8/7/2019 Hamit Z. Koay

1/10

A Contribution to Central-Anatolian Prehistoric CeramicsAuthor(s): Hamit Z. KoaySource: Artibus Asiae, Vol. 10, No. 1 (1947), pp. 34-42Published by: Artibus Asiae PublishersStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3248488 .

Accessed: 25/01/2011 04:20

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless

you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you

may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at .http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=artibus. .

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed

page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Artibus Asiae Publishers is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Artibus Asiae.

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=artibushttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3248488?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=artibushttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=artibushttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3248488?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=artibus

8/7/2019 Hamit Z. Koay

2/10

HAMIT Z. KOSAY:A CONTRIBUTION TO CENTRAL-ANATOLIAN

PREHISTORIC CERAMICS

THE FOLLOWING LINES SHOULD SHOW THE PARTICULARITIES OF THE CENT-ral-Anatolianpotteries and their types, in so far as they result from the funds of Alaca-Hibyiik and Pazarh.We owe it to the excavation of Alacahbiyiik,ordered by the Turkish Historical Society(Tiirk Tarih Kurumu), if we dispose now of considerable proof about the materialcivilization of the Chalcolithic period (4000 B. C.), of the Copper-Age (from about 3000B.C.), the Hittite (2000-o20o B.C.) and the Phrygianperiod (1200oo-600 B.C.). This materialis constituted mostly of pottery. As a matter of fact the objects made of stuff,leather andwood have all been lost and the metal tools (with the exception of those of gold)heavily destroyed, while the potteries have preserved the freshness of the time of theirfabrication.That's why pottery turns out to be the main point of reference for the dating ofperiods in which there are not yet written documents in existence or scarcely available.The lack of written monuments may be compensated partially by the seals with theirsigns and pictures.A great part of the pottery has been found in the living-rooms and kitchens, exactlywhere they had been left at the outburst of some sudden catastrophe,as earth-quakes,fires, a.s.o.; so we find them in situ, and catastrophes,which have happened 3000 or 4000years ago come to be a bargain for science. We found, for instance, granaries,of whichthe corn roasted by the fire, had been buried under the crushing walls. Another greatpart of pottery had been thrown away by the inhabitants,as soon as the tools werespoilt. The funds of the layers of Alaca mentioned above show great diversities,as faras material,way of fabrication, form and ornaments are concerned. We see that 950/oof the chalcolithicfragments are rough ware, always hand-made.Only 5?/oare embellishedwith broken parallel or diagonal lines, which have been scratchedin. They got a coating

34

8/7/2019 Hamit Z. Koay

3/10

~egr~

ua '--rCFt--rclrr

a~?i:~

P1. I Chalcolithicpotteryof Alaca-H6yUik:a) Handleof vessel b) a jug

8/7/2019 Hamit Z. Koay

4/10

and a polish before the branding. This pottery shows black red or yellow hues, due tothe fact of the development of smoke during the fire made for the baking. The clayis mixed with sand or straw. However, among the vessels which are not intended fordayly use, some very smart and thin-walled pieces are found, of which the clay hadundergone a severe washing and a careful preparation. Some pieces were particularlydecorated, by cutting out their coating or laying on it some red or white colour. Thehandles are still primitive, nearly without exception and mostly they are just put on thevessel or consist in one or two buttons merely (see pl. Ia). The walls of the vesselsgrow thinner towards the profile. Typical for this period are the cups in form of fruit-carriers,bowls and jugs (pl. Ib.). Although the potters of the Chalcolithic Age are boundto tradition, we still feel, that they strove to find new forms.In the Copper-Age the primitivity of the Calcolithic period has disappeared.The heritageis developed, new forms found and strange influences worked up.Besides a few exceptions, pottery is single-coloured again. The potter's wheel is notemployed yet. But we immediately become aware of the richness of moulds and theirelegance. The coloured coating has an important r61lein this period. Besides the roughkitchen-earthenware,food and drink utensils have developed according to a higherstandardof life.The lined ornament has grown into rilled patterns adorned with reliefs. When it is usedstill, the lines are filled with a white mass in order to reinforce the esthetical impression(Incrustation).The black, red, light-brown or spotted coatings are very carefullypolished. In the Copper-Age of Alacahbiyiikvessels painted in many colours are extraordinarilyrare. It catches oureye, that the metal vessels of this period (made of gold, silver, copper and bronze)resemble the pottery in their form. Hence we must suppose, that these metal vesselshave been made on the spot. A great part of the big jugs is employed for the burialof the dead (in squatting position) see pl. 2.A new civilization, generally called "Hittite" is born by migrations and shifts about2000 B. C. The heritage of new civilization still subsists in it, but the old currents ofcivilization have impressed their own seal on it. Single-coloured pottery is predominee-

36

8/7/2019 Hamit Z. Koay

5/10

b s a t -

AL -

isg

-.- A--- .

|:ii- _?__i~-___|~AL-1 9

P1.2 Pottery of the Copper-Ageof Alaca-Hoyiik: a) fragments b) a jugwith spout

8/7/2019 Hamit Z. Koay

6/10

I / \WI/

r/ It,'".c ?~ ItsL

II

?I- I

.. " .....0 ....../........

. .. ..

