- Bilkent University, Faculty of Humanities and Letters, Department of Archaeology, 06800 Ankara, Turkey
Thomas Zimmermann
Bilkent University, Archaeology, Faculty Member
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Archaeology, Ancient History, Anatolian Archaeology, Early Bronze Age (Archaeology), Ancient Metallurgy, Chalcolithic Anatolia, and 19 moreAegean Prehistory. Anatolian Prehistory. Cypriot Prehistory. Archaeology of the Near East. Chalcolithic. Early Bronze Age. Inter- and intra-site organization in Prehistory. Policy, economy and society in Prehistory., Anatolian Studies, Middle Bronze Age, Anatolian Prehistory, Social Change During the Early Bronze Age, Prehistoric Western Anatolia, Anatolian Bronze Age Cultures, Luwian Identities, History, Archaeometry, Hittite archaeology, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Spectroscopy, portable XRF (PXRF) in Archaeology and Museum Science, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology, Archaeometallurgy, Aegean Archaeology, Balkan prehistory, Near Eastern Archaeology, and Hittite edit
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I am a archaeologist specializing in the pre- and early historic periods of Anatolia and Eurasia. I study early advan... moreI am a archaeologist specializing in the pre- and early historic periods of Anatolia and Eurasia. I study early advances in metal production and consumption, partly in connection with the emergence of elites in the 3rd millennium BCE. Another research focus I am more recently pursuing is human adaption to post-Pleistocene conditions in the Near East and Eurasia, in the frame of studies on cultural morphology. edit
A chapter on pXRF analysis of EBA metalwork from Kinet Höyük. Subject to copyright restrictions; full version available upon request.
Research Interests:
Anatolian Archaeology, Metallurgy, Bronze Age Archaeology, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Spectroscopy, Early Bronze Age (Archaeology), and 5 moreBronze and Iron Ages in Eastern Mediterranean (Archaeology), Ancient Anatolia, portable XRF (PXRF) in Archaeology and Museum Science, Ancient Metallurgy, and Early Bronze Age
This contribution attempts an alternative reading of exceptional burials with confirmed or alleged human sacrifice in the frame of cultural morphology, as applied by Oswald Spengler in his “Decline of the West” or “Man and Technique”.... more
This contribution attempts an alternative reading of exceptional burials with confirmed or alleged human sacrifice in the frame of cultural morphology, as applied by Oswald Spengler in his “Decline of the West” or “Man and Technique”. Arslantepe, Başur Höyük and Alaca Höyük are taken as model findspots to apply a morphological reading of cultural synchronisms observed at places divided by space and time. It is argued that despite their cultural heterogeneity, these places were subject to inescapable Spenglerian cycles of crisis and apotheosis that peaked in the ritual killings of humans as the “ultimate expense.”
PAPER SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS - CONTACT ME FOR THE FULL VERSION. MAKALENİN BÜTÜNÜ İÇİN MESAJ ATABİLİRSİNİZ.
PAPER SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS - CONTACT ME FOR THE FULL VERSION. MAKALENİN BÜTÜNÜ İÇİN MESAJ ATABİLİRSİNİZ.
Research Interests:
Anatolian Studies, Anatolian Archaeology, Archaeological Method & Theory, Chalcolithic Archaeology, Death and Burial (Archaeology), and 9 moreBurial Practices (Archaeology), Early Bronze Age (Archaeology), Anatolian Prehistory, Ancient Anatolia, Oswald Spengler, Early Bronze Age, Archaeology of death and burial, Burial Customs, and Cultural Morphology
This contribution reviews selected bone and stone plaques with double or multiple opposite perforations from Pre-Pottery Neolithic Near Eastern contexts in the light of them having possibly served as symbolic or protective archery... more
This contribution reviews selected bone and stone plaques with double or multiple opposite perforations from Pre-Pottery Neolithic Near Eastern contexts in the light of them having possibly served as symbolic or protective archery equipment. The presence of perforated plaques from Later Neolithic Europe is a well-attested phenomenon in funeral contexts and is commonly labelled as bracers or wrist-guards. With their actual practical purpose of efficiently preventing the forearm from the slashing of a bowstring being probably of subordinate importance, there seems to be a consensus that they were, if not protective, then symbolic adornments in connection with hunting as being not only a profane, food-acquiring routine but simultaneously a ritually loaded, status-enhancing endeavor. The same is assumed for specific “plaques” from much earlier post-Pleistocene contexts in Upper Mesopotamia, which might have served an identical purpose in the frame of cultural synchronism.
