Isparta-Eğirdir Sultan II. Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev Kervansarayı Kazılarında Bulunan Temrenler

Abstract

The number of studies on comparisons of technical features of arms in the sophisticated history of Medieval Ages is very limited. One of the reasons for this deficiency is the disregard of this topic in researches, and another reason is that the unclear information about the layers of archaeological finds. Such is the case for Medieval Anatolia as well. Excavation finds like knives, arrowheads and spearheads are not included in the interpretations of war history. Understanding the war technology of Crusaders, Seljuks and Mongols can only be possible by morphologic, archaeo-metallurgical and terminological examinations of the original excavation finds. In this study 64 arrowheads, which were revealed during the 1993, 2006 and 2007 excavations at Gıyaseddin Keyhusrev II Caravanserai, Isparta-Eğirdir, were discussed in morphologic, archaeo-metallurgical, and terminological perspectives. The finds were evaluated by their layer contexts, dimension, weight, morphology, terminology and typology features; they were classified in accordance with their figural features and compared with contemporary examples. Discussions and proposals were made about naming the types with proper technical terms which are mentioned in arrow treatises and warfare books related to the period. 8 of these arrowheads were examined by using archaeometric methods, their micro-structures and the others were determined by the use of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS). Apart from the other published medieval arrowheads the samples subjected in this study are the first samples to be directly dated in light of the stratigraphic data collected from the layer contexts that were found in the excavation. Thus, the different types of arrowheads determined by this study are significant in means of the data collected from their technological features such as internal structure and hardness, for a comparative study with other contemporary samples, and building a data base on the technique data of Anatolian Seljuk arrowheads.