Ancient Kitchens Unearthed in Western Turkey

BALIKESIR, TURKEY—The Daily Sabah reports that archaeologists are excavating the 2,600-year-old city of Dascylium, located in the ancient kingdom of Lydia. In one area, they found two kitchens that had been preserved one on top of the other. “Below, one was collapsed due to fire, then the second one was built on it, but this one also collapsed due to another fire,” said Kaan İren of Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University. The kitchens have yielded mortars made of basalt, containers, fish bones, and seeds. Iren says this is the first time a complete kitchen from this time period has been found in Anatolia. The investigation also found more than 20 feet of wall that had been built to strengthen a burial mound, in addition to rock-cut tombs. For more on archaeology in Turkey, go to “In Search of a Philosopher’s Stone.”