Konya Plain - Early Bronze Age

  General Description   The Early Bronze Age period in Anatolia is complicated and complex topic. This period begins with controversy, because the transition from Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age is not clear. Some scholars argue that beginning of Early Bronze age should be dated to around 3000 BCE.

This is clearly visible at the monumental graves, known as Royal Tombs at Alaca Höyük site. These tombs yielded over 700 items that we can grouped into 12 typological categories. A multiplicity of materials were used in those grave goods - from metals (copper, bronze, silver, gold, electrum, iron, lead, haematite), stones (carnelian, rock crystal, chalcedony, flint, lapis lazuli), frit, faience, pottery, to bone and textiles. The most spectacular findings were anthropomorphic figurines, which were made by the combination more than one metal in a single object. In these Royal Tombs we can find also remains of ceremonial funerary feasts. Some animals were slaughtered, the oxen being the most common.
Many sites of this period were well fortified. Proof of wooden palisades and stone walls was found in Karataş-Semayük, and just stone walls in for example Taurus and Demircihöyük. At Alişar Hüyük, complex fortifications were excavated - a well constructed stronghold wall, and 10 meters of fortification on the terrace. One of these walls was set behind the other, and onto it rectangular-shaped bastions were constructed. A lot of handheld weapons were also found in Central Anatolia Plateau, for example: swords, daggers, pikes, halberds, spears, battle axes and warclubs. At the Demircihöyük and Karataş-Semayük sites, there were extramural Early Bronze Age cemeteries - altogether there were about 900 pithoi burials, and the majority of bodies was facing Southeast.
The pottery of Anatolian Early Bronze Age was distinctive by red monochrome wares. In terms of animal remains, it can be concluded that Sheep and goats were most dominant (at Acemhöyük), representing 63-68 percent of the faunal remains, followed by cattle and pigs.


Wood or rather wooden planks were used in Royal Tombs at Alaca Höyük. "The burials consisted of a rectangular pit roofed with wooden planks." ^[1]
Flint/Obsidian present ^{[2] [1]}
Building stone present Building stone was used e.g. in Royal Tombs at Alaca Höyük. "The lower parts of these shafts consisted of rectangular stone-lined pits in wchich a single person was normally buried" ^[3] "The most numerous examples of the megaron plan are found in the Early Bronze Age village at Karataş (Troy I-II period), where stone foundations of over thirty such structures have been uncovered in recent excavations." ^[4]
Copper present E.g. grave goods ^[3]
Tin/Arsenic present Kestel ^[5] "The Kestel-Göltepe complex is vast. The mine itself comprises a network of eight galleries, extending in various directions. Some 4500 cubic meters of ore were extracted, often through precariously narrow tunnels, using fire and large ground stone hammers to shatter the ore. Even if the ore mined in antiquity were low grade, containing only 1 % of tin like some the nodules found in the excavations, the size of the galleries point to the produciotn of some 115 tons of tin." ^[6]
Iron present E.g. grave goods ^[3] . Iron Dagger ^[7]
Material to make ornaments gold, silver, carnelian, jade, rock crystal "In terms of jewellery, we should note the ability of the craftsmen to combine gold and silver with precious stones (carnelian, jade, and rock crystal), a technique especially favored for pins, and at the same time the conspicious absence of filigree and granulation." ^[8]
Lead present Most of all as grave goods ^[9]
Agropastoral with pastoral dominating Sheep and goats were the dominant component of the animal economy at Acemhöyük III and II, representing 63-68 percent of the faunal remains, followed by cattle and pigs. This is similar to the situation observed at contemporary sites on the central plateau including Kaman Kalehhöyük, Küultepe, and Çadır Höyük. ^[10]
Iron present Pieces of iron object found in Tomb L in Alacahöyük ^[11] .
Metals present ^[12]
Raw materials present Melian Obsidian in Beycesultan ^[2]
Pottery present Trojan depas vessel, two-handled tankards, wheelmade plain plates and bowls ^[13]
Coppersmith present ^[14]
Pottery present ^[15]
Butcher present ^[16]

[1]: Sagona A. and P. Zimanksy, "Ancient Turkey", USA 2009, p. 214.

[2]: Knitter D. "Concepts of Centrality and Models of Exchange in Prehistoric Western Anatolia" In: "Landscape Archaeology. Proceedings of the International Conference Held in Berlin, 6th - 8th June 2012", p. 363.

[3]: Düring B. S., "The Prehistory of Asia Minor. From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies.", Cambridge 2011, p. 291.

[4]: Warner J., "The Megaron and Apsidal House in Early Bronze Age Western Anatolia: New Evidence from Karataş", In: "American Journal of Archaeology", Vol. 83, No. 2 (Apr., 1979), p. 138.

[5]: Yener K. A., "An Early Bronze Age Tin Production Site at Göltepe, Turkey.", In: "The Oriental Institute News and Notes", Vol. 140 (1994)

[6]: Sagona A. and P. Zimansky, "Ancient Turkey", USA 2009, pp. 200-2001.

[7]: Düring B. S., "The Prehistory of Asia Minor. From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies.", Cambridge 2011, p. 292.

[8]: Sagona A. and P. Zimansky, "Ancient Turkey", USA 2009, pp. 208-209.

[9]: Sagona A. and P. Zimansky, "Ancient Turkey", USA 2009, pp. 214-217

[10]: Arbuckle B., "Pastoralism, Provisioning, and Power at Bronze Age Acemhöyük, Turkey", In: "American Anthropologist", Vol. 114 (2012), Issue 3, p. 466.

[11]: Yalçin Ü. and H. G., "Reassessing Antropomorphic Metal Figurines of Alacahöyük, Anatolia", In: "Near Eastern Archeology" Vol. 76:1 (2013), p. 41.

[12]: Efe T., "The Theories of the ’Great Caravan Route’ between Cilicia and Troy: The Early Bronze Age III Period in Inland Western Anatolia" In: "Anatolian Studies", Vol. 57, Transanatolia: Bridging the Gap between East and West inthe Archaeology of Ancient Anatolia (2007), p. 49

[13]: Ancient Anatolia, 10,000-323 B.C.E, S.R. Steadman, G.McMahon, Oxford University Press, 2011. Chapter 10

[14]: Yakar T., "Regional and Local Schools of Metalwork in Early Bronze Age Anatolia: Part I", In: "Anatolian Studies", Vol. 34 (1984), p. 75.

[15]: Sagona A. and P. Zimansky, "Ancient Turkey", USA 2009, p. 197.

[16]: Arbuckle B., "Pastoralism, Provisioning, and Power at Bronze Age Acemhöyük, Turkey", In: "American Anthropologist", Vol. 114 (2012), Issue 3, p. 468.