Grooved Decoration Technique of the Chalcolithic Period of Western Anatolia: An Evaluation in the Context of Çine-Tepecik Mound
Ümit ÇAYIR TIĞLI
Abstract
The Chalcolithic Period represents one of the lesser-known and most debated phases of Anatolian archaeology. The fact that architectural evidence pertaining to the period has been documented only on a limited scale impedes our understanding of settlement character in particular and of the Chalcolithic Period in general. The scarcity of architectural evidence identified on a broader scale, and the fact that the characteristics of settlements remain indistinct, further complicate our understanding of the period. At this point, ceramic assemblages, with their characteristic features, take precedence in the processes of dating, identification, and comparative evaluation. The subject of this article is groove-decorated vessels produced by incision techniques, which constitute a distinctive group within Western Anatolia during the Early and Middle Chalcolithic Period. These vessels, characterized by their specific decorative practices, form a particular category, and, together with burnished vessels bearing incised ornamentation and other defining features, occupy an important place among the supporting materials employed in chronological assessments.
Within the scope of the article, the incised decorated pottery fragments from the Çine-Tepecik Mound are presented within a typological classification based on the forms and motifs of the decoration applied to the surface of the vessels, and these examples are compared with similar ones seen in contemporary settlements and evaluated chronologically. The typological differentiation is presented in a table, and the comparable ceramic fragments were taken from publications cited within the text. Within the comparison, similar elements from both nearby and distant cultural regions are considered in respect of decoration technique, motif arrangement, and vessel forms. Accordingly, alongside the existing data pertaining to the period, and the newly obtained results, new chronological evaluations have also been included. A preliminary examination of this significant ceramic group, when assessed in light of the most recent chronological proposals, indicates that it was predominantly produced during the Early Chalcolithic period. Nevertheless, this tradition continued into the Middle Chalcolithic Period. Within the framework briefly summarized above, this study aims to present a detailed examination of incised decoration in the Chalcolithic Period, a subject on which no prior publication has been produced.
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