elusive complexity : new data from late halaf domuztepe in South Central Turkey

E. Carter, S. Campbell and S. Gauld

The Kahramanmaras, valley is situated at a crucial juncture between Cilicia and the Mediterranean coast on the west, the Amuq to the south, the Anatolian plateau to the north and the Syro-Mesopotamian steppe to the east (fig. 1 ). From its inception in 1993 the Kahramanmaras, Archaeological Project has been conceived of as a long-term, multi-disciplinary regional research project that includes both regional survey and excavation at Domuztepe1. Distinctive painted pottery, round

houses and stamp seals, all considered cultural horizon markers of the Halaf, are known from Domuztepe2. But our excavations, as well as a number of others in the Syro- Anatolian region, now show that a broadly based view of a large unified Halaf cultural region stretching from the Zagros to the Mediterranean is misleading. Many of the excavated materials can be placed broadly into the Halaf tradition, although there are nonetheless distinctly local variations. The assemblage from

Paléoricnt. vol. 29/2. p. 1 17-134 <■ CNRS ÉDITIONS 2003

Manuscrit reçu le 2H juillet 2003. accepté le 1 1 décembre 2003