Part Four

FOOD STORAGE ACCUMULATION AND CONSUMPTION

 Chapter VIII

The CeramIC ConTaIners of PerIod VI a.

food ConTrol aT The TIme of CenTralIsaTIon*

Maria Bianca DAnna

METHODOLOGICAL REMARkS

The manipulation, storage and consumption of food leave traces in a variety of archaeological
contexts and classes of finds. Pottery assemblages are an important source of information as
they are largely associated with food-related activities: Ceramic forms are consequently associated
with, and meaningfully linked to, the specific foods used by the members of a society [], the
means of food preparation, and the cultural significance of food consumption and sharing1.
Scholars have frequently distinguished pottery function from vessel use. For example,
Skibos definition of (pottery) function covers a wide semantic field, referring to technofunction,
sociofunction and ideofunction, further differentiating between the intended function (what
an artifact was designed for) and actual function (how the artifact was in fact used)2.
Duistermaat proposes a similar distinction and differentiates between function and use, the
former is the broad vessel purpose that the potter had in mind when producing a certain
vessel, while the word use indicates in which way vessels were ultimately used. In this
case we are dealing mostly with the way the vessel became part of the archaeological record3.
Sinopoli also indicates a distinction between the intended function and actual use of pottery
containers and suggests three lines of investigation: the analysis of clay, temper, use wears
and residues; the study of shape; and the spatial distribution of different ceramic containers4.
This paper deals with pottery function and, on occasion, use of vessels found in situ, most
of which are complete. These finds have been taken into account specifically due to their
location and their association with other finds, providing evidence of their actual use at least

* In this paper, I integrate new results achieved to date in the course of my ongoing doctoral research. For this
reason, some data presented in DAnna 2010 as well as in Frangipanes studies on VI A contexts and pottery are here
reconsidered and future analyses may further refine them. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Barbara
Helwing and Susan Pollock, not only for having read drafts of this work, but also for their continuous helpfulness.
I also thank for their advices and support Paolo Guarino, Cristina Lemorini and Lorenzo Verderame.
1
Sinopoli 1991: 122.
2
Skibo 1993: 35.
3
Duistermaat 2008: 226-227.
4
Sinopoli 1991.

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 Economic Centralisation in Formative States. Chapter VIII

at the moment in time sealed by the abrupt and violent destruction of the VI A buildings5.
The distribution of storage vessels, cooking pots and mass produced bowls in important areas
of the public building complex (such as Temple A, Temple B and the storeroom sector) and
the residential buildings is described. I conclude with a discussion of the nature and intensity
of food centralisation, use and redistribution at the site, as well as the context and ways in
which food staples were being stored and consumed.

At the current stage of this research, functional categories of vessels have been identified
according to shape and capacity; in some cases, fabric and surface treatments have been
considered too. On the cooking ware, use wears have also been considered to better understand
the actual use of these pots. A vessels shape, so strongly related to its function, is also
determined by normative ideas, fashions, and the technology of pottery production6.
Ethnographic and comparative studies suggest frequent associations between function and
formal characteristics7. In this respect, the most meaningful attribute for the Arslantepe VI A
closed-shape ceramics appears to be the width of the orifice and its comparative relation to
the pots capacity8. Ethnographic data indicates that this ratio is dissimilar in containers intended
for storing liquids as compared to vessels for storing dry foodstuffs, while the length of storage
does not seem to influence orifice width. Therefore, dry goods storage containers often have
a larger orifice9, while vessels for liquids typically have a significant neck constriction and
tend to be elongated. However, liquid storage vessels may be more variable in shape than dry
storage containers. Vessels used for cooking preferably have round bases to better absorb
thermal shock and larger mouths than those used for storage, as this characteristic allows for
easier food manipulation. In their introductory survey of ethnographic data concerning formal-
function correlations, Henrickson and McDonald distinguish cooking pots from cooking trays,
the former are short and squat [], with a large basal surface for efficient heat transfer [],
but usually with a somewhat restricted mouth [] to prevent rapid evaporation from boiling
foods, while the latter are griddles or large, squat trays with a large basal surface10. So,
reversing this argument, the shape of cooking pots, as well as the distribution and characteristics
of internal carbon deposit and external sooting11, may reveal cooking habits and allow

5
On this subject, it is useful to bear in mind the nature of the depositional process of period VI A structures and
what occurred on the occupational mound and its surroundings at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC (Frangipane
et al. 2005; Palumbi 2008). The sudden and violent destruction of period VI A buildings and way of life may have
sealed a critical moment in what seems to have been a powerful, but also fragile, early state.
6
Sinopoli 1991: 84. The opposition between style and function is an underlying assumption of many pottery analyses.
Their embeddedness, however, has been one of the main themes in an ongoing theoretical discussion that began at
least in the 1980s (Sacket 1982; Shanks, Thilley 1992: 137-171). Also to be considered is the debate around technology
and culture, as for instance in Van der Leeuw 1993.
7
Henrickson, McDonald 1983; Rice 1987: 207-243; Frangipane 1994. Nevertheless, it is encouraging that the major
positive implication arising from our ethnographic search is that detailed functional analysis of archeological ceramic
assemblages is a feasible approach toward understanding ancient society and economy. While such an analysis does
not establish the precise uses to which an ancient vessel was put, general functional classes can be inferred and used
as an independent data set for comparison to other archeological evidence about ancient behavior (Henrickson,
McDonald 1983: 640). Studies on use wears and chemical residues are developing and integrating this approach
(Barnard, Eerkens 2007).
8
See also DAnna 2010 for a preliminary functional classification of Arslantepe VI A pottery.
9
Both long-term (i.e., weeks or months) and temporary (i.e., hours or days) dry-storage vessels tend to be designed
with an opening wide enough to scoop from (Henrickson, McDonalds 1983: 632).
10
Ibid.: 631-632.
11
Skibo 1993: 147-173; kobayashi 1994.

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

archaeologists to distinguish boiling or simmering practices of prevalently liquid foods from

roasting or baking drier ingredients12.

