Middle Iron Age pottery from Yassihöyük (Kırşehir) : A Central Anatolian assemblage

Abstract

This thesis analyses the Middle Iron Age (MIA) pottery from Yassıhöyük (Kırşehir). The MIA (ca. 9th-8th c. BC) is represented by 3 rooms and 5 pits in three structural phases of the Iron Age level. The thesis aims to understand the Yassıhöyük pottery culture and place this culture among the prominent pottery zones during this period in Central Anatolia. 662 sherds dated to the Iron Age from these deposits have thus been analysed and 456 examples have been included in the catalogue. These represent 70% of the total MIA sample. The typology recognizes four main analytical groups: (1) form, (2) fabric and firing technique, (3) surface treatment and (4) decoration. The main ware types for each form were determined by correlating the analytical groups in the typology. Each ware group sorted itself according to surface color: Red/Reddish Brown Ware (WareType1), Pale Reddish Ware (WareType2), Cream Ware and Grey/Black Ware (WareType5). Firing technique determined a second criterion: Cream Ware with Grey Core (WareType3) and Cream Ware with Orange Core (WareType4). The distribution of the ware types to the deposits are analysed within its own chronology. WareType1, WareType2 and WareType3 occur in all levels starting from the early phase of the MIA which could be local production. WareType4 and WareType5 occur mostly in the latest phase. The Yassıhöyük wares suggest a household production when the quality and variety in form and decoration are compared with Boğazköy, Gordion and Porsuk. They might have produced local pottery by their own techniques not so professionally as other urban sites, but they show outside influence especially in the later phase of the MIA.