Limestone round graves in Early Bronze Age central Anatolia-Isolated phenomenon or Caucasian-Middle Asian inheritance?

Abstract

The article discusses an insufficiently appraised burial type from late Early Bronze Age Anatolia (second half 3rd millennium B.C.). Until recently, circular limestone graves with a central separation wall dividing the interior into two compartments were only attested to the Early Bronze Age levels of Kültepe, district of Kayseri. An intramural triple inhumation, buried in an identically constructed silo-type limestone grave at Kalinkaya, Alaca, district of Çorum, now widens their distribution. However, round domestic dwellings, considered an intrusive element in the Anatolian Early Bronze Age, are known from several Anatolian and Eastern Turkish sites. Furthermore, in neighboring Transcaucasia, round domestic dwellings at Kuro-Araxes sites display similar central separation walls, as attested at the funeral monuments of Kültepe and Kalinkaya. Therefore an initial use of these features as secular structures prior to their transformation into funeral monuments is proposed. Moreover, these phenomena are interpreted as a new facet in connection with the spread of »Transcaucasian« culture into Anatolia, as has been traditionally attested to by the distribution of »Transcaucasian« ceramic wares and metallurgical innovations as their main diagnostic features.