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2000年古代近东地区的主要强国之一。关于赫梯人的经济和经济组织的问题在很大程度上是基于历史研究。迄今为止，考古学在探索这些问题方面得到的关注非常有限。考古研究的重点主要集中在金属等重要原料上；因此，对赫梯陶瓷的研究是一个例外。陶瓷是最常见的考古材料群之一，对陶瓷的生产和分布进行调查，为获得有关安纳托利亚赫梯帝国经济和经济史问题的宝贵信息提供了可能。然而，现有的考古记录和使用的方法无法有效地回答其中的许多问题。陶瓷的分布尤其如此，这很难用考古学的方法来确定。解决这个问题的唯一可能的方法是使用化学和岩石矿物学方法对赫梯陶瓷和当地粘土样本进行广泛的考古研究。因此，拟议项目的主要目的是利用化学和岩石矿物学技术为赫梯陶瓷的来源鉴定奠定坚实的基础。为此，将从安纳托利亚坎塔尔重要的哈蒂定居点挑选陶瓷样品进行考古计量学和考古学分析。目的是利用考古测量方法分析所有赫梯陶瓷类型以及每个遗址附近可用的当地粘土来源。地表地质的勘探和适当的分析方法的应用在这方面起着至关重要的作用。因此，将结合LA-ICP-MS（激光烧蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱）、岩石学、x射线衍射（XRD）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）等不同的方法来回答不同赫梯陶瓷的技术表征、标准化和来源问题。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.