2014 | Anatolica Volume 40 2014 ISSN: 0066-1554; 40
According to predominant approaches to the Late Medieval historical and material record,
Europe, the Near East and Eurasia were progressively integrated during the Late Medieval period by communities of style and networks of trade, as well as by political ties. Yet the mechanisms of trade and mobility – that is, the movement of people and materials – during this period remain largely unknown, as well as the ramifications of such regional or even ‘global’ economy on local society and politics. The late medieval princedoms of the Armenian Highlands were political entities operating within and between the states of Europe and Asia; the highland princedoms therefore provide an opportunity to examine regional political economy from the perspective of local interests. This paper presents results from excavations at the late medieval (12th-15th c. AD) Arai-Bazarjugh caravanatun (“caravan house” or road inn, also caravanserai), which was constructed by a local Armenian merchant-prince. The architecture of the caravanatun and the material assemblages recovered within it, integrated with historical data, demonstrate the role of the caravanatun as a point of intersection between the global trends of late medieval trade, and local Armenian political traditions. — Kathryn J. Franklin
Urartu became a powerful state in the Near East during the first millennium BC. In spite of geographic impediments such as high mountains and strong streams, and a severe climate, the Urartians developed a high level of production in every area of craftsmanship. We encounter in Urartian written sources professions indicating craftsmen and manufacturers who constituted the base of this production. Iconographical and archaeological findings prove the existence of further types of handicrafts not mentioned in written sources. In our study, some questions regarding gender and social status related to Urartian craftsmen and manufacturers are clarified. Additionally, places where production took place are identified. The study gives an overview of the world of arts and crafts in Urartu, and the people behind it. — Rafet Çavuşoğlu, Bilcan Gökce and Kenan Işık
During the winter of 1936-1937, British archaeologist John Garstang (1876-1956) excavated several trenches at the site of Sirkeli Höyük, located in the Plain of Cilicia (18 km west of modern-day Ceyhan). After a single campaign, however, he left the site and his interest shifted to site of Yumuktepe/Mersin, where he then excavated for a number of years. Apart from two very brief preliminary reports of his excavations at Sirkeli Höyük, which were published in the journal “Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Liverpool,” not much is known about the trenches and their associated finds. Unpublished photographs kept in the Special Archives of University College London shed new light on the location and orientation of some of Garstang’s trenches at the site. Furthermore, in the 2012 campaign of the renewed Turkish-Swiss excavations at the site, a trench was found in the western part of the northern terrace that most probably was excavated by Garstang, but was not mentioned by him in his reports. This hitherto unknown trench may be related to his discovery of a lion-shaped column base made of basalt that is now kept in the collections of the Archaeological Museum of Adana. — Alexander Ahrens
In 2006 a report was brought to the late professor Ali Dinçol of the discovery of a new Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription on the bank of the Orontes river in the village of Demirköprü (formerly, Jisr el Hadid), Hatay province. A visit by Professor Ali Dinçol with Profesor Belkıs Dinçol and Dr. Hasan Peker revealed a basalt block in the form of a base, bearing on two preserved sides parts of one and two lines inscription. They worked on the text in 2006 and again in 2009, and prepared the piece for removal to the Hatay Museum. A preliminary publication is offered here in collaboration with Professor J.D. Hawkins. The text as preserved concerns the father of the author of the inscription and the erection of a memorial statue to him, probably on this base itself. — A. Dinçol, B. Dinçol, J.D. Hawkins and H. Peker
This article presents the results of the 2013 survey season which was conducted along the Göksu River Valley in the Mersin Province of Southern Turkey. The project was initiated to document as many archaeological sites as possible before the valley is flooded, due to the planned construction of the Kayraktepe Dam in 2016. The two-week season enabled us to discover several unknown sites and further investigate known sites that will be submerged under the dam lake. This year’s work mainly focused on the alluvial plains where the Ermenek Çay and the Kurtsuyu Rivers join the Göksu River. The discovery of a pre-Classical settlement at Damtepe and the presence of a Chalcolithic level at Attepe were the most significant discoveries of the season.
