THE IRON AGE POTTERY OF ZINCIRLI HÖYÜK: AN ASSEMBLAGE AMONG NEIGHBOURING TRADITIONS

Abstract

This article presents the results of the renewed excavations at Zincirli Höyük, in the İslahiye valley in the province of Gaziantep
in southeastern Turkey, focusing on the local ceramic assemblage and on some imported items. The excavations both in the
lower town and on the citadel mound have yielded abundant documentation useful to analyze the local pottery horizon in the
period of Iron Age II and III and connect it to contemporary assemblages of northern inland Syria and southeastern Anatolia.
The presence of Assyrian and Phoenician imported items is extremely relevant not only to anchor the relative chronology of
materials, but also to understand the relationships and exchanges taking place in the ancient kingdom of Sam’al in the timespan
between the 9th and 7th centuries BC.