THE PERIOD VI A POTTERy: GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND FUNCTIONAL GROUPS

Arslantepes Late Chalcolithic 5 assemblage is characterised by a limited assortment of

formal types and a broader variety of wares13. A ware univocally relates to one or few formal
and functional types. With the exception of a few larger bowls or basins and occasionally
occurring small beakers with a slightly open profile, the mass-produced truncated-conical
bowls (MPBs) are the only type made of coarse light-coloured fabric and are all thrown on
the fast wheel (fig. VIII.1: a).
The Semi-Fine Ware group (SFW) consists of necked jars of various dimensions14, with a
more or less pronounced high shoulder, sometimes decorated with the so-called reserved slip
technique (VIII.1: c). The manufacture especially of the larger jars is mainly mixed, with the
lower part of the body handmade, often with coils, and the neck wheel thrown. Some bottles
(figs. VIII.1: e and XI.2: a) have also been categorised as Semi-Fine Ware, but their fabric is
usually finer and sandier. They are grouped as a category according to their function alone,
as the form, amount and quality of non-plastic inclusions is rather variable.
The finest fabric among the light-coloured wares is found among small vessels: jarlets and
high-stemmed bowls (fig. VIII.1: b)15, occasionally with cut-out decorated foot and rarely
painted. Rare examples of lipped and beaked bowls, also wheel-thrown with light-coloured
fabric make up the group Fine Ware (TF) (fig. VIII.2). Made with few different formal
attributes, high-stemmed bowls are nearly the only example of a vessel type that crosscuts the
different ware types. They are, in fact, an important part of the Red-Black Burnished Ware
(RBBW) production, which includes bowls, mugs and small jars too (fig. VIII.1: f)16. Only one
example of a Red-black pithos has been found to date in all period VI A contexts: in the main
room (A450) of Temple B. There are some rare, incomplete, examples of other larger closed
containers that usually appear to have the same profile as the more widespread smaller ones.
The Common Ware group (CW; fig. VIII.2) includes handmade globular or ovoid storage
containers with large open orifices with short collars and coarse organic and mineral inclusions.
Bigger pithoi display the same technological characteristics but their profile is more variable.
Also in this group are cooking pots, which are more or less globular.
Such a panorama is unique in the Late Chalcolithic 5 of Greater Mesopotamia: the shape
repertoire is highly simplified when compared to typical Late Uruk assemblages17. yet the
presence of the RBBW and the marked similarities between the pottery of Arslantepe, Tepecik
and Hassek Hyk point to the existence of what has been defined as a northern area of

12
See Pearce 1999; Bray 2003b; Balossi Restelli, Guarino 2010.
13
Frangipane, Palmieri 1983a. With the term ware I refer to a repeated co-occurrence of different technological and
cultural choices concerning clays and inclusions, surface treatments, firing and manufacturing techniques.
14
The capacity and contexts of provenance of periods VI A and VI B2 larger necked jars (capacity of more than
20 l) are plotted in the graph in fig. XI.1.
15
The high-stemmed bowls show a higher variability in quantity and coarseness of the added organic temper than
the jarlets.
16
This group actually encompasses the bichrome and the monochrome hand-made burnished wares (Palumbi 2008:
79-93).
17
Frangipane, Palmieri 1983a: 366.

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 Economic Centralisation in Formative States. Chapter VIII

Fig. VIII.1 Selected pottery of period VI A. a: coarse mass-produced bowls; b: light coloured high-stemmed bowls;
c: semi-fine necked jars; d: cooking pots; e: unspouted bottles from Temple B; f: RBBW vessels.

the Late Uruk world in which the craftsmen interpreted the Mesopotamian models in terms
of the local taste and tradition18.

18
Frangipane 2002: 128. This area is anyway internally differentiated: Arslantepe and Tepecik share a more significant
presence of Red-Black Burnished Wares, while Hassek ceramics seem more Mesopotamian related.

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

Fig. VIII.2 SFW necked jars, CW pithoi, TF jarlet and cooking pots from the storerooms.

Using the methodological framework briefly outlined above, functional categories have
been identified in Arslantepes VI A assemblage19. Pithoi and CW containers could be used
for storing dry goods that may have already been processed20 but it cannot be entirely ruled
out that the SFW necked jars had a similar use. Nevertheless, medium and large SFW necked
jars seem to be more suitable for keeping liquid or semi-liquid rather than dry goods due to
their constricted opening. The study of the reverse of the cretulae has shown that pithoi were
often closed with basketry or lids made of organic matter, while jars were closed with cloth
or leather21. Some large necked jars have a channelled rim, which was probably used for
supporting lids, indirect evidence of another system for closure22.
The group of spouted or spoutless vessels identified as bottles for storing, transporting
and serving liquids share a typical elongated shape. They can be distinguished from the
group of CW pitchers on the basis of several factors: the general outline of the profile; the

19
DAnna 2010.
20
As milled, crashed or even dried foodstuffs. This hypothesis is also based on the scant evidence of charred
paleobotanical material (see Balossi Restelli et al. in this volume).
21
The use of different materials to cover vessels can be correlated to the goods stored inside. It has been suggested
for example that leather was used for containers holding liquids, since it is relatively impermeable and prevents rapid
evaporations; cloth instead allows a greater exchange of air [] and is more suited for storing solid goods as cereals
(Laurito 2007: 390). See also DAnna, Laurito 2007.
22
Frangipane, Palmieri 1983a: 327.

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fabric; the absence of a handle; and their larger size. Bottles were probably used for beer
and wine23, while semi-liquid products such as yoghurt, different types of porridge and soft
cheese, animal fats, etc., were more likely to have been kept in SFW necked jars. Although
residue analysis is still lacking and the archaeobotanical evidence is unfortunately too
scarce to allow for the assessment of any likely scenarios, this hypothesis is supported by
the comparison with the Uruk archaic texts dated to the Late Uruk and Jemded Nasr periods
(fig. VIII.3: m): The sign DUGb, representing a ceramic jar without a spout, was consistently
distinguished from the sign DUGa including the representation of a spout. This fact and
the contextual usage of both signs suggest that the former jar will most likely have contained
semi-liquids, the latter liquids, above all beers. A large number of signs were impressed
in DUGb in archaic lexical texts, to a lesser extend attested in administrative texts, to
specify the product contained in the jar represented by the sign, including among others
E (barley), NAkA (an alkaline plant?), TI (?), MA (male goat), kUR (a plant related
to the grapevine?), GI (wood), kU6 (fish) and SA2 (pig)24. The signs kAb and
kAc have been interpreted as dairy fat mixed with crushed barley. A tablet of the Uruk
III period (W 21682) establishes a ratio of 1:10 between the pictogram for bevelled rim
bowls (SILA3a) and a DUGb vessel. This led Englund to deduce that the capacity of dairy
fat jars was about eight litres25. The so-called medium-sized necked jars26 of Arslantepes
SFW can be functionally compared to DUGb jars, although they have a highly inconsistent
capacity ranging from ca. four to 11 litres. A smaller group includes jars with a 14 to
19 litre capacity. It seems feasible that the smaller necked jars were used for storing
semi-liquids, perhaps dairy products.
A few words should be said about the six complete or nearly complete SFW large necked
jars incised with an upside down cereal ear on their shoulder (fig. VIII.3: a-i)27. This sign is
identical to the pictogram E = barley in the archaic texts of Uruk (fig. VIII.3: l)28. Although
barley is the most widespread cereal at Arslantepe, very few caryopses have been found in
any of the period VI A buildings29. As suggested above, the necked jars appear more suitable
for liquid or semi-liquid goods. It may be possible that this vegetal motif at Arslantepe also
refers to barley or barley products. Consequently, these jars were used for conserving, and
maybe also preparing cereal products such as beers or porridges that were cooked, possibly
roasted or boiled, or simply prepared with crushed or milled cereals. Porridges can also be
made with fat, generally animal. For example, in the canonical list, the E section consists

