The formation of collective, political and cultural memory in the Middle Bronze Age: foundation and termination rituals at Toprakhisar Höyük

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Constructing and deconstructing public spaces in second-millennium BC Anatolia, the Near East and the Levant was not only a collaborative physical act but also involved deeply embodied ritual symbolism. This symbolism is materialised in the practice of conducting public foundation and termination rituals that unified individual memories in space and time, transforming the physical act into a collective memory: a process that contributed to the formation of political and cultural memory. The recent rescue excavations conducted by the Hatay Archaeological Museum at the hinterland site of Toprakhisar Höyük in Altinözü (in the foothills above the Amuq valley) add to the understanding of the practice of foundation and termination rituals during the Middle Bronze Age and how these moments may have contributed to the political and cultural memory of a rural community living away from the centre. The practice of foundation/termination rituals is archaeologically documented by caches of artefacts from votive contexts stratigraphically linked to the construction and termination of a Middle Bronze Age administrative structure.</jats:p>

Genomic History of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus

“…Although these groups were named, likely based on designations (e.g., Amorites, Hurrians), the formative context of their (cultural) identity and their geographic origins remain debated. One recent hypothesis (Weiss, 2014(Weiss, , 2017Akar and Kara, 2020) associates the arrival of these groups with climate-forced population movement during the ''4.2k BP event,'' a Mega Drought that led to the abandonment of the entire Khabur river valley in Northern Mesopotamia and the search of nearby habitable areas.…”

Human mobility at Tell Atchana (Alalakh), Hatay, Turkey during the 2nd millennium BC: Integration of isotopic and genomic evidence

“…We do not suggest that any of these groups are the actual source for admixture events. Indeed, based on archaeological and textual evidence, populations from northern Mesopotamia are among the likely genetic sources at Alalakh, especially the Hurrians and the Amorites, both groups known from texts to have been on the move in the region in the 3 rd and 2 nd millennia BC and which are attested in considerable numbers in the Alalakh texts [49,[77][78][79][235][236][237][238][239][240][241].…”

Human mobility at Tell Atchana (Alalakh) during the 2nd millennium BC: integration of isotopic and genomic evidence

“…We do not suggest that any of these groups are the actual source for admixture events. Indeed, based on archaeological and textual evidence, populations from northern Mesopotamia are among the likely genetic sources at Alalakh, especially the Hurrians and the Amorites, both groups known from texts to have been on the move in the region in the third and second millennia BC and which are attested in considerable numbers in the Alalakh texts[46,[53][54][55][206][207][208][209][210][211][212].…”