Titris Hoyuk

Titris Hoyuk (also Titriş Höyük) is an ancient Near East archaeological site in Turkey. It lies 45 kilometers north of Şanlıurfa, near the Euphrates River valley. It is a two-period site from the 3rd millennium BC. Unlike most archaeological sites in the region, the primary focus has been on excavating non-elite, mostly domestic, areas rather than elite spaces. It has been suggested that the city name was Dulu in the 3rd millennium BC.

History
The main mound, 3.3 hectares in area and rising 30 meters above the plane, was occupied from the Chalcolithic through the Islamic periods (including the Hellenistic, Roman, and Medieval periods) and has not yet been excavated.

Early Bronze
The site was active in two periods.

Early Bronze III
In the first, between 2700 and 2400 BC, it reached a size of 43 hectares developing in an unplanned manner from the center. This was a time when other northern Mesopotamian sites also experienced significant growth including Tell Brak and Tell Mardikh. There were production areas for Canaanean blades on the outskirts.

Early Bronze IV
After a period of abandonment the second occupation period began around 2300 BC, reaching 35 hectares. This phase of development was centrally planned with regular streets and terraces. It also gained a 3-meter wide mud brick (with stone foundations) fortification wall complete with a moat. This phase ended by the close of the 3rd millennium BC. A group burial at the end of this phase has been interpreted as the result of a massacre or possibly the result of a battle. In the following several centuries pit graves were cut into the abandoned buildings.

A manna (duck) weight inscribed with the name of an official of the Akkadian ruler Shu-durul was recovered from a looted context.

Archaeology
Work was restricted to non-elite areas, in the Lower Town (which extends east and west of the main mound) and in the Outer Town (north of the main mound) with one sounding on the main mound. A small modern village lies adjacent to the east. Over 16 hectares of the site were subjected to a magnetometry survey. Eight seasons of excavation (with one study season) were conducted and directed by Guillermo Algaze.

An Early Bronze Age lead mold used to produce lead ornaments was found at Titris Höyük. It was used to produce objects including a "pendant carving ‘in the shape of a reed hut framed with two poles, each of which are capped with a single bullhead".

A notable find was a burial from the late Early Bronze age where "'a reused plastered  basin  found  inside  a  room  at  the  corner  of   two  streets  in  the  Outer  Town.  This  contained  17  human  crania  arranged  in  a  circle  facing  outwards and surrounding a pile of  long bones and other body parts'"