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Sacrificial Status and Prestige Burials

Negotiating Life, Death, and Identity Through Personal Adornment at Early Bronze Age I Başur Höyük, Turkey

Bibliographic Data

ID4535987
AuthorsEmma L Baysal (0000-0002-9804-2799, Ankara University), Haluk Sağlamtimur (0000-0002-4732-7006, Ege University)
Year2021
Volume125
Issue1
Pages3-28
Publication date2021-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9114 • E-ISSN: 1939-828X
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.3764/aja.125.1.0003
OpenAlexW3111735484
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited23

Başur Höyük in southeast Turkey lies at a critical crossroads linking Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Caucasia. The site was excavated as part of the Ilısu Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant (HEPP) project rescue excavations. During the Early Bronze Age I (3100–2900 BCE), a cemetery was created in an area previously occupied by an Uruk settlement. A stone cist grave and accompanying outer area contained several burials. Bodies interred outside the main stone chamber are thought to be the victims of human sacrifice as part of a retainer burial practice previously documented at Arslantepe and Ur. The grave contexts host an assemblage of personal ornaments that were deposited with those interred both inside and outside the stone chamber. This article considers the more than 30,000 recovered beads in light of social context, material procurement, use and value, technology, and relative differences in status of the occupants of the grave. The data are used to identify both how different identities were structured by the Early Bronze Age I residents of Başur Höyük and how the location of the site at a meeting point of trade routes and regional powers influenced material culture and social behavior in the region.1

Adornment · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Bronze · Bronze Age · Chalcolithic · Chariot · Context (archaeology) · Geography · Grave goods · Mesopotamia · Prestige · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · History

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Unique citing works9
Citations per year1,8
Citation span2021 - 2025 (5)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 8
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