Prehistoric Sites in Northwest Anatolia: II. The Balıkesir and Akhisar/Manisa Areas

Abstract

In this article I have presented the second synthesis of information and material gathered from surface survey in Western Anatolia. This article, in fact, completes the publication of the work that I undertook in 1959–60 when I was joint Scholar of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. My aim in 1959–60 was to discover what prehistoric remains could be found, especially in the Akhisar/Manisa region but also in the area around Balıkesir. Both regions were archaeologically almostterra incognita—at least in the publications.I have, therefore, felt that it is justifiable to publish the information that was recorded ten years ago although, at the same time, it must be admitted that aims and methods in archaeology have radically changed since 1959, and that methods of illustration and publication have changed along with the aims themselves. Much of modern archaeology is turning (? rightly) to the new approaches—the new “models”—but analytical archaeology, however propounded, is at the mercy of the data available for it. Data must still be collected, especially from sources where basic, primary information did not exist before. It is perhaps unfortunate that in Anatolia, until recently, scant attention has been paid to the accurate compilation of basic information.