vessels, a blood altar, a phallic symbol and statuettes of Cybele. To one side the tomb of an important Islamic figure can be seen.