Recent PublIcatIons from the Lab's work
Colorıng Urartu: A Local Varıety of Egyptıan Blue ın Anatolıa
Gonca Dardeniz, Elif Akalın
Abstrack: Egyptian blue is the first synthetic pigment admired in the ancient world due to its vivid blue hues. The Assyrian and Urartian architectural designs contain elements rich in Egyptian blue, requiring significant consumption of this pigment in the 1st millennium BCE. This blue-colored world brings questions regarding the manufacturer and potential production zone(s) of Egyptian blue. Of great importance is the possible production zones and techniques outside and besides Egypt. This paper discusses a potential manufacture in eastern Anatolia, around Lake Van during the 1st millennium BCE. This production might meet the demand of the Urartian kingdom and—possibly—beyond with the vivid blue tones of a local version of Egyptian blue.
Resources, Exploıtatıon, and Consumptıon of Salt ın Anatolıa (Türkiye)
Gonca Dardeniz
Abstrack: Anatolia, the westernmost extension of Asia, contains some of the largest salt reserves in the region. Inhabited as early as the Paleolithic, the human and animal inhabitants of this area have utilized this mineral in the forms of rock salt, spring salt, and salt licks for millennia. Salt has been exploited and traded for dietary purposes, utilized in various crafts, and held significant importance in the ritual practices of Anatolian settlers for ages. This chapter examines the long-term, multifaceted role of salt in Türkiye by synthesizing geological, archaeological, ethnoarchaeological, and textual data. Drawing on examples from prehistoric, protohistoric, and contemporary Anatolia, it explores the enduring role of salt within the region’s broader socioeconomic context.
Hıghland and foothıll pottery productıon technologıes: A perspectıve from the thırd millennıum BCE from Southwest Anatolıa (Türkiye)
This article presents the results of a fabric study span-ning a period of the first half of the third millenniumBCE (ca. 3000–2400/2300 BCE) pottery from the high-land and foothill areas of the Antalya region of south-west Anatolia, a region that has not been extensivelyinvestigated from a complementary analytic perspec-tive. A total of 49 ceramic sherds from two archaeolog-ical sites were examined using thin-sectionpetrography, X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescenceto determine their material characteristics. Thisresearch utilizes chemical and mineralogical data toinvestigate different phases of the Early Bronze Ageacross various landscapes within the same region,aiming to trace raw material selection and characterizepottery production technologies. Hacımusalar Höyük,representing the intermontane highland landscape,shows a selection of tempering primarily based on localgeology. Bademagacı Höyük, typifying the foothill set-tings, also relies on local clay while displaying abroader range of inclusions and tempers. Neither sitedisplayed a significant correlation between ceramictypes and temper selections, preparation techniquesand surface treatments. Despite the complex geology ofthe research area, natural inclusions are prevalentthroughout the assemblage. These findings indicatethat the inhabitants employed adaptive ceramic pro-duction strategies by targeting similar geological zonesand utilizing comparable technologies, influenced bylocal environmental conditions and functional demands.
Arsenıcal Copper Metallurgy ın Anatolıa and Iran. A Comparatıve Approach
Timur Güzey, Mohammadamin Emami, Gonca Dardeniz
Arsenical copper is one of the earliest alloys, yet understanding the emergence of its technology in Southwest Asia calls for further archaeological and analytical research. This article compares arsenical copper metallurgy in Anatolia and Iran between 4000–2000 bce based on analytical research conducted as part of a project co-funded by Türkiye and Iran entitled: ‘Emergence of arsenic-copper metallurgy in southeastern Iran and eastern Anatolia: interpreting ancient metal technology and metal routes through a multi-analytical approach’. Referred to in short as MET-IR-AN, the project provides new geological, archaeological, and analytical data from eastern/southeastern Anatolia and the Kerman province in southeast Iran, indicating a cross-cultural metallurgical relationship between these regions located at the opposite sides of the Zagros Mountains around the early third millennium bce. This chapter discusses Anatolian and Iranian highlands within the scope of this particular alloy.
Resourcescape and Human Impact ın Southwest Asıa
Landscape archaeology has, in recent years, expanded as a discipline to include various aspects of human-environment interactions in the past. In line with this trend, this volume offers a comprehensive perspective on three topics: theoretical and textual approaches to landscape, which provides an important framework for interdisciplinary research; the use of land and resources, which, while a popular topic in Southwest Asian archaeology, remains relatively understudied in connection to ancient technologies; and human impact on the highlands. The contributions gathered in this volume cover topics as diverse as agricultural practices, metallurgy, trade, and environmental research, and draw together evidence from both textual and material evidence to shed light on different places and periods from the Bronze Age through to the Roman era. Together, these varied case studies offer new insights into how different methods can be utilized to assess unique patterns in human-environment.
