The treasure deposits of Troy have been largely studied in isolation from both architectural developments and other depositional contexts in Troia II–III. The corpus has been perceived as little more than a catalogue of information that can be assessed to outline various trends related to metallurgical production, expanding networks of exchange and fluctuations in economic wealth. Considerations of agency have been few and limited. This study relates the content and context of the treasures to depositional and architectural patterns that begin in Troia II. Meaningful continuities and transformations between Troia II–III ultimately challenge the widely held reconstruction that the treasures were a concealment of wealth in anticipation of an attack. The study arrives at an alternative explanation with a consideration of the relationship between the destruction and abandonment of the Troia II central megaron complex and the deposition of treasure. The central megaron complex and the treasure deposits represent two distinct and divergent strategies of élite initiative on the citadel. The study concludes with a consideration of the inherently destabilising practices of treasures deposition, the final destruction of Troia III and the end of the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia.

The traditional view of Troy as a kind of central site presupposes balance weights and other artefacts that attest weighing procedures among the excavated material. Indeed, already in the works of Homer it is possible to find references to premonetary aspects (for example, the gold standard τάλαντον). The main purpose of this investigation is to provide an archaeological view on the issue of trading implements and their significance in early Troy. The principal group of objects defined as balance weights was unearthed during the excavations of Heinrich Schliemann. By contrast, very little data derive from Wilhelm Dörpfeld's activities at the site. Balance weights are known also from the recent excavations of Manfred Korfmann. In two previous reports I presented the state of balance weights found in the Schliemann and Korfmann excavations (Bobokhyan 2006; 2008a). The aim of this article is to consider the main stages of the investigation of balance weights, with special reference to the excavations of Carl Blegen in Troy. The main problem related to the study of the Trojan balance weights is the lack of knowledge about the archaeological contexts for many of the finds. A considerable number of these implements has been lost or is inaccessible. However, their compilation assists in understanding the abstract way-of-thinking and value perception of the population of ancient Troy. The actual number of balance weights from Troy can be estimated at ca 100. The main period of their appearance is during Troy II–V, less in Troy VI. The principal forms represented are ellipsoid (‘sphendonoid’) and domed, and the materials used most for the weights are haematite as well as granite, basalt, marble and limestone. New research has revealed the existence of multiple weighing systems in Bronze Age Troy, a situation that was typical for mercantile centres such as Tepe Sialk, Susa or Kanes. The investigation of the Trojan balance weights and their contexts hints at the existence of Aegean and eastern Mediterranean, more precisely northern Syrian, directions of contacts.

In this paper we deploy both archaeological evidence, principally from survey, as well as topographic textual evidence in an integrated attempt to localise a broad range of place-names attested in the Hittite period of the Late Bronze Age. The geographical focus is on the north-central region of Anatolia, particularly relating to the survey area of Inner Paphlagonia. Investigated toponyms include rivers, mountains, regions and settlement names. By these means we aim to situate the recurrent Hittite-Kaska conflict of the Late Bronze Age more firmly within its physical environment.

This short note is intended to supplement the paper ‘Anazarbos and the Tarkondimotid kings of Kilikia’ published in Anatolian Studies 58 (2008). It presents a new dated variety of a quasi-municipal bronze coin from Anazarbos minted in 19 BC – during the reign of Tarkondimotos II – and places this within the chronological framework established in the earlier publication.

This note presents two unpublished inscriptions that Alan Hall recorded in the Konya Archaeological Museum in the late 1970s and early 1980s, together with a significantly different reading of a third that was published by B.H. McLean in 2002.

This paper examines an unpublished dedicatory inscription to Artemis (Ephesia?), which was found in Pogla in Pisidia by S. Mitchell. The dedication seems to have accompanied a sculptured bare foot or a foot with a sandal, which has not survived. The inscription is set against a whole set of feet- and footwear-related monuments and dedicatory inscriptions from the nearby regions with special emphasis on similar dedications from Termessos. Moreover, the present paper examines the relationship between the Pogla dedication and another dedicatory monument in honour of Artemis Ephesia (in all likelihood from Cremna), which was first published and discussed by G.H.R Horsley in 1992.

