Acemhöyük and the Early Bronze Age Anatolian Trade Networks

Abstract

This study investigates a group of pottery, stone, bronze, and bone findings recovered from the Early Bronze Age levels at Acemhöyük together with zooarchaeological specimens. Acemhöyük findings are closely related with archaeological objects usually used for identifying the Early Bronze Age trade networks. They were archaeologically analysed and compared with similar findings from Anatolia and its neighbouring regions. Archaeological analysis and comparisons indicated that Acemhöyük began to have close cultural and commercial connections with different regions around the middle of third millennium BC. Western Anatolian type pottery, recovered in significant numbers from diverse levels, suggests that Acemhöyük had deep connections with this region. Zooarchaeological specimens briefly discussed in the article provided significant clues about the economy of the Early Bronze Age Anatolian societies. Combined analysis of the archaeological and zooarchaeological datasets strongly indicates that socio-economic dynamics that shaped Anatolian societies during the second half of the third millennium had a strong foothold at Acemhöyük, and the site was one of the key settlements on the trade networks.