Full paper available at https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/pz-2023-2043/html
Full paper available at https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/pz-2023-2043/html
Research Interests:
This is an early article about the burial inventories from Kalınkaya-Toptaştepe, which were later published more extensively in German in the Istanbuler Mitteilungen 2007. There were occasional requests whether something in English was... more
This is an early article about the burial inventories from Kalınkaya-Toptaştepe, which were later published more extensively in German in the Istanbuler Mitteilungen 2007. There were occasional requests whether something in English was available, so - here it is!
Research Interests:
The following contribution discusses two previously unpublished relief pottery fragments from Kalınkaya-Toptaştepe, a small settlement mound with cemetery nearby Alaca that was occupied from the 4th through the (early) second millennia... more
The following contribution discusses two previously unpublished relief pottery fragments from Kalınkaya-Toptaştepe, a small settlement mound with cemetery nearby Alaca that was occupied from the 4th through the (early) second millennia BC. Pottery with relief decoration is known since the later Neolithic, however also a well attested feature in Hittite times and beyond. The two fragments in question were unearthed during the 1971 and 1973 rescue excavations at Kalınkaya, back then supervised by the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. Fragment KK 17-73 shows traces of a currently unique motive, with however close parallels registered amongst decorated pottery from the Early Bronze Age levels of Demircihöyük in the Eskişehir plain. KK 89-71, depicting a stag (?) can be tentatively dated to the Old Hittite period, thus confi rming the existence of an early 2nd millennium occupation horizon at Kalınkaya-Toptaştepe.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Near Eastern Archaeology, Anatolian Archaeology, Death and Burial (Archaeology), Ancient Near East, Burial Practices (Archaeology), and 6 moreEarly Bronze Age (Archaeology), Anatolian Archaeology (Archaeology), Ancient Anatolia, Early Bronze Age, Burial Customs, and Social Change During the Early Bronze Age
Erken Tunç Çağı’nda ticareti aydınlatmak için en görüntüsel objelerden biri “Suriye Şişeleri”dir. Bunlar, küresel, armut ya da yumurta formunda olabilmektedirler. Hakiki Mezopotamya ithali ve lokal kopyalar olarak tanınan bu şişe tipi, MÖ... more
Erken Tunç Çağı’nda ticareti aydınlatmak için en görüntüsel objelerden biri “Suriye Şişeleri”dir. Bunlar, küresel, armut ya da yumurta formunda olabilmektedirler. Hakiki Mezopotamya ithali ve lokal kopyalar olarak tanınan bu şişe tipi, MÖ 3. binyıla tarihlenmektedir. “Suriye Şişeleri” Mezopotamya’dan Anadolu’ya, Ege ve ötesine uzanan, birbirine bağlı kültürel bölgelerin haritalarının çıkartılabilmesi için ideal bir araç olarak kullanılmaktadır. Bulgaristan ve Kuzeybatı Anadolu’dan gelen yeni bulgular ışığında bu makale, yeni ve alternatif bir güzergâh olarak, Anadolu’nun Orta Karadeniz kıyısını takip ederek, diğer ticaret yollarından daha kuzeyde bulunan ek bir güzergâhı önermektedir. Bu güzergâhla birlikte söz konusu bölge, çağdaş İstanbul’un da dahil olduğu bir bölgeyi pas geçmeyerek, Doğu-Batı malzeme ve fikir alışverişi için entegre sağlamaktadır.
Research Interests:
Near Eastern Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anatolian Archaeology, Bronze Age Europe (Archaeology), Bronze Age Archaeology, and 6 morePrehistoric Western Anatolia, Early Bronze Age (Archaeology), Anatolian Archaeology (Archaeology), Ancient Trade & Commerce (Archaeology), Anatolian Prehistory, and Bulgarian archaeology
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Got a bit tired of academic prose and wrote a Science Fiction short story instead; probably the start of a small series which will be a bit less tongue-in-cheek as the present one.... published bilingually in the forthcoming issue of our... more
Got a bit tired of academic prose and wrote a Science Fiction short story instead; probably the start of a small series which will be a bit less tongue-in-cheek as the present one.... published bilingually in the forthcoming issue of our Newsletter - Enjoy!
