Archaeologists excavating the ancient Hittite city of Šapinuwa in central Türkiye have uncovered unusual animal remains inside a monumental building dating to around the 1380s BC.image Credit: Kemal Ceylan / AA
The discoveries—a headless young animal, probably a lamb or goat, and a cattle skull—were found on stone-paved surfaces within two symmetrical L-shaped rooms.
Their deliberate placement has raised the possibility that the remains represent ritual sacrifices connected with construction, renovation or purification ceremonies.
The interpretation remains provisional. Archaeologists have not yet determined whether the building functioned as a temple, an administrative complex or another type of public structure.
But the discovery is particularly significant because Hittite written sources describe rituals involving animal sacrifice during the construction, renewal and purification of buildings.
If the archaeological evidence can be connected securely with those textual traditions, the Šapinuwa building could provide rare physical evidence for rituals otherwise known primarily through ancient cuneiform texts.
A Monument Hidden Beneath the Ground
The monumental structure was first detected during geophysical surveys in 2024.
Archaeologists subsequently opened an initial 5-by-5-metre trench, exposing approximately 20 percent of the building during the first excavation season.
Further work in 2025 and 2026 followed the exterior walls and gradually revealed much of the building's overall plan.
Researchers have now begun investigating the interior rooms.
This stage of excavation is particularly important because the internal spaces may contain the evidence needed to determine how the building was used and what activities took place inside it.
Archaeological observations and dating place the construction of the structure in the 1380s BC.
The building also appears to have undergone several phases of use or modification.
Those different architectural phases may be directly relevant to the animal deposits.
A Headless Young Animal
During excavations in 2025, archaeologists discovered the skeleton of a young animal resting on a stone-paved surface.
The animal had been decapitated.
Based on the remains, researchers believe it was probably a lamb or goat.
Its position inside one of the L-shaped rooms raised questions about whether it represented ordinary food refuse or something more deliberate.
Excavation director Önder İpek of Hitit University said the placement did not resemble ordinary food waste.
The archaeological context instead suggested that the animal may have been intentionally deposited.
A Cattle Skull Appears in 2026
The following excavation season produced another unusual discovery.
In 2026, archaeologists uncovered a cattle skull resting on a stone pavement in the corresponding L-shaped room.
The two finds therefore share several important characteristics:
- both were located inside the monumental building;
- both were associated with stone-paved surfaces;
- the rooms are symmetrical and L-shaped;
- and the remains appear to have been deliberately positioned.
The discovery of a second animal deposit strengthened the possibility that the remains may have had a ritual function.
Nevertheless, archaeologists have not yet established that the two deposits belonged to the same ceremony.
Detailed zooarchaeological analysis is still required.
Ritual Sacrifice in the Hittite World
Animal sacrifice was an important component of Hittite religious practice.
Written sources describe offerings involving animals such as sheep, cattle and goats, alongside libations and other ritual gifts.
These ceremonies could take place during major religious festivals and purification rituals.
They could also be associated with maintaining the proper relationship between people, buildings and the divine world.
Of particular relevance to the Šapinuwa discovery are Hittite traditions concerning building rituals.
Ancient texts indicate that animals and ritual objects could be placed beneath foundations and that sacrifices or offerings could accompany construction, renewal or purification of structures.
One known foundation ritual, for example, combines the sacrifice of sheep with libations and ritual formulas intended to protect a house from harmful forces.
This textual evidence provides an important framework for interpreting the newly discovered remains.
But it does not prove that the Šapinuwa animals were deposited according to precisely the same ritual.
That distinction remains important.
Construction, Renewal or Purification?
The building's multiple architectural phases make the ritual interpretation particularly intriguing.
If the animal deposits can be securely associated with different phases of construction or modification, they could represent ceremonies performed when the building was:
- constructed;
- renovated;
- ritually renewed;
- or purified.
At present, however, this remains a hypothesis.
The archaeology establishes the presence of unusual animal deposits.
The Hittite texts establish that ritual sacrifices associated with buildings were known.
The connection between the two must still be demonstrated through further research.
Šapinuwa: A Major Hittite Center
The discovery gains additional importance from the archaeological setting.
Šapinuwa is located near modern Ortaköy in Çorum Province, approximately 53 kilometres southeast of Çorum.
Excavations began there in 1990, following earlier investigations that identified the settlement as an important Hittite center.
The site subsequently produced one of the most important archives of the Hittite world.
More than 4,000 cuneiform tablets and tablet fragments have been recovered from Šapinuwa, making the Ortaköy archive the second-largest Hittite cuneiform archive discovered in Anatolia after Boğazköy-Hattusa.
The tablets are written in several languages, including:
- Hittite;
- Hurrian;
- Hattic;
- and Akkadian.
Their contents cover subjects including administration, religion and divination.
The archive also established the ancient settlement's name as Šapinuwa.
A Royal Hittite Center
The nature of the textual archive indicates that Šapinuwa was much more than an ordinary provincial settlement.
The site is associated with the royal court and with King Tudhaliya II.
For a period, Šapinuwa appears to have functioned as one of the Hittite kingdom's important political and royal centers.
Hitit University describes the settlement as another capital of the Hittite state, although Hattusa remained the empire's principal and best-known capital.
