Archaeological excavations in Izmir Yeşilova and Yassıtepe mounds of the Bornova district has recently ended. Diggings have revealed that an 8,200-year-old mother goddess figurine. What’s more, archaeologists have also revealed fishing-related net weights, various kinds of jewelry items, as well as fish fossils, and numerous mussels remain.
Archaeological Excavations in Izmir Extended The Life of The City
Thanks to the excavations, the former estimations for the age of the city have changed. Now experts believe that the city is about 8,500 years, instead of previous 5,000-years-old estimations. That is, by the way, quite a notable revelation. Archaeologists and excavations workers unearthed some nine villages at the site. As a result of the excavations, one after the other, there have come some important findings.
Ancient society of Izmir’s Yesilova apparently worshipped to mother goddess
The History of Sea Foods in Izmir
Besides, they found many remains from thousands of years ago. Among all the findings, there are sea bream, poisonous stingrays, sea urchins, oysters, and mussels. It turned out that the first Izmir residents consumed seafood. More specifically, they ate mussels, 8,500 years ago, just like today’s dwellers. The most striking finding unearthed this year during the excavations in the ancient area was the 8,200-year-old headless marble mother goddess figurine. In addition to the figurine, another find, an 8,200-year-old glass, also came to the light to the cultural treasure of the country.
Other Items Found as well as Mother Goddess Figurine
Apart from the above, there is a large number of net weights. They are all related to fishing from the same period. Therefore, they all have also drawn attention. The presence of the fishing nets affirmed that the first inhabitants of Izmir were very interested in fishing. Thus, they all hunted the prey using these nets and this made the process very easy. Various jewelry items such as medallions and pendants were also among the findings.
Other important archaeological items also unearthed
Zafer Derin is an associate professor and excavation director. So, he stated that this year’s archaeological excavations in Izmir ended after six months of rigorous work. Those hard works provided very positive and meaningful archaeological remnants. They would be giving the nearly 250 findings unearthed during the excavations to the Izmir Museum Directorate.