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(Short popular article published bilingually in English and Turkish in our relaunched departmental newletter)
Research Interests:
This contribution targets a puzzling phenomenon related to the inception of extractive metallurgy in Anatolia. After the first successful smelting of copper ores at Mersin-Yumuktepe around 5.000 BCE, a “great void” seems to prevail for... more
This contribution targets a puzzling phenomenon related to the inception of extractive metallurgy in Anatolia. After the first successful smelting of copper ores at Mersin-Yumuktepe around 5.000 BCE, a “great void” seems to prevail for about 1,5 millennia, with very little if anything substantial to report in terms of metal production and consumption for most sites in Central and Western Turkey. The Eastern Balkans, in sharp contrast, engage in flourishing manufacturing and circulation of metals and eventually are
the key region to trigger the “second coming” of Anatolian metalwork in the later 4th millennium BCE. The following lines will attempt to review and scrutinize crucial developments related to the waning and waxing of Anatolian metalwork in the 5th and 4th millennia BCE, and to reappraise Balkan metallurgy as a potential impetus for a new and very different technological and social approach to metallurgy at large in the Anatolian late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age.
the key region to trigger the “second coming” of Anatolian metalwork in the later 4th millennium BCE. The following lines will attempt to review and scrutinize crucial developments related to the waning and waxing of Anatolian metalwork in the 5th and 4th millennia BCE, and to reappraise Balkan metallurgy as a potential impetus for a new and very different technological and social approach to metallurgy at large in the Anatolian late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age.
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This contribution first challenges the traditional view of a linear, gradually advancing, and unbroken development of metalwork in Anatolia, with the simple mechanical treatment of solid copper as an indispensable precursor for complex... more
This contribution first challenges the traditional view of a linear, gradually advancing, and unbroken development of metalwork in Anatolia, with the simple mechanical treatment of solid copper as an indispensable precursor for complex extractive metallurgy. The present evidence rather testifies to a “second coming” of metalwork in the second half of the 4th millennium BC, after metallurgical activities remained largely idle after their inception around 5.000 BC. In the second part, phenomena like the absence of founder’s burials in Bronze Age Anatolia are reviewed, to deliberate about the communication of skill and knowledge for smelting, casting and refining metal.
Research Interests:
Near Eastern Archaeology, Anatolian Archaeology, Metalwork (Archaeology), Chalcolithic Archaeology, Ancient Near East, and 8 moreAncient Technology (Archaeology), Bronze Age (Archaeology), Early Bronze Age (Archaeology), Anatolian Archaeology (Archaeology), Anatolian Prehistory, Ancient Metallurgy, Archaeology of burials, and Copper age
Zusammenfassung: Folgender Beitrag behandelt die vorerst einzige bekannte Gussform für sogenannte 'Syrische Flaschen', einen ursprünglich in Mesopotamien beheimateten Gefäβtypus des mittleren 3. Jahrtausends v. Chr., der in den folgenden... more
Zusammenfassung: Folgender Beitrag behandelt die vorerst einzige bekannte Gussform für sogenannte 'Syrische Flaschen', einen ursprünglich in Mesopotamien beheimateten Gefäβtypus des mittleren 3. Jahrtausends v. Chr., der in den folgenden Jahrhunderten sowohl als Import als auch lokale Kopie aus einschlägigen Fundzusammenhängen Anatoliens, der Ägäis und Südosteuropas bekannt ist. Einige dieser 'syrischen' Flaschen wurden aus Metall gefertigt, wobei die goldene kugelförmige Flasche aus dem troianischen "Schatzfund A" die wohl bekannteste Variante repräsentiert. Die hier vorgestellte Gussform diente ebenso zur Anfertigung bauchiger Flaschen vom troianischen Typus, Nassgusssand hätte möglicherweise als Hilfsmittel für die Herstellung gedient-die Form wurde jedoch offenkundig nie zum Guss verwendet. Eine kritische Autopsie technischer Details wie Gusskanälen oder Passstiftlöchern belegt, dass sich vergleichbare anatolische Gussformen für Gebrauchsgerät in das früheste zweite und wohl auch späte 3. vorchristliche Jahrtausend datieren lassen. Die Gussform aus Lipnik kann daher als bislang einzigartiges, lokal gefertigtes Sachzeugnis für den Guss von Flaschen "syrischen" Typs im Rahmen der einschlägig bekannten interregionalen Kontakte zwischen Mesopotamien, Anatolien, der Ägäis und Südosteuropa im späteren 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr. verstanden werden.
