Voices From the Field (2023-09-04)
We are proud to announce two newly minted MA projects from the Kaymakçı team! This time, Ján Bobik and Kristina Doležalová have earned their Masters degrees with theses submitted successfully to the Institute of Classical Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, of Charles University. See below for details!
Zoomorphic Appliques on Pottery of Western Anatolia in the Second Millenium B.C.E. in a Wider Geographical and Cultural Context
Ján Bobik
Abstract
This work aims to collect, describe, and classify zoomorphic plastic decorations on pottery of western Anatolia in the second millennium B.C.E. The comparison with the neighboring regions of the Aegean and central Anatolia, both with rich visual culture, makes clear the almost complete absence of figurative art in western Anatolia. This gap in the imaginary can be potentially filled with zoomorphic plastic decorations on pottery. These decorations occur in surprising quantities, various forms, and on a number of sites in western Anatolia. The first part of the thesis describes their development, geographical distribution, and ware association, with seven individual types of decoration identified. The second part the thesis examines the local trends of zoomorphic decorations within seven geographical groups, which emerged from the study, with Troy and Kaymakçı serving as two main case studies. In the next step, the collected western Anatolian evidence is compared to zoomorphic decorations in the surrounding regions of central Anatolia and Mycenaean Greece, as well as to the Apennine Peninsula. The thesis highlights similarities between these regions and evaluates them in terms of connections between western Anatolia and the individual regions. The last part of the thesis evaluates the gained results and discusses the possible function, symbolic meaning, and suspicious fragmentation of animal protomes.
The tale of volcanic rocks. Assessing the grinding stones and their chaîne opératoire in 2nd Millennium BCE Western Anatolia
Kristina Doležalová
Abstract
The thesis examines grinding stones from the Anatolian Bronze Age site of Kaymakçı. It aims to reconstruct their chaîne opératoire and to place the new findings in the frame of Western Anatolia in the 2nd Millennium BC. The general processing of the assemblage included morphological, geological, use-wear and spatial study of the assemblage in the context of the settlement. The various aspects of the grinding stone chaîne opératoire identified at Kaymakçı were then compared with two published grinding stone assemblages from Western Anatolia (Aphrodisias and Troy) to identify their repeating patterns for the Bronze Age.
The grinding stone assemblage from Kaymakçı revealed that these artifacts played an important role in everyday life, as well as in trans-regional contacts and trade. While activities related to their use, reuse and disposal have been well attested, raw material extraction and production were not documented so far. As shown by the provenance analysis, people were willing to invest a lot of time and energy to transport them. A certain degree of specialization of production can also be assumed, which is indirectly evidenced by the standardization of the upper grinding stone shapes. These tools were skillfully shaped and enhanced with ergonomic adjustments suitable for comfortable holding during grinding. Interestingly, such aspects have not been observed in the grinding stone assemblages from Troy and Aphrodisias which share only singular features with Kaymakçı such as the absence of immobile grinding structures or the presence of hollowed mortars.