A Convergence of Cultures at the East’s Gateway to the West: New Insight into the Prehistory of Northeast Anatolia in Light of the Excavation at Çiğdemtepe Mound
The Kura-Araxes culture, one of the significant cultural phenomena of the Eastern Anatolian prehistory, originated in the second half of the 4th millennium BC with a sphere of influence that was pervasive in Transcaucasia and Northeast Anatolia including Çiğdemtepe until the end of the 3rd millenniu...
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Istanbul University Press
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Anadolu Araştırmaları |
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| Online Access: | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/517119EB3FE24A6C98795D14EEF905CC |
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| author | Umut Parıltı Erman Akyüz |
| author_facet | Umut Parıltı Erman Akyüz |
| author_sort | Umut Parıltı |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Kura-Araxes culture, one of the significant cultural phenomena of the Eastern Anatolian prehistory, originated in the second half of the 4th millennium BC with a sphere of influence that was pervasive in Transcaucasia and Northeast Anatolia including Çiğdemtepe until the end of the 3rd millennium BC. Çiğdemtepe Mound is situated within the borders of the province of Bayburt in Northeastern Anatolia among the Kura-Araxes culture, an area of research with few publications. Although the existence of Kura-Araxes culture in the Bayburt region was determined during surveys conducted in the 1940s, only the settlement records of the Büyüktepe Mound excavations carried out by Sagona in the 1990s are available. However, the excavations in this regard are not sufficient to illuminate the economic and cultural characteristics of the culture. Therefore, determining the material culture of Kura-Araxes through their dominant local features at Çiğdemtepe Mound is of great importance. The most significant artifact obtained from the Çiğdemtepe Mound excavations is the black-topped ceramic assemblage, the first of its kind to be documented in Northeast Anatolia. This type of ceramic group is known from Central Anatolia to be contemporary with the Kura-Araxes culture, and discovering this alongside the other finds at the mound is striking. Kura Araxes ceramics are handcrafted and burnished with red inner and black outer surfaces, which has been attested across Transcaucasia. The black-topped ceramics from Central Anatolia have a black interior and a red-to-brown outer surface. Apart from the combination of these two cultural variations, which have exhibited dominant local characteristics extending to the East and West, the magnificent monumental architecture, other portable small finds, and stratigraphic details also stand out, revealing the transition of the area from the Late Chalcolithic Age to the Early Bronze Age and unveiling the cultural interactions, transformations, and developments that had occurred in the Early Bronze Age. Related archeological records consist of movable and immovable cultural assets, age analyses of charred wood samples, and literature reviews. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-08ece4622b9949ef81494ddff8564b96 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2667-629X |
| language | deu |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Istanbul University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Anadolu Araştırmaları |
| spelling | doaj-art-08ece4622b9949ef81494ddff8564b962025-08-20T03:52:07ZdeuIstanbul University PressAnadolu Araştırmaları2667-629X2022-12-012712910.26650/anar.2022.1194798123456A Convergence of Cultures at the East’s Gateway to the West: New Insight into the Prehistory of Northeast Anatolia in Light of the Excavation at Çiğdemtepe MoundUmut Parıltı0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9895-4926Erman Akyüz1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0724-0942Atatürk Üniversitesi, Erzurum, TurkiyeKültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Ankara, TurkiyeThe Kura-Araxes culture, one of the significant cultural phenomena of the Eastern Anatolian prehistory, originated in the second half of the 4th millennium BC with a sphere of influence that was pervasive in Transcaucasia and Northeast Anatolia including Çiğdemtepe until the end of the 3rd millennium BC. Çiğdemtepe Mound is situated within the borders of the province of Bayburt in Northeastern Anatolia among the Kura-Araxes culture, an area of research with few publications. Although the existence of Kura-Araxes culture in the Bayburt region was determined during surveys conducted in the 1940s, only the settlement records of the Büyüktepe Mound excavations carried out by Sagona in the 1990s are available. However, the excavations in this regard are not sufficient to illuminate the economic and cultural characteristics of the culture. Therefore, determining the material culture of Kura-Araxes through their dominant local features at Çiğdemtepe Mound is of great importance. The most significant artifact obtained from the Çiğdemtepe Mound excavations is the black-topped ceramic assemblage, the first of its kind to be documented in Northeast Anatolia. This type of ceramic group is known from Central Anatolia to be contemporary with the Kura-Araxes culture, and discovering this alongside the other finds at the mound is striking. Kura Araxes ceramics are handcrafted and burnished with red inner and black outer surfaces, which has been attested across Transcaucasia. The black-topped ceramics from Central Anatolia have a black interior and a red-to-brown outer surface. Apart from the combination of these two cultural variations, which have exhibited dominant local characteristics extending to the East and West, the magnificent monumental architecture, other portable small finds, and stratigraphic details also stand out, revealing the transition of the area from the Late Chalcolithic Age to the Early Bronze Age and unveiling the cultural interactions, transformations, and developments that had occurred in the Early Bronze Age. Related archeological records consist of movable and immovable cultural assets, age analyses of charred wood samples, and literature reviews.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/517119EB3FE24A6C98795D14EEF905CCçiğdemtepe moundnortheastern anatoliabayburtkura-araxesblack-topped |
| spellingShingle | Umut Parıltı Erman Akyüz A Convergence of Cultures at the East’s Gateway to the West: New Insight into the Prehistory of Northeast Anatolia in Light of the Excavation at Çiğdemtepe Mound Anadolu Araştırmaları çiğdemtepe mound northeastern anatolia bayburt kura-araxes black-topped |
| title | A Convergence of Cultures at the East’s Gateway to the West: New Insight into the Prehistory of Northeast Anatolia in Light of the Excavation at Çiğdemtepe Mound |
| title_full | A Convergence of Cultures at the East’s Gateway to the West: New Insight into the Prehistory of Northeast Anatolia in Light of the Excavation at Çiğdemtepe Mound |
| title_fullStr | A Convergence of Cultures at the East’s Gateway to the West: New Insight into the Prehistory of Northeast Anatolia in Light of the Excavation at Çiğdemtepe Mound |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Convergence of Cultures at the East’s Gateway to the West: New Insight into the Prehistory of Northeast Anatolia in Light of the Excavation at Çiğdemtepe Mound |
| title_short | A Convergence of Cultures at the East’s Gateway to the West: New Insight into the Prehistory of Northeast Anatolia in Light of the Excavation at Çiğdemtepe Mound |
| title_sort | convergence of cultures at the east s gateway to the west new insight into the prehistory of northeast anatolia in light of the excavation at cigdemtepe mound |
| topic | çiğdemtepe mound northeastern anatolia bayburt kura-araxes black-topped |
| url | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/517119EB3FE24A6C98795D14EEF905CC |
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