Die Mittelbronzezeit am oberen Euphrat. Siedlungscharakter und kulturelle Identitat

Abstract

The beginning of the 2nd millennium in the regions of Malatya and Elazığ is identified with the Middle Bronze Age. The excavated sites of Arslantepe and Norşuntepe are the key sites for this period. Surveys carried out in the Malatya plain and in the Altınova are an important instrument for understanding population dynamics in these areas, too. Recent excavations at Arslantepe have identified a stratigraphically confirmed cultural continuity between the Early Bronze Age III and the Middle Bronze Age periods. Similarly at the beginning of the 2nd millennium the other settlements of the Malatya plain give evidence of a type of distribution already well known in the previous period. Continuity thus appears to dominate in comparison to cultural changes from one period to the other. The present paper will highlight some of the main settlement characters of these periods, and present a comparison of material culture that gives interesting suggestions on the cultural identity of the Upper Euphrates populations in such a crucial period for the history of Anatolia, at the dawn of the Hittite reign.