Beyond loom weights: Contextualising crescent-shaped objects as administrative instruments in Late Bronze Age Konya Karahöyük (south-central Anatolia)

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Dardeniz G., Buyukgedik G.

ANATOLIAN STUDIES, cilt.76, ss.1-19, 2026 (AHCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 76
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1017/s0066154625100495
  • Dergi Adı: ANATOLIAN STUDIES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, Periodicals Index Online, L'Année philologique, Anthropological Literature, Index Islamicus, Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, MLA International Bibliography, Social Sciences Abstracts, Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest), Humanities Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-19
  • Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
  • İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Crescent-shaped objects (CSOs) are common in the Bronze Age archaeological contexts of Anatolia. Particularly for the Middle Bronze Age, these objects were routinely interpreted as loom weights for textile production. While arguments exist for different uses of CSOs, such as identity markers, receipts for goods, fishing net weights or pottery handles, incomplete data from a fully recovered archaeological context prevent further assertions for the Late Bronze Age. This article presents new data from the Late Bronze Age I (ca 16th century BCE) strata of the south-central Anatolian site of Konya Karah & ouml;y & uuml;k, suggesting an alternative use for CSOs. Konya Karah & ouml;y & uuml;k is a major Bronze Age hub in the Konya plain, with numerous examples of CSOs dating to the Old Assyrian Colony (OAC) period uncovered in previous excavations conducted at the site from 1953 to 1992. The new round of excavations, which started in 2022, yielded a significant collection providing an opportunity to reinterpret the functions of these objects. The CSOs found in association with pithoi and sealings in a grain and wine storage and preparation context offer evidence of CSOs used as administrative devices. We suggest that CSOs of the 16th-century BCE levels of Konya Karah & ouml;y & uuml;k were utilised as a part of an administrative kit, conceivably accustomed to control time or check the capacity of grain and liquid containers. In the Late Bronze Age, a period marked by the advancement of centralised administrative systems, this new layer of evidence suggests that CSOs may have served a function distinct from their traditionally accepted role as loom weights, which dominates Middle Bronze Age interpretations.