Since 1995, the ancient city of Kibyra, situated in southwestern Turkey, has been investigated through historical, epigraphic and archaeological surveys. During the ceramic survey, an area inside the city was found where vessels with identical characteristics of surface and fabric were observed. This area is located in the northwestern part of the city close to the theatre. Together with numerous misfired pieces, these vessel fragments are suggestive of a potters' quarter. Based on historical evidence and ceramic comparisons, pottery production in Kibyra can be dated between the late Hellenistic and early Byzantine periods. Not only are the potters' quarter itself and the forms and types produced there of interest, but they also widen our knowledge of different ceramic production centres in the region of ancient Asia Minor. With the help of this material, archaeologists working on other sites will be able to recognise Kibyran pottery and provide us with information about trade connections between Kibyra and other regions.

The historiography of the later Roman Empire has emphasised the centripetal results of Christianisation, in which the new religion completed the earlier Hellenisation and destroyed independent languages, histories and notions of identity in Anatolia and much of Syria. However, the discourse of ethnic origins, drawn from Christian stories as well as the Classical past, allowed different kinds of cultural independence to survive this process on the edges of the Empire. While more famous cases are provided by the Armenians, Suryoye and Goths, here I examine an ultimately unsuccessful attempt at historical invention and cultural independence, that of the Isaurians from the end of the fifth century. I begin by discussing the stereotypes employed by a Roman élite to distinguish themselves from ‘barbarians’, both within and outside the empire, before examining the attempts of Isaurians to contest this in history and hagiography.

The meagre evidence, based on reports in sources and the material gleaned in the course of surveys by several researchers, of the fortress of Akhiza (northeast Turkey), which was renovated in the reign of King Vakhtang Gorgasali (446–522), and on the Episcopal See set up there, may be supplemented by archival material preserved at the Sh. Amiranashvili Museum of Art, as well as by recourse to the artefacts deposited at the S. Janashia Museum of Georgia, both in Tbilisi. In particular, a letter of A. Florenski, a collaborator with the Caucasian Museum in Tbilisi, written early in the 20th century to D. Gordeev (1889–1964) makes it clear that, at that time, a mosaic image of the Virgin Orans existed in the chancel of the ruined cathedral. According to Florenski, the mosaic was destroyed by a resident of Ardanuch, Usta-Gevork, at the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the material collected by Florenski from Akhiza (including a finger-ring with a cameo bearing the image of the Archangel Michael and distinguished for its high artistic features) found its way to St Petersburg, while two antefixes with representations of leaved crosses and deer, as well as up to three dozen mosaic tesserae are kept in the S. Janashia Museum of Georgia. At the time of the creation of the mosaic, it is worth noting that, after the Arab conquests (in the 730s), Akhiza, with its cathedral, must have ceased to exist as an Episcopal See. In this connection, the antefixes supply additional dating evidence, the artistic peculiarities of the images adorning them clearly pointing to the fifth to sixth century.

On the basis of recent archaeological evidence unearthed in the course of systematic excavations by the Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) in southwestern Turkey, this paper attempts to pull together different strings of ceramic data in order to bridge the era between late antiquity and the Middle Ages (mid seventh century to ninth century AD). Our aim is to present samples of the ceramic assemblages excavated at the site of ancient Sagalassos from layers that are most probably dated to the late seventh and eighth centuries. An attempt has been made to examine rigorously the stratigraphy and its contents that are admittedly completely different to the known ceramic forms of the late Roman/early Byzantine (fourth century to mid seventh century) and middle Byzantine (early tenth century to mid 13th century) periods at Sagalassos. Five different pottery types are presented, both kitchenwares and tablewares. The fact that all the ware types presented here are local products should not be seen necessarily as a result of a general decline in trade, rural and/or urban life, but rather as a local response to a generally changing economic system and an emerging local pottery tradition based on household-organised production. The shift from the Roman mass-produced and customised wares (that started to disappear from the market) to non-specialised local/regional production (that started to satisfy basic household needs) need not have been a sudden one. Our ultimate aim is to contribute to recent attempts to throw more light on the archaeologically ‘hidden’ material culture of the so-called ‘Dark Ages’.

Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) is a method for mapping, presenting and understanding the landscape with reference to its historical development. By using high-resolution satellite imagery and archive maps we have employed Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to integrate these data with other archaeological and historical sources to create HLC-based case-studies on landscapes in the eastern Mediterranean. This article is one of two pilot studies and aims to map the landscape character in the area around Silivri west of Istanbul. HLC analysis reveals much more diversity and complexity than might be expected. The results have revealed a far greater time-depth than was anticipated with important implications for future landscape research and for regional planning.