Alaca Höyük or Alacahöyük is a vibrant Anatolian Neolithic and Hittite settlement of great impact to the known world. It's located in north central Anatolia, or present day Turkey, in broad region of flourishing trade and development, linked by some of the earliest roads.
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In the Bronze Age, Mesopotamian civilization reaches unprecedented heights. The earliest written language comes from Kültepe, a major trade and administration center and kārum to the southeast. Gold begins to have financial value, Eurasian lions prowl the night, iron makes an appearance and Baltic amber is among the gems of choice on the trader's market.
In the Near East, great empires rise. The mound or tumulus (Turkish - höyük) at Alacahöyük gives a picture of continuous settlement and development from the Chalcolithic Age, when earliest copper tools showed up along with use of stone tools c. 5000 BCE.
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Copper is a metal easily found in nature and soft enough to work with tools without melting. Once enough heat is attained to melt copper it can be combined with other metals such as tin, creating bronze.
During the Early Bronze Age, c. 3300, the habitations on the mound are active and people prosper. From this time the settlement is constantly occupied. It's a small village today. The Sphinx Gate, dating to the 2nd millennium BCE, the older Royal Tombs and the mound itself are part of the legacy of the early people.
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Fourteen shaft graves from 2850–2450 BCE have been uncovered. The Royal Tombs are about 1.5 m (5 ft) below ground, sealed by beams of wood. In the tombs the dead are placed with folded legs, facing west. Raised platforms hold the heads and legs of bulls.
The corpse is richly dressed, adorned with gold and gold leaf figurines, given personal items, weapons, ornaments. Bronze and silver talismans or utensils are placed in the tomb along with other valuable objects.
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Gold plays a large part in burial and a lot of solar imagery appears. One tomb contains a golden diadem, two copper mace heads, a bronze sun standard, animal statuette, small gold and silver ornaments, vessels of gold and clay, metal artefacts, two axes, five pairs of twin idols made of gold, and three female figurines.
In another tomb (5 x 2.3 m or 16.5 x 7.5 ft) a golden diadem is found. Other grave contents include four sun standards, an animal statuette, metal ornaments, pieces of an iron object and two metal anthropomorphic figurines.
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Numerous dams surround the city, due a decree from its King, Tudhaliya IV, in the 2nd century. A massive drought and famine hit the land and the King had to import wheat from Egypt. He ordered several dams built as water reservoirs. One still survives.
A gold-handled dagger of iron was found in a grave at Alacahöyük. Dated as early as 2500 BCE, this shows a progressive understanding of metallurgy especially as blacksmiths and farriers didn't appear until at least a thousand years later.
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The mound itself is an archaeologist's dream. Each generation builds atop the previous, giving people a perfect cross-section of life through the ages. Some mounds are historically immense, such as Neolithic Çatalhöyük which goes down at least eighteen layers. The dead were incorporated into the dwelling place.
The mound of Alacahöyük is close with at least fourteen layers. The top levels come from the Phrygian, Roman, and Ottoman Empires. There's evidence of a Hittite village at one end. The Early Bronze Age layers incorporate the Royal Tombs.
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The city is well fortified with towers and walls, due to frequent raids by the Kaska people from the northern mountains. They were Bronze Age tribal people not of the Indo-European cultural mix.
Because of the Kaska, the Hittite Empire is unable to expand north to the Black Sea coast. The mountain people are less organized but impossible to beat in their craggy demesnes and flash attacks. When they aren't raiding the neighbors they ply their trade as mercenaries, raise pigs and weave linen.
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Archaeological digs at the site reveal the city is a site of wealth and progress even before the Hittites. Earliest occupation goes back to the 4th millennium BCE. Tombs of the 3rd millennium BCE contain metal vessels, jewelry, weapons, pole finials or bronze standards of bulls, stags and abstract forms which are perhaps solar symbols.
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