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CITIES
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In this period, in
addition to stone tools, copper pieces also come into sight. The need
to change valuable goods (ceramics, textiles) for both raw and shaped
mines helped trade develop, and this brought the exchange between peoples
and the preparation of inventory listings with the beginning of communication.
Symbols, hieroglyphs, writing with pictures, came into use. By the end
of 4000 BC cities emerged and the first steps of human civilization were
made. Burdur-Hacilar level 5 (5500 BC) is the oldest site in Anatolia
where metal objects have been discovered. Regarding technique and forms;
the handmade pottery production reached an advanced level here and the
single-colored, polished, ceramic pots were produced as an alternative
to the metallic pots which were respectively more valuable. The surface
of the pots is finely polished with a special technique to create a metallic
effect. One other important settlement area of the Chalcholithic period
in Western Anatolia is the Beycesultan site, going back to 4000-3000 BC,
located 5 km southeast of town of Civril in Denizli, excavated by Seton
Lloyd. Here, some of the mud-brick structures with a rectangular plan
look like long megaron houses (megaron is a long and narrow room that
has a hearth in the center). Inside the structures are hearths, seats
along the walls and storage. Here, in a pot, was discovered a collection
of silver and copper rings, part of a dagger and metallic pins. The ceramic
of this period has a background of gray, black and brown. The Canhasan
site, 13 km northeast of Karaman town in Konya, unearthed by David French,
was a bridge between west and east Anatolia and Mesopotamia for trade
and cultural exchange. Copper rings and bracelets are among the most important
finds here. Anatolia, which had the most advanced culture on earth during
the Paleolithic period, had lost its leadership in the Chalcolithic period
to Mesopotamia and Egypt, after writing was discovered there. Due to the
fact that writing was used in Anatolia a thousands years later, the level
of culture here could not go beyond that of the Neolithic period primitive
village, even though people were using metal in daily life. |
