3. Cilt - Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı

Güvercinkayası, in the Aksaray Museum 3 . The evidence suggests that Halaf artisticcommunication may well have extended across the Taurus Mountains, beyond thetraditional borders of Mesopotamia. This research is beginning to show that someof the fi gurine styles from Halaf sites in southeastern Anatolia –especially thosefrom the site of Domuztepe— may connect to fi gurines from central Anatolia.Typology of Fifth Millennium Halaf and Anatolian FigurinesIt is not generally understood that the best-known ‘classic’ Halaf fi gurine type isactually from a small chronological and geographic window of the Halaf horizon thatdoes not include Anatolia. This type, representing a curvaceous seated female witharms supporting exaggerated breasts and hands clasped at the sternum occursin abundance at late Halaf settlements in Northeastern Syria and NorthwesternIraq 4 . Exaggerated features were often decorated with polychrome stripes whilethe hands, heads and feet were abbreviated. Most fi gurine types from that regionare created of clay and can sit on a fl at surface without support.While a few features of Anatolian Halaf fi gurines resemble those from Syriaand Iraq, most possess distinctly Anatolian features, some of which are similarto contemporaneous fi gurines from central Anatolia. Anatolian types from bothsoutheastern and central Anatolia are noticeably less curvaceous. Many are quitefl at, almost two dimensional fi gurines rendered in both clay and stone, and severalare represented in standing poses. Many Anatolian fi gurines cannot be displayedon fl at surfaces without support. There is much variation and special attention madeto modeled details on fi gurine heads, of which only a few examples survive. Thiscontrasts with minimal delineation or decoration of the torso, breasts and arms.Decoration is usually limited to incision, light washes and punctation, and perhapsinlay. These differences in fi gurine styles contrast with a somewhat homogeneousmaterial culture of pottery, seals and architecture throughout the Halaf horizon. Aspecial focus of this project are the fi gurines from Domuztepe, which were madeand used at the western edge of Mesopotamia, and show little connection to Halafstyles, although they were found amongst a recognizable Halaf material culture.3 Research was supported in 2000 by a C. V. Starr dissertation grant, Columbia University,n 2002 by the Center for the Ancient Mediterranean, Columbia University and in 2006 bythe Research Foundation/ City University of New York. I thank the General Directorate ofCultural Heritage and Museums and in particular Levent E. Vardar for granting me permissionto conduct this research.4 Examples include Von Oppenheim 1943, taf. CV: 1-18; Mallowan 1938: fi g. 5: 1-9, 11 amongstmany others.235