Kınık Höyük from the Middle Bronze Age to the Roman period: preliminary report on the excavation at the Lower Town 2023-2024

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Pucci M., Bartolozzi S., Carletti M., Castellano L., Corazzi C., Dernek D., ...Daha Fazla

ASIA ANTERIORE ANTICA : JOURNAL OF ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CULTURES, cilt.7, ss.3-85, 2025 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

This article presents the second preliminary report on the excavations conducted in the Lower Town (Area D) of Kınık Höyük, located in the Bor Plain of southern Cappadocia. Recent fieldwork (2023–2025) has significantly refined the stratigraphic sequence previously proposed for this sector of the site. Through the integration of stratigraphic analysis, ceramic study, zooarchaeology, paleoethnobotany, and radiocarbon dating, the paper reconstructs a long-term occupational history spanning from the Middle Bronze Age to the Roman period. A major contribution of this research is the identification of a monumental Middle Bronze Age occupation (Phase 6), including fortifications and associated installations dated to the 18th century BC. This phase is followed by a period of contraction and partial abandonment in the Late Bronze Age, before a Middle Iron Age reoccupation (Phase 4) characterized by domestic architecture adapted to the Bronze Age ruins. Late Iron Age activity (Phase 3) reflects a functional reorganization of the area, with evidence for craft production and large-scale levelling. The Hellenistic phase marks a final reconfiguration of the Lower Town through terracing and limited domestic and artisanal occupation. By emphasizing patterns of continuity, rupture, and reuse in urban space, material culture, and subsistence practices, this study contributes to broader discussions on urban resilience, landscape memory, and the variable trajectories of secondary settlements in southern Cappadocia from the Middle Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period. Keywords:Middle Bronze Age Anatolia, Kınık Höyük, excavation’s report, Iron Age Anatolia, pottery.