Archaeometric Investigations on the Production and Distribution of Hittite Ceramics

青铜时代晚期的赫梯帝国是公元前第二个千年期间古代近东的主要力量之一。关于赫梯人的经济和经济组织的问题主要是基于历史研究。迄今为止，考古学在探索这些问题方面受到的关注非常有限。考古学研究的重点主要是重要的原材料，如金属;因此，对赫梯陶瓷的研究是一个例外。调查陶瓷的生产和分布，这是最常见的考古材料组之一，提供了获得有关安纳托利亚赫梯帝国经济和经济历史问题的宝贵信息的可能性。然而，现有的考古记录和所使用的方法无法有效地回答这些问题。陶瓷的分布情况尤其如此，这很难通过考古学的手段来确定。解决这个问题的唯一可能的方法是通过使用化学和岩相矿物学方法对赫梯陶瓷和当地粘土样品进行广泛的考古学研究。因此，拟议项目的主要目标是建立一个坚实的基础，使用化学和岩相矿物学技术的赫梯陶瓷的产地鉴定。为此，将从安纳托利亚康塔尔重要的哈蒂定居点选择陶瓷样品进行考古学和考古学分析。目的是分析所有的赫梯陶瓷类型以及当地粘土来源，在每个网站附近使用考古测量方法。勘探地表地质和应用适当的分析方法在这方面起着至关重要的作用。因此，不同的方法，如LA-ICP-MS（激光烧蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱法），岩相学，X射线衍射（XRD）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）的组合将被应用于回答技术表征，标准化和不同的赫梯陶瓷的来源问题。最后，调查的总体结果将在考古背景下进行解释，特别是在经济史方面，考虑到赫梯社会的社会政治关系。

The Hittites empire of the late Bronze Age was one of the major powers in the ancient Near East during the second millennium BC. Questions concerning the economy and economic organization of the Hittites are largely based on historical research. Archaeology has so far received very limited attention in exploring these questions. The focus of archaeological research was mainly on important raw materials such as metals; thus, research on Hittite ceramics is an exception. Investigating the production and distribution of ceramics, which is one of the most common archaeological material groups, offers the possibility of obtaining valuable information on the questions related to the economy and economic history of the Hittite empire in Anatolia. However, many of these questions are inefficiently answered by the available archaeological records and the methods used. This is particularly true for the distribution of ceramics, which is difficult to ascertain by means of archaeology. The only possible way to tackle this problem is through the extensive archaeometric study of Hittite ceramics and local clay samples from the sites using chemical and petrographic-mineralogical methods. Therefore, the main objective of the proposed project is to establish a solid basis for provenance identification of the Hittite ceramics using chemical and petrographic-mineralogical techniques. To this end, selected ceramic samples from the important Hattie settlements in Cantal Anatolia will be analyzed archaeometrically and archaeologically. The aim is to analyze all the Hittite ceramic types as well as local clay sources available in the vicinity of each site using archaeometric methods. The exploration of the surface geology and application of appropriate analytical methods play a critical role in this. Therefore, a combination of different methods such as LA-ICP-MS (Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry), petrography, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) will be applied to answer questions of technological characterization, standardization, and provenance of different Hittite ceramics. Finally, the overall results of the investigation will be interpreted in the archaeological context, particularly in terms of economic history, by taking into account the socio-political relations in Hittite society.