The burial customs at acemhöyük during the assyrian trade colonies period

At the beginning of the 2nd Millennium BC, the intensive trade relations established between the North Syrian and North Mesopotamian cities with Anatolia resulted in meeting and joining of different cultures and believes. The burial customs of past societies?, their beliefs and their ideas about afterlife provide important information regarding their cultures. At Acemhöyük, which is one of the most important centers of the Assyrian Trade Colonies Period in Anatolia, the ongoing excavations for overthan 50 years have revealed both intramural and extramural cemeteries (Arıbaş Cemetery) which provide important data regarding the burial customs of this particular period. Within the settlement, most of the graves are simple earth graves which were buried beneath the house floors. Besides, two other types are represented by single examples: a simple earth grave covered with pottery sherds and an urn burial. Most of the intramural burials belong to infants and children with no unity in orientation. All burials are very poor in terms of the grave gifts. Accept one urn burial all other corpses are buried in hocker position. At the Arıbaş Cemetery, most of the 167 graves uncovered so far are cremation burials. This cemetery which has three sub-phases represent a communal cemetery of ordinary people of the Assyrian Trade Colonies Period. At the cemetery four different types of burials have been detected: simple earth graves, pithos graves, urn burials and simple cremation burials. Despite the different grave types no such disparity exists regarding the grave gifts. Most of the grave gifts represent well-known objects from the settlement. Based on the comparisons with materials from contemporary settlements and cemeteries Arıbaş Cemetery is dated to a period between the 2. Building Level of Kani?- Karum and Old Hittite Period.