Konya Karahöyük pottery in the Old Assyrian Trade Period

Konya Karahöyük was one of the largest mounds of Central Anatolia during the 3rd and 2nd Millennia B.C. Professor-in-Ordinary Dr. S. Alp conducted archaeological excavations in the mound between 1953 and 1992. During these excavations conducted in the mound which had been part of the international trading network established by the Assyrian in the first quarter of the II. Millennium B.C., strata IV-I. were dated to the Old Assyrian Trade Colonies Period. A number of finds obtained during the archaeological excavations indicate that, Konya Karahöyük was one of the most important stations of this trading system. The aforementioned finds comprise seals, seal impressions, several metal and bone artifacts, and faience objects. However, despite constituting a most significant data for the evaluation of settlements and providing vital clues for the detection of the chronology and the cultural, social and economic structure of the settlement and its relations with various regions and cultures, the pottery has hitherto remained unexamined. This thesis focuses on the evaluation of the pottery in question. This way, the pottery culture of the Old Assyrian Trade Colonies Period in the Konya Plains, which has come to be known only from surface surveys until today, can be defined through the pottery that were unearthed during the archaeological excavations carried out in Karahöyük. The results demonstrate that Karahöyük maintained the most intensive relationship with Central Anatolian cities, in addition to certain connections to Mesopotamia. Furthermore, close contact with Western Central Anatolian cities are evident, especially during the Late Assyrian Trade Colonies Period. It can be noted that the pottery of Konya Karahöyük reflects the trends of its particular period in a general sense, as well as representing a unique pottery tradition with its distinctive application methods and forms.