Anatolia Antiqua
The "Hattian" Metal Assemblage from Bekaroğlu Köyü. An
Archaeometrical Footnote
Thomas Zimmermann
,Önder İpek
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Zimmermann Thomas, İpek Önder. The "Hattian" Metal Assemblage from Bekaroğlu Köyü. An Archaeometrical Footnote. In: Anatolia Antiqua, Tome 18, 2010. pp. 31-34;
doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/anata.2010.1300
https://www.persee.fr/doc/anata_1018-1946_2010_num_18_1_1300
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Anatolia Antiqua XVIII (2010), p. 31-34
Thomas ZIMMERMANN* and Ônder ÎPEK**
THE "HATTIAN" METAL ASSEMBLAGE FROM
BEKAROGLU KÔYÛ - AN ARCHAEOMETRICAL FOOTNOTE1
In 2007, we published a cache of metal items al¬ legedly unearthed in the vicinity of Bekaroglu, a small village located approximately 25 km West of Çorum2. The assemblage consists of five short flat axes or chisels, two long chisels, two more long and facetted chisels and one tanged "spearhead", which however, is best defined as a short shafted dagger3. After being sold to the Çorum museum, these items were recorded as a "chance find made while carrying out agricultural activities" (most likely plowing) and although they therefore lack any reliable ar¬ chaeological context, the identical patina shared by these items might testify to a closed assemblage (Fig. 1). Our typological examination clarified that these items show obvious resemblances with metal objects from the Samsun/Central Pontic area. Contextualizing these observations, we suggested to extend the "Central Pontic" stylistic koine further to the South, at least as far as northern Central Anatolia, hence
the Çorum district4. New spectralanalytical data ob¬ tained from five of these objects (Fig. 2) now support both our assumption of the assemblages' homogeneity and reinforces our hypothesis of resizing the "Central Black Sea Cultural Region". One long chisel (Inv. N° 3-98) and four flat axes (Inv. Nos 7-98 to
1-10-98) were analysed with a portable X-Ray Fluo¬ rescence device (P-XRF) which permits non-de-structive surface scanning with a 300 fxm Peltier-cooled PIN detector, making it possible to reveal the object's chemical composition. For calibration,
the AISI standard was used. The chart (Fig. 3) clearly shows that all tools consist of arsenical copper, with up to 4,40% arsenic measured in item N° 4. The low values of lead and iron, however, can be disregarded as natural impurities (Pb) or soil contamination (Fe).
The almost exclusive use of copper-arsenic alloys is, however, significant for the metal industry at îkiztepe itself, as is also likely for the central Black Sea region in general5: Over 90% of the several hundred metal objects from ikiztepe that were recently analysed for their chemical composition contained over 1% arsenic6. Moreover, for heavy implements like "Early Bronze Age I" and "II" spearheads, arsenic concentrations are found in the range of 4.22 to 4.5 1%7, which matches nicely with the arsenic percentages of our flat axes from Bekaroglu (cf. Fig. 3). Since all the five metal items from the Bekaroglu assemblage that could be scanned with our XRF device revealed themselves as arsenical copper items, it is not only the typological, but es¬ pecially the archaeometrical aspects that tie our Bekaroglu finds in with the central Black Sea cultural sphere. By way of conclusion, our proposed southward extension of the "(central) Black Sea cultural region" relies not only on the formal autopsy of the findings, but also has a very obvious technological facet. The answer to the question as to whether these items were imported to Northern Central Anatolia from a Pontic workshop, or whether some communities in Central Anatolia were, as is assumed for the ikiztepe
*) Thomas Zimmermann (corresponding author), Bilkent University, Department of Archaeology e-mail: zimmer@bilkent.edu.tr **) Ônder ipek, Çorum Archaeological Museum. 1) We are deeply grateful to Prof. Dr. Tayfim Yildinm (Ankara University), Dr. Abdullah Zararsiz (Saraykôy Nuclear Research and Training Centre - SANAEM) and Latif Ozen (Museum for Anatolian Civilizations Ankara) for their expertise and support. We further owe thanks to the Turkish Ministry of Culture, Monuments and Museums Section, for issuing the research permit, and Dr. Julian Bennett, Bilkent University, for proofreading the manuscript. 2) ipek - Zimmermann 2007. 3) Ipek - Zimmermann 2007 : 55ff.; Zimmermann in press. 4) Ipek - Zimmermann 2007 : 57. 5) Kunç 1986 : 101 Tab.; Ôzbal et al. 2002 : 41. 6) Ôzbal et al. 2002 : 41 . 7) Ôzbal et al. 2002 : 43.
34 THOMAS ZIMMERMANN and ÔNDER ÎPEK
No. Inv.Nr Item Cu Ag Pb Fe As Sn Sb Au
1 1-3-98 Chisel 97,5 - 0,13 0,15 2,35 - -
-2 1-7-98 Flat axe 97,1 - 0,31 - 2,54 - -
-3 1-8-98 Flat axe 96,2 - 0,19 - 3,58 - -
-4 1-9-98 Flat axe 95,4 - 0,18 - 4,40 - -
-5 1-10-98 Flat axe 98,2 - 0,12 - 1,70 - -
-Fig. 3 : XRF analysis chart with finds from Bekaroglu Kôyii. koine, excluded from the supply of tin for geographical
or economic reasons8, remains subject to future re¬ search. Unfortunately, a possible early dating of the Bekaroglu assemblage into the 4th millennium B.C., as suggested repeatedly for the îkiztepe metal items, on account of their "circumpontic" Cu-As alloying
tradition and typological affinities with metal objects from late 4th millennium Arslantepe9 has to remain hypothetical due to the lack of datable accompanying material.
T.Z. and Ô.Î. REFERENCES
Begemann, F., Pernicka, E. and Schmitt-Strecker, S. 1994 : "Metal Finds from Ilipinar and the Advent of Ar¬ senical Copper", Anatolica 20 : 203-219.
îpek, Ô. and Zimmermann, T., 2007 : "Another glimpse at "Hattian" metalwork? - A group of Bronze Age metal items from Bekaroglu Kôyti, district of Çorum, Turkey", Anatolia Antiqua XV : 49-58.
Kunç, §., 1986 : "Analysis of îkiztepe Metal Artefacts", Anatolian Studies XXXVI : 99-101.
Ôzbal, H., Pehlivan, N., Earl, B. and Gedik, B., 2002 : "Metallurgy at îkiztepe", Anatolian Metal II. Der Anschnitt Beiheft 15, Bochum : 39-48.
Schoop, U., 2005 : Das anatolische Chalkolithikum. Eine chronologische Untersuchung zur vorbronzezeitlichen
Kultursequenz im nôrdlichen Zentralanatolien und den angrenzenden Gebieten, Remshalden.
Zimmermann, T., 2007 : "Anatolia and the Balkans, once again - Ring-shaped idols from Western Asia and a critical reassessment of some 'Early Bronze Age '-items from îkiztepe, Turkey", Oxford Journal of Archaeology 26 : 25-33.
Zimmermann in press : "Hieb-und stichfest? - Kri-tische Betrachtungen zu einigen fruhbronzezeitlichen Waffenformen aus Vorderasien", Ônder Bilgi'ye Armagan. Studies in Honour of Ônder Bilgi (in press).
8) Ôzbal et al. 2002 : 46f.
9) Ôzbal et al. 2002 : 46f.; Schoop 2005 : 305ff.; Zimmermann 2007 - for the important pre-Bronze Age arsenical copper items from the Ilipinar cemetery see Begemann et al. 1994.
