The early second millennium ceramic assemblage from Kenan Tepe, southeastern Turkey. A preliminary assessment

Abstract In the initial survey of the upper Tigris river valley the authors of the survey report concluded that ‘either this portion of the Tigris basin was bypassed entirely by Middle Bronze Age development attested to elsewhere or, more likely, it is characterised by a thus far unreported and unrecognised assemblage’ (Algaze et al. 1991: 183). Recent research by members of the Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP) at the site of Kenan Tepe confirms the latter hypothesis, that the early second millennium in this area is marked by a regionally distinct material culture assemblage that is influenced by ceramic traditions in upper Mesopotamia and other material culture traditions in Anatolia. This article outlines our initial assessment of these data including an analysis of the ceramic corpus, architecture, archaeobotany, small finds and carbon-14, and places these data in a regional context. We conclude by speculating that the inhabitants of Kenan Tepe may have participated in interaction spheres that linked the upper Tigris river region to greater Mesopotamia and Anatolia. Özet Dicle Nehri yukarı vadisi yüzey araştırması çalışmalarının ön raporunda yazarlar şu ortak sonuca varmışlardır: ‘Dicle havzasının bu bölümüne ya Orta Bronz Çağ sırasında diğer bölgelerde yaşanan gelişmeler hiç uğramadan geçti ya da, daha büyük olasılıkla, henüz rapor edilmeyen ve tanımlanmayan farklı bir karakterde oluştu’ (Algaze et al. 1991: 183). Yukarı Dicle Arkeolojik Araştırma Projesi (UTARP) üyeleri tarafından son zamanlarda Kenan Tepe'de yapılan araştırmalar ikinci hipotezi onaylamakta, yani ikinci binyıl başlarında bu bölgeye özgü farklı ve kısmen Yukarı Mezopotamya'daki seramik geleneklerinden ve Anadolu'daki diğer materyal kültür geleneklerinden etkilenen farklı bir kültür oluşumu yaşandığını göstermektedir. Bu makale söz konusu verilerin ilk değerlendirmesine ait bir ön çalışma olup, seramik koleksiyonları, mimari, arkeobotani, küçük buluntular ve karbon 14 analizlerini de içermekte ve bu verileri bölgesel bağlamda yerlerine oturtmaktadır. Sonuç olarak tahminimiz, Yukarı Dicle bölgesindeki Kenan Tepe halkının Mezopotamya ve Anadolu arasındaki bölgesel etkileşimler içinde yerlerini almış olabilecekleridir.

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