Over 10,000 artifacts unearthed in SE Turkey

By Rauf Maltas

SANLIURFA, Turkey (AA) - More than 10,000 artifacts have been unearthed in excavations in Turkey's southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

The objects were unearthed at the Harran Archeological Site which has seven centuries of history and is on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List.

The excavations which have been ongoing for 70 years are financed by the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Turkish Historical Society.

The artifacts found at the site are classified as inventory collections and study collections. The ones in the inventory collection are moved to museums after a six-phase process.

Archeologist Rahime Selim said: “We pay great attention to the preservation of the artifacts after finding them at the site. Each piece is cleaned based on its specifications. And a different specialist is hired for it."

Professor Mehmet Onal, director at the archeological site, told Anadolu Agency that intensive studies are underway at the excavation site as well as the center.

He said the artifacts except those made of glass, bone and metal are washed in distilled water and dried. After being given a serial number, they are drawn and photographed individually and categorized to be filed and added to a database.

They are then transferred to museums.

He said that ceramic, glass and metallic objects, coins, architectural pieces, figures, statues, pieces made of bone and ivory, and storing cubes have been found in the excavations in Harran so far.

* Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara