Troy in the Early Bronze Age: Technology, Exchange and Prestige. Diachronic analyses based primarily on small finds made of metal, stone, faience and clay

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The finds made of metal, stone, faience and clay are important evidence of both local production and long-distance contacts. They thus represent an essential basis for the investigation of resource management, exchange and socio-political conditions. The focus of the present project is the finds from the Early Bronze Age and the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age. The investigations should take into account typochronology, excavation contexts, production technology, origin, distribution, and structure of production, as well as the function of the objects in the society of Early Bronze Age Troy and neighbouring areas. During the first phase of the work, a fundamental archaeological evaluation of the small finds is planned, as the comprehensive presentation of this part of the results of the new excavations by M. Korfmann and E. Pernicka has not yet taken place. Among ca. 1000 finds, there are both common settlement finds (such as spindle whorls, loom weights and other tools) and jewelry made of carnelian, faience, bronze and gold, as well as stone vessels, idols and figurines. The first are basic for the study of local handicraft activities as well as function of the rooms; the second will contribute to an understanding of the elite-sponsored branches of production or exchange connections. The archaeological evaluation is supplemented by scientific analyses: the samples that were taken in the course of the new excavations are mainly targeted. These are samples of objects made of copper and bronze (jewelry and tools), marble (vessels, idols, etc.) and faience (discs, beads, and a mace head). In addition, microscopic analyses of the old finds are planned, such as the objects made of rock crystal and carnelian from the Trojan treasures. The purpose of these examinations is to determine the origin, production technology and traces of manufacture and use. On the basis of the archaeological and scientific analyses, further studies will be carried out in the second phase of the project, in which both finds from the new excavations and selected significant old finds will again be used. Among other things, the structure and importance of textile production, metallurgy and lapidary will be examined. The development of these technologies will be investigated diachronically for all periods and phases of the Early Bronze Age, as well as in comparison to similar studies already completed on the finds of the second millennium. Furthermore, the position of Troy in the transfer of technology and style, as well as the course of communication routes and exchange networks between Anatolia, the Aegean and the Balkans, will be discussed from a diachronic perspective. In the final phase of the work the role of the foreign contacts as well as production mentioned above will be discussed in the context of social changes during the Early and Middle Bronze Age.