Firing Technologies and Raw Materials of Typical Early and Middle Bronze Age Pottery from Kaman-Kalehöyük: A Statistical and Chemical Analysis

S i n c e p o t t e r y p r o d u c t i o n t e c h n i q u e s a r e behaviorally significant to a culture, pottery can serve as a tool for understanding cultural processes. In this article, we attempt to understand cultural processes in the EBA and MBA at Kaman-Kalehöyük through a study of pottery production techniques. A series of statistical and chemical analyses was employed to study the raw materials and firing techniques of the EBA and MBA pottery from the site. The pottery types of the EBA (2100-1930 B.C.) and MBA (1930-1750 B.C.) at Kaman-Kalehöyük are very different from each other in their production techniques. The most striking difference is that the majority of EBA pottery was hand made while MBA pottery was wheelturned. EBA of Kaman-Kalehöyük is subdivided into two strata, IVa and IVb, by the proportion of the hand-made and wheel-turned wares. The earthenwares unearthed from stratum IVb are mostly hand-made while stratum IVa has an equal mixture of both hand-made and wheelturned (Omura 2002). Middle Bronze Age started from Strata IIIc in Kaman-Kalehöyük and instead of handmade, the wares of this period are mostly wheel-turned. In addition, features of their pastes, such as temper, color and texture, are different in the two periods. Fundamental questions thus arise as to why there was such a difference in the raw materials used; the change may reflect the innovation of new firing techniques or the interruption or diffusion of different cultures. If we are to make any attempt at understanding cultural change, we must look at the various technologies being employed, for technology embraces a culture’s knowledge and behavior as well as material culture. Detailed statistical analysis was carried out on a series of securely stratified pottery sherds from ABSTRACT