Browsing by Subject "Bronze Age"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Open Access
Rural administration in Hittite Anatolia
(2019-05) Sorensen, Roslyn
Administration is a tool consisting of a set of processes that underpin modern management methods in all realms of society. Its use is taken for granted in most present day cultures, by all governments and in most institutions. The elements of modern administration are well set out in management text books and ‘how to’ manuals, yet surprisingly little is known about the historical development of administration, other than in specialised modern arenas, such as public administration, the judiciary and the defence forces. This thesis aims to describe the administrative system in an ancient civilisation, that of the Hittites in Bronze Age Central Anatolia. The study compared evidence from archaeological and textual data with a framework of dimensions of administration in ancient societies identified from the literature. The Hittite system of rural administration rated highly on almost all dimensions and the conclusion drawn is that it was well developed and comprehensive. However, a propensity to rely too heavily on traditional systems beyond their use-by date may have prevented a level of flexibility developing to deal with new problems as they arose, such as climate change and the migration of new groups into the area. Further research is needed to assess whether a propensity for administrative traditionalism contributed to the eventual collapse of the Hittite civilisation. Research is also needed to assess the impact of technological innovation on social and administrative change, including grain storage and water management technologies.
Open Access
The socio-political structure of Western Anatolia during the (L)BA
(2021-09) Özbaş, Beril
The socio-political structure of western Anatolia during the (Late) Bronze Age is the focus of this thesis. It is visible that the western Anatolian Bronze Age is relatively an understudied subject in comparison to Central Anatolia. One of the biggest problems of the Anatolian Bronze Age studies is that the relative works are either based on archaeological data or textual sources. This paper aims to use both archaeological data and textual sources to reach a broader understanding of the socio-political structure of the region during the (L)BA. To manage this, the text chapter studies different Hittite texts that provide insights about western Anatolia. Based on these texts, five different tables were created, and they present terms related to socio-political structure. These are geographical/political terms, terms related to residents of foreign lands, terms related to military power, terms related to administrative offices. The archaeology chapter studies the socio-political structure of the western Anatolian Bronze Age from a general to specific approach by starting with the settlement types and patterns, geographical and (material) cultural zones in the region, and continue with the case studies from different parts of western Anatolia as Beycesultan, Kaymakçı, Troy, and Bademgediği Tepe. By combining both textual and archaeological data, it is hoped that this thesis will bring attention to the western Anatolian Bronze Age and present a more comprehensive perspective on its socio-political structure.
Open Access
The transition from bronze age to iron age in the Aegean : a heterarchical approach
(2012) Enverova, Deniz Alev
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the Bronze Age to Iron Age transition in the Aegean through a different perspective than has been used up until now, and see if heterarchy can be applied. This thesis will test to see whether heterarchy is an appropriate model, offer a view on the end of the Late Bronze Age, and explore the reasons iron technology replaced bronze technology in the Greek world.
Open Access
Using neutron activation analysis to identify scales of interaction at Kinet Höyük, Turkey
(2008) Grave P.; Kealhofer L.; Marsh, B.; Gates, M.-H.
We use NAA to characterize a relatively large archaeological ceramic sample from the Late Bronze Age to Hellenistic phases of Kinet Höyük, a coastal Turkish site in the Gulf of Iskenderun at the northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea. The geographic extent of local Kinet wares (how local is local?) is established through comparison with sediment samples across the Kinet hinterland. Four major compositional groups are identified: local and locally imported wares, imports from Cypriot, and presumed Western Anatolian and Aegean centers, and imports that appear relatively homogenous elementally but comprise typologically diverse ceramics with attributions that range from Cyprus to the coastal mainland. Comparison with other published NAA studies for this site reinforces the elemental evidence for local production, and underlines the need for caution when assuming local production always equates with local clays particularly for coastal sites. We propose that the chronological distribution of the local and non-local groups provides a useful political economic proxy. The study indicates systemic and widespread political disruption and marginalization at the transition to the Late Iron Age in this region. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.