Observations in the Teapots from Bakla Tepe, Western Anatolia

Abstract

This paper examines the teapots recovered from the Early Bronze II, pithos burials at the site of Bakla Tepe in western Anatolia. Teapots provide information about the cultural and chronological affiliations of the site.The results of this study indicate that teapots constituted a special class of artifact associated with mortuary ritual, as most infant pithos burials of the Early Bronze II contained a single example. The presence of stylistically comparable teapots in various parts of Anatolia illustrates that the extent of cultural interactions within Anatolia during this period was far more complex than it has generally been assumed.