AN ANATOLIAN RITUAL TRADITION FROM THE END OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE: AN OVERVIEW ON VOTIVE PITS IN THE LIGHT OF KÜLLÜOBA EXCAVATIONS

This work aims to analyze the EB III votive pits of Küllüoba, a site that has been excavated by Prof. Turan Efe since 1996, by comparing them with the pits from contemporary sites in Anatolia. These pits were analysed with regard to the archaeological finds they yielded and the archaeological context in which they were found, as well as compared with later Hittite textual sources. The aim of the project was to shed light on the intentional deposition of artefacts in pits, a phenomenon that has been documented in several late EBA sites in Anatolia but has never been analysed in detail before. The work argues that these features should be identified as votive pits which were employed within the context of public ritual activities. It also argues that they should be contextualised within the broader dynamics of the western and central Anatolian Early Bronze Age III. This phase is characterised by the development of the first urban societies and the intensification of interregional exchange networks stretching from the northern Syria to Aegean, witnessed by the diffusion of new technologies (i.e. regarding pottery and metallurgy) and the circulation of finished products. The use of votive pits seems to be connected with these developments, and indicates that interaction with distant areas not only involved the exchange of goods but also had long-lasting impacts on the socio-cultural and ritual dynamics of the local Anatolian communities.