The Mat White-painted Pottery from Eastern Thrace: a new look at the relations between the Balkans and Anatolia

Abstract

The excavations and surface surveys carried out in Eastern Thrace as well as the Southern Marmara region over the past few years have made much headway in filling the substantial gaps still existing in the cultural sequence of the region. Although the field data are far from complete, the results of this research help us to reconstruct the prehistory of the region and to gain a better understanding of the relations between the Balkan and Anatolian prehistoric sequences.The network of cultural exchange between Anatolia and Southeast Europe during the fifth and fourth millennia B.C. may be demonstrated by examining some major artifact types, such as pottery forms, terracotta figurines, bone spoons, etc. (cf. Thissen 1993a, 302–3, Özdoğan 1993, 179–81). In pottery the similarities between Anatolia and Southeast Europe are especially apparent in types of decoration, also to some extent in the repertoire of shapes (not all shapes are similar) and method of manufacture.During our investigations in the province of Edirne, Eastern Thrace, were recovered mat white-painted sherds of Anatolian and Aegean type which help to fill the gaps in our knowledge between Anatolian and Balkan prehistoric sequences.