23
Belisario et al. 1994; Frangipane 1994; Balossi Restelli et al. in this volume.
24
Englund 1995: 44-45. Furthermore, Far fewer examples are known of signs impressed in the beer sign DUGa,
including kASkAL, LAMb, NAGAa und U2a/b (types of herbs?), all of which are attested only in administrative texts
(Ibid.: n. 45). See also the lexical list Vessels, which is an administrative repertoire of impressive complexity
(Englund 1998: 95 and fig. 29).
25
Ibid.: 165-169.
26
Frangipane, Palmieri 1983a: 328-330.
27
In three cases the ear is surmounted by a small knob; in one case there are two knobs; and in another case a
horizontal line is incised on top of the ear. Only in one case the jar found in the domestic storeroom A946 the ear
is alone. In this case, the incision is shallower and the shape of the ear is more stylised. It is noteworthy that this
is the only complete large necked jar found in any of the residential buildings to date.
28
Green, Nissen 1987: 283. As far as I know, beside the case of Arslantepe, vessels with an incised ear have been
found only in Hassek Hyk (Helwing 2002: katalog 53; 54; 210; 228; 272; 577; 690). If this drawing is really linked
to the proto-Sumerian sign for barley, an important question regarding ideas circulation and symbols sharing should
be raised.
29
Balossi Restelli et al. present volume.

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

Fig. VIII.3 a-i: SFW large necked jars with incised ear (a: A28; b: A365 W3; c: A946; d: A450; e-h: A365 W36;
i: A36); l: Green, Nissen 1987: 283; m: Englund 1995: fig. 60; n: RBBW jar from A747; o-p: CW jar.

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 Economic Centralisation in Formative States. Chapter VIII

of about sixty entries, many of which describe conditions of grain/barley and things that are
done with grain/barley30.
One class in which the influence of the Mesopotamian tradition is clearly recognizable
are SFW necked jars, and it is worth recalling that, regardless of our interpretation, some of
these jars bear a cereal motif31. Also the RBBW vessels are seldom decorated, but when
figurative motives are incised or applied, they refer to the animal world (fig. VIII.3: n)32.
Beside the RBBW, a CW pithos bears animals (perhaps goats) applied around the shoulder
(fig. VIII.3: o-p)33.
Cooking pots are clearly distinguishable in the assemblage by the presence of external fire
clouding associated with internal carbon deposits. They typically have a short outflaring collar
and a globular body (fig. VIII.1: d). The base is rounded or slightly flattened, with no sharp
angle between the vessels base and body, useful for preventing damage from thermal shock.
There are various sizes of cooking pots and consequently capacities, but all would have been
suitable for boiling and simmering. The most common pattern of external and internal sooting
in period VI A cooking pots is an oxidised patch covering the external base and sometimes
the lower side of the vessels, while the lower half of the body up to the shoulder shows a
dark brown or blackish sooted area generally with irregular upper margins. Sometimes the
external surface of the lip is darker. A very dark brown or black dull area is often visible on
the inner base, frequently corresponding with the external oxidized area, but in many istances
this internal carbon deposit is not found on the inner surface of the body of the pot. This
pattern suggests that the cooking pots were placed directly over the fire34. This hypothesis is
corroborated by the absence of fixed or movable elements for supporting vessels near the
fireplaces and by the shape of the fireplaces, which have a small central hollow where the
pots could have easily been placed35.
Some rare examples of large bowls have also been found (up to 7 litres in capacity), which
may also have been used for other food preparation practices.

30
Powell 1984: 50. The redaction of the HAR-ra=ubullu list is dated to the Old Babylonian period. Different ways
of processing cereals are mentioned in cuneiform texts, excluding the production of fine flour: roasting, boiling, soaking
and germination processes for whole grains are described. Also of some interest is the section regarding barley groats:
a text seems to provide evidence of soaking groats after they have been ground (Postgate 1984: 108). See also
Hillman 1985: 19-22.
31
Plain simple and reserved slip wares with an ear incised have also been found in the Late Uruk level of Hassek
Hyk. Helwing does not give any particular interpretation of this sign (Helwing 2002: 88).
32
Palumbi 2008: 84 (and see also fig. 3.29). In particular Palumbi interprets the small caprid applied to the neck of
Red-black burnished jars as functionally and symbolically [connoting] (pastoralism and its secondary products) a
pottery tradition with strong Central and Northeastern Anatolian routes (ibid.). Animal motifs also decorate Red-black
burnished vessels at Tepecik (Esin 1982: figs. 75: 6; 76). At Hassek Hyk, a small sherd of burnished kitchen Ware
is decorated with something that resembles an animal figure (Helwing 2002: katalog 359 in taf. 35 and 87). In fact,
Helwing interprets it as a stark stilisierte Reliefbild eines Tiers (ibid.: 89). What seems to be a quadruped is incised
on a sack-shape large-mouthed pithos found in CH 10 at Tell Brak (Oates 1985: fig. I: 12).
33
It has been partially reconstructed from sherds scattered in the filling layer of the area north to Temple A, which
yielded a huge quantity of VI A fragmentary pottery, with no later presences (see Palmieri 1973: fig. 70).
34
Skibo 1993: 148.
35
The fireplace in room A734 appears to be especially interesting: in this case the central hollow was created by
a mass produced bowl, placed there specifically for this purpose. The fireplace with circular rim around the central
concavity is the most common type and is found in many rooms in Period VI A buildings; thus it may have also
been used to heat the rooms. In two cases, significant and concentrated traces of fire were found in connection with
different fittings that have been interpreted as cooking places: in room A132 (within the public complex) a large flat
stone and in room A933 (within the residential buildings) a mud platform located next to a more common fireplace
with central hollow.

