Thinking Locally: A Glimpse at Ceramic Production at Küllüoba, Turkey, during the Early Bronze Age

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences 2024" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

After the birth of the Turkish Republic, German archaeologists fled to Turkey in search of new beginnings and freedom. These archaeologists would soon head the first archaeology departments in Istanbul and Ankara, shaping how budding archaeologists would complete their training and research for the next 90 years. Traditionally, ceramic research has been focused on creating chronologies, publishing catalogs, and making visual cross-comparisons between pots to argue for large-scale trade. However, in the last 20 years, scientific methods, like Neutron Activation Analysis and Residue Analysis, have slowly infused into Anatolian archaeology, primarily due to interdisciplinary departments and international collaborations. Over the past few years, scholars at the archaeological site of Küllüoba, located in inland Western Anatolia, have been using various methodologies to reexamine resource acquisition, craft production, pyrotechnology, and trade. This paper will discuss past and present trends in ceramic studies in Turkey and provide insight into ceramic production and ‘trade’ at Küllüoba during the Early Bronze Age (3000–2000 BCE) through the interpretation of thin sections. Contrary to current belief, the settlement was more often producing pottery locally and interacting with nearby neighbors.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences 2024

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37790.0