PI.3 Hittitepotteryof Alaca-H6yiik:a) a Hittitekitchen b) a ritualpot

8/7/2019 Hamit Z. Koay

7/10

.7a. ~ .Tllb~?iilild~ '~?&~i~3~;l~~'"~%~i~;i~k -g

4 -?~ h~?i 1??1~ ~-* 4,~.;?~4?~iir 3~~s~n +~~W ~t~?~~a ~ "i 1_1I

u i:r~ ~"P T ????s~c`-~9Sf *-dr' nr~lc~~ L .Yr\ k;L~E~-~ rr(C ::~2" br~x~: r-i LIr g ?1-~g? % ;C~e ~?-.;.~C~F~o;UiparTrT rrd~,_IL~F-;i-~~~ ~;???~,7~ns~l~s~::'-?a I~5~~

~t~lFt~ r~-5~ .C f-.r= a7G.4.r,~,~??~Q~sPit~j~Cj~'

1?~-j ?"'.~ '(t (5 * ~*L;bl--~ bOi;~~Q~T?i~ t-.?r'

:i ;S"$I "~

- `a~- r;--~-1.. 4 j/ -a? t~"t -1.??,r .i?" ~?~ I .I

- ;*: Isdba-! el:

II `U "~ o~- "s~ti~?d~

::I: cJ 'r'i?:?~,?I~-a::,~ 6 ~J~i~a I rlS~ I 'I~k-~al?IU:?-;; ~~2ip~ ~?~a~,~, ?p~~l.: r I?~a~

:?Q~::!~~?i?A

P1.+ a) a bathingbasinfrom the (Hittite) layerMliaof Alaca-Hoyiik b) the Hittite bath

8/7/2019 Hamit Z. Koay

8/10

ring again. But we also find pieces bearing red and brown lines and ribbons on a whitebackground. They are made with the potter's wheel. After the white or red coating waslaid on, the vessels were carefully polished still before their baking, for eliminating theporosity of the material. On some pieces the coating is not thick at all, but the piecehas been dipped for a short time into the mass, entirely or partially.*As far as form is considered, we find in the Hittite period very big pails, little pails,cups with three-cornered handles, cups without handles and with round bottom, buckets,jugs with handles overpassingthe border, vessels with twisted handles, various, very smartjugs with a round base (see pl.3b), cosmetic boxes and many more. The beak-mouthedjugs are very characteristic for this period, and many of them, as we know, wereemployed for ritual services.Also quadrangularbathing basins with a seat in them, were found, and it undoubtedlyproves that the Hittites loved cleanliness. These basins are the prototypes of our bathof nowadays (pl.4).In a Hittite kitchen vessels in form of grapes are found, and also pails with three legsformed as the feet of animals,drinking cups in form of lions' or bulls' heads,pots withthe bottom of a sieve. A rare piece is constituted by a Hittite pot fastened to thehearth. I cannot give here further details, this being an article whose shortness wouldbe impaired by comparisons with other regions, since such comparisons would be verynecessary. I would like only to point out that the forms of the ceramics of centralAnatolia have exercised their influence till Troya and the Greek isles and that ontheir turn, have been influenced by these regions.Among the Hittite pots we find some, shaped in a way which appears very strangeto our eyes; many vessels, f. i. have a pointed bottom. We understand these shapesbetter, as soon as we get some knowledge about the life of that time. Such vessels wereburied into the ground of the kitchen or cellar and round ring-shaped supports servedfor the maintainanceof the equilibrium;such supports of clay have been found. Generallywe are aware of a mass-production having started in Hittite time, and we learn it by* In an ethnographical research which will be issued before long, I will show that this technique is employ-ed still to-day in modern Anatolian ceramics.

40

8/7/2019 Hamit Z. Koay

9/10

.ii i.......... . ..

so?-- .....i

P1. 5 Phrygianpotteryof Pazarlh:a) Phrygianpot b) a brickwith therepresentationof ananimal-fight

8/7/2019 Hamit Z. Koay

10/10

comparing the later pieces with those of the ancient Hittite period, which are mademore carefully and represent a greater value from an artistic point of view. It will bethe task of a research-work still to come for deciding whether this is due only to alocal changement or constitutes a judgement of a general character.In the Phrygian time the potteries have many colours and show red or brown linedpatterns on a faint-white background. These, together with single-coloured black or redpieces are domineering. It becomes clear, that a new style has taken the place of Hittiteart, but we are bound to say that this style is not new in an absolute sense but basedon the old traditions. The many-coloured pottery with its geometric ornaments seemsto be a renaissance of the ancient fashion of the Near East, while the single-colouredceramics remember the native traditions of ancient Anatolia.That is the time in which the influence of the metal technique upon pottery becomesnoticeable; the artist tries to give to the ceramics the audacious forms he could give tothe metal.The ornamentsarefirstpurely geometrical,lateron we come acrossstylised representationsof men, animals and plants (see pl. a).

OBSERVATIONS:a) About the excavations of Alaca-Hoyuiikcompare above all: H. Z. Ko?ay: Excavations in Alaca-H6ytik1936 (Turkish and German) issued by the Turkish Commission of History, Series V, Number 2 a;(Ankara1944); the report about the excavations in the years 1937-1939 is in print (Turkish and German); Mr.Remzi O.Arik supplied us with the first report about the excavations in 1935. - About the excavations ofPazarl cf. H. Z. Ko?ay: Les Fouilles de Pazarll (Istanbul 1938) and H. Z. Kosay in the review "Belleten "Nr.9, p. 15-25 (1939); furthermore: Ekrem Akurgal: Pazarh'da 9ikan esserler uizerindeyeni ara?tirmalar(Observations to the architectonic reliefs of Terracotta in Pazarli,Phrygia) in the review "Belleten"Nr. 25,p. 1-43 (Turkish and German) (I942). (The translator).

42