İnönü Mağarası

Useful Information

Location:	(41.252357, 31.693414)
Open:	no restrictions. [2026]
Fee:	free. [2026]
Classification:	Lava Cave Zonguldak Coal Geopark
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:	A=235 m asl, W=25 m, H=10 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Hamza Ekmen, Gülden Ekmen, Ali Güney (2020): İnönü Cave New Results of the Early Iron Age Culture in the Western Black Sea Region KAAM YAYINLARI OLBA XXVIII, 2020 Mersin Üniversitesi/Türkiye, ISSN 1301 7667, Yayıncı Sertifika No: 18698. academia.edu Hamza Ekmen, F. Gülden Ekmen, Ali Güney, Benjamin S. Arbuckle, Gökhan Mustafaoğlu, Cemal Tunoğlu, Caner Di̇ker, Ercan Oktan (2021): A New Prehistoric Settlement near Heraclea Pontica on the Western Black Sea Coast, İnönü Cave ADerg 2021/1, Nisan / April; XXVI:23-46 online DOI Barbaros Yaman, Hamza Ekmen (2023): Waterlogged wood remains found in a Late Bronze Age settlement (İnönü Cave) on the Western Black Sea coast of Türkiye Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Volume 52, December 2023, 104255. DOI
Address:	İnönü Mağarası
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History

2010	discovered by G. Karauğuz.
2016	cave surveyed as part of the Hereclea Pontica and Territory Surface Survey (HPYA) by the Archaeology Department of Zonguldak-Bülent Ecevit University.
2017-2018	archaeological excavations under the presidency of the Karadeniz Ereğli Museum and the scientific consultancy of Dr. Hamza Ekmen.

Description

İnönü Mağarası is a shelter located in the middle of a cliff face southwest of Alacabük village. It was inhabited by humans at least for 6,500 years. The site was of strategic iportance offering a good view on the movements of the hunted prey along the river below. It is located between Black Sea coastal settlements and the cultures of the Balkans and Western Anatolia. Archaeological excavations in the cave began in 2017 and revealed five distinct cultural layers. The youngesr layer dates to the Middle Ages, the second to Balkan-origin tribes, the third to the Hittite Empire, the fourth to the Early Bronze Age, and the fifth to the Chalcolithic Age. During excavations more than 10,000 beads were found inside a pottery vessel. 27 of them were made of gold and have been recorded as the first examples of man-made gold beads discovered in Anatolia. Identical gold beads can be found in Chalcolithic-era settlements in the Balkans though. Obviously the cave’s inhabitants were engaged in weaving, whilst hunting and livestock farming were practised outside. Probably the most interesting findings are artefacts belonging to the Kashkals—a group. It is known to have existed in the region but the remains found in this cave were the first in this region.

This cave is an archaeological excavation, and while freely accessible the main excavation site is fenced in. Nevertheless, it is worth a visit, the fence is wire mesh, and it is possible to see the whole cave from the fence. The surroundings and other nearby caves and shelters are freely accessible. The entrance chamber is up to 10 m high and 25 m wide. The cave has three chambers and two much smaller side passages branching off.

Quite exceptional is the origin of the cave, which is a sort of lava cave. The characteristic polygonal contraction cracks at the e cave ceiling show that the lava cooled quite slowly, so this was not volcanism, it was an intrusion. The lava is surrounded by sandstones and limestone, so there is also the possibility that there was a former karstic and erosional cave. Despite quite detailed geologic and mineralogic research of numerous rock samples from different parts of the cave walls the formation of the cave was not determined. Actually, the main goal of the research was archaeology. Quite weird is the fact that the site is a geotope of the Geopark Zonguldak Coal Geopark but nevertheless they list it as an archaeological site and do not explain the geology.

The name İnönü Cave is quite common, there are at least half a dozen in Turkey. "İn Önü" means "at the entrance" or "in front of", which we interpret as a turkish euphemism for a cave with an open portal. In this case there is the largest cave which has a huge portal looking west.