Titriş Hōyük is located in the Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey on a small tributary of the Euphrates River called the Tavuk Çay. The site is near an important ford across the Euphrates near Samsat and we think the ancient city at Titriş Hōyük (ancient name unknown) was an important mercantile center in the Early Bronze Age. To the north, the occupants of Titriş would have had access to the resources of the high Taurus Mountains and to the south lay the extensive rolling plateau of northern Mesopotamia.
Titriş Höyük comprises four distinct morphological zones. The high mound or citadel (1) is located along the left bank of the Tavuk Çay. The high mound was occupied for several thousand years starting at least the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (c. 3000 BC). The lower town consists of two long low lobes to the east and west of the citadel (2 and 3). The outer town (4) stretches to the north of the citadel and lower town. Outside of the fortified late Early Bronze Age settlement, scattered occupation has been documented in an area which we refer to as the suburbs (5). Finally, an extramural cemetery dating to the early-mid EBA is located to the west of the settlment (6). The colored areas represent the excavation areas from the 1991-1999 seasons.