Geoarchaeological investigation of the utilization of travertine from the Kırşehir Kale Höyük (mound), Central Anatolia, Turkey

The mound site of Kale Höyük is located in the city center of Kırşehir, in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. Excavated layers of the mound date to the Ottoman, Medieval, Hellenistic, and Late Iron Age periods. This paper examines the travertines unearthed from these layers, with the aim of identifying and interpreting their varying usages and determining their sourcing, employing a multidisciplinary, geoarchaeological approach. Most of the examples in the mound are large, regularly shaped blocks used as architectural elements. Others were used as stone tools for processes such as grain grinding and grape pressing. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) study of in-situ travertine from a medieval workshop indicates iron was forged here. Frequent use of recycled travertine obtained from the lower layers of the mound is also indicated, such as in the nineteenth century Aleaddin Mosque, rebuilt on the mound with spolia travertine blocks from the Seljuk madrasah located in the city center. Examining and interpreting aspects of travertine use in Kale Höyük, through geoarchaeology, archaeometallurgy, and ethnoarchaeology brings a different perspective to the limited number of studies of Anatolian travertine. While travertine has only been described as a natural rock, this study reveals that other dimensions of this material should concern different disciplines within archeology.