A re-evaluation of the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age transitional period: stratigraphic sequence and plain ware of Tarsus-Gözlükule

Abstract

The transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age is a period of socioeconomic and political turbulence in the eastern Mediterranean. Tarsus-Gözlükule isone of the prehistoric sites on the Cilician plain providing a continuous stratigraphy of this transitional period. In this study the stratigraphic sequence and the development ofplain ware of this transitional period at Tarsus-Gözlükule has been investigated. The re-evaluation of the stratigraphical sequence revealed that there are eight successive architectural layers in the transition from Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age. The analysis of the architectural remains of these layers indicated a remarkable declinein the economic conditions of the site following the destruction of the Hittite town(LBIIa). HMW of LB IIa and IIb has a broad variety of forms previously unrecognized. Also in the light of new archaeological context, present study substantiated the view of G. M. A. Hanfmann in his 1963 publication pointing out the continuation of Hittite Monochrome Ware in the Early Iron Age plain ware. In this period the plain wareassemblage of Tarsus-Gözlükule is dominated by shapes, which are derived from the preceding Hittite monochrome shapes. This continuity is visible particularly in jars andbowls. This ceramic evidence seems to indicate that the Early Iron Age population ofTarsus-Gözlükule continued, to a large extent, the cultural heritage of the Late Bronze II period in spite of the break and decline in terms of architecture.