Stamp from the Late Chalcolithic period of İkiztepe settlement on the Black Sea coast (Samsun, Türkiye)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57573/be-ja.15.277-288Keywords:
Late Chalcolithic Period, İkiztepe, Black Sea Archaeology, stamp, textileAbstract
Located in the coastal zone of the Central Black Sea (near the city of Samsun), the settlement of İkiztepe represents one of the longest-running archaeological excavations providing data on the prehistoric periods of the region. Excavations conducted between 2021 and 2025 on Tepe I, the largest mound of the site, have revealed contexts dated to the Early Bronze Age I (3100–2900 BC) and the Late Chalcolithic period (3947–3326 BC). Research indicates that weaving activities were organised in a systematic manner at Tepe I from the earliest phases of the Late Chalcolithic onward. Within this context, a stamp uncovered in Level 8 of the Late Chalcolithic deposits constitutes the focus of this study. Discovered in association with weaving-related activities, this object represents the only known example from both İkiztepe and the Central Black Sea Region. The find demonstrates that the stamp tradition, widely attested across a broad geographic area since the Neolithic, was also present in the Black Sea basin. It provides significant evidence regarding İkiztepe’s cultural interaction networks and regional connections.
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