This royal context helps explain the monumental architecture found throughout the settlement.
It also increases the potential importance of the newly excavated building.
A monumental structure within a major royal center could have served a significant administrative, religious or ceremonial function.
Yet its precise purpose remains unknown.
The Mystery of the L-Shaped Rooms
The two symmetrical L-shaped rooms may eventually provide the key to understanding the building.
Their unusual layout, combined with the animal deposits, gives archaeologists an opportunity to examine the relationship between architecture and ritual behavior.
The fact that the two deposits occurred in corresponding rooms is particularly interesting.
However, the available evidence does not yet establish why the animals were placed there.
Several possibilities remain open.
The structure could have been a temple.
It could have been an administrative building.
It could also have served another public or ceremonial purpose that has not yet been identified.
The excavation must therefore continue before a definitive interpretation can be made.
Earlier Ritual Evidence at Šapinuwa
The newly discovered deposits are not the first evidence for possible animal sacrifice at Šapinuwa.
Earlier excavations in another part of the city uncovered sacrificial pits containing animal bones, including both burnt and unburnt remains.
Researchers studying those deposits have argued that Šapinuwa provides unusually valuable archaeological evidence for comparing physical remains with the ritual practices described in Hittite texts.
The new discoveries add another potential category of evidence.
Instead of pits containing mixed animal remains, archaeologists have found specific animal deposits associated with architectural spaces.
This may eventually allow researchers to investigate whether different forms of sacrifice were connected with different types of ritual activity.
From Text to Archaeological Evidence
One of the most important aspects of the discovery is the opportunity to compare written and archaeological evidence.
The Hittites left behind thousands of cuneiform documents describing religious practices.
Those texts tell us that sacrifices were performed and that buildings could be involved in rituals.
Archaeological remains, meanwhile, provide evidence of what was physically deposited at ancient sites.
Šapinuwa is unusual because both forms of evidence exist at the same location.
If researchers can establish that the animal remains were deliberately deposited as part of building-related ceremonies, they could provide a rare material counterpart to the rituals recorded in the tablets.
That would help move the discussion from written descriptions of ritual to physical evidence of how such ceremonies may actually have been performed.
Scientists Investigate the Evidence
The interpretation of the animal deposits is still developing.
A multidisciplinary team is examining the building and its discoveries, including:
- archaeologists;
- Hittite-language specialists;
- conservators;
- geologists;
- archaeobotanists;
- and zooarchaeologists.
Zooarchaeological analysis will be particularly important.
Researchers need to identify the headless animal more precisely and determine how it was treated.
The cattle skull may also reveal whether the two deposits shared similar characteristics.
Questions about age, species, treatment and deposition will help establish whether the remains represent ritual activity rather than ordinary disposal.
What the Discovery Could Reveal
If the ritual hypothesis is confirmed, the building could become an important case study in Hittite religious archaeology.
The animal remains might demonstrate that sacrifices were incorporated into particular phases of monumental construction or renovation.
They could also provide evidence for ritual purification or renewal of important buildings.
Perhaps most importantly, the discovery could help researchers connect the archaeological record with Hittite written sources.
The tablets tell us what rituals were supposed to involve.
The animal deposits may eventually reveal what those rituals looked like in practice.
Conclusion
A monumental building constructed around 3,400 years ago at Šapinuwa has produced two unusual animal deposits: a headless young animal, probably a lamb or goat, and a cattle skull.
Their deliberate placement on stone-paved surfaces inside symmetrical L-shaped rooms has raised the possibility that they represent Hittite ritual sacrifices associated with construction, renewal or purification.
The interpretation is not yet proven.
But the discovery is particularly promising because Šapinuwa preserves both archaeological remains and one of the ancient Hittite world's largest collections of cuneiform texts.
If future analysis confirms that the animals were deposited during ritual phases of the building's history, archaeologists may gain something exceptionally valuable—a physical archaeological counterpart to the ritual practices described by the Hittites themselves more than three millennia ago.
For now, the L-shaped rooms remain an archaeological mystery.
Their walls have survived.
Their rituals may only now be beginning to speak.
FAQ
How old is the building at Šapinuwa?
Archaeological observations and dating place its construction around the 1380s BC, making it approximately 3,400 years old.
What animal remains were found?
Researchers found the skeleton of a headless young animal, probably a lamb or goat, in 2025 and a cattle skull in 2026.
Where were the remains discovered?
Both were found on stone-paved surfaces within two symmetrical L-shaped rooms of the monumental building.
Were the animals sacrificed?
Their deliberate placement raises the possibility of ritual sacrifice, but archaeologists have not yet conclusively established that interpretation.
What might the rituals have been for?
Researchers are considering whether the deposits could have been associated with the construction, renovation, renewal or purification of the building.
What was the building used for?
Its exact function remains unknown. Archaeologists have not yet determined whether it was a temple, administrative building or another type of public architecture.
Why is Šapinuwa important?
The site was a major Hittite center and has produced more than 4,000 cuneiform tablets and fragments, containing texts concerning administration, religion, divination and other aspects of Hittite life.
Who is investigating the discovery?
The excavation is directed by Önder İpek of Hitit University, with specialists from several disciplines contributing to the investigation.
