Hittite and Achaemenid imperialisms in west central Turkey

Summary

The Yalburt Yaylası Project studies a series of depressions bounded by scarps forming a corridor frequented by merchants and armies traveling between the Anatolian plateau and western Aegean valleys of Turkey. With a settlement structure dominated by fortresses controlling access along this corridor, the landscape could be interpreted as an imperial possession, but then archaeology would become an apology for imperial power. To contrast, we focus on how imperialism is built from the ground up through agricultural practices and consumption. First, we present our study of ceramics of settlements that were imperial foundations located on the corridor – Bozhöyük (Bronze Age, Hittite) and Codurun Höyük (Iron Age, Achaemenid) – to study practices of consumption and how inhabitants participated in, or rejected, imperial cultural practices. Changes that happen between the Hittite and Achaemenid periods are further examined to reveal how practices reflect local preferences and production techniques. Bozhöyük, for instance, reveals hybrid strategies in consumption vessels, demonstrating the unique character this settlement crafted between regional and imperial centers. Second, we turn our attention to a northern branch of the depressions, the Kurugöl, to discuss how places are continually rooted again in their landscapes as each new empire appears on the horizon.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage