Andrea Balletta Italian Archaeology in Turkey: the role, the activities and the perspectives of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI)
Italian Archaeology in Turkey: the role, the activities and the perspectives of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI)
This work focuses on the direct analysis of some aspects concerning the promotion of Italian
archaeological, conservation and restoration missions in the Republic of Turkey. These missions and the related research activities are co-financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), through Office VI of the DGSP (Directorate-General for Cultural and Economic Promotion and Innovation). The text illustrates the organization chart, the functions and activities of the DGSP and of Office VI, which deals with Cultural cooperation in the multilateral field, i.e. UNESCO, and with the preservation and restitution of cultural heritage looted or illegally moved out its original context as
well. The selection and allocation process of the funds by Office VI as regards Italian Missions is thoroughly described, with reference to a possible implementation of activities and practises to better
promote Italian archaeology abroad. In addition, the twelve Italian missions taking place in Turkey and co-funded for 2020 are listed, together with their historical and archaeological context. Particular emphasis is given to the Hittite period. Turkish history and prehistory prove to be rich in cultural aspects. It is a question of responsible cultural policy to encourage the study of the past through the lens of archaeological research as well. This appears to be even more true in the case of Turkey and Italy, which are undoubtedly bonded through history not only by mere geographical proximity but also by the routes of the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, MAECI recognizes the importance of promoting the cultural sites included on the UNESCO World Heritage List, both on a national and international scale. This applies also to the eighteen Turkish sites included in the list, all of which of prominent cultural or natural characterization. Among these, the Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia (1985) and the sites of Hierapolis-Pamukkale (1988) and Hattusha: the Hittite Capital (1986) stand out as operative
location for some of the Italian archaeological missions. As a result, MAECI is committed to uphold archaeological, ethnological, anthropological, paleontological and conservation missions worldwide, as a mean for enhancing relations between states and in the perspective of cooperation in the cultural field.
Kınık Höyük and South Cappadocia after the end of the Hittite empire: new results and a reassessment
Recent works on post-Hittite Central Anatolia once again insist on its profound discontinuity in social
structure, political complexity, economic organization and cultural/artistic expression compared to the
previous period of Hittite hegemony. In this interpretive framework, any form of political complexity and technological, cultural or artistic expressions related to the Hittite legacy re-emerging during the Middle Iron Age are considered secondary and derived by contacts – either peaceful or hostile – with the northern Mesopotamian world, that is the Syro-Hittite principalities and the Assyrian empire. This contribution aims to provide a response to this interpretation based on relevant archaeological evidence excavated at the site of Niğde-Kınık Höyük, as well as on an evaluation of the the early use of Anatolian Hieroglyphic in central Anatolia after the fall of the Hittite empire. We will offer a critical synthesis on past investigations on the LBA/IA transition at Niğde-Kınık Höyük, and present novel results from a deep sounding excavated in 2020. This evidence shows that, notwithstanding major breaks after the LBA, political complexity and its visual and material expression had an early development disentangled from the contacts with northern Mesopotamia. Finally, on considering recent developments in the Anatolian Hieroglyphic paleography and the suggested backdating of important IA inscriptions, the last section raises the possibility of a localized independent resilience of hieroglyphic writing traditions in Central Anatolia after the collapse of the Hittite empire.
Francesca Balossi Restelli,
Francesco Di Filippo,
Marcella Frangipane,
Federico Manuelli,
Lucia Mori Arslantepe: new data on the formation of the Neo-Hittite kingdom of Melid
Arslantepe: new data on the formation of the Neo-Hittite kingdom of Melid
Excavations of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC remains have characterized the early history of
researches at Arslantepe, shedding light on the monumentality and historical importance of the site
in the Hittite and especially Neo-Hittite periods. After a long interruption, investigations on the Iron
Age levels have been recently resumed, in order to both re-examine the old evidence and obtain
new information, with the help of modern methodologies, on these important phases in the long
site´s history. The article offers a summarized update of the results of the activities conducted in
the northern sectors of the Arslantepe mound from 2007 to 2019, presenting a detailed sequence of
levels from the end of the Late Bronze Age to the latest Iron Age phases, showing architecture and
materials as well as setting the discoveries in their historical context. The recent investigations have
shown that the last Neo-Hittite phase of the 8th century BC, characterized by the erection of the wellknown “Lions´ Gate” and its famous celebrative apparatus, is the result of a long and continuous
development process which has its roots in the final Late Bronze Age, thus revealing the uniqueness
of Arslantepe as a case study for the reconstruction and understanding of the formation of the Neo-
Hittite states.
Looking for traces of cultic practices at Uşaklı Höyük. Some remarks about buildings, texts and potsherds
Uşaklı Höyük, probably the site of ancient Zippalanda, was an important settlement during the
Hittite period. The two Late Bronze Age monumental buildings uncovered on the lower terrace and
on the southern slope of the mound were in all likelihood official structures, where the performance
of activities related to the cultic sphere might have played a significant role. Archaeological evidence, together with an analysis of the Hittite epigraphic sources, can shed light on the historical, social, and cultural environment of the city. Texts relating to the city of Zippalanda give us some hints about the issues of production, function, and use of pottery vessels employed in rituals and festivals. In the Hittite ceramic production, a neat functional distinction between cultic and common vessels is usually unlikely, but a general use in activities related to cultic practises may be hypothesised for different Uşaklı’s typologies.
Mirko Novák Sirkeli Höyük A central site and gateway community in Kawa/Kizzuwatna/Hiyawa
Sirkeli Höyük A central site and gateway community in Kawa/Kizzuwatna/Hiyawa
The excavations carried out since 2006 at Sirkeli Höyük in Plain Cilicia have yielded important
insights into the structure and dynamics of the site’s ancient urban landscape. In addition, it has been
possible to provide a great deal of information on the cultural history not only of the site itself, but
also of the region to which it belonged. Starting from a small settlement of the 4th and 3rd millennia
BCE, situated in the shelter of a natural rocky ridge, a complex urban structure developed in the 2nd
millennium BCE, which in its heyday consisted of a bipartite citadel, a lower town, an upper town,
a suburb and extramural workshops. The changing history of the country and the site is reflected in
the architecture and the findings, which absorbed a wide variety of external influences, but always
retained a traditional regional character.
The research carried out in Hattusa since 2014 within the framework of the German-Italian cooperation project, under the supervision of Andreas Schachner of the DAI in Istanbul, director of the excavations, has allowed us to acquire a series of important results, especially in the study of some monumental complexes and in that of the hieroglyphic epigraphic evidence. The following contributions provide a summary of the results achieved so far, organised in four sections devoted respectively to the topographical surveys, the 3D scans carried out in the gorge between Ambarlıkaya-Büyükkaya, the
petrographic studies conducted at Yazılıkaya and the study of some hieroglyphic
inscriptions. A short concluding essay by Andreas Schachner completes the section dedicated to Hattusa.
Daniele Alaimo,
Nadia Barbi,
Michael Campeggi,
Vittoria Cardini,
Maria Letizia Carra,
Claudia D'Orazio,
Silvia Di Critsina,
Massimo Ferrando,
Valentina Gallerani,
Alessandra Giacardi,
Gabriele Giacosa,
Giuseppe Guarino,
Giampaolo Luglio,
Elena Maini,
Simone Mantellini,
Gianni Marchesi,
Nicolò Marchetti,
Eleonora Mariani,
Jacopo Monastero,
Valentina Orrù,
Mustafa Özakça,
Hasan Peker,
Sara Pizzimenti,
Francesco Prezioso,
Daniele Redamante,
Rosa Rivoltella,
Giulia Roberto,
Eleonora Serrone,
Rula Shafiq,
Marco Valeri,
Valentina Vezzoli,
Federico Zaina Recent archaeological discoveries at Karkemish. Anatomy and trajectories of a capital city on the middle Euphrates
Recent archaeological discoveries at Karkemish. Anatomy and trajectories of a capital city on the middle Euphrates
Eight seasons of renewed archaeological excavations and conservation activities have taken place
between 2011 and 2019 at Karkemish (modern Karkamış Höyük, Gaziantep). The Karkemish
archaeological project revolves around an international cooperation framework, one which involves not only specialists from many fields, but also several Universities, Museums, public Authorities and private Bodies uniting their efforts towards shared goals and priorities, including the long-awaited opening of the site, laying within a military area, to public visit. This multidisciplinary and multi-partner perspective responds to a contemporary view in which integration (also intended as a continuous feedback between all involved participants) is the method chosen for facing the complexities and the challenges posed by an anthropological approach, both as far as the past and the present are concerned. What follows is a presentation of our main results obtained at the field, while we had necessarily to leave out of the present work the significant results which have been collected through a complete restudy program of the archives and finds from the British Museum excavations (1878-1881, 1911-1920), for which we have
benefited from the cooperation with the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara, the Archaeological Museums in Istanbul and the British Museum in London (and all the colleagues therein), as well as with several other research centers.
