Seals and seal impressions in Western Anatolia from the beginning to the end of the Late Bronze Age

The aim of this thesis study is to reveal the stages of change and development of the seals and seal impressions unearthed during the systematic excavations carried out in the Western Anatolia settlements in different periods spanning from the Neolithic Period to the end of the Late Bronze Age, and their meaning. The main aim of the thesis is to reveal the role and the importance of the seals, used and produced by people as a tool from the beginning, in the lives of communities within context of the sociopolitical, economic, and ideological systems. In addition to the seals found in the Western Anatolia settlements the stone moulds, seal imprinted bulla examples, textile tools, seal imprinted examples on altars and hearths were also evaluated within the scope of the thesis. In this thesis study, the seals' typological and adornment groups were classified based on their periods within a chronological development process and it was revealed that certain motifs carried symbolical meanings through long periods of time. The thesis study focuses on the functional meaning of the seals and reveals that the "pintadera" type seals were, especially in the Neolithic Period, tools used for imprinting on various areas. In this period, similar seal types and adornment motifs associated with Mainland Greece can be seen in the Western Anatolia Region, Balkans and Aegean. New seal types, such as the cylindrical seals in particular that came from east through the Mesopotamia / Syria cultural region as the interregional relationships start to develop, begin to emerge in Western Anatolia starting from the Early Bronze Age. Aside from the new seal types, imprinted findings belonging to both stamps and cylindrical seals are seen for the first time in Western Anatolia in the Early Bronze Age. In this period, the seals began to be used as a part of human life, especially to provide control during the shipment of trade goods between regions. With the invention of sailing technology in the 2nd millennium BC, significant evidence of more extensive overseas long-distance connections appears in Western Anatolia in Middle Bronze Age. The retrieval of seals in Western Anatolia in Crete- Minoan style reflecting the Minoan culture shows that Western Anatolia fell within the scope of the Minoan maritime trade which was especially active in the Aegean Sea during this period. As for the Late Bronze Age, both the connections with the Hittite Cultural region in Central Anatolia and the reflections of the trade and cultural connections with the Mycenaean civilization overseas in the Aegean can be traced through the seals and in particular the seal impressions found in the region. With the emergence of writing in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, it is thought that the seals in use may have been utilized in trade and gifts exchanges related to political and administrative relations of the region or in local administrative practices within the settlement. The thesis study especially focuses on the contemporary studies that provide various methodological and theoretical viewpoints, particularly for the comparative evaluations of the seals. With this comprehensive study, all examples of seals and seal impressions unearthed in Western Anatolia dated from Neolithic Period to the end of the Late Bronze Age were evaluated and, as well as producing remarkable conclusions, a complete "corpus" was created. It was revealed as a result of this study that the Western Anatolia sealing tradition has its own regional characteristics intertwined with the influences from the surrounding regions. Keywords: Western Anatolia, Seals, Sealings, pintadera, cretulae, bullae.