Home Seshat Region: Anatolia-Caucasus (Southwest Asia)
Konya Plain - Ceramic Neolithic
G SC WF HS
  tr_konya_mnl / TrNeoCR
* A polity is defined as an independent political unit. Kinds of polities range from villages (local communities) through simple and complex chiefdoms to states and empires. A polity can be either centralized or not (e.g., organized as a confederation). For those periods when a region is divided up among a multitude of small-scale polities (e.g., independent villages or even many small chiefdoms) or when it is controlled in quick succession by a number of different regimes, we use the concept of 'quasi-polity'.

No General Descriptions provided.

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:  36 S   Original Name:  Konya Plain - Ceramic Neolithic   Capital:  NO_VALUE_ON_WIKI   Alternative Name:  Ceramic Neolithic / Neolithikum Keramik in der Ebene von Konya / Neolithique Ceramique sur la Plaine de Konya / Konya Seramik Neolitik Ovalar  
Temporal Bounds
Suprapolity Relations:  unknown   Duration:  [7,000 BCE ➜ 6,600 BCE]   Degree of Centralization:  unknown  
Language
Linguistic Family:  NO_VALUE_ON_WIKI   Language:  NO_VALUE_ON_WIKI  
Supra-cultural relations
Succeeding Entity:  Konya Plain - Late Neolithic   Preceding Entity:  Konya Plain - Early Neolithic  
Social Complexity Variables
Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:  1   Religious Level:  1   Military Level:  1   Administrative Level:  1  
Professions
Professional Soldier:  unknown   Professional Priesthood:  unknown   Professional Military Officer:  unknown  
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Specialized Government Building:  absent   Merit Promotion:  absent   Full Time Bureaucrat:  absent   Examination System:  absent  
Law
Professional Lawyer:  unknown   Judge:  unknown   Formal Legal Code:  unknown   Court:  unknown  
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Market:  absent   Irrigation System:  absent  
Transport Infrastructure
Road:  absent   Port:  absent   Canal:  absent   Bridge:  absent  
Information / Writing System
Written Record:  absent   Script:  absent   Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:  absent   Mnemonic Device:  unknown  
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:  absent   Sacred Text:  absent   Religious Literature:  absent   Practical Literature:  absent   Philosophy:  absent   Lists Tables and Classification:  absent   History:  absent   Fiction:  absent   Calendar:  absent  
Information / Money
Token:  absent   Paper Currency:  absent   Indigenous Coin:  absent   Foreign Coin:  absent   Article:  absent  
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Wooden Palisade:  absent   Stone Walls Non Mortared:  unknown   Stone Walls Mortared:  absent   Settlements in a Defensive Position:  present   Modern Fortification:  absent   Moat:  absent   Fortified Camp:  absent   Earth Rampart:  absent   Ditch:  absent   Complex Fortification:  absent   Long Wall:  absent  
Military use of Metals
Steel:  absent   Iron:  absent   Copper:  absent   Bronze:  absent  
Projectiles
Tension Siege Engine:  absent   Sling Siege Engine:  absent   Sling:  unknown   Self Bow:  present   Javelin:  present   Handheld Firearm:  absent   Gunpowder Siege Artillery:  absent   Crossbow:  absent   Composite Bow:  absent   Atlatl:  absent  
Handheld weapons
War Club:  unknown   Sword:  absent   Spear:  unknown   Polearm:  unknown   Dagger:  present   Battle Axe:  unknown  
Animals used in warfare
Horse:  absent   Elephant:  absent   Donkey:  present / absent   Dog:  present   Camel:  absent  
Armor
Wood Bark Etc:  unknown   Shield:  unknown   Scaled Armor:  absent   Plate Armor:  absent   Limb Protection:  absent   Leather Cloth:  unknown   Laminar Armor:  absent   Helmet:  absent   Chainmail:  absent   Breastplate:  absent  
Naval technology
Specialized Military Vessel:  absent   Small Vessels Canoes Etc:  unknown   Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service:  absent  

Human Sacrifice Data: Nothing coded yet.


Crisis Consequences Data: Nothing coded yet.


