Ancient Urla Yields 6,000-Year-Old Finds in Land and Sea Digs

Archaeologists have been uncovering a 6,000-year-old settlement at the Iskele district of Urla, near Izmir in western Türkiye, through excavations that have taken place each summer since 1992.

Dr. Hayat Erkanal, who chairs the Archaeology Department at Ankara University's Faculty of Language, History, and Geography, leads the project. Since 2000, the team has expanded its work beneath the water, collaborating with scholars from Haifa University on the underwater component.

Recovered artifacts span six millennia, and some objects are linked to the Ionian civilization. For the first time, local residents will be able to follow the underwater excavation live on a large outdoor screen, a step Erkanal said is intended to draw broader public interest to the site.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in August 2006, in its own words.