Connections between Syria and Anatolia in the second half of the 3rd Millennium BC: the Tarsus sequence.

"During the second half of the 3rd millennium BC connections between western and central Anatolia and Syria and the Euphrates Valley increase enormously and are testified to by the circulation of some peculiar Anatolian and Syrian vessels or metal types over a wide area. This extensive trade network has been discussed by several scholars who pointed out the importance of the Cilician area as a bridgehead between two different cultural systems, one related to the western Anatolia and Aegean and the other linked to the Syrian area. In this regard the site of Tarsus-Gözlü Kule is a key site, showing mixed affinities during the EB II and EB III phases within the above mentioned areas. Despite being a very important site, Tarsus seems to have chronological issues in its internal sequence. The aim of this work is to reanalyze the stratigraphy of the EB II-III levels of the mound of Tarsus through the construction of a statistic-combinatory internal sequence based on typological analysis, integrated with correlation of the ceramic and metal assemblages from the neighboring areas (Costal Syria, Amuq Plain, Middle and Upper Euphrates Valley, Central and Western Anatolia) to define cross-dating elements and to investigate also the nature of these relations in a socio-economic and cultural perspective."