Petrographic and Geochemical Investigations on the Pottery Production from Arslantepe-Malatya (Eastern Anatolia) from the Fourth to the Second Millennium BCE: Technological Continuity, Innovation and Cultural Change

The petrographic and geochemical analyses of 130 Late Chalcolithic 3 (LC3, 3800 bce) to Early Bronze Age IIIB (EBAIIIB, 2000 bce) ceramics from Arslantepe and the Malatya Plain in the Eastern Anatolian Upper Euphrates have identified critical differences in raw material procurement and paste preparation, reflecting typological, chronological and cultural changes. Based on these differences, distinct modes of production that correspond to phases reflecting significant social, economic and political changes were recognized. In particular, the interruption of the centralization process and the establishment of mobile groups during EBAI (3000-2900 bce) were accompanied by the exploitation of new sources.