The End of the 3rd Millennium–at the Early 2nd Millennium BC in the KültepeKanesh in the Light of the New Term Excavations Results

Abstract

Kültepe-Kanesh, located 20 km northeast of Kayseri province, rises on the fertile plain that stretches to the north of Erciyes Mountain and is irrigated by Sarımsaklı Stream. The settlement area, which consists of two parts, the Kanesh mound and the lower city, is 2,5 km in diameter. With these dimensions, Kültepe is one of the largest Bronze Age cities not only in Anatolia but also in the whole ancient Near East. This article presents the initial findings related to the construction levels of Kültepe-Kanesh, one of the key settlements for ancient Near Eastern archeology, dated to the end of the third millennium BC-the beginning of the second millennium BC. Monumental buildings from the Early Bronze Age III, located in the southwest of the Kültepe mound, were replaced by modest dwellings and workshops with overlapping building levels. This trend appears to have continued for approximately one and a half to two centuries, as no traces of public, administrative or religious structures have been found in recent excavations. In contrast to the architectural field, pottery traditions and styles, such as the Alişar III ware and monochrome pottery, show continuity in the Middle Bronze Age. The new excavations indicate that the settlement continued uninterrupted during that period and it offers important opportunities to analyze the traces of socio-economic change that took place in and around Central Anatolia at the end of the third millennium BC, with architectural remains.