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

Food was mainly served from the cooking pots. Large bowls, CW pitchers, TF and RBBW
jarlets, SFW bottles could also have been used for serving foods and drinks, but their distribution
is less frequent.
The range of containers for consuming food and drink in Arslantepes VI A assemblage is
dominated by the Mass-produced Bowls, which are also the most widespread ceramic of the
period. Coarse beakers, SFW lipped bowls, RBBW bowls, mugs and jugs are much rarer. The
less common beaked bowls may have been used for serving and/or drinking liquids. The
function of high-stemmed bowls may have been used in performing rituals since they have
been found directly in connection with podiums, altars and basins36. Nevertheless, they
could also be used to consume special foods or drinks, or to eat in special contexts and
occasions.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF In SItu CERAMIC CONTAINERS IN THE ARSLANTEPE VI A BUILDINGS37

This section of the paper turns our attention to the public building complex (fig. VIII.10)
and, eventually, the materials found in the residential buildings are taken into consideration.
The distribution of different functional classes of vessels in the two Temples and the three
storerooms is compared to the assemblage found in the residential area of the site.

The majority of vessels in Temple a were found in the entrance room A46 and in the
small passage room A36 (fig. VIII.4). In A46 several pottery containers were found on the
two benches, A44 and A49, however, for the purposes of this analysis the ceramics in different
sectors of room A46 will be considered all together. In A46 and A36, large storage containers
and several small- and medium-sized cooking pots were found together with numerous TF
jarlets. In the main room (A42) a much smaller amount of pottery was found that showed
little variety, consisting essentially of coarse bowls and fruitstands, with a noticeable higher
concentration around the offering table38. A couple of fragmentary small cooking pots complete
the A42 assemblage. Besides these ceramics, a funnel (a large bowl with a capacity of more
than 20 litres with a sizeable hole on the bottom)39 was found on bench A49 in Temple As
entrance room. Here (A46-A49-A44), the assemblage of vessels intended for consuming food
and liquids is relatively large and rather varied: it consists of: 20 MPBs, three of which are
very large (more than two litres capacity); six high-stemmed bowls (five of which in RBBW);
three bowls in RBBW; three beaked bowls; three handled bowls and five small jugs. In A36
the ensemble of open shapes is less significant, comprising nine MPBs; one jug; one high-
stemmed bowl and one bowl, both made in the RBBW.
The distribution of pottery in Temple B strongly contrasts with that in Temple A
(fig. VIII.5): almost all the vessels were concentrated in the main room (A450). Besides the
vessels reported in the following tables, there were also three TF jarlets and one RBBW high-
stemmed bowl; one lipped bowl; two bowls; and about 15-20 MPBs. In the entrance room of

36
Frangipane 1997: 57.
37
The evidence presented consists of a reworking of materials that have nearly all been wholly or partially published:
for Temple A see Palmieri 1973 and Frangipane, Palmieri 1983a; for Temple B: Frangipane 1997; for the area of storerooms:
Frangipane, Palmieri 1988-1989; and for the domestic area: DAnna 2010. A revision of all period VI A ceramics is still
in progress. Therefore, comments and corrections to previous studies have to be considered as preliminary.
38
Frangipane, Palmieri 1983a: 321.
39
Palmieri 1973: fig. 62:12.

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 Economic Centralisation in Formative States. Chapter VIII

Fig. VIII.4 Occurrences of closed-shape vessels in Temple A.

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

Fig. VIII.5 Occurrences of closed-shape vessels and high-stemmed bowls in Temple B.

Temple B (A809) three MPBs lay on the floor, while nine were dispersed in the fill together
with a group of cretulae40. In A800, two MPBs were on the floor and nine in the fill. Possibly
the 18 bowls as well as the cretulae found in the fill of the two side rooms had fallen from
the upper storey of the rooms41. In room A800 a mortar and a millstone were also found.
Micro-wear analysis on stone tools in the main room (A450) has shown evidence of meat
slicing42. One elongated semi-fine jar was probably standing on the northern window between
the entrance room (A809) and the main room (A450).
The vessel and administrative device distribution in the storage area is internally
differentiated43. In A340, A364 and A365, the stratigraphy and depositional dynamics point
to the existence of a second storey44. Through a systematic evaluation of sherd dispersion in
the different strata of the three storage rooms, it has been possible to distinguish the vessels

40
Frangipane 1997: 63-64.
41
For a reconstruction of Temple B and its depositional and architectonical analyses, see Alvaro in this volume and
fig. III.2.9.
42
Lemorini present volume.
43
Frangipane, Palmieri 1988-1989.
44
Alvaro present volume; see also fig. III.2.10.

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 Economic Centralisation in Formative States. Chapter VIII

Fig. VIII.6 Occurrences of closed-shape vessels and high-stemmed bowls on the ground floor of the storerooms.

kept on the ground floor from those that have fallen from the upper storey (figs. VIII.6
and 7). Considering only complete or near complete vessels and not including the MPBs, 46
containers lay on the ground floor of the three storerooms and 20 on the upper storey.
The primary activity in A340 seems to have been redistribution, as suggested by the
significant number of cretulae and MPBs associated with large storage containers and sacks45.
In this room, the majority of closed-shape vessels were on the ground floor and consist
predominantly of containers for dry goods. One bottle and one large necked jar were found
on the ground floor, and another large necked jar was the only large container to have fallen
from the collapsed upper storey, together with a RBBW jarlet. Two more pithoi might have
been kept on the upper storey, as large fragments of two CW pithoi were found in the upper
fills of the open area south-east of A340. Three MPBs were also found in the same stratigraphic

45
Their presence can be deduced from the impressions on the reverse side of the clay sealings found in the room.
On the ground floor, besides the cretulae temporarily set aside in the north-eastern corner of the room after being
removed from different kind of containers, some clay sealings were found scattered on the floor. Among them, six
were on sacks (Frangipane, Fiandra 2007: fig. VII.4). So it is possible to hypothesise that approximately six sacks
were present on the ground floor when the structure burnt down. Furthermore, only five out of 14 of all cretulae on
sacks in A340 collapsed from the upper storey.

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

Fig. VIII.7 Occurrences of closed-shape vessels and high-stemmed bowls on the upper storey of the storerooms.

position. These vessels are most likely to have been in the collapse-fill from the upper storey
of A34046.
A364 gave access to the other two rooms. On the ground floor, besides two high-stemmed
bowls, were one pithos, one large and one small necked jar. It is possible that goods were
kept here for only a short period of time, while the upper storey was the real storage area
since three large necked jars, two small bottles, two CW containers and two large cooking
pots were found there.
It is likely that A365 was only intended for keeping stock, possibly on a long-term basis.
The majority of vessels were concentrated on the ground floor, namely: three large, one medium
and four small-sized SFW necked jars; four TF jarlets; four spouted bottles; one large pithos;
three cooking pots; one large basin; one funnel; and two high-stemmed bowls. The assemblage
of the upper storey consists of two pithoi, four large necked jar and a spouted bottle.
Very few MPBs were found in A364 and A365: four in the first and three in the second
room, all from the upper storey. It is possible that they were used to scoop.

