Possible Medieval Children’s Cemetery Found in Southern Turkey

MERSIN, TURKEY—Hurriyet Daily News reports that recent excavations at the site of Kelenderis, a 2,800-year-old city located on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, have uncovered a child’s grave and an industrial furnace. Faulty roof tiles dated to the seventh century were found inside the oven and around it, according to archaeologist Mahmut Aydin. The child’s remains were discovered in an area near the city’s ancient Odeon. “We have previously uncovered nearly 150 tombs here, but none of them had burial gifts,” Aydin said. “In this one, we uncovered four glass bracelets, an inscription on a ceramic piece and a cup,” he added. The graves of other children and infants have been found in the area. Aydin estimates that these graves date to the medieval period, but the process of dating the remains has not been completed. To read about recent investigations of an ancient hilltop necropolis in Turkey, go to "Canyon of the Ancestors."