The grave stones of the city of Çorum

The grave stones around the Ulu and Hidirlik graves in the city of Corum were analyzed in our thesis named as ?The Grave Stones of the City of Corum?Nearly 194 graves were identified in those graveyards.(This number increases to 342 when you count head and pumice stones seperately)103 belong to men and 70 belong to women out of those 194 graves 21 of which could not be identified.There are 44 pumice stones while 1 has head stone in of those 194 graves.2 of 103 graves, belonging to men, is owned to 18th century, the 26 is to19th century, and the 29 is to 20th century. The history of the 46 graves belonging to men could not be read.1 of 70 women graves belongs to 1727 B.C which is the most ancient one among the whole graves that we analyzed in our study. The 2 are belonging to 18th century, the 1 are to 19th, and the 35 belong to 20th century. The history of 13 could not be read.When we look through those 194 graves as a grave stone, there are 342 grave stones 193 of which are head stones while 149 are pumice stones.Graves have been observed within three categories as Soil Grave, Framed Grave, and symbolic tomb. Symbolic tomb is also separated into two sub-groups as open symbolic tomb, and closed symbolic tomb.The 342 grave stone that we have analyzed have been categorized first according to their families as headed and unheaded. The headed grave stones were also categorized as the men heads and headed pumice stones while the men heads differentiated into sub-groups as vertical rectangle vision, rectangle horizontal intersected men heads, and vertical rectangle vision very closed to semi-oval horizontal intersected rectangle.Unheaded grave stones have been analyzed into 6 groups according to their caps as triangular caps, sharp belt caps, circular belt caps, botanical caps, sliced and gabled caps and pyramidal caps. Those were also reviewed within the sub groups as vertical rectangle vision, rectangle horizontal intersected men heads, and vertical rectangle vision very closed to semi-oval horizontal intersected rectangle as the headed grave stones.There have been caps identified in 97 grave stones out of 342 including the head and pumice stones. 96 of those are capped and men head stone, and 1 is capped pumice stone. Caps were analyzed into 4 groups like turban, quilted turban, fez and oval. Oval caps, in fact, have been looked through into two sub groups as short cylindrical cap and crest cap. 5 of 96 men head stone are turban, 3 are quilted turban, 71 are fez and 17 are short cylindrical cap. Crest cap was used one of capped pumice stone. There is not any cap seen on women head stones.When the decorations on the grave stones are assessed, botanical, objectified and geometric styles were seen on 18 graves. 8 samples have rose, 2 samples have tulip, 6 samples have mina, 8 samples have wild flower, 3 samples have rosebud, 5 samples have bent-btanch, 1 sample has date, 9 samples have achantus leaves, 8 samples have intangible leaves and 1 sample has cypress motif among those botanical decorations. There has been encountered vase in 3 samples, and candle and gun in one each sample among objectified styles. There was armed star, pin, and star motifs in one each samples of geometric styles.When the materials that were used in grave stones are analyzed, rock is used in 177, and marble is used in 15 of those 194 graves. However, beyond this number, the head stone of the grave, number 93, is built with rock, and its pumice stone is made up with marble while the head stone of the grave, number 99, is made up with marble and its pumice stone is made up with limestone. The carving technique was implemented in all these graves.3 writing styles such as ornamented, Arabic style and adjournment were used in grave stones that we have analyzed. 4 sample was written by ornamenting, 166 sample were written with Arabic style, and 23 sample were written by adjournment. There is not any writing on one sample.Consequently, the grave stones in Corum were made with very basic labor. Nevertheless, there are also some examples made with elaborare according to craftsmanship of the artist. Due to the fewness of the ornament element, it is simpler when compared than the ones in Istanbul, Kastamonu, Giresun and Trabzon.The grave stones in the city of Corum are distinguished in terms of their species where there are many examples of vertical rectangle vision, rectangle horizontal intersected men heads, and vertical rectangle vision very closed to semi-oval horizontal intersected rectangle stones which can be found rarely in Urfa and Kastamonu Museum.Key Words1. Çorum2. History of art3. Graves4. Tambstones5. Typology