46
This hypothesis is based not only on the stratigraphic location and pattern of dispersion of the sherds (they were
grouped in three clusters), but also on the fact that the upper part of A340 south-eastern wall, which still stands to a
height of ca. 1.2m, collapsed towards the courtyard.

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 Economic Centralisation in Formative States. Chapter VIII

This general picture can be further refined when one takes into account the capacity of
different functional classes of containers, which should roughly reflect the quantity of food
and drinks stored, manipulated and consumed in these public sectors of Arslantepe. This
calculation is a rough estimate, since not all vessels profiles are complete.
In Temple A, a large number of vessels intended for storage (or for serving) liquid or semi-
liquid goods was found concentrated in the two small entrance rooms A36 and A46. The total
capacity of these containers is substantial (ca. 550 litres!), and is higher than the total liquids
and/or semi-liquids storable in Temple B (slightly more than 400 litres). But, as shown in the
following table, necked jars and bottles are fewer in number in Temple B though larger in
size when compared to those in Temple A. As regards the storerooms, liquid and semi-liquid
goods were gathered more in the actual store A365 than in the redistribution room A340.

Table VIII.1

* Besides these two bottles found in the north-western area of A450 (Frangipane 1997: fig. 10), an elongated jar leant
on the window between A450 and A809.

In the two temples, a similar pattern is visible in dry good storage containers and cooking
pots. The number of items and their total capacity are summarised in the following table:

Table VIII.2

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

Together with the standard cooking pots of room A450, the pithos (W22) has been included
in the study as although it is a typical pithos in shape, fabric and surface treatment47, it shows
signs of being used on the fire. It has a dark brown to blackish sooting area that covers the
exterior base and lower part of the body, although no dark carbon deposit is visible on the
internal base. It is highly possible that this 70 litre capacity pot was also used for cooking,
which is quite surprising. This would imply that in Temple B it was possible to cook more
than 140 litres of food using only six pots. The total capacity of three dry storage containers
amounts to 300 litres in A450 (excluding W22), while in Temple A nine Common Ware jars
and pithoi total ca. 340 litres. Also in Temple A it was possible to cook a sizeable amount of
food, but the cooking pots are all small or medium in dimension, the largest one with a
capacity of 11 litres.

Table VIII.3

* These two containers are those which fell eastwards into the adjacent courtyard. Their volume is not calculable.

MPBs were the main container used for the consumption of food and drink, as were
RBBW bowls and mugs, fine lipped bowls and possibly also high-stemmed bowls. The
former comprise 60% of all of the period VI A pottery found in the public buildings.
Although they were scattered everywhere, higher concentrations of bowls were found in
association with cretulae, both in dumping places48 and rooms where the administrative
material was still in use, as with room A34049. This, together with other factors, strongly
suggests that the Late Chalcolithic MPBs were used for the distribution of food and drinks
in exchange for labour50. These meals were immediately and collectively consumed: these
ceramic vessels imply the mass distribution of foodstuffs and liquids, probably in many
cases for on-the-spot consumption. The containers themselves [] would not have been
easy to transport when full 51. The capacity of period VI A MPBs gives further support to
this interpretation52.

47
It can be ascribed to type Ak2I in Frangipanes typology (Frangipane, Palmieri 1983a: 365).
48
In A206 and A77, MPBs constitute the great bulk of the pottery discarded together with hundreds of different
types of clay sealings (Frangipane, Palmieri 1983a: 393-394).
49
This is not surprising. Association between administrative materials and mass-produced bowls is a mark of the
Mesopotamian Late Chalcolithic societies. At Arslantepe the joint find of mass-produced bowls and cretulae meaningfully
characterises the Late Chalcolithic 4 Temple C (ca. 3500 BC; Frangipane 2009: 138-139; Guarino 2008; DAnna,
Guarino present volume).
50
See Pollock 2003: 29 for a recent summery of the long lasting debate concerning the use of bevelled-rim and ED
mass-produced bowls; see also Liverani 1988: 127; Frangipane, Palmieri 1988-1989; Frangipane 1989.
51
Pollock 2003: 31.
52
Frangipane 1989. See also infra and DAnna, Guarino present volume.

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 Economic Centralisation in Formative States. Chapter VIII

Fig. VIII.8 Capacity of the mass-produced bowls. a-b: Bowl volumes from Building IV (a) and Temple A (b)
(Frangipane 1989: fig. 3). c: Comparison between in situ MPBs from the main room of the two temples. d: Storeroom
A340: complete or nearly complete MPBs distribution in the rooms fill and their capacity.

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

The MPBs in the two temples are slightly larger in dimension than those found in the
storeroom A340 or in the cretulae dumping area A206 (fig. VIII.8: a, d)53. The average capacity
of only the in situ bowls from the main rooms of Temple A and B is more than half a litre
(fig. VIII.8: c). There is also a group of larger bowls in A42 and A46 whose mean capacity is
more than 2 litres. However, not many of these bowls were found in both contexts, and Temple
A contained a higher number of MPBs as well as other types of open-shaped containers. Three
MPBs had been stacked upside down on each of the two windows between A46 and A42,
suggesting these were passages for passing food from the entrance room to A4254.
The comparison of MPB volumes found in A77 with those from the other part of
Temple A merits further note (fig. VIII.8: b). The small space that would have originally
been the stairwell of Temple A (A77) was filled with layers of rubbish and discarded
cretulae. Although this dump is strongly reminiscent of A206, A77 cretulae probably refer
to particular transactions and were not part of the routine management of the basic activities
of the palace55. The main group of MPBs discarded in A77 is similar to A206 one (whose
volume clusters between 280 and 380 ml), although conversely in A77 a second statistically
meaningful group of bowls have a larger capacity of 630-730 ml.

