Suggestions on the White Paint Decorated Ware Tradition of the Samsun Region and Its Spread in Light of New Evidence

Abstract

This study discusses the white paint decorated pottery found during the surveys in the Samsun Region and the excavations at Dombalaktepe. This group of finds indicates the existence of a tradition of paint decoration that is not limited to the region but is widespread in the central and western half of Anatolia. In this article the origin, decoration types, chronology and distribution of this tradition are analyzed. The material studied was classified according to vessel and decoration types and compared with its parallels. Although the findings suggest that the origin of the white painted pottery tradition can be traced back to the Neolithic cultures of Southwestern Europe and Continental Greece, the decoration of vessels with linear lines has been observed to be dominant starting from the Anatolian coasts and has actually formed its own tradition. There is no continuity between the emergence of this tradition and the Neolithic, and the material characteristics have changed completely. Although some references indicate that the beginning of white painted pottery in Anatolia can be traced back to the Early Chalcolithic period, it continued to exist distinctly from the Middle Chalcolithic period until the end of the Early Bronze II period. Its distribution was not widespread throughout Anatolia, but clustered in certain regions. After the coastal and Inner Aegean regions, it reached the Central Taurus and North-Central Anatolia via two different routes. The motivation for this may have been the search for new sources of raw materials, especially copper deposits. We do not know whether the tradition was carried by a particular community particular community carried the tradition or whether it was a fashion reflecting the taste of the period. However, it is noteworthy that white painted ceramics are not found in Thrace, Eastern Marmara and Central Anatolia, and this may be due to the presence of different communities dominating these regions! At least, the absence fact that of any examples are found at least in Eastern Anatolia allows us to see the range and limits boundaries of its distribution. The white painted pottery tradition did not make use of the rich colours and varied decorations of the preceding Neolithic Age, preferring monochrome decorations with simpler motifs. Therefore, no special skills were required in the procurement and application of paint, and pottery was probably not a specialised occupation. We can understand that the community carrying the tradition did not prioritise preferences and aesthetic values, as evidenced by the lack of substantial changes in painted decoration over this period spanning approximately 3000 (between around 5500-2500 BC) years, during which the repertoire of colours narrowed. Within this framework, the sample of about 50 sherds found during the excavation at Dombalaktepe, the typology of the white painted ceramics and the calibrated radiocarbon data allow us to make a speculative approach to the meaning of the spread of this tradition in Anatolia.