Power Transitions Data: Nothing coded yet.


NGA Settlements:

Year Range Konya Plain - Ceramic Neolithic (tr_konya_mnl) was in:
 (7000 BCE 6601 BCE)   Konya Plain
Home NGA: Konya Plain

General Variables

Identity and Location

Konya Plain - Ceramic Neolithic


Ceramic Neolithic Neolithikum Keramik in der Ebene von Konya Neolithique Ceramique sur la Plaine de Konya Konya Seramik Neolitik Ovalar

Ceramic Neolithic; Neolithikum Keramik in der Ebene von Konya; Néolithique Céramique sur la Plaine de Konya; Konya Seramik Neolitik Ovalar ... this is not machine readable.

Language

NO_VALUE_ON_WIKI

inapplicable

Supra-cultural relations
Konya Plain - Late Neolithic

Konya Plain - Early Neolithic

Social Complexity Variables

Hierarchical Complexity



1

village management by council and / or chiefs [1]

Reference(s):

[1]: Yakar Y. 2011. Anatolian Chronology and Terminolog [in]: Steadman S, R., G. McMahon (eds.) "The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia 10,000- 323 B.C.E." Oxford University Press.

Specialized Buildings: polity owned

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)

Fortifications
absent

not yet found in settlements such as Çatal Höyük


unknown

No information in the archaeological evidence for this time, even if stone architecture has been found in Göbekli Tepe, it does not appear to be for military purposes [1]

Reference(s):

[1]: https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_a/advanced/ta_1_2b.html


absent

Only archaeological evidence for mudbrick walls at this time


Settlements in a Defensive Position:
present

Base camps with fortified walls are present, defending against animal or human attackers [1]

Reference(s):

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 39-42) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


absent

Technology not yet available


absent

not yet found in settlements such as Çatal Höyük


absent

Technology not yet available


absent

not yet found in settlements such as Çatal Höyük


absent

not yet found in settlements such as Çatal Höyük


absent

Technology not yet available


Military use of Metals
absent

Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later


absent

Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later


absent

Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later. Beads and tools carved from copper have been found but no weapons or smelting at this time [1]

Reference(s):

[1]: https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_a/advanced/ta_1_2c.html


absent

Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later

Projectiles
absent

Not invented yet


absent

Not invented yet


unknown

According to a military historian (this data needs to be checked by a polity specialist) 4500 BCE: "Sling invented at Catal Huyuk in Anatolia." [1] The shape and appearance of the blunt force traumatic injuries identified at Çatalhöyük are consistent with injuries from both handheld blunt objects but also from projectiles - thrown stones or other objects. The number, shape, and location on the top and back of the cranium suggest that objects, thrown or sling-delivered, support an association. [2]

Reference(s):

[1]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport.

[2]: Christopher J. Knüsel, Bonnie Glencross, ‘Çatalhöyük, Archaeology, Violence’, ‘’Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture’’, Volume 24, 2017, pp. 29-32


present

At Çatalhöyük clay balls have been interpreted as sling ammunition."The use of the sling is alos attested in wall art that features a purported slinger." [1] According to a military historian (this data needs to be checked by a polity specialist) "The bow was probably between 6,000 and 10,000 years old by the dawn of the Bronze Age". [2] Was the bow used in warfare?

Reference(s):

[1]: (Knüsel: Glencross and Milella 2019: 83) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/WH6NHDHM.

[2]: (Gabriel 2002, 27-28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.


present

Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these though [1]

Reference(s):

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


absent

Not invented yet


absent

Not invented yet



absent

"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE." [1] "The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE." [2]

Reference(s):

[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018.

[2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London.


Handheld weapons
unknown

According to a military historian (this data needs to be checked by a polity specialist) "The mace was among man’s oldest weapons (at least 6000 B.C.E. at Catal Huyuk)". [1] The shape and appearance of the blunt force traumatic injuries identified at Çatalhöyük are consistent with injuries from both handheld blunt objects but also from projectiles-thrown stones or other objects. The number, shape, and location on the top and back of the cranium suggest that objects, thrown or sling-delivered, support an association. [2]

Reference(s):

[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 51) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.

