The never-ending Quest for the Elites:New Approaches to the Study of Cemeteries and Social Organization

A critical reassessment of Early Bronze Age (EBA) cemeteries in Anatolia reveals that the identification of non-urban sites as 'chiefdoms' and the subsequent search for ruling elites based on burial goods may not accurately reflect social organization. This study challenges conventional interpretations by proposing alternative approaches to analyze archaeological data from cemeteries, avoiding the pitfalls of social evolutionary models. While extramural cemeteries are typically associated with small-scale sites like Karataş and Demircihöyük, urban centers such as Troy lack such features, suggesting a more nuanced understanding of social hierarchies during this transitional period (3100/3000-2000 BCE). The research focuses on western Anatolia, excluding eastern regions culturally linked to Mesopotamia.

Durgun, P. (2025). The never-ending Quest for the Elites:New Approaches to the Study of Cemeteries and Social Organization. BAF-Online: Proceedings of the Berner Altorientalisches Forum, 1. https://doi.org/10.22012/baf.2016.12