During the excavations carried out in the necropolis from the Urartu period in the Gürpınar district of Van, the skeleton belonging to an Urartian woman buried with her jewelry was discovered.
Van Yüzüncü Yıl University’s head of archeology department Prof. Dr. Rafet Çavuşoğlu goes on the excavations with help of the expert academicians.
The studies carried out in the necropolis, which was discovered 3 years ago and where the ruling class in the Urartians were buried, revealed a female skeleton with pendulum earrings on both ears, a ring on her left hand, a necklace on her neck, a poppy-headed ornamental pin, and dragon-headed bracelets on both arms.
The cause of death and the exact age of the woman will be determined by examining the skeleton in the laboratory of the anthropologists in the team.
Jewelry Set On Urartian Women
Prof. Dr. Çavuşoğlu said that they gained the very important knowledge in the necropolis area where they started excavations in 2017. Çavuşoğlu stated that they once again understood the importance of jewelry in burial customs of Urartians this year, and gave the following information:
“The grave we finally unearthed belongs to a woman aged 20-25. The important thing here is that the woman was buried with all her jewelry. There is a complete jewelry set on the skeleton. It shows that the adornment traditions of Urartian women were very high. It is determined that the skeleton belongs to a noble woman. Because there is a bracelet on both arms, a bronze ring in her left hand, earrings with pendulums on both ears, an ornamental pin on the lower part of his neck and a necklace made of semi-precious stones. It is understood that she was buried with all the jewelry she had been using in her daily life. It is especially important that the beads in the necklace part were beautifully processed in a spherical style. “
“The most important incident here is that the burials are not from the standard people, but from the wives and families of the ruling class in the palace. Her ring on the left finger remains maybe this can be one of the oldest wedding ring examples ever discovered.”
Learn More on Urartians
Urartians were one of the most significant civilizations lived in Turkey. Their settlements were focused on the southeastern part of Turkey. I would be pleased to share my knowledge on Urartians with you. You can contact me to book professional licensed tour guide for Urartian ruins in Turkey. See you soon, Hasan Gülday.