[2]: Christopher J. Knüsel, Bonnie Glencross, ‘Çatalhöyük, Archaeology, Violence’, ‘’Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture’’, Volume 24, 2017, pp. 29-32


absent

According to a military historian (this data needs to be checked by a polity specialist) "All armies after the seventeenth century B.C.E. carried the sword, but in none was it a major weapon of close combat; rather, it was used when the soldier’s primary weapons, the spear and axe, were lost or broken." [1]

Reference(s):

[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 26-27) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.


unknown

No information in the archaeological evidence for this time


unknown

No information in the archaeological evidence for this time


present

Bone needles/knives were present by 7200 BC, but no hard evidence for use in warfare [1] Stone blades had been in production in Iraq/Iran since the Paleolithic: ’The Baradostian lithic industry is dominated by blade production. Characteristic tools include slender points, backed blades and bladelets, twisted bladelets with various kinds of light retouch, end scrapers, discoidal scrapers, side scrapers, and burins.’ [2] Obsidian blades have also been found for this period [3] Knife blades became longer during this time but this was for butchery rather than warfare [4]

Reference(s):

[1]: (Alizadeh 2003, 82)

[2]: Nicholas J. Conard, Elham Ghasidian, and Saman Heydari-Guran, ’The Paleolithic of Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, pp. 38-39

[3]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 57

[4]: (Leverani 2014, 41) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


unknown

No information in the archaeological evidence for this time

Animals used in warfare
absent

Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later


absent

Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later


present absent

I don’t understand the reference to ’donkeys’ at Tepcik-ciflik if the the species was only domesticated and at much later time and in Africa. In the Near East pack animals appears by around 7000 BC onward. [1] "The donkey was probably domesticated from the African wild ass ’in more than one place’ but for the Nubian subspecies 5500-4500 BCE in the Sudan. [2] (Only in Africa, presumably, so the donkey would not have been here yet). "Well before 3000 BC donkeys in Upper Egypt were trained to carry loads." [3]

Reference(s):

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 41) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.

[2]: (Mitchell 2018, 39) Peter Mitchell 2018. The Donkey in Human History: An Archaeological Perspective. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[3]: (Drews 2017, 34) Robert Drews. 2017. Militarism and the Indo-Europeanizing of Europe. Routledge. Abingdon.


present

Dogs were used to defend villages against attacking humans/animals [1]

Reference(s):

[1]: (Leverani 2014, 41-44) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.


absent

Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later

Armor
unknown

No information in the archaeological evidence for this time


unknown

No information in the archaeological evidence for this time


absent

Technology not yet available


absent

Technology not yet available


absent

According to a military historian (this data needs to be checked by a polity specialist) the earliest reference in Greece c1600 BCE: "Early Mycenaean and Minoan charioteers wore an arrangement of bronze armor that almost fully enclosed the soldier, the famous Dendra panoply." [1] It is also earlier than the earliest reference in Anatolia, the Hittite period. [2]

Reference(s):

[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 51) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport.

[2]: Bryce T. (2007) Hittite Warrior, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, pp. 15


unknown

No information in the archaeological evidence for this time


absent

Technology not yet available


absent

Earliest reference for present we currently have is for the Hittites. [1] In Egypt helmets were probably first worn by charioteers in the 18th Dynasty c1500 BCE. [2] According to a military historian (this data needs to be checked by a polity specialist) earliest known helmet dates to 2500 BCE in Sumer. [3]

Reference(s):

[1]: Bryce T. (2007) Hittite Warrior, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, pp. 15-16

[2]: (Hoffmeier 2001) J K Hoffmeier in D B Redford. ed. 2001. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[3]: (Gabriel 2002, 22) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.


absent

Technology not yet available


absent

Technology not yet available

Naval technology
absent

Technology not yet available


unknown

No information in the archaeological evidence for this time


Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service:
absent

Technology not yet available

Human Sacrifice Data

Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
- Nothing coded yet.
- Nothing coded yet.
- Nothing coded yet.