Synchrotron computed tomography
This article highlights the use of synchrotron X-ray computed tomography (SXCT) in examining the production technology of two faience beads dating to 3000 BCE (5000 BP). Through one blue and one green colored sample, we discuss the competence of the ID10-BEATS beamline at SESAME (Jordan) for non-invasive analysis of archaeological objects. We present different protocols for the examination of silica-based objects with sub-cm size using SXCT. The results validate the cementation technique for the production of tiny beads (≤ 1 cm). The application of high-resolution 3D imaging, in combination with X-ray phase-contrast enhancement, allows for the non-invasive characterization of faience production, which opens a venue for broader discussions on ancient technology and technological knowledge transfer among ancient communities in Southwest Asia.
Synchrotron computed tomography
The analysis of archaeological objects poses a set of challenges related to the fragility and uniqueness of the material and requires special non-invasive techniques. This article presents applications of Synchrotron X-ray Computed Tomography (SXCT) on archaeological vitreous materials, namely glass, faience, and Egyptian blue. Using five different case studies, we provide protocols developed at the beamline ID10-BEATS of SESAME (Jordan) to understand raw material, production, and degradation of vitreous assemblages from sub-mm to several cm in size. The use of high-resolution 3-dimensional X-ray imaging combined with phase-contrast generation allows to identify and differentiate ancient faience and pigment production technologies, quantify the severity and microstructure of glass corrosion, and assess the fracture and mechanical fragility of large artifacts and assemblies such as mosaics. The combination of SXCT with synchrotron X-ray fluorescence mapping and X-ray absorption near edge structure allows to examine complementary structural and chemical data of unique examples of the Southwest Asian cultural heritage. The availability of a SXCT facility at the heart of Southwest Asia facilitates and enhances the non-destructive examination and conservation of ancient vitreous materials of the region, proving the relevance of the technique for archaeologists, museums, and cultural heritage specialists.
THIN SECTION PETROGRAPHY
This paper presents the results of chemical and petrographic investigations on the late chalcolithic (ca. 3700–3300 BCE) pottery from the Burdur Lake region in southwest Anatolia (Türkiye). Twenty-one ceramic sherds and a clay lump from four different levels of the late chalcolithic site of Kuruçay Höyük (Burdur) were examined with thin section petrography, XRF, and XRD to illuminate the element and mineral compositions of the ceramics. The chemical compositions and their statistical evaluation demonstrate the continuous use of at least two local clay sources within each different phase of the late chalcolithic. While sources stay the same, petrographic thin section analysis implies a change in the clay preparation techniques. This is visible via the homogeneity of the clay matrix and the existence of shell and lithic inclusions in the paste. About the end of the late chalcolithic period, clay preparation appears to be enhanced conceivably with the changing technological setting of the period toward the early bronze age.
LAND COVER CHANGE MODELING
Land use in archaeological societies has important consequences for ecosystemic changes in the long-term, which directly affect the sustainability of the economy and socio-political organization. In the Near East; socio-political organization, mode of production, and land use patterns diversified spatio-temporally during the Early Bronze Age-I (ca. 5100–4700 cal. BP) when socially complex entities emerged across the region. During this transformative phase, Anatolia witnessed polities of varying levels of organization and modes of subsistence, all of which translate into diverse land use patterns. This research focuses on the results of agent-based modeling to simulate the long-term impacts of land use/land cover change at two major Early Bronze Age sites; Arslantepe (ca. 5100–4700 cal. BP) in Eastern Anatolia and Hacılar Büyük Höyük (ca. 5100–4900 cal. BP) in Southwest Anatolia. Arslantepe and Hacılar Büyük Höyük are situated in different environments (i.e., climate and vegetation), and show different levels of social organization, and economies. Comparing the land use patterns of these two contemporary but otherwise different polities presents important results in terms of our understanding of how land use patterns diversify and what their ecological results have been in the long term.
Arkeolojide Çok Disiplinli Yaklaşımlar
Our new book, which includes the definition of scientific techniques used in archaeology, their application areas and detailed explanations of each technique, has been published.