Writer: Ayça Olcaytu İşçen
August 2009

In order to see the remaining of Neo Hittite site on the summit of Göllüdag, together with Pınar Sağlam and Ceren Hızar from our magazine team we had a climbing on June 22, 2009. In order to climb Göllüdağ, a volcanic mountain (2172 m), we took Gölcük road from Çiftlik district of Niğde and then after 20 km we turned aside Kömürcü Village distinction on left hand side.  From distinction the Kömürcü Village is 4 km far away. The road of the village, 60 km north of Niğde, is asphalt but the road towards the mountain is only suitable for the tractors.  Today only the basic remains are left from the Neo Hittite site, among them there is a construction seems to be the palace and there is a ‘megaron’ style constructions used by Phrygia. The double headed lion figure found in the excavations is being exhibited in Kayseri Museum. The site, which was established BC 1200 at the bottom of the mountain peek, is surrounded by a crater lake and Ala, Hasan, Erciyes and Melendiz mountains like a pearl necklace.
Prof. Dr. Nur Balkan Atlı, İstanbul University Prehistory Department, mentions that during the excavations in Kömürcü Village Kalatepe region between 1997 and 2007 under her leadership, they came across with migration traces of first human being from Africa to Europe. Prof. Atlı, also points out the founding of horses dates back 200 thousands years in Cappadocia. In addition, during the excavation in atelier dates back to BC 8 in Kaletepe, various and rich obsidian armament and tools belongs to Paleolithic and Calcolithic period.

Note: This article has been published in Peribacası Cappadocia Culture and Publicity Magazine, August 2009 issue. It is under protection of the copyrights of the magazine. No part of this article may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by electronic, mechanical or other means without prior permission from the owner. www.cappadociaexplorer.com