Studying the Provenance of Pottery from Boğazköy, Turkey, using Heavy Mineral Analysis

Résumé

To understand the production and distribution of pottery at Boğazköy (Turkey), we investigated the provenance of pottery excavated from the strata from each period, including the Assyrian Colony, Hittite, Iron Age, Galatian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine. We conducted heavy mineral analysis through SEM-EDS and geochemical analysis of individual Fe-rich garnet grains collected from pottery samples. This is part of a larger project started in 2009 that has revealed the provenance of pottery excavated from other archaeological sites in central Anatolia. The present study established the method to differentiate between local ware and imported ware excavated from Boğazköy through comparing the heavy mineral proportions of pottery to those of local sediments within a 25-km radius of the site. A comparative study of heavy mineral proportions of pottery from Boğazköy and those from pottery at three other sites investigated in a previous study (Kaman-Kalehöyük, Büklükale, and Alişar Höyük) suggests the possibility of a pottery exchange between Boğazköy and Alişar Höyük. This finding is further supported by the similarity of their Fe-rich garnet compositions, which are revealed by geochemical analysis yielding important information for understanding socioeconomic contexts of the Hittite period and Late Iron Age in Anatolia.