Feasting and shared drinking are long suspected to have been practiced in Anatolian
settlements during the Early Bronze Age (EBA). New drinking vessels of metal and ceramic
seem meant for drinking together with others. Platters and bowls seem intended to display
food and vessel handling. No study has examined these practices in detail. This is largely
because of a lack of evidence for the production of special beverages, for instance wine, beer,
or mead.
The Early Bronze Age is a period of intensifying personal distinction. It is
characterised by developments in metallurgy, craft production, long-distance exchange, and at
some sites, monumental architecture. Yet how EBA Anatolian communities were organised is
unclear. A lack of writing and a limited number of seals suggest that there was no central
administration within settlements. This contrasts with contemporaneous sites in southeastern
Turkey and in Mesopotamia, whose metallurgy, craft production, architecture, and other
developments were overseen by temple and palace complexes.
This thesis uses feasting and drinking as a way to examine the social complexity of
EBA Anatolian sites. It compiles evidence for these activities in both north-central and
western Anatolia. It analyses the incidence of different drinking and pouring shapes across
sites, and qualitatively assesses vessel features and the contexts in which they are found. This
thesis also evaluates the role of drinking and feasting within settlements. It assesses the
settings where drinking and feasting was practiced, together with other indices from each site.
Two theoretical models are used to evaluate these activities. One details how the use
of objects facilitate social relationships. Another specifies how communities may be
organised. Both models provide a wide spectrum for assessing the drinking, feasting, and
organisational evidence from sites. These models allow for variation: in how drink and food
are used to form social relationships, and also in social complexity. The approach is able to
distinguish between different organisational and social strategies across sites and regions.
This detail is key for beginning to understand Anatolia's unique development during the
period