edited by ELIZABETH C.