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'Oğuz-Kirca ED, 2021: Commemorating the long forgotten: Kumlubük Stele on the Karian Trail. Anthropologie (Brno) 59, 2: 133-143'. |
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| Abstract | | In this paper, an anthropomorphic stele, namely a menhir, now lying in the Kumlubük site (near the
ancient Karian city of Amos) in the Bozburun Peninsula, is inquired theoretically, in reference to the comparative
literature and ethnic background of the region. The stele, hewn in limestone, is located slightly uphill on the Karian
Trail which is reached from the coastal area.
While the reason of placement and functions can differ considerably, it is argued that the Kumlubük Stele could have
been erected as a grave marker- highlighting a mortuary practice, for commemoration of a deceased, rather than as
a ritual place for worshipping, symbolic guardianship, declaration of property or as a boundary marker. Owing to the
style it was shaped, we suggest that it probably manifests the ambition to eternize the soul of a human figure/ spouse
(either the aborigines who could have belonged to the ancient Karian community/ early inhabitants of Anatolia
(Luwian descendants/ speaking groups, etc.) or the latecomers (shamanic Turkmens), which can be elaborated within a broad chronological span, however specifically restricted to the post-Chalcolithic/ post-Bronze Age. | | | | Keywords | | Karia – Bozburun – Amos, Stele/ Stelae – Anthropomorphic – Menhir | | | | DOI | | https://doi.org/10.26720/anthro.21.03.29.3 | | |
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