A Consideration of Status and Wealth in the Lake Van Basin According to the Early Iron Age Burials (original) (raw)
Related papers
Ancient near eastern studies, 2008
In the Van Lake basin, or in Northeast Anatolia in general, Early Iron Age denotes pre-Urartian times. Although the beginning of this age is rather obscure,it is generally accepted that it came to an end with the establishment of the Urartian Kingdom in the middle of the ninth century BC. Following the focus on a number of large, well-planned Urartian sites over the last hundred years or so, there has been a shift in the last twenty years to small, rural settlements and necropoleis, like Dilkaya, Karagündüz and Yoncatepe in the hope of finding pre-Urartian Early Iron Age remains. In this paper we shall discuss ‘grooved pottery’ and other important finds used to date these sites and necropoleis to the Early Iron Age, and suggest a new chronology for them. Accordingly, we will determine whether these necropoleis really belonged to the ancestors of the Urartians, or to a rural village population contemporary with the Urartian Kingdom.
A New Iron Age Chamber Tomb near Çatak, South of Van Lake
Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Our knowledge of the period preceding the Kingdom of Urartu, which was established in the mid-ninth century BC with Van as its centre, is quite limited. From Assyrian sources from the reign of Shalmaneser I on, we learn about communities living on the high plateaus of Eastern Anatolia. However, archaeological research in the region has provided little information. This period, known as "pre-Urartian" in the Lake Van basin, is evaluated here in the light of data from the Ernis, Karagündüz, Dilkaya, and Yoncatepe necropolises. Archaeological research in Lake Van basin indicates a tradition of chamber tombs. The latest example of an underground chamber tomb built of stones is the Çatak chamber tomb. The burials in the tomb bear anthropological features suggesting that the buried individuals belonged to the same family, and they provide new data on grave goods and burial practices. In addition, it can be argued that the social structure hypothesised in relation to burials to the north and east of the lake can also be applied to burials south of Lake Van. *
(Eds. A. Mehnert, G. Mehnert, S. Reinhold), Martin-Luther Universtät Halle-Wittenberg, Zentrums für Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte des Schwarzmeerraumes 22, Beier & Beran Verlag, Langenweißbach 2013: 237-249.
A New Iron Age Chamber Tomb near Çatak, South of Van Lake.pdf
Our knowledge of the period preceding the Kingdom of Urartu, which was established in the mid-ninth century BC with Van as its centre, is quite limited. From Assyrian sources from the reign of Shalmaneser I on, we learn about communities living on the high plateaus of Eastern Anatolia. However, archaeological research in the region has provided little information. This period, known as “pre-Urartian” in the Lake Van basin, is evaluated here in the light of data from the Ernis, Karagündüz, Dilkaya, and Yoncatepe necropolises. Archaeological research in Lake Van basin indicates a tradition of chamber tombs. The latest example of an underground chamber tomb built of stones is the Çatak chamber tomb. The burials in the tomb bear anthropological features suggesting that the buried individuals belonged to the same family, and they provide new data on grave goods and burial practices. In addition, it can be argued that the social structure hypothesised in relation to burials to the north and east of the lake can also be applied to burials south of Lake Van.
This article is a contribution to the ancient architecture and graves of the upper Vardar (Axios) valley. The gold hoard from Tremnik near Negotino in central Macedonia offers a reason once again to open the discussion about the group of gold jewellery and especially the existence of local élites of that period in the wider Vardar valley region. The development in the period between the reign of Philip II of Macedon and the Celtic penetration into southeastern Europe and the Peloponnese, well-known from antique sources and reference to the sanctuary at Delphi in 279 BC, can be recognised through the monumental fortresses and impressive stone-built tombs and their typical grave goods. All told, this evidence permits recognition of the high level of society of the population in the time of Philip II and Alexander III the Great in the area of the Peones, Enchelees-Dassarates and the other tribes of the region and their dependants in the reign of the mighty Macedonian kings. A number of coin hoards dating to the end of important settlements like Kale Kruševica-Bujanovac and Vardarski Rid, and especially the rich jewellery hoard of Tremnik allow us to classify élites in the valley of the Upper Vardar river during the period at the end of the Archaic as well as later in the Classical period, and allow us to identify the first signs of the Celtic incomers in the Hellenistic period.
Proceedings of the Session Organized at European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) 20th Annual Meeting, İstanbul, 10-14 September 2014), (Eds. A. Özfırat, M. Işıklı, B. Genç), TÜBA-AR (Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi Arkeoloji Dergisi) Özel Sayı, Ankara 2018: 149-185.
TÜBA-AR, Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi (TÜBA) tarafından yıllık olarak yayınlanan uluslararası hakemli bir dergidir. Derginin yayın politikası, kapsamı ve içeriği ile ilgili kararlar, Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi Konseyi tarafından belirlenen Yayın Kurulu tarafından alınır.