EARLY BRONZE AGE DAGGERS IN CENTRAL ... - Bilkent University

6.1 Pontic Interactions
When the geographical limits of the region were outlined in the introduction
chapter, however, the Central Black Sea region, north of Çorum district, was not
included. Two important sites in the Central Black Sea region are very important for
the cultural realm of Central Anatolia. İkiztepe and Dündartepe are so indispensable;
they cannot be left out of any discussion concerning the EBA Central Anatolia,
especially metallurgical realm. Both of these settlements show strong Central
Anatolian cultural connections based on the pottery as well as metal forms. The Bafra
plains importance (including Samsun) as a settlement site is the existence of the Halys
River valley which served as a communication route between the Central Anatolia and
the Black Sea region. The importance of this route is evident in the discussion of the
dagger typologies. No one makes it clearer than Stronach when he states: “[the] oldest
stratified type I dagger in Central Anatolia comes from Alişar. Similar ones also come
from Dündartepe and Tekeköy” (Stronach, 1957: 90).
In the following discussion, it will be clear that the Central Anatolian dagger
typologies reflects the interactions between the local sites as well as the far reaching
trade network of Central Anatolia from Troy to Mesopotamia.
As it was stated, the organization of the dagger typologies into six main types
did not indicate a certain developmental sequence or chronological framework. For
example, Type IIIe dagger is not less developed nor placed in an earlier chronological
frame than Type IVb dagger. The reason behind this approach is made clear by
Maxwell-Hyslop when she stated that “…typological development must not be
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