Considering only the in situ materials found in the residential buildings, large containers
are very rare with only one pithos and one large necked jar found to date. In the small room
A946, which has been interpreted as a domestic storage area56, a varied set of containers was
kept, comprising one large and one medium-sized semi-fine necked jar; one bottle (an elongated,
necked jar); six cooking pots; four bowls and two beakers in mass-produced coarse ware; one
mug; and one small cup (fig. VIII.9)57. The absence of CW storage containers and the high
quantity of cooking pots is remarkable. In particular, cooking pots in A946 range from as little
as two to more than 18 litres in capacity. Three pots have a five-seven litre capacity; one is
very much smaller (two litres) and two appreciably larger (10 and ca. 19 litres). This assemblage
may represent a domestic set of cooking pots. Furthermore, there is differential patterning
both in terms of the external sooting and internal carbon deposit. One possible interpretation
is that these pots were used for cooking different kinds of food or were used for preparing
meals for varying numbers of people. Equally, it may be possible that the same container was
used for both cooking and storage in domestic contexts.
In the residential contexts there are fewer SFW, TF jarlets and RBBW than in the public
buildings complex58. So there were fewer vessels for storing and serving liquids and semi-
liquids (SFW jars and TF jarlets)59 as well as a different assemblage of vessels used for serving

53
Although the two contexts are functionally different, they can be related to each other: A340 is a small storeroom
devoted to redistribution activities; the material from A206 can be attributed to a single administrated economic sector
of Arslantepes public complex (Frangipane, Fiandra 2007: 425-459), much larger in scale than A340, but possibly
similar in function.
54
Palmieri 1973: 146; Figs. 57; 60; 62b.
55
Frangipane, Fiandra 2007: 463.
56
DAnna 2010: 677.
57
The stem of a fruitstand, whose bowl lay on A933 floor, was also found. For a more detailed analysis of A946
and a comparison to a domestic storeroom of period VI B2 village, see DAnna, Piccione present volume.
58
DAnna 2010: 683-684.
59
The shape and capacity of the small jars may lead us to interpret them as vessels for serving and drinking liquids.
The study of vessel imprints on cretulae from A340 revealed unexpectedly that these tiny jars were also sealed
(DAnna, Laurito 2007), meaning that they were (also?) used for keeping liquids and were part of the redistribution
system.

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 Economic Centralisation in Formative States. Chapter VIII

Fig. VIII.9 A946 in situ pottery: from sherds distribution to reconstructed vessels.

and eating/drinking (the RBBW)60. The residential buildings have a higher quantity and
variation of bowls and beakers rarely red-black burnished compared to the public areas,
along with a significant but not overwhelming presence of MPBs.

DATA ANALySIS AND CONCLUSIONS

In the context of the broader debate regarding the economic and political organization of
Mesopotamian early states, the accumulation, which often is centralisation, and redistribution
of primary products is a crucial theme61. At the end of the 4th millennium BC the Mesopotamian
elites seem to have been able to control the labour force and primary goods. Food appears to
be the core base of economic and political power of these centralised authorities.

60
I therefore argue that it is fair to hypothesize a public demand for these special pots.
61
See Frangipanes introduction to the present volume. The analyses concerning early state formation in Greater
Mesopotamia often, but not always, focused on the economic base of the central institution as the primary drive for
the formation of elites; of wide interest have also been the dynamics of state finance and reproduction. Recently
Bernbeck pointed out that In archaeology, the analysis of the political economy of early states urgently needs better
methods for the assessment of both ways of agricultural production and its attendant social organization (Bernbeck
2008: 539).

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

There is a marked difference in the quantity and quality of storage between the public and
residential sectors of the site. To date, the absence of cretulae in the residential buildings
appears to be meaningful. Furthermore storage is differentiated across the distinct areas of the
public complex, as a variety of types of containers (and in consequence the different type of
goods they held) were found in the two main storerooms, Temple A and Temple B. Among
other factors, the presence of liquid and semi-liquid goods plays a role in marking this diversity
(fig. VIII.10)62.
Bottles, in particular, are concentrated mainly in two contexts, A365 and Temple B. Four
(all spouted and small, with a capacity of two to four and a half litres) were found on the
ground floor of storeroom A365 and one on the upper storey. All the bottles in Temple B were
unspouted and quite large in dimension. One was lying on the northern window between the
entrance room and A450 and the other two, of a marked Late Uruk typology, were in A450.
The different capacity and shapes of the bottles found in A365 and Temple B may denote a
difference not only in quantity but also in the kind of drink kept and used in these two sectors.
Necked jars are more widespread in the public buildings, but they are more characteristic
of the assemblage in the two temples and A365-A364 than that of A340.
The distribution of complete jars with the cereal ear incised on the shoulder is rather
scattered among the period VI A buildings: besides two such jars in A365, single specimens
were found in Temple A, Temple B, A28, and A94663. This dispersed pattern is in sharp contrast
with the presence of two ear-incised jars in the storeroom A365, one on the ground floor
(W3: fig. VIII.3: b) and the other on the upper storey (W36: fig. VIII.3: e-h). A365 W36 also
has another sign incised on the shoulder (fig. VIII.3: g) and a small hole was made prior to
firing in the lower part of the body, near the base (fig. VIII.3: h). In this case the contents could
have been semi-liquids and the hole may have been designed to allow moisture to escape. The
two containers found in A365 are different, which may be due to distinct functions or uses.

Moving on from the discussion of food storage to the equally wide sphere of food preparation
and consumption, it appears that cooking activities were more prevalent in Temple B than in
the redistribution area A340, where uncooked food processed in a variety of ways were
predominantly stored and redistributed64. In the storeroom sector sizeable cooking pots were
found in A364s upper storey and A365s ground floor, which is somewhat surprising given
the lack of fireplaces. However, this would seem to fit a trend noted elsewhere, such as at the
residential store A946 where cooking pots were used as storage vessels. The presence of a
fairly large amount of cooked food in A364-A365 (ca. 90 litres in total) provides evidence of
the importance of preserving and storing cooked foods among the products accumulated for
redistribution. It is puzzling to imagine where these food were cooked and how these vessels
were carried in the storerooms. In particular, it has to be considered that the largest cooking
pots are very heavy. The two bigger ones, when empty, weight more than seven kg (A365
W55) and 11 kg (A364 W33) and can contain respectively ca. 18 and 32 litres of water.
In A340 only small cooking pots were found, along with three unused grinding stones on
the ground floor65. However, the absence of other evidence of complete cereal caryopses66

62
DAnna 2010.
63
Part of an incised ear also appear on small sherds of semi-fine large necked jars found in A206, A181, A138, A35
and A75.
64
See in this volume: Balossi Restelli et al.; Bartosiewicz; Palumbi.
65
Lemorini present volume.
66
Balossi Restelli et al. present volume.

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 Economic Centralisation in Formative States. Chapter VIII

Fig. VIII.10 Proposed vessel functions in Temple A, Temple B and the three store rooms: number of items and
vessel capacity.

