From Chalcolithic to Bronze Age in two Anatolian regions

Prehistoric archaeological research in western Anatolia has been poorly pursued since the beginning of archaeological excavations in this area more than one hundred years ago. Especially the central coast between Pergamon and Ephesos represents a terra incognita in most prehistoric periods of humankind. Consequently, basic research in prehistory remains crucial for enlarging our knowledge of central scientific questions, such as the transfer of early complex technologies (e.g. metallurgy) or the development of simple structured villages into proto- urban complex societies. The project focuses mainly on one chronological and cultural horizon - the period of Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze age, which means late 4th and first half of 3rd millennium BC. Although prehistoric sites are rare on the western Anatolian coast due to massive sedimentation and shifting processes, two regions serve as ideal locations for the realization of new systematic studies: the region of Ephesos with Kaystros valley (Küçük Menderes) and the region in the Kaikos valley (Bak?r ay) in the vicinity of Pergamon. Especially the possibility of intra-regional studies within the central Aegean coast of Anatolia promises new scientific results for these important prehistoric periods. The archaeological comparison of those two micro-regions let expect further knowledge than only one of them could afford. Studies of both regions are all the more worthwhile, because of their similar environmental conditions as river valleys closed to the Aegean on the one hand, but situated far away enough to each other to suspect distinct cultural developments on the other hand. Furthermore, both regions are dominated by famous antique cities, where most of archaeological research had been focused in the past. Combining them into superior archaeological research with concrete aims is based on two distinct fields: Analysing of already excavated settlement remains at ukuriçi Höyük in context with all find assemblages dated in early 3rd millennium BC. And second, conducting of further archaeological surveys in the vicinity of Pergamon based on already performed surveys to create a model of settlement processes of the Kaikos valley in the same chronological horizon. This new produced data will be analysed with a multidisciplinary and international team of scientists and students. Besides archaeology, those disciplines are geophysics, paleogeography, metallurgy, inorganic chemistry, petrography/mineralogy, zoology, botany and physics. The applicant has already performed initial investigations in these highly promising regions and could thereby successfully demonstrate a great gain in knowledge of basic prehistoric research in this area. Her scientific results and possibilities for working in both areas form the basis, which presents the opportunity to realize a further systematic multidisciplinary project about prehistoric periods in western Anatolia.