Early Iron Age pottery from Van-Karagunduz cemetery

This thesis focuses on the analysis of the Early Iron Age pottery recovered from the archaeological excavations carried out at the site of Karagündüz near Lake Van in eastern Anatolia The pottery assemblage derived from the cemetery was classified and described in detail in order to establish the chronological and cultural affiliation of the site in question. It is attempted to demonstrate in this thesis that the Early Iron Age Karagündüz cemetery belongs to the pre-Urartian period. The pottery of each grave in this cemetery was examined independently in order to obtain approximate dates for the particular assemblages. The comparisons of the Karagündüz pottery derived from each grave with those of other sites located in the Lake Van area from a stylistic perspective indicate mat the pottery assemblages of each grave represent the various stages of Early Iron Age. These vary from the earlier stages of Iron Age to the sequence that characterize the transition to the Urartian period. In light of the minimal number of evidence dating to the Early Iron Age or Proto- Urartian period, Karagündüz evidence compliments much to our understanding of this one of the most poorly understood periods of eastern Anatolian cultural history.