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Oswald Spengler, a brilliant yet controversial philosopher of history, is probably best known for his seminal “Decline of the West”. In this book, Spengler boldly claimed to not only to contextualize world history, but also predict future... more
Oswald Spengler, a brilliant yet controversial philosopher of history, is probably best known for his seminal “Decline of the West”. In this book, Spengler boldly claimed to not only to contextualize world history, but also predict future developments on the basis of understanding cultures as cyclical entities with dynamics akin to those of organic beings. Misread, shunned, and finally subject to academic oblivion in the second half of the 20th century, aspects of cultural morphology are currently rediscovered by a variety of disciplines including palaeoanthropology, ancient history, and ancient Near Eastern studies as potentially powerful tools to review regional or supra-regional phenomena like crisis, change, and adaption from a different, “Spenglerian” angle. This contribution argues that aspects of morphological thought as outlined in the “Decline”, but also in his later works can be immensely beneficial to scrutinize the mechanisms of change and apotheosis—the original meaning of “decline” in Spengler’s work!—in prehistoric contexts. Case studies from archaeology are used as a backdrop to highlight the possibilities and limits of cultural morphology as a methodological baseline to engage in current archaeological debates
Research Interests:
History, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anatolian Archaeology, Neolithic Archaeology, and 10 moreNeolithic Transition, Hunter-Gatherers (Anthropology), Anatolian Prehistory, Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology, Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene, Oswald Spengler, Göbekli Tepe, Early Neolithic, Cultural Identity and Morphological Analysis, and Kulturmorphologie
SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS - FOR FULL ARTICLE PLEASE CONTACT ME VIA ACADEMIA / zimmer@bilkent.edu.tr
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Research Interests:
Priestly Kings and Master Smiths? Remarks on the (Non)visibility of Metalworkers in the Burial Rite of the Anatolian Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC). This article discusses the visibility of founders or metal craftsmen in the graves... more
Priestly Kings and Master Smiths? Remarks on the (Non)visibility of Metalworkers in the Burial Rite of the Anatolian Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC). This article discusses the visibility of founders or metal craftsmen in the graves of Early Bronze Age Anatolia (ca. 3000–1950 BC). The examination of relevant burials from 3rd millennium BC cemeteries in Central and Western Turkey did not produce any assemblages containing diagnostic items like crucibles, cushion stones or other casting equipment, which is noteworthy given the abundance of metalworking features from domestic Early Bronze Age contexts. ‘Showcase’ inventories from Troia or Alaca Höyük, although said to contain metallurgical items, in fact do not support this peculiar type of burial group, which at present seems not to occur in Anatolia.
