Norşuntepe, a 4000-3000 BC Settlement

Norşuntepe (Turkish: Norşun hill) is located in Western Armenia near the upper reaches of the Euphrates river in 25 km from the city of Elazığ. The name of the hill has been probably derived from Armenian name Նոր Սյուն (Nor Syun, New Obelisk).

Traces of the ancient settlement were discovered during archaeological excavations conducted by the team of the German Archaeological Institute led by German archaeologist Harald Hauptmann in 1968-1974. The works had to be completed before 1974 as the construction of the Keban Dam was expected to cause a rise in the local water level.

On the site, archaeologists researched ancient technologies of extraction of copper, arsenic, and antimony. Also, they analyzed melting products unearthed on the site. Most of the artifacts found in the region had been made of pure copper in the Copper Age, but some of the finds contained small amounts of arsenic.

Melting furnaces, copper ore, slags, fragments of crucibles, metal products, and remains of buildings have been discovered in an area which is now underwater. People of Asia Minor worshiped the Mother goddess and forged a huge number of her statuettes.

Norşuntepe has probably been a settlement with enforced brick buildings. In some areas of the ruins remains of wall art can be seen. The settlement has been updated and reconstructed numerous times since the Late Copper Age (4000-3000 BC) until the establishment of a Urartian settlement in the Iron Age, making it a significant monument of ancient civilizations.

Before the Copper Age, stone has been the main and only material used in the construction of tools and weapons. Later, our ancestors have learned to make copper instruments. During that time, new settlements have been mainly built near water and fertile regions. The Copper Age or Chalcolithic has been an important era of achievement, and the development of copper processing has been one of the most significant discoveries of the time.