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

together with the presence of large pithoi, CW jars and sacks seems to suggest that milled or
crushed cereals were stacked in A340. At the moment of the destruction of the period VI A
structures, a significant quantity of meat was stored in A340 as well. Only bones from medium
and low quality of sheep, goat and cattle cut have been found; two-thirds of which were found
in the layer of upper storey collapse, where bone fragments representing medium quality beef
and mutton were slightly more common than on the ground floor67. The cattle bones in A340
were from animals of different age groups but there is a different pattern to that seen in, for
example, room A450. The majority of cretulae were found on the ground floor. Through the
comparison of vessel rim, neck shape and width against vessel imprints on the A340 clay
sealings, it has been possible to ascertain that the cretulae kept on the upper storey were
mainly applied to small and medium sized containers examples of which had not been found
in A34068. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of the MPBs were stacked on the upper storey. This
general panorama suggests not only a complex administrative control over incoming and
outgoing goods but also a complex activity of redistribution that may have involved an
assortment of different goods of various qualities. At the moment of its destruction, A340
seems to have been a redistribution centre for meat butchered elsewhere69. Only bones from
small or medium quality meat cuts were stored in A340: it might be possible that the other,
better quality meat cuts were consumed elsewhere, in other redistribution networks or contexts
for formal commensality70.

As previously mentioned, MPBs are the most common vessel identified as used for eating
and drinking in period VI A levels. There are two main bowl groups whose capacity cluster
around values of 500-600 and 650-800 ml71. Therefore, Arslantepes truncated conical bowls
are smaller on average than Late Uruk bevelled-rim bowls, whose capacity ranges from ca.
600 to more than 1000 ml, with a substantial group clustering around 800 ml72.
The volume and shape of Arslantepe MPBs closely resemble the mass produced bowls
of the Early Dynastic II-III periods in Southern Mesopotamia where during the 3rd millennium
BC mass produced bowls were wheel-made and smaller than the Late Uruk bevelled rim
bowls. This change may suggest an increasing emphasis on small serving and the disbursement
of liquids, which would have been especially important in the context of manual labour73.
A similar process that should not be directly connected is visible in Arslantepes mass
production throughout the course of the 4th millennium BC. The bowls were larger in
period VII (Late Chalcolithic 3-4) than in period VI A (Late Chalcolithic 5) and the shapes
and manufacturing techniques more varied. This is a further evidence of a shift between two

67
Bartosiewicz present volume.
68
This indicates an intense movement of foodstuffs, possibly related to redistribution activities (DAnna, Laurito
2007: 173).
69
No lithic tools used on meat have been discovered in A340 (Lemorini present volume).
70
See Halstead 2007: 31-32. The evidence of quantities of meat raises the complicated issue of meat conservation:
in summer it spoils rapidly; in wintertime the temperature in Malatya can be severely cold, but only smoked, salted,
pickled or meat sealed with fat can be preserved for longer periods of time. Salting does not seem feasible in prehistoric
times, since huge quantities of salt are required. And also for pickling a consistent quantity of vinegar is needed; that
of course implies the production and large accessibility of wine (ibid.: 30).
71
Frangipane 1989: 53. See also: Frangipane, Palmieri 1983a: 343-345; and for the volume of the MBPs found in
the storerooms and residential buildings: DAnna 2010: 679-680.
72
At Habuba kabira, 50% of the bevelled-rim bowls analysed by Srenhagen clusters around three ranges: 750,
850-75 and 1000 ml (Srenhagen 1974/75: 73-74). See also Johnson 1973.
73
Pollock 2003: 31.

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 Economic Centralisation in Formative States. Chapter VIII

different kinds of communal, public food consumption practices at Arslantepe throughout the
course of the 4th millennium BC74.
The MPBs found along with high concentrations of cretulae (and thus linked with goods
redistribution and the implied administrative control) have a smaller average capacity than
those in the temples, implying that the meals and/or drinks served in regular distributions were
smaller than those being consumed at the temples. MPBs used in redistribution activities may
have served as a concrete embodiment of a fast-food mentality in which foodstuffs were
distributed and probably consumed on the job in the context of (alienated) labor for impersonal
institutions75. In her work concerning the political use of food during the Early Dynastic
period in southern Mesopotamia, Pollock brings archaeological, iconographic and textual
evidence together, and shows how state politics penetrated formal commensal practices at
two extremes: in everyday meals distributed in the forms of institutionalized rations and in
the ritualized contexts of feasts for the upper classes76. From its origin, the ration system
represents a key factor leading to what Pollock has defined as a new fast-food mentality. Next
to the material support, the distribution and consumption of rations seem to have aimed at
promoting a sense of unity rather than distinction77.

Ethnographic, ethnohistoric and contemporary evidence indicate that commensal activities

are one of the primary arenas of social action78, both in daily and non ordinary practices. In
archaeological research over the last decade, increasing attention has been paid to feasting.
Feasts have been defined as ritualised events, not everyday occurrences, which are also
characterised by food and drink consumption79. Feasting events may construct and reproduce
hierarchical relationships.
Helwing suggests that in the ancient Near East, feasts were a crucial social dynamic that
may help to legitimize the emergence of elites80. On a theoretical level she has linked
archaeological evidence of feasting practices to the role of human agency in the frame of the
emergence of state society. And Indeed food, feasts and banquets have been implicated in
significant way in processes of social change and historical transformations. It is also clear
that social identity and status are handily constructed and communicated via food-related
practices81. One of Helwings case studies is Arslantepe. Evidence from period VII and
VI A are compared and Helwing claims that the Arslantepe VIA buildings may have provided
the stage for restricted and most probably ritually motivated feasts hosted by central institution
and its personnel82. This appears particularly true for the case of Temple B where very large
quantities of food could be cooked; a huge range of different foodstuffs were being stored
alongside a relatively sizeable quantity of beverages; and the capacity of vessels for eating
and drinking (as in Temple A) is higher than in other contexts. The animal bone assemblage

74
Dated to end of period VII, Temple C hold more than 900 bowls: the majority of temple C bowls can be grouped
around two dimensional types, of between 400-500 and 800-900 ml in volume (DAnna, Guarino 2004: 35). See also
Frangipane and DAnna, Guarino in this volume as well as Helwing 2003.
75
Pollock 2003: 31.
76
Ibid.: 33.
77
Ibid.: 32.
78
Bray 2003a: 9.
79
Dietler 2001.
80
Helwing 2003: 67.
81
Bray 2003a: 9.
82
Helwing 2003: 80.

