The excavations at Canhasan Höyök I in the Konya plain of central Turkey
revealed a series of settlements running through the Chalcolithic period
(c.5500-3000 BC). The pottery from the site, much of it of types
previously unknown or not found elsewhere in stratified contexts, is of
fundamental importance for an understanding of this period in Anatolia.
In this volume, Dr French, the excavator of Canhasan and for many years
director of the British Institute at Ankara, carefully and concisely
presents both the plain and decorated wares, with detailed descriptions
of their characteristic fabrics, shapes and decoration. There is a full
catalogue of the best-preserved and most important pieces (which were
registered finds), but a major feature of the volume are the drawings of
over 2500 less well-preserved pieces, which illustrate all the
characteristic shapes and types of decoration. A special feature of the
study is a careful grading of the material in terms of chronological
reliability. The author privileges the whole, or nearly whole, pots
found on floors in each layer, as the only types which were certainly
made at the time. Related pottery may be accepted as contemporary, but
with less certainty, while unrelated wares must be treated with
circumspection, for they may be either recycled from an earlier layer or
intrusive from a later one. This rigorous methodology means that the
Chalcolithic pottery provides a completely reliable relative chronology
through the Chalcolithic period, and the volume will remain a basic
reference for Near Eastern archaeology.
