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Fig remains dating to 6300 BC found in Havran’s Andık Cave
Excavations at Andık Cave in Balıkesir’s Havran district uncovered charred fig remains dated to 6300 BC. The findings indicate that the geographically indicated Havran black fig has existed in the region since the Neolithic period.
Excavations at Andık Cave in Balıkesir’s Havran district uncovered charred fig remains. Carbon-14 tests conducted at TÜBİTAK’s Marmara Research Center dated the remains to 6300 BC.
The cave is located in the İnboğazı area of Kocaçal Hill, approximately 2 kilometers from İnönü Neighborhood. It was discovered in 1949 by Prof. Dr. Kılıç Kökten. Prof. Dr. Derya Yalçıklı, a faculty member in the Department of Archaeology at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, and her team are continuing the excavations with permission from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The Balıkesir Kuva-yi Milliye Museum Directorate, Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality and Havran Municipality are also supporting the work. The team travels from the excavation house to Kocaçal Hill in an off-road vehicle, then walks approximately 500 meters from the end of the road before entering the cave.
Reached after a walk through narrow and rugged terrain, the cave is 59 meters deep and consists of numerous galleries. In addition to ceramic vessels, the excavations uncovered tools made of stone and bone, as well as a painting on the wall depicting a mountain peak and a leopard.
Evidence of the cave’s use
Excavation director Prof. Dr. Derya Yalçıklı said the cave had been used for many years and that its entrance area served storage and ritual purposes. Use of the cave appears to have begun mainly after the 6700s BC, continued during the Early Bronze Age and lasted until the middle of the Late Bronze Age.
Yalçıklı said the findings also showed that the cave was used for short periods during the Byzantine period. The excavations uncovered living areas, floor arrangements, vessels for daily use, grinding stones, and bone and stone tools.
The excavation team also encountered features resembling the floor arrangement of a dwelling in layers dating to periods when pottery was not yet in use. Yalçıklı said this finding provided important information for the region of Balıkesir opening toward the Aegean and for Anatolian archaeology.
Fig remains found stored together
Numerous fig remains were found alongside barley and wheat in layers dating to the Neolithic period. The fact that the remains were well preserved and found piled to one side indicates that figs were among the products used for food and stored during that period.
Havran Mayor Emin Ersoy said they supported the excavation work and were pleased that fig remains had been found. Ersoy thanked the excavation team, saying that materials from earlier periods are brought to light at the cave every year.
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