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Research Interests:
Anatolian Archaeology, Metalwork (Archaeology), Hittite, Bronze Age Archaeology, Late Bronze Age archaeology, and 7 moreAnatolian Archaeology (Archaeology), Bronze and Iron Ages in Eastern Mediterranean (Archaeology), Ancient Anatolia, portable XRF (PXRF) in Archaeology and Museum Science, Hittite archaeology, The Hittites, and Hittites
Latince anguis ya da serpens denilen sürüngen türünün, çağlar boyunca çok fazla olumlu şöhret sahibi olmadığı rahatlıkla söylenebilir. Latince anguis ya da serpens denilen sürüngen türünün, çağlar boyunca çok fazla olumlu şöhret sahibi... more
Latince anguis ya da serpens denilen sürüngen türünün, çağlar boyunca çok fazla olumlu şöhret sahibi olmadığı rahatlıkla söylenebilir. Latince anguis ya da serpens denilen sürüngen türünün, çağlar boyunca çok fazla olumlu şöhret sahibi olmadığı rahatlıkla söylenebilir. Büyük ayartıcı, kötü ruhların alameti gibi simge-lenmiş bu hayvan türü, çağdaş pop kültüründe halen farklılık ve ötekiliği vurgulamak üzere kışkırtıcı bir araç olarak kullanılmak-tadır. Örnek olarak yılansız bir Alice Cooper'ı sahnede hayal etmek güçtür (bkz: son sayfa) Bununla birlikte, yılan motifi ile karanlık dünya ve maddeleşmiş kötülüğe bağlı olan bir geleneği takip etmek oldukça kolaydır. İkonografide en temel tasvirlerden birisi, Adem, Havva ve kötülüğü simgeleyen yılan kompozisyonudur. Başka Hıristiyan efsanelerinden birinde, Aziz Paulus, gemi kazasından sonra Malta adasında karaya ayak basarken bir viper tarafından ısırılmış, ısırık elbette ki etkisiz kalmış ve Paulus kutsal görevine devam etmiştir (Aziz olmak bazı durumlarda bir avantaj sayılabilir). Cinsellik, yılan ile bağlanabilecek bir başka kavramdır. Kalkmış bir şekilde dik duran bir yılan, birtakım tasvirde oldukça açık bir şekil-de erkek cinsel organını temsil etmektedir. Kadın söz konusu oldu-ğunda ise, Afrika kıtasında çok yaygın olan bir halk inancına göre, doğum prosedürü rahmi ısıran bir yılan tarafından tetiklenmekte; ayrıca reglin sebebi de, hiç iyileşmeyen yara yapan bir "sihirli yılanın" ısırığı olarak görülmekte. Daha olumlu yılan sembolleri ve efsaneleri ararken, elbette meş-hur Ourobouros motifi anlatılmadan geçilmez. İlk kez M.S. 1. yüz-yılda da "Kleopatra'nın altın üretimi" adlı metnin M.S. 11. yüzyıldan kalma elyazması kopyasında çıkan kendi kuyruğunu ısıran daire-sel yılan motifi, bitmez bir yaşam-ölüm ve tekrar doğum döngüsü, sonsuz yenilenme, içebakış ya da içgözlem olarak simgesel anlam taşımaktadır (bkz: şekil 1).Ünlü piskolog Carl Gustav Jung'a göre, Ourobouros sembolü, "insan ruhu için son derece etkili olan vaz-geçilmez merkezi bir arketip" tir. Bununla birlikte, Gnostik ve Her-metik gelenleklerde günümüze kadar birçok ezoterik kurumlarda simge olarak karşımıza çıkıyor. Helena Blavatksy tarafından kurulan Teosofik Kurumu (bkz: şekil 2) birçok örnekten sadece biridir. Yılan, genelde negatif imajının tam tersi olarak, Kızılderili inancı-na göre, özellikle Navajo mitolojisinde, son derece olumlu, büyük önem taşıyan bir varlıktır. Onların yaradılış mitolojisine göre, dünyada hayat başladığında bütün varlıkların birleşiminden oluşan Göbekli Tepe, Çanak Çömleksiz Neolitik ve serpens tasvirlere farklı bir bakış Yılana karşı fobi düzeyinde korkular, bilinçaltında yatan iç dünyamızda çok derin bir şekilde oyulmuş durumda. Yüzbinlerce sene geçtikten sonra biz hala arabalar, yüksek hızlı trenler, elektrikli eşyalar ya da priz gibi potansiyel tehlikesi olan icatlardan fobi duymuyoruz, artık çoğu zararsız olan örümcek, böcek ve başta yılan olmak üzere bu tür hayvanlardan korkuyoruz. Görüyoruz ki evrimsel mirasımız bizi hala şekillendiriyor.
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The following contribution presents the results from the portable X-Ray fluorescence (p-XRF) analysis of the Early Bronze Age metal dagger from Karaburun, found in 2015 and first published in 2018. The non-destructive analysis revealed... more
The following contribution presents the results from the portable X-Ray fluorescence (p-XRF) analysis of the Early Bronze Age metal dagger from Karaburun, found in 2015 and first published in 2018. The non-destructive analysis revealed the dagger's chemical composition as arsenical (1.10%) copper (98.22%), an alloy used since the reinvigoration of Ana-tolian metalwork in the mid IVth millennium B.C. A review of current excavations and geology-based surveys in the region confirms the impression that our dagger might well have been produced by a local workshop in the vicinity of modern İzmir, or even on the Karaburun peninsula itself.
