Structure AZ — Key Facts
Structure AZ is a building on Karahan Tepe's Western Terrace with a distinctly domestic character — a stone-paved floor, plastered benches, and grinding stones — alongside a group of T-shaped pillars. It is also where the site's remarkable human-faced T-pillar was reported in 2025.
What we know
Project reporting places Karahan Tepe's celebrated human-faced T-shaped pillar — announced in 2025 — in Structure AZ, described as a domestic building on the Western Terrace with a stone-paved floor, plastered benches, grinding stones, and a small group of T-shaped pillars. The exact locus, the pillar's catalogue details, the plan, and its meaning are still awaiting formal publication, so we report them as announced rather than settled.
Inside Structure AZ
- A domestic-character building on the Western Terrace
- A stone-paved floor and plastered benches
- Grinding stones — evidence of everyday work
- A group of T-shaped pillars
- The 2025 human-faced T-pillar reported here
- Formal plan and object metadata still to be published
How it fits the site
AZ matters because it sits on the Western Terrace among the site's domestic buildings, yet holds T-pillars and a carved human face — see our page on the carved heads for that pillar in detail.
What was it for?
AZ blurs the modern line between 'ritual' and 'domestic' — grinding stones and benches for daily life, alongside T-pillars and a carved human face. We flag clearly that the formal excavation details are still pending.
Frequently asked questions
What is Structure AZ?
A domestic-character building on Karahan Tepe's Western Terrace, with a stone floor, plastered benches, grinding stones, and a group of T-shaped pillars.
Where was the human-faced pillar found?
Project reporting places the 2025 human-faced T-pillar in Structure AZ, though its formal details are still to be published.
Karahan Tepe Research & Archive · Last updated July 2026.
Follows official Taş Tepeler project reporting on the 2025 season. Where details are still described as "reported," they await formal publication and are flagged as such. We use the excavator's designation as the canonical name and avoid assigning a single settled function. This is a living archive summary, not an official academic publication.
Browse all enclosures on the Enclosures index, or see them in context on the interactive overview.
