Cultural dynamics and ceramic resource use at Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Troy, northwestern Turkey

The island of Cyprus was a major producer of copper and stood at the heart of east Mediterranean trade networks during the Late Bronze Age. It may also have been the source of the Red Lustrous Wheelmade Ware that has been found in mortuary contexts in Egypt and the Levant, and in Hittite temple assemblages in Anatolia. Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has enabled the source area of this special ceramic to be located in a geologically highly localised and geochemically distinctive area of western Cyprus. This discovery offers a new perspective on the spatial organisation of Cypriot economies in the production and exchange of elite goods around the eastern Mediterranean at this time.

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“…This correspondence between different NAA facilities is consistent with our previous work combining legacy datasets (e.g. Grave et al 2013).…”

Section: Researchsupporting

confidence: 91%

Ceramics, trade, provenience and geology: Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age

et al. 2014

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“…Direct comparison of LBNL and MURR data is possible by comparing reference values for the Perlman/Asaro Standard Pottery (Perlman and Asaro ; Asaro and Adan‐Bayewitz ) with values determined analytically at MURR. Similarly, the AIAP analysed New Ohio Red, the check‐standard at MURR, allowing conversion factors to be calculated between MURR and AIAP (Grave et al , table 3). Hein et al (, table 5) analysed the same materials at Demokritos and at the Bonn laboratory, and since the Bonn laboratory is directly comparable to LBNL (Mommsen et al , 902), it is possible to calculate Demokritos/MURR conversion factors.…”

Section: Methodology and Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geochemical Analysis of the Hittite‐Period Pottery from Tarsus‐Gözlükule, Turkey

2016

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Neutron activation analysis was conducted on Late Bronze IIA pottery from Tarsus-Gözlükule and compared with archival data from contemporary sites in Cilicia and Cyprus. The results provide a model for the organization of pottery production at Tarsus-Gözlükule when the settlement was under the rule of the Hittite Empire. It is proposed that multiple contemporary pottery workshops provided the community of Tarsus-Gözlükule with both Hittite-style pottery and other wares. It is further suggested that these workshops may have differed in the extent to which they were attached to the imperial administration.

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“…The results of a previous, larger NAA study of ceramics and sediments from Troy and its region ( n = 192) defined nine local groups (83 per cent of ceramics) and nine non‐local groups (17 per cent) (Grave et al . , 1764–76). ‘Local’ ceramics were identified by geochemical comparison with sediment samples drawn from each geological unit within a 10 km radius of Troy (Table ).…”

Section: Neutron Activation Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These results suggest long‐term continuity in the use of a specialized clay resource that was especially suited for cooking vessels and coarse handmade jars (Grave et al . , 1774–6). Only one Protogeometric sample (cat.…”

Section: Neutron Activation Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Early Iron Age at Troy Reconsidered

Aslan

Kealhofer

Grave³

2014

Oxford J Archaeology

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Summary Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) of Protogeometric ceramics at Troy supports a revision of our understanding of the site in the Protogeometric period. Previous interpretations of this period at Troy emphasized the importance of either Greek migration or Greek trade networks. A category of amphoras previously thought to be imports appears to have been made locally. NAA also indicates local production of a new class of handmade cooking pots, as well as more traditional Gray ware vessels. Analysis reveals a high degree of cultural continuity at Iron Age Troy, with inhabitants adopting and adapting a wider vocabulary of Protogeometric vessel types in the Aegean while integrating them with established local pottery traditions and resource use. The combinations of local and non‐local components seen at Troy are more consistent with long‐term dynamic Aegean interaction spheres than with more tenuous models of Aeolian migration or Euboian expansion.

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Cultural dynamics and ceramic resource use at Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Troy, northwestern Turkey

Cited by 12 publications

References 19 publications

Ceramics, trade, provenience and geology: Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age

Ceramics, trade, provenience and geology: Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age

Geochemical Analysis of the Hittite‐Period Pottery from Tarsus‐Gözlükule, Turkey

The Early Iron Age at Troy Reconsidered

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