A geochemical study of bitumen residues on ceramics excavated from Early Bronze age graves (3000–2900 BCE) at Ba?ur H?yük in SE Turkey

摘要

Highlights?Black spots on ceramics from graves at Ba?ur H?yük (SE Turkey) are bitumen residues.?The source of bitumen was not identified.?Bitumen occurrence is a consequence of the human activity during the mortuary ceremony.AbstractEight black residues, scraped from outer surfaces of painted ceramics, unearthed from graves 1–3 at Ba?ur H?yük (SE Turkey), were analysed by geochemical techniques in order to characterize bitumens and to try to identify their source. Ceramics are dated from the Early Bronze period (3100–2900 BCE). The black organic matter was indeed identified as bitumen, but its source has not been discovered despite its comparison with several oil seeps from the area. The bitumen at Ba?ur H?yük does not match the bitumens analyzed at Kavu?an H?yük, Salat H?yük, Hakemi Use and Kuriki H?yük which are Cretaceous in origin and likely imported from the Eruh tars deposit. The stable carbon isotope values of their asphaltene fraction suggest a Silurian origin, however the occurrence of the 18α(H)