AFTER COLLAPSE: CONTINUITY AND DISRUPTION IN THE SETTLEMENT BY KURA-ARAXES-LINKED PASTORAL GROUPS AT ARSLANTEPE-MALATYA (TURKEY). NEW DATA.

The paper presents the main results obtained in the recent excavation of the early 3rd millennium levels at Arslantepe-Malatya, which reveal substantial changes following the collapse of the Late Chalcolithic centralised system in connection with the establishment at the site of new groups linked to the Kura-Araxes culture. The new data show that these early 3rd millennium settlements, besides marking a break with respect to the earlier Chalcolithic period and a radically new organisation, interestingly also show more elements of continuity than previously thought in the maintenance of a central role for Arslantepe in the Malatya region and in the prosecution of some traditions such as those related to metallurgy. The new picture suggests, rather than a momentary intrusion of pastoral communities of Transcaucasian origin, the temporary appropriation of the site by mobile, probably transhumant groups moving in a wide area around the plain and already well-rooted in the region, who, after the 4th millennium palace destruction, used Arslantepe as their power centre and landmark, probably competing with the local rural population for the control of the site and the region.