Resuloğlu Ancient Site
Resuloğlu Ancient Site is an Early Bronze Age cemetery located within the village of Resuloğlu, part of Uğurludağ district. The mound was identified in 1998 by Tunç Sipahi and Tayfun Yıldırım. Excavations began in 2003 under the Çorum Museum Directorate with the participation of Prof. Dr. Tayfun Yıldırım, and have continued without interruption under his direction since 2008.
The Cemetery and Its Finds
The cemetery at Resuloğlu dates to the second half of the third millennium BC, roughly 2500 BC. Excavations have uncovered around 200 burials of men, women and children. Most of the graves, situated on a slope facing east, are of the stone-cist type. Grave goods left beside the dead — especially the many items of jewelry belonging to women and children — reflect a high level of craftsmanship from the Hatti culture, the indigenous Anatolian civilization that preceded the Hittites.
Historical and Scientific Significance
Resuloğlu stands out as one of the few Early Bronze Age cemeteries in northern Central Anatolia to have been investigated through systematic excavation. The findings on beliefs and customs surrounding death offer an important source for understanding the burial traditions of the Hatti society of the period. This indigenous cultural layer, predating the Hittites’ arrival in Anatolia, is valuable for showing how widespread the wealth represented by the royal tombs of Alacahöyük was even at the scale of an ordinary cemetery. The site has, however, suffered damage from extensive illegal digging over the years, irretrievably erasing information from the parts of the cemetery that were never scientifically documented.
Along the Route
Resuloğlu is also known as a stop on the Kızılırmak Basin Culture Route, a marked trail running along the Kızılırmak river basin that links the region’s major archaeological sites, including Hattusa, Alacahöyük and the Çorum Museum. For the district’s broader history, see History of Uğurludağ; for another Early Bronze Age settlement in the region, see Alacahöyük.