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

pedigree. Therefore, it is possible that the Kura-Araxes culture indeed played an
important role in the distribution of certain early dagger typologies in the Eastern
Anatolia in the upper reaches of Tigris and Euphrates to Mesopotamia.
The cultural interactions between Mesopotamia and Central Anatolia in the EB
III period are clear. The artistic and the cultural influences of Mesopotamia cannot be
denied. Yet, the crescentic pommel daggers are the only solid evidence for the stylistic
influence of Ur on the Central Anatolian dagger types. The Mesopotamian daggers, in
general, show great variety in form and many of the dagger types are not found in
Anatolia (Fig. 31).
We are aware of the interactions between Troy, Central Anatolia and Cilicia in
the EBA, especially in EBA III. An important cultural horizon to consider for the
study of dagger is the Ezerovo-Sozopol group which was developed in the Bulgarian
Black Sea coast (Mazura, 1999: 207). The Northwestern Anatolian contacts with the
Ezero culture is evident in the early 4th millennium (Nikolova, 1999: 249). These
interactions continued into the later phases and based on the common ceramic
elements between Troy I-II and the Ezero 10-5 (Nikolova, 1999: 344).
The daggers illustrated from Central Anatolian sites, İkiztepe, Karaz,
Karkamış, Ur and Ezoro are very similar to each other yet we cannot determine it if
these daggers are result of indigenous development or these cultural interactions.
6.3 Evidence from Caucasus
There is a Type II dagger, which is very similar to an Alaca Höyük dagger
(Cat. No: 5), found in a grave belonging to Sachere culture (Fig.32). Both of the
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