Archaeologists have unearthed a horseshoe-shaped hearth, part of a tandoor oven, and a silo pit dating back to the Early Bronze Age (c. 3000–2000 BC) during excavations at Yumuktepe Höyük in Mersin, Turkey. While the site itself dates back to the 7th millennium BC and encompasses layers from the Neolithic to the Medieval periods, the Early Bronze Age building level found had previously been little studied.
Excavations at Yumuktepe, led by Associate Professor Burhan Ulaş (İnönü University), are conducted as part of the "Legacy for the Future Project" supported by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The focus is on the summit of the mound and the southern slope, where significant Bronze Age artifacts have been found.
Among the discovered items are grains (wheat, lentils), turpentine, and broken grindstones, which allows researchers to suggest that this area was used as a space for food preparation. Simultaneously, work is underway to study the medieval layers, where garbage pits, adobe structures, and an iron smelting furnace from the 11th-12th centuries were identified.
Neolithic findings at Yumuktepe, including wheat seeds, confirm that agriculture in Anatolia originated here. New discoveries enhance the importance of the site, which is planned to be transformed into an open-air museum in the future.