Beyceğiz Tumulus: A Middle Phrygian Cenotaph near Gordion

The Beyceğiz Tumulus, 11.5 km east of the Phrygian capital of Gordion, was the target of multiple looting attempts, prompting a salvage excavation from 2013 to 2017 by the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara in partnership with the Gordion Archaeological Project. Remote sensing indicated a chamber-shaped anomaly near the tumulus center, which became the focus of excavation. The anomaly turned out to be a stone platform built on bedrock, which proved to be the center of radiating guide walls that separated sediment fills used for the original construction of the tumulus. No trace of any kind of burial or ritual deposit was found. The most reasonable explanation is that the tumulus was a cenotaph. The ceramics found inside it provide a terminus post quem for its construction in the late eighth century BCE. The construction technique of the tumulus demonstrates the importance of design, planning, logistics, organization, and cooperation. Its prominence in the landscape around Gordion suggests that it was both a memorial and a visual marker on a major road leading from Gordion to the Phrygian citadel of Hacıtuğrul.