A brief summary of the field season is provided here including sections about the investigated sites and a discussion about local settlement patterns. The 2013 season of this Bitlis Eren University project, which is conducted in collaboration with the University of Leicester, was funded by the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. We hope to continue surveying this important area in 2014, as throughout history the Göksu Valley was one of the main routes linking the Mediterranean coast to the Central Anatolian Plateau. We may also consider starting excavations at one or two major sites in the coming years, if the necessary funding is provided by the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works of Turkey. — Tevfik Emre Şerifoğlu, Naoíse MacSweeney, and Carlo Colantoni
An emerging set of studies on the application of the potter’s wheel in the wider ancient Near East indicates that it was often employed in combination with other methods of pottery making, especially during the early stages of its use. Due to absence of research focusing on this topic, our knowledge of the early use and succeeding developments of wheel technology in central and western Anatolia (c. 2500-2000 cal BC) is at present very limited. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to supply additional information on the diversity of pottery-manufacturing techniques through X-ray analysis of ceramic samples recovered from the Early Bronze Age settlement layers of Küllüoba (Eskişehir, Turkey), a settlement mound with a long and well-documented stratigraphic sequence. The use of the potter’s wheel allowed pottery to be produced in larger quantities to meet an increasing demand, which hints at a new political and commercial formation, and its relatively early occurrence in Küllüoba seems to be contemporary with the appearance of archaeological evidence for long distance trade. The significance and appropriateness of using the term “wheel-made” with regards to Anatolian EBA pottery — a term often linked with standardization and mass production — is also discussed. — Murat Türkteki
The site of Alişar Höyük in north central Anatolia has long been known to be one of great importance as well as a site riddled with chronological issues, especially regarding its early periods. Given recent reconsiderations regarding the dating of the site as well as my own examination of the site’s finds in the collection of the Oriental Institute new insights about the site’s place in interregional networks have come to light. A classification of the figurines from Alişar Höyük and their relationship to contemporary figurines forms the basis of this work. Several figurines that have never before been published or in some cases even inventoried are included in this analysis. Because so many sites have been excavated in Turkey and neighboring countries since the excavation of Alişar Höyük, this reconsideration of the site’s figurines is due. We can now illustrate the extensive nature of networks that ran through Alişar Höyük from its earliest levels. These networks spanned from southeast Europe to central Anatolia and beyond and seem to show that, culturally, Alişar Höyük was initially oriented to the west and north, particularly to southeast Europe and northern Anatolia, and only later began to develop traditions unique to the site and/or central Anatolia. — Shannon Martino
This is the second article published in Anatolica on excavations conducted at Uğurlu, located on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros). It constitutes a preliminary report of the field seasons carried out in 2011-2013. Because of its long occupational history Uğurlu is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the Northeast Aegean region. Stratigraphic excavations have clarified the spatial extent of the settlement from the earliest Neolithic occupation onwards (6500 cal. BC), and brought to light evidence of the transition from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic period (5500 cal. BC) as well as transformations of the site in the late 5th and the early 4th millennium BC. The settlement was probably founded by newcomers from the Northwest Anatolian mainland, but afterwards islanders may have formed their own culture and identity.— Burçin Erdoğu
Numerous studies have been conducted on the iron in the ancient Near East from different aspects (archaeological, technological, lexicographic, etc.) but the Anatolian area still suffers from the absence of a true synthesis. The purpose of this article is more modest but, thanks to some additions to be proposed, hopes to contribute to such a study. After a quick review of past research, I propose a catalog of archaeological remains that have been identified for the early second millennium BC in Anatolia (from ca. 2000 to 1700 BC). Indeed, the remains number can be increased through new attestations as we now found iron objects in Acemhöyük, Alişar Höyük, İkiztepe, Kaman-Kalehöyük, Kusura and Kültepe. — Julie Patrier
Lead and bronze finds dominate the statuette assemblage at Thonis-Heracleion, an Egyptian port of the Late and Ptolemaic Periods. In this article, I extrapolate the types of casting methods used for statuette production at Thonis-Heracleion based on detailed examinations of the figures in the field. The bronze statuettes and amulets provide new insights on the topic of Egyptian bronze casting, as the methods are still debated. I evaluate the possible use of the indirect lost wax method and issues of quality and mass production for bronze figures. The lead statuettes and amulets, alternatively, open a new discussion about lead casting in Egypt, as the lead statuettes have few parallels outside of Thonis- Heracleion and lead casting has never been discussed in detail with respect to Egyptian statuettes. The lead statuettes include replicated figures across several different iconographic types, and these figures were cast using open and bivalve refractory moulds. The hollow lead figures were probably created with the lead slush technique.
This discussion of casting techniques as a whole targets not only the methods used for lead and bronze casting in Egypt, but also the social implications behind these techniques, such as how and with whom specific technologies were exchanged. Replication of bronze and lead figures was common among other cultures in the Late Period and earlier, in Greece and in the Eastern Mediterranean, and contact with these cultures may have contributed to the development of replication methods in Egypt for bronze and lead casting. — Sanda S. Heinz
Underwater excavations in Thonis-Heracleion, Egypt, continue to yield large numbers of bronze and lead objects. In this paper, I discuss the dating and function of a group of nine exceptionally large lead containers in one of the ancient waterways of this Egyptian port city. Ranging in diameter from 50 to 120 cm, they are the largest objects made of lead found at the site and unique in the archaeological record. Their size, shape, and archaeological context are described before presenting parallels in different material in order to better understand their function and current location. Similar ceramic examples indicate that the metal containers were most likely used for storage of foodstuffs, such as liquids or cereals, perhaps as part of temple facilities. The framework derived from the archaeological context suggests a late fifth to early third century B.C. date, which is significantly earlier than other lead objects of considerable size. It is likely that the containers in the canal are associated with wooden poles preserved in the vicinity, creating a wooden moorage or stabilizing a narrow island. A hypothesis is advanced that they were part of a storage facility for rituals, possibly involving water offerings, conducted in this area. — Elsbeth M. van der Wilt
Full text of Anatolica articles available online at Peeters Online Journals (€ 14 per article).
