Kilise Tepe in Rough Cilicia before the Late Bronze Age: An Overview of the Architecture, Pottery Traditions, and Cultural Contacts

Year 2019, Issue: 22, 69 - 100, 11.10.2019

Tevfik Emre Şerifoğlu

Abstract

Kilise Tepe, Türkiye’nin güneyinde Göksu Vadisi’nde, Hellenistik Dönem öncesi katmanlara sahip kazısı yapılmış tek eski yerleşimdir. Yerleşimdeki arkeolojik çalışmalar Tunç ve
Demir çağlarında yerel kültür ve bunun komşu bölgelerle olan bağlantıları hakkında paha biçilmez veriler sunmuştur. Bu makalede 2007 ve 2011 yıllarında Erken ve Orta Tunç Çağı
katmanlarında gerçekleştirilen kazıların ön sonuçları stratigrafi ve ilgili seramiklerin genel bir değerlendirmesiyle birlikte sunulmuş olup bunu Erken Tunç Çağı II Dönemi sonunda Kilise Tepe’de gerçekleşen yıkım ve sonrasındaki kültürel değişimlere odaklanan kısa bir tartışma takip etmektedir. Çalışmada yerleşim ve vadi sakinleri daha önceden çevre bölgelerle kültürel bağlar geliştirmiş olsalar da alanın bölgesel ticaret ağına daha ziyade Erken Tunç Çağı III Dönemi’nde büyük ölçüde entegre edildiği savunulmaktadır.

Keywords

Kilise Tepe, Erken Tunç Çağı, Orta Tunç Çağı, Göksu Vadisi, Mersin, Dağlık Kilikya, Kilikia Tracheia

Kilise Tepe in Rough Cilicia before the Late Bronze Age: An Overview of the Architecture, Pottery Traditions, and Cultural Contacts

Abstract

Kilise Tepe is the only ancient settlement with
pre-Hellenistic levels in Göksu Valley in southern
Turkey that has been excavated. The archaeological
work conducted at the site has
produced valuable data about the local culture
and its links with the neighbouring areas
during the Bronze and Iron Ages. This article
presents the preliminary results of the excavations
of the Early and Middle Bronze Age
levels conducted in 2007 and in 2011, with a
general evaluation of the stratigraphy and related
ceramics, followed by a brief discussion focusing
on the destruction at Kilise Tepe at the
end of the Early Bronze Age II period and the
cultural changes that occurred subsequently. It
is argued that, although the inhabitants of the
settlement and the valley had developed cultural
ties with the surrounding regions earlier,
only during the Early Bronze Age III period the
area became substantially integrated into the
regional trade network.

Keywords

Kilise Tepe, Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronz Age, Göksu Valley, Mersin, Rough Cilicia, Cilicia Thraceia

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