From Pottery Manufacture and Use to Social Relations at the Beginning of Full-Time Craftsmanship. The Case of Late Chalcolithic 3-4 Arslantepe (3900-3400 BCE), South-Eastern Turkey

In a phase of increasing social complexity and growing craft specialisation, as that of late 4th millennium BCE in Greater Mesopotamia, investigating the relation bewteen material culture technology and typology, and contexts of retrieval of find and use of artifacts may be a key to the understanding of economic and social relations within the investigated community. The paper tackles these issues through a case study: the Late Chalcolithic 3-4 phases of the site of Arslantepe (South-Eastern Turkey): broad pottery forming techniques and paste categories have been confronted with ceramic shapes and functions to investigate production practices. These and the distribution of pottery in different domestic and public areas of the settlement have then been used to answer such questions as: were craftsmen directly controlled and working under the elites? Did elites have different access to pottery craftsmanship? Were there any pottery productions reserved to special events or users that might underline and contribute to explain status or economic distinctions within the community?