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Prehistoric Archaeology, Anatolian Archaeology, Archaeometry, Prehistoric Western Anatolia, Early Bronze Age (Archaeology), and 6 moreAnatolian Archaeology (Archaeology), portable XRF (PXRF) in Archaeology and Museum Science, Ancient Metallurgy, Early Bronze Age, Ancient Mining and Metallurgy, and Ancient Weapons and Warfare
Şimdiye kadar bu dünyada virüs kaynaklı salgın hastalıkların oluşumu, gelişimi ve küresel yayılımı hakkında üç büyük tarihi dönüşüm olmuştur: Bunlardan ilki, tarım ve hayvancılığın ortaya çıktığı dönem, yani erken Neolitik Dönem’dir.... more
Şimdiye kadar bu dünyada virüs kaynaklı salgın hastalıkların oluşumu, gelişimi ve küresel yayılımı hakkında üç büyük tarihi dönüşüm olmuştur: Bunlardan ilki, tarım ve hayvancılığın ortaya çıktığı dönem, yani erken Neolitik Dönem’dir. İkincisi, büyük Assur, Roma ya da Çin İmparatorluğu zamanlarında, insanların kıtalararası hareketleri nedeniyle hastalıkları yaymasıdır. Bu da barışçıl dönemlerde ticaret ilişkileri esnasında, saldırgan dönmelerde ise askeri ve ordu hareketlerinin yoğunlaşmasıyla gerçekleşmiştir. Üçüncü ve çağdaş tarihe en yakın olan dönüşüm ise, 1500 civarında ve sonraki dönemde, Avrupa devletlerinin Amerika, Avustralya gibi yeni kıtalara yayılması ve oralarda koloniler kurmasıdır.
Bizim buradaki katkımızın amacı, yukarıda bahsi geçen ilk dönüşüme, yani erken Neolitik Dönem’e daha detaylı bir göz atmaktır. Özellikle türümüz için potansiyel tehlike olan mikrop ve diğer patogenlerin nasıl ve neden insanları etkilemeye başladığı konusuna ışık tutmaktır. Bu hedefe yaklaşmak için de öncelikle günümüzden yaklaşık 12.000 sene öncesine dönüp bugüne kadar devam eden süreç içerisinde, hayat tarzımızı somut bir şekilde irdelemektir
Bizim buradaki katkımızın amacı, yukarıda bahsi geçen ilk dönüşüme, yani erken Neolitik Dönem’e daha detaylı bir göz atmaktır. Özellikle türümüz için potansiyel tehlike olan mikrop ve diğer patogenlerin nasıl ve neden insanları etkilemeye başladığı konusuna ışık tutmaktır. Bu hedefe yaklaşmak için de öncelikle günümüzden yaklaşık 12.000 sene öncesine dönüp bugüne kadar devam eden süreç içerisinde, hayat tarzımızı somut bir şekilde irdelemektir
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The following contribution attempts to reconcile aspects of Cultural Morphology as outlined by Oswald Spengler in his seminal Decline of the West and Man & Technics with archaeological observations dating to the transitional period from... more
The following contribution attempts to reconcile aspects of Cultural Morphology as outlined by Oswald Spengler in his seminal Decline of the West and Man & Technics with archaeological observations dating to the transitional period from the Epipalaeolithic to the Early Holocene in the so-called Fertile Crescent (ca. 10.000 BC). The finds and features of Göbeklitepe and related sites of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) in Upper Mesopotamia are reevaluated, to allow a different reading of the emergence of monumental architecture as the cultural climax of a then declining hunter-and-gatherer tradition, and not the prelude for a new era shaped by animal husbandry and agriculture.
