M. Pieniążek, Chr. Roosevelt, C. Luke and P. Pavúk 2019: Of Networks and Knives: A Bronze Knife with Herringbone Decoration from the Citadel of Kaymakçi (Manisa Ili/Tr) (original) (raw)

2019, Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt

During the first season of excavations in 2014 at the Late Bronze Age site of Kaymakçı, a bronze knife with an unusually decorated handle was found. Kaymakçı is a recently discovered citadel located ca. 100 km east of the Aegean coast in the Gediz Valley and is one of the few excavated sites from interior central western Anatolia. The knife was recovered in the tower-like structure attached to the fortifications at the northwestern extent of the citadel. It belongs to a small group of solid-hilted knives (Sandars Class 4) known until recently only from elite graves and cultic contexts in the Peloponnese, Crete, Psara, and Troy. The knife shares decorative ribbing, a solid bronze knob at the end of its handle, and some other features with its Aegean counterparts. However, the geometric style of its decoration, such as the central herringbone-pattern, is unparalleled among Minoan and Mycenaean art, instead it corresponds with geometric designs known from other western Anatolian finds. Therefore, the herringbone knife from Kaymakçı, most probably the property of a member of the western Anatolian elite, is an outcome of the fusion of Aegean and western Anatolian traditions. Simultaneously it is one of the first known examples of local ornamental style, still poorly known due to the state of research in interior western Anatolia.

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