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

in Temple B was quite varied and included pig and hare. Surprisingly, the greatest group of
cattle bones recovered from room A450 is dominated by bones from mature individuals. By
modern standards, beef originating from these animals must have been far tougher83. Even
though this meat was of lesser gastronomic value, as Bartosiewicz has stressed, adult cattle
have more meat than neonatus and juvenilis and may therefore have been more suitable for
preparing large meals. As three of the four largest bottles found in period VI A contexts were
unearthed in Temple B, we can conclude that drinking played a meaningful part of the feasting
as well. The architectural features of Temple B, the size of cooking pots and the limited
quantity of larger MPBs, all seem to imply that this was a location where lavish meals were
being prepared for fewer people. Such practices may also have been hosted in Temple A,
although redistribution activities seem to have been performed on a larger scale84. In any case,
the scale of redistribution activities carried out in the temples is less than in A340, given the
limited number of cretulae and MBPs85 found in both contexts.
Whilst the massive accumulation of different foodstuffs in both temples may represent
elite food sharing or special redistribution activities, these goods could have also been offerings
and thus one of the ways that goods entered into the sphere of the public economy86.
The feasting activities that took place in the temples during period VI A appear to have
been partly a ritualised practise designed to include members of the elites by excluding
others, with unusually high quantities of possibly special foods87 consumed in a exceptional
architectural setting: these are all elements that could act as diacritical symbolic device[s]
to naturalize and reify concepts of ranked differences in the status of social orders or classes88.
In Temple A, beside the MPBs and high-stemmed bowls found in A42, the varied open-
shaped vessels recorded in room A46 may have be used for the consumption of different
kinds of foods and seems to point to a diacritic use of vessels for both drinking and eating.
However, some aspects of this scenario do not fit Dietlers type of diacritical feasts: first,
there are only a few examples of special vessels for serving drink and eating food in both
Temples A and B. The elite and those who worked for them (and in a status of labour
alienation) may have all used the same plates, a coarse and mass-produced Ikea-like service,
as part of a formal aim of being inclusive rather than exclusive89. The idea of a fast-food
mentality which Pollock believes may have promoted a sense of unity, may have also been

83
Bartosiewicz present volume.
84
For instance, Frangipane considers Temple A as an independent economic and ritual pole: whereas Temple A seems
to have been a complete building in itself, and therefore a place where many of the functions performed by the central
institutions were carried out, Temple B formed part of a large multifunctional structure (Frangipane 1997: 56).
85
If, as highly plausible, A77 holds the evidence of food distribution within Temple A, it is interesting to mark the
presence of small and larger bowls in this assemblage. At least in one moment before the phase sealed by its destruction,
Temple A had been acting as a redistribution unit. But not only, since the assemblage of the pottery in use at the
moment of the collapse suggests not only storage (in the two side rooms) and redistribution (as testified, on the one
hand, by the cretulae removed from pots and sacks and then discarded in A77 and, on the other, by the six bowls
found on the two windows between A46 and A42), but also a consumption of larger meals by restricted number of
people, as the MPBs found in A42 show.
86
Dietler points out different structural roles played by feasts in the political economy; among these roles, feasts
also provide a crucial mechanism for the process of labor mobilization that underlies the political economy and they
serve to articulate conversions between spheres of exchange (Dietler 2001: 69; see also Dietler, Herbich 2001).
87
I refer to special, possibly alcoholic, drinks and special meat (Bartosiewicz in this volume).
88
Dietler 2001: 85.
89
Here the parallel between the widespread diffusion of Uruk material culture and pervasive diffusion of Ikea
products (Lawner 2003) is used merely as a narrative license. In fact, it underlies the concept of modern globalisation,
which, as with the world system theory, is in my opinion totally anachronistic and of no heuristic worth.

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 Economic Centralisation in Formative States. Chapter VIII

Fig. VIII.11 a: Temple B from east; b: remains of wooden shutter on the window sill of one of the two windows
connecting A809 and A450; c: two of the concentric rhombuses on the wall of A809; d-e: impressed rhombuses and
the painted bulls in corridor A796.

used to stress, although perhaps only at a superficial level, a form of unity between the elite
and non-elite.
It is worth returning at this point to the windows connecting the entrance room to the
main space of the temples. They may well have been closed or opened with wooden shutters
(fig. VIII.11: b)90 and could well have been used as a serving hatch i.e. passing goods from
one space to another (recall the presence of six MPBs on Temple As window sill and one

90
Frangipane 2004a: 47-48.

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 STUDI DI PREISTORIA ORIENTALE 3

bottle on the northern window sill of Temple B). The entrance rooms A809 and A46 were
passages, possibly perceived as a transition space from the outside and the inside of the
temple91. The walls of both rooms are decorated with impressed-plastic motifs and white and
red coloured plaster: A809 with designs of concentric rhombuses (fig. VIII.11: c); in A46 the
corners of the impressed motifs are smoothed resulting in concentric ovals. The concentric
rhombuses also decorated part of the corridor A796 where large wall paintings have been
found including the well-known depiction of two bulls (fig. VIII.11: e). The eyes of the animals
are portrayed by two concentric rhombuses in red and black, leading Frangipane to suggest
an interpretation as a symbolic representation of eyes92. This hypothesis seems convincing,
also because the emphasis on eyes and its symbolic representations is characteristic of the
Late Chalcolithic communities of Northern Mesopotamia. The presence of a reiterated symbol
that recalls the semantic field of vision, of seeing and being seen, within a room that gives
access to the most important places in Arslantepe during period VI A can hardly be a casual
co-incidence. In fact, access is not direct as an anteroom must be passed through to reach A42
or A450 from the entrance rooms (A36 in Temple A and A800 in Temple B). So the access
is not physical but visual, and it has been made possible through two windows openings,
which just like two eyes, could be opened or closed. It seems possible that at least some of
the people excluded from the events going on in the temples main rooms could see what was
going on inside and possibly receive and share some food. The levels of exclusions and
inclusions from the apparently diacritical feasts are articulated and complex.
Social practices of food sharing often imply conflicts and competitions in what Appadurai
defines as gastro-politics where food is the medium, and sometimes the message, of conflict
and Food transactions serve to regulate rank, reify roles, and signify privileges93. The
distribution of cooking pots, mass-produced bowls and storage vessels as well as their association
with other finds (mainly animal bones94, cretulae95, stone tools96) and architectural features
(fireplaces, platforms, mortars) seems to testify to different locations and ways of storing and
redistributing food as well as different forms of formal commensality, all fundamental
practices taking place at Arslantepe and features of its political economy during period VI A.

91
This hypothesis is based on the existence of decorations in A46 and in A809. In the public building sector the
pictorial and plastic decorations are found on the walls of passing places (such as corridors) or next to doors (such as
in A364), so they are always connected to areas of transition from one space to another.
92
Frangipane 1994-95: 333; 2004a: 52.
93
Appadurai 1981: 494; 508.
94
Bartosiewicz in the present volume.
95
Frangipane et al. 2007.
96
Lemorini present volume.

191