Abstract
A survey of the archaeological evidence from the Marmara region, northwestern Turkey, presents significant problems concerning the Bronze Age cultures of the region. One of the striking results is the total absence of Bronze Age settlements along the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara and of the Bosphorus. The absence of sites in this region, when considered together with the presence of submerged Bronze Age sites in the Black Sea, orients questions towards the water exchange system between the Black Sea and Marmara.
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References
For a conspectus on the results of our work in the region, see especially Özdogan (1996, 1997, 1999), Özdogan et al. (1997), Parzinger and Özdogan (1996), and Parzinger et al. (1999).
For an overview on the Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures of the region, see especially Özdogan (1991, 1998b).
For a survey of literature on the second millennium B.c. of the Marmara Region, see Özdogan (1993).
For an overall assessment of the Bulgaria Early Bronze Age cultures, see especially Nikolova (1999); Panayatov (1989, 1995).
For short notes on the recent work at Hacilartepe, see Roodenberg (1993, 1994).
For a survey of eastern Marmara, see Özdogan (1983, 1984, 1985b), and for the Balikesir-Bandirma region, Özdogan (1990).
Only one Early Bronze Age site, Menekse Catagi has been excavated on the Marmara coast.
This is apparent in the littoral areas of the Marmara; however, along the Aegean, i.e., in the area between the isthmus of the Gelibolu peninsula and the delta of the Meric (Evros/Maritsa), Bronze Age mounds can be found as far inland as Kesan.
Along the northern coast of Marmara, at Karaevli, located to the east of Tekirdag, we encountered some black burnished sherds - similar to those found at Galabovo (Lestakov 1993b), which with some reserve, we were inclined to consider as belonging to the second millennium B.C. However, it became evident at Kanligecit that this ware belonged to the very end of the Early Bronze Age, to the “megaron layer”.
Nevertheless, as in the case of the coastal sites, we are cautious of the fact that the sorting of surface material might be misleading.
For a more detailed assessment of our evidence, see Özdogan (1993).
Kanhgeçit is a small, inconspicuous Bronze Age site recovered in 1980 near Asagipmar, immediately to the south of the provincial center of Kirklareli. Here, stratified above an Ezero layer, a substantial architectural layer, consisting of monumental megaron buildings of stone foundations, yielding typical Anatolian Early Bronze Age III material, was recovered. However, no pottery of this latter horizon was detectable on the surface.
For further details of this complicated system, as well as for a full bibliography, see Deuser (1972), Degens and Paluska (1979), Grosswald (1980), Stanley and Blanpied (1980), Özdogan (1985a), Zubakov (1989), Kaplin et al. (1993).
See diagrams in Özdogan (1985a, Fig. 5c), Özdogan (1998a), Stanley and Blanpied (1980, Fig. 2 ).
This is best expressed by Stanley and Blanpied (1980, p. 541) as “the physical oceanographic conditions presently measured in the Sea of Marmara…were established at —3.000 B.P.”.
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© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Özdoğan, M. (2003). The Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara and Bronze Age Archaeology: An Archaeological Predicament. In: Wagner, G.A., Pernicka, E., Uerpmann, HP. (eds) Troia and the Troad. Natural Science in Archaeology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05308-9_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05308-9_8
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