4,000-year-old textile mill unearthed in western Turkey

By Sebahatdin Zeyrek

DENIZLI, Turkey (AA) - Turkish archeologists have unearthed parts of a loom, textile tools and accessories dating back 4,000 years in the country’s west.

“Last year’s findings related to textile production had excited us. During this year’s excavation works, the remaining parts of the house were unearthed,” Esref Abay, head of the excavation team, told Anadolu Agency.

The team carried on the excavation and restoration work at the Beycesultan Mound in Denizli province this year.

“As a result of this work, we have discovered that there is a textile mill dating back 4,000 years. There are also parts of a handloom,” Abay said.

He said that Beycesultan is thought to have been built in 5000 B.C. and they have found 40 consecutive cultural layers from the Late Chalcolithic Period to Late Bronze Age.

Over the last 12 years excavation in one of the largest settlements in western Anatolia has unearthed enlightening information on the textile history of the region.

He recalled that previously they found loom parts and textile materials estimated to be 3,600 years old in the region.

“We found the structure here dating back to 1700 B.C. We think that it belonged to a wealthy family due to its size and rich equipment."

“Findings that are thought to have been imported from the surrounding regions, were found inside this house, which has very large storage rooms,” he said, adding that there is a 45-square-meter (484-square-foot) central room used as a workshop, as well as five other rooms used for different purposes.

He pointed out that thousands of loom weights used in textile production, seashells used in decoration, and burnt textile pieces have been discovered to date.

He said that the building was engulfed in a giant blaze but some parts survived it.

Abay added that excavations would continue with the other houses they identified in the layer.

He said these discoveries proved that Beycesultan is a major textile producer and this extended the history of textile in Denizli to a wider period of time.

* Writing by Sena Guler