The Çaltılar Archaeological Project: Archaeological, Archaeometric, and Ethnoarchaeological Investigations of Pottery Production and Consumption in Southwest Turkey

This paper discusses aspects of our ceramic studies, which are part of our archaeological investigations at Çaltılar Höyük. This is a pre-Classical site located in the district of Fethiye, province of Muğla, Turkey, in the upper reaches of the Xanthus river system (modern Eşen Çay) near the ancient cities of Balboura and Oinoanada. The paper focuses on the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age ceramics, with special reference to practical and methodological issues emerging from our macroscopic and microscopic investigations (such as the definition of what is local vs. imported). Our work also includes an investigation of traditional pottery production in the nearby village of Esenköy yayla (formerly known as Dont). This is a craft that has been carried out exclusively by women, and is likely to vanish in the very near future, as younger generations are no longer trained in this activity due to changing lifestyles and socioeconomic circumstances that do not encourage its continuation.