Lelegian Tumuli at Pedasa

ABSTRACT The recorded tumuli in the Karia are dominated mainly in the northern Karia and Bodrum peninsula especially at Pedasa. Pedasa demonstrates that the necropolis area on Çamtepe, Elmadağ, Sivriçam Tepe, Üçerenler and Southwest that all tumuli are generally located on hill tops overlooking the area. The burial chamber is generally located in the middle of the crepis wall circle. Tumuli, the opening of the outside door is connected to the crepis wall and some of the examples that are fairly well preserved we see that dromos was closed from with rubble stone. From the pieces that we found in our research, it is understood that the dead were buried in terracotta coffins. There are number ınhumasyon and cremation burials in the chamber. Almost all of the tumuli are located in Pedasa except Termera (Asarlık), six Kaplandağ on the east of the peninsula, the tumulus which is possibly a contemporary of the early fortifications of the settlement, and Kaplandağ tumulus on the east of the peninsula. The surveys we conducted up to date identified about 77 tumuli in Pedasa territorium, 5 tumuli in Kaplandağ. The relationship of Pedasa tumuli with Myceneanen graves that have the corbel vaulted round or rectangular formed burial chambers or the graves with dromos unearthed in Müsgebi and Çömlekçiköy can be explained by the fact that the Myceneanen graves were built under the same Cretan-Minoan influence. Another early example at Termera number grave circles with their form and structure transition before the Pedasa tumuli. Certainly the Lelegian peninsula had a different social, economic and belief structure before Maussollos. What is important here is that the tumulus areas are cult areas centered on the belief of deified ancestors. Pedasa tumuli researches and excavations show that before the time of Maussollos, the Lelegians created a kind of tumulus with a new synthesis of the west of Aegean on one side and Anatolia and the eastern cultures on the other side.