Hellenistic painted ceramics of the Kızılırmak Basin in the light of new research

During the Hellenistic Period, it has been determined that there were some painted ceramic traditions specific to the region in Central Anatolia. One of these traditions is the painted examples associated with ceramics recognised as a group specific to the settlements of the Kızılırmak Basin. Although they have been referred to by different names in the literature, these examples, which are mostly known as 'Painted Vessels/Ceramics of the Kızılırmak Basin', have attracted the attention of researchers since the early 1900s and have been a subject of study until today. In the early studies, band decorations, geometric decorations, ivy, leaf bud motifs, animal and human figures such as birds, bulls, panthers, dogs and horses were found on these vessels. Based on the limited data from different centres, the production date of this ceramic tradition was said to start from the middle of the 3rd century BC and intensively from the 2nd century BC to the beginning of the 1st century AD. The geographical boundaries of the tradition's distribution area were drawn as the interior and the immediate outer part of the Kızılırmak curve and the Black Sea in the north. Within these borders, three production regions were identified, which interacted with each other but produced unique forms and decorations with clays from their own cultural areas. However, studies carried out in the last two decades have revealed that the production dates of the Painted Vessels of the Kızılırmak Basin started earlier than previously thought and that the distribution area covers wider borders. In addition, motifs other than those known in the decorative repertoire and a fourth production region have been identified. In this study, all the studies on the Painted Ceramics of the Kızılırmak Basin are discussed together and the knowledge accumulated over time on the ceramic tradition is evaluated with a holistic approach.