Description

This study reconstructs the socio-economic and technological aspects of a marble workshop from the Chalcolithic site of Kulaksýzlar in western Anatolia. A comprehensive analysis of material remains from the surface surveys carried out at this site has been utilized, along with the results of replication experiments and ethnographic evidence, to deal with several archaeological and theoretical considerations, including: Determining how Kulaksýzlar marble working was organized and what the economic, social, and symbolic relations of production were; discussing what this specialized craft activity implies for our understanding of the Chalcolithic western Anatolian culture and society; and demonstrating one way that specialized craft activity may have developed independently in pre-urban times. The available archaeological evidence presented an opportunity to outline a model of how pre-urban specialization occurred at Kulaksýzlar in western Anatolia before the Bronze Age.