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

Abstract

This 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.

New Insights on the Sealing Practices in Early Bronze Age Anatolia: A Case Study from Küllüoba, Eskişehir

“…Other examples are mostly dated to the end of the 3 rd millennium BCE. These include examples from Resuloğlu (Ünar, 2020), Kültepe (Kulakoğlu and Öztürk, 2015;Öztürk, 2019), Kilisetepe (Collon, 2007), and examples out of context from Troy (Schmidt, 1902) and Boz Höyük (Massa and Tuna, 2019). The Resuloğlu examples (Ünar, 2020) are similar in terms of context to the Küllüoba example because they are also associated with silos and storage areas.…”

“…However, most excavations investigating the EBA in Anatolia were completed before modern archaeological techniques and soil screening was not done carefully. Yet, the EBA-focused projects at Kültepe in recent years (Kulakoğlu and Öztürk, 2015;Öztürk, 2019) and the examples discovered during the Resuloğlu excavations (Ünar, 2020) indicate that this artefact type might not be scarce at all (Massa and Tuna, 2019).…”

“…Stamps, which date back to the Neolithic period in the Anatolian peninsula, also remained in use in the EBA. While many examples of stamp seals have been discovered so far, very few sealings that these stamp seals created have been found (Massa and Tuna, 2019). Pluses, crosses and nested chevrons are the most common motifs on stamp seals (Dede, 2014).…”

“…Problematically, the motifs on the discovered stamp seals do not match those on the sealings. Based on this, some researchers suggest that most objects considered to be seals, especially those with complex motifs, could actually have been used for decorative purposes (Massa and Tuna, 2019) (Rahmstorf, 2016). However, especially the seals and sealings recovered from Kültepe prove that many stamp seals, even those bearing complex motifs, were impressed on clay sealings (Kulakoğlu and Öztürk, 2015;Öztürk, 2019).…”

“…Various researchers have suggested that in addition to serving as a control mechanism, seals may have also functioned as amulets, textile stamps, or objects bearing preliterate symbols (Atakuman, 2015;Çilingiroglu, 2009;Türkcan, 2006;Umurtak, 2009). Seals' use as a part of a control mechanism associated with production and consumption occurred during the Early Bronze Age (EBA) (Massa and Tuna, 2019).…”