Havuz-Aslantaş

Havuz-Aslantaş (Havuz Village), a Late Hittite period settlement located within the boundaries of the village of Havuz in the Kangal district of Sivas.

It is on the Karaseki plain, where a dense settlement is observed in the Iron Age, on the edge of an indentation formed by erosion that extends toward the interior of the plateau. It is known for the discovery in 1928 of a large lion statue made of basalt, called "Havuz Lion."

Location

It is 3.5 km from Havuz Village in the Kangal Basin, just beyond the Yağdonduran Pass on the road from Sivas to Malatya, on the edge of an erosion-formed indentation that extends into the Karaseki plateau, whose average elevation above sea level is between 1650 and 1700 m. It covers an area of about 1.3 hectares in a triangular shape.

Research history

Karaseki first attracted the attention of German archaeologist Hans Henning von der Osten in 1928 during his journey to Malatya. Von der Osten's most important discovery at Karaseki is the doorway lion, approximately 1.60 m high. The lion is exhibited at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. According to Ekrem Akurgal, the doorway lion dates to the late period of Late Hittite art (the second half of the 8th century BC). For a long time, Havuz-Aslantaş was known only for this doorway lion. Because the lion statue entered local memory, the inhabitants of the region used the name "Aslantaş" for the ancient settlement.

After von der Osten, for about 40 years no research focused on Karaseki or Havuz-Aslantaş. In 1962 Rainer Michael Boehmer and Orthmann visited Havuz-Aslantaş and made a plan of the settlement there. In 1963 the Italian archaeologist Pietro Meriggi, together with E. Pocarella, visited this settlement and produced the first scientific publication containing relatively comprehensive information about it. These studies showed that the settlement had to be dated within the Iron Age. In the 1990s archaeologist Ayşe Tuba Ökse visited the site, first demonstrating the presence of Iron Age material; later publications reported that Early Bronze Age, Hellenistic‑Roman, Medieval and Bronze Age materials were also present.

The data obtained from all these investigations led researchers to think that a regional centre that had played a strategic role in Karaseki should be present.

In the area thought to be a Late Hittite settlement, a study was launched in 2022 under the responsibility of Belgin Aksoy from Bursa Uludağ University, in cooperation with the University of Münster in Germany. This study aims to identify traces of habitation from periods other than the Iron Age, as also indicated by the door lion.

In the fortified settlement surrounded by walls where an intensive Iron Age habitation is observed, a castle consisting of an upper and a lower part and a lower town built on the slope have been identified. The investigations have revealed the main features of a well‑designed fortification system.

Havuz Lion

The Havuz Lion is a lion statue, about 1.60 metres high, thought to have been made of local basalt. It shows the front and right side of a standing lion in relief. It is dated to the second half of the 8th century BC. It was discovered in 1928 by Hans Henning von der Osten. Its overall body proportions and cubic head display early stylistic features seen in traditional Hittite lions. However, the facial details carry Assyrian influences seen in late‑style lions. Ekrem Akurgal described this door lion as “an Assyrian‑influenced Late Hittite lion dated to the 8th century BC” because of the palm‑shaped folds under the eyes and on the nose and the muscle stylisation on the left shoulder. It is exhibited in the Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

Structures

Covering an approximately 1.3‑hectare triangular area, Havuz Aslantaş is surrounded by walls. On the western side the walls reach a width of 2.5 metres. Additionally, at irregular intervals ranging roughly from 6.50 to 13 m, the presence of ten towers with protruding rectangular plans has been identified. The entrance to the castle, located on the north and east walls that stand on steep slopes descending about 80 metres, was situated at the north‑west end of the western wall. Within the area enclosed by the upper castle walls, architectural remains built adjacent to the walls exist in many places.

The lower castle, the other fortified area of Havuz‑Aslantaş, covers about 3 hectares. Various structures are also present inside the lower castle. These structures consist of roughly 25 rectangular spaces. The spaces, arranged as terraces with areas ranging from 300 to 800 m², are separated by walls.

On the slope beneath the upper and lower castle remains, a lower town is established over an area of about three hectares. Here there are some architectural remains and rectangular areas similar to terraces surrounded by walls, as in the lower castle.