Patterns of metal procurement, manufacture and exchange in Early Bronze Age northwestern Anatolia: Demircihüyük and beyond

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 51-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Massa ◽  
Orlene McIlfatrick ◽  
Erkan Fidan
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Composition Analysis ◽  
Central Plateau ◽  
Anatolian Plateau ◽  
Chemical Composition Analysis ◽  
Prehistoric Mining ◽  
Manufacturing Techniques ◽  
Mould Casting

AbstractThis paper adds a new interpretive layer to the already extremely well-investigated site of Demircihüyük, a small Early Bronze Age settlement at the northwestern fringes of the central Anatolian plateau. It presents a reassessment of the evidence for prehistoric mining in the region, as well as a new programme of chemical composition analysis integrated with an object functional and technological typology of the site's metal assemblages. The results reveal complex manufacturing techniques (such as bivalve mould casting, plating and lost wax) and the co-occurrence of several alloying types, including the earliest tin bronzes in the region. Object typology further indicates that the Demircihüyük community was at the intersection of two distinct metallurgical networks: one centred on the western Anatolian highlands, the other spanning the northern part of the central plateau. Additionally, several strands of evidence suggest that the beginning of interregional exchanges, linking central Anatolia to northern Levantine and Mesopotamian societies, may have started at an earlier date than the commonly assumed ca 3000–2800 BC.

Early Bronze Age burial customs on the central Anatolian plateau: a view from Demircihöyük-Sarıket

2014 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 73-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Massa
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Funerary Practices ◽  
Anatolian Plateau ◽  
Burial Customs ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
Selection Of

AbstractThis paper focuses on the analysis of the cemetery of Demircihöyük-Sarıket, for which exists one of the largest Early Bronze Age funerary datasets published to date in Anatolia. The size and quality of the sample allow the dataset to be approached quantitatively, to determine both normative and anomalous funerary practices, and to detect distinct patterns of burial treatment for different segments of the population represented in the cemetery. Despite the small size of the community (ca 100–130 people), the results suggest a rather complex picture, in which the choice of specific burial containers, the relative wealth of grave assemblages and the selection of particular sets of items were dependent on differences in the age, gender, occupation and achieved status of the deceased. Comparison with other contemporary funerary assemblages helps to place Demircihöyük-Sarıket and these community-scale observations within their wider cultural context in central Anatolia.

Excavations on the north-central plateau: The Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age occupation at Çadır Höyük

2008 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 47-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon R. Steadman ◽  
Jennifer C. Ross ◽  
Gregory McMahon ◽  
Ronald L. Gorny
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Region ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
North Central Region ◽  
Central Plateau ◽  
North Central ◽  
Anatolian Plateau ◽  
The North ◽  
Late Chalcolithic ◽  
The Stability

AbstractThe last decade of excavations at Çadır Höyük, in the north-central region of the Anatolian plateau, has revealed a well-established Late Chalcolithic community with continuous occupation into the Early Bronze I period (mid fourth to early third millennium BC). While the Late Chalcolithic town was prosperous, with well-made houses and objects, and even monumental construction, the stability of the settlement had slipped by the Early Bronze I phase. We summarise here the results from ten seasons of work at the site and profile how the findings contribute to our understanding of Çadır's role in a larger regional context. We also offer possible explanations for the changing nature of the Çadır occupation during the periods detailed here.

Early Cultures of the South Anatolian Plateau, II

1963 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 199-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Mellaart
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Settlement Pattern ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
The South ◽  
Anatolian Plateau ◽  
Late Chalcolithic ◽  
Chalcolithic Period

The end of the Çatal Hüyük West culture is shrouded in mystery. Both Çatal and Kara Hüyük South were apparently deserted and never reoccupied and it is only at Can Hasan Hüyük east of Karaman that later deposits have been recognised overlying remains of the early Chalcolithic culture. Elsewhere the evidence lies buried in the cores of the numerous city mounds of the Early Bronze Age period. Late Chalcolithic remains are fairly common in the Konya Plain, but they were in nearly every case found on sites where no earlier or later remains were encountered. This might suggest a shift in the settlement pattern of the plain after the end of the Early Chalcolithic period (see map, Fig. 1).

Prehistoric Copper Extraction in Britain: Ecton Hill, Staffordshire

2013 ◽  
Vol 80 ◽  
pp. 159-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Timberlake
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Mining Activity ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Extraction ◽  
Mine Shaft ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Prehistoric Mining ◽  
The Hill

Major investigations were undertaken of the Ecton Copper Mines, Staffordshire, following the discovery of hammerstones and a red deer antler tool dating to the Early Bronze Age during surface and underground exploration in the 1990s. Ecton Hill was surveyed, the distribution of hammerstone tools examined, and two identified sites of potential prehistoric mining close to the summit of the hill excavated in 2008 & 2009. Excavations at Stone Quarry Mine revealed noin situprehistoric mining activity, but hammerstones and Early Bronze Age bone mining tools from upcast suggest that an historic mine shaft had intersected Bronze Age workings at around 10–25 m depth. On The Lumb one trench revealed evidence for medieval lead mining, while another examined the lowest of four primitive mines associated with cave-like mine entrances along the base of a small cliff. Evidence for prehistoric mining was recorded within a shallow opencut formed by during extraction of malachite from a layer of mineralised dolomite. Traces of the imprint of at least 18 bone and stone tools could be seen and seven different types of working were identified. Most prehistoric mining debris appears to have been cleared out during the course of later, medieval–post-medieval prospection; some bone and stone tools were recovered from this spoil. The tip of a worn and worked (cut) antler tine point was the only such mining tool foundin situat this site but nine tools were radiocarbon dated toc.1880–1640 calbc. Bayesian modelling of the dates from both sites probably indicates mining over a much briefer period (perhaps 20–50 years) at 1800–1700 calbc, with mining at Stone Quarry possibly beginning earlier and lasting longer than on The Lumb. A single date from The Lumb suggests possible renewed mining activity (or prospection?) during the Middle Bronze Age. The dating of this mining activity is consistent with the idea that mining and prospection moved eastwards from Ireland to Wales, then to central England, at the beginning of the 2nd millenniumbc. At Ecton the extraction of secondary ores may have produced only a very small tonnage of copper metal. The mine workers may have been Early Bronze Age farmers who occupied this part of the Peak District seasonally in a transhumant or sustained way