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Cultural History, Anatolian Archaeology, Hunters, Fishers and Gatherers' Archaeology, Mesolithic/Epipalaeolithic Archaeology, Neolithic Archaeology, and 7 moreMegalithic Monuments, The Neolithic Revolution, Anatolian Prehistory, Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene, Oswald Spengler, Göbekli Tepe, and Cultural Morphology
The article attempts an alternative and anthropological-based hypothesis to explain the abundance of snake motives in the Earliest Near Eastern Neolithic, contrasted with their relative scarcity in later times. The focus is mainly, but... more
The article attempts an alternative and anthropological-based hypothesis to explain the abundance of snake motives in the Earliest Near Eastern Neolithic, contrasted with their relative scarcity in later times. The focus is mainly, but not exclusively, on the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) of Southeast Turkey, with sites like Göbekli Tepe and Körtik Tepe having produced a huge number of snake motives applied to a variety of materials and items. The predominance of the snake motive is then related to venomous serpents being a cardinal thread to hominids and humans throughout their evolutionary history, and particularly to early farmers, where snakes were a notorious hidden danger for semi-sedentary, crop-cultivating communities.
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Near Eastern Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Anatolian Archaeology, Neolithic Archaeology, and 9 moreReligion and ritual in prehistory, Neolithic Transition, Prehistoric Art, Mesolithic/Neolithic, Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Göbekli Tepe, Early Neolithic, Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, and Snakes
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Contemplating the emergence, impact and (self-)display of privileged groups within pre- and early historic societies rose to prominence again in the past decades. For Anatolia, the Early Bronze Age period (roughly 3.000 – 1.950 BCE)... more
Contemplating the emergence, impact and (self-)display of privileged groups within pre- and early historic societies rose to prominence again in the past decades. For Anatolia, the Early Bronze Age period (roughly 3.000 – 1.950 BCE) provides an ideal arena for tracing the rise of social elites at large: a boom in metal production and consumption – as seen at iconic places like Troia and Alaca Höyük, elaborate burials and distinctive architectural enhancements are traditionally considered to be benchmarks of a solid material framework that assists the relevant discussions. However, the presence of elite groups in ancient Turkey is not necessarily limited to conservative indicators like exquisite metalwork, lavishly furnished tombs and extrovert domestic architecture. The aim of this contribution is to discuss alternative, more subtle indicators to highlight the presence of high-ranked communities in 3rd millennium BCE Anatolia.
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This article reexamines a group of Early Bronze Age metal objects from graves at Alaca Höyük originally interpreted as „spearheads“ or „tips of a flagpole“. It is suggested that they were instead used either as tattooing equipment or as... more
This article reexamines a group of Early Bronze Age metal objects from graves at Alaca Höyük originally interpreted as „spearheads“ or „tips of a flagpole“. It is suggested that they were instead used either as tattooing equipment or as cattle-prods. Their shape and form allows for the first of these possible functions: body painting or tattooing as a ritual or medical exercise is attested by primary sources in Central Europe from at least Neolithic times, and is to expected for the Anatolian Early Bronze Age as well, judging from the ornament style on certain figurines. However, some of these items reveal conspicuous wooden traces and so an alternative explanation is that they were attached to a short rod, and perhaps used as cattle-prods in ceremonial processions.
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#throwbackTuesday part II. My first joint paper on Bronze Age metalwork, year 2000....
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#ThrowBackTuesday - My first ever published paper, on a Late Bronze Age cremation burial excavated in Lower Bavaria :)
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For a long time the reassessment of the southern and western Black Sea coast cultural landscape during the early Metal Ages as a whole has been an academic void. However, several imponderabilia appear when looking at the particular... more
For a long time the reassessment of the southern and western Black Sea coast cultural landscape during the early Metal Ages as a whole has been an academic void. However, several imponderabilia appear when looking at the particular regions. This problems mostly depend on the diverging state of research in different areas and modern countries. Besides the reevaluation of the old dates only modern excavations with proper documentation and dated stratigraphies can help to solve the current problems and reassess this cultural landscape.
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Near Eastern Archaeology, Anatolian Archaeology, Early Bronze Age (Archaeology), and Aegean Prehistory. Anatolian Prehistory. Cypriot Prehistory. Archaeology of the Near East. Chalcolithic. Early Bronze Age. Inter- and intra-site organization in Prehistory. Policy, economy and society in Prehistory.
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All That Glitters Is Not Gold, Nor All That Sparkles Silver - Ancient Anatolian Jewellery Unveiled
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Opening Ceremony and Cocktail: Saturday, November 8 2014