Muş in the Early Bronze Age

1997 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 105-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell S. Rothman ◽  
Gülriz Kozbe
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Marginal Zone ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Large Area ◽  
East Central ◽  
Eastern Turkey ◽  
Comprehensive Survey ◽  
Great Culture ◽  
Near Future

In 1991 a crew of American, Canadian, and Turkish researchers began a new and comprehensive survey in the Muş Province of Eastern Turkey. The goal of the survey was to study the evolution of settlement and landuse in a marginal zone at the intersection of four great culture areas of the Middle East: Central Anatolia, Western Iran, the Transcaucasus, and Mesopotamia.This area of Eastern Turkey had been visited previously by I. K. Kökten in 1940s (1947) and Charles Burney in 1950s (1958). Given the large area these surveyors covered and their limited means of transportation, and given the newly excavated material coming from north of the great Taurus mountain massif and from Van (e.g., Sagona 1994, Sagona et al 1992, Çilingiroğlu 1987, 1988), a more comprehensive effort appeared warranted. The first season was six weeks in duration. During that time we re-visited 17 of the sites found by Kökten and Burney, and located 11 new sites. A second season was launched in 1993 with the aim of covering areas not surveyed previously (see Figure 1), mostly in the northern foothills and higher elevations near Hamurpet Lake. Unfortunately, conditions did not permit us to do a second season, nor is a season in the very near future likely. We, therefore, will be publishing the results we have already arrived at, aware that our sample is not complete.

scholarly journals Hittite Cuisine: fire installations, cooking pottery and foodways in central Anatolia of the Late Bronze Age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Casucci
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Cooking Methods ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Anatolian Plateau ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Cooking Practices ◽  
Domestic Economies

Food and cooking methods are crucial in defining group identity and social relations and in examining the domestic economies. The Poster aims to study, from a functional and typological point of view, the fire installations and the contextual kitchen pottery in the Central Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age (1650-1200 B.C.). In particular, the archaeological contexts of the main Hittite sites of Anatolian Plateau, subjects of major interest in recent years, will be examined. The analysis and the comparison of the cooking tools (fireplaces, ovens, pots and baking plates) will allow to obtain some conclusions on the “Hittite Cuisine”, namely on the cooking techniques and the types of food consumed in the heart of Hittite kingdom. Archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data will also be integrated with the aim of a better comprehension of diets and cooking methods. In addition, some ethnographic observations will be discussed, in order to compare ancient and modern cooking practices in Anatolia.

Reassessing western and central Anatolian Early Bronze Age sealing practices: a case from Boz Höyük (Afyon)

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 59-75
Author(s):  
Michele Massa ◽  
Yusuf Tuna
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Social Complexity ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Western Anatolia ◽  
Administrative Practices

AbstractThis paper presents a detailed investigation of an Early Bronze Age clay sealing from Boz Höyük, a settlement mound located along the Büyük Menderes valley (inland western Anatolia). The artefact, clearly local in manufacture, was employed as a stopper to seal a bottle/flask and impressed with two different stamp seals. These elements are compared to all other published contemporary sealings in western and central Anatolia, in order to understand the degree of complexity of sealing practices in the region. In turn, evidence of Early Bronze Age Anatolian sealing practices is discussed in relation to the available evidence regarding the degree of social complexity in local communities. It is suggested that, during the Early Bronze Age, sealings were employed for product branding rather than control over storage and redistribution of commodities, and only at the beginning of the second millennium BC did the region witness the introduction of complex administrative practices.

scholarly journals “Shaping” and “Painting” during the Early Bronze Age: the Case-study of Pottery of Colle della Croce (Scicli, Ragusa)

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Veca
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Pottery Technology ◽  
Cultural Districts ◽  
Manufacturing Techniques ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Technical Features ◽  
Local Traditions ◽  
Technical Solutions

AbstractPottery technology, although largely neglected in studies of the Sicilian Early Bronze Age (Castelluccio culture, 2200-1450 BC), represents a strategic field of research for focusing on main steps of manufacturing of Castelluccian vessels. In this perspective, the evidence from the archaeological deposit of Colle della Croce (Scicli, Ragusa) has allowed us to emphasise some new technical features that can be observed in the production within other cultural districts. The most significant phase of the study was the autoptic examination of materials and surfaces that led to the definition of this production as medium and coarse ware, with the use of different kinds of technical solutions in relation to different uses and functions. The manufacturing techniques, especially when surface treatment is clearly recognizable on fragmentary specimens, can be conditioned by several factors, such as the shape type and the function of the vessel. Features such as working plans and supporting systems were observed quite frequently, as well as polishing techniques and joints slots for the handles that could be interpreted as ‘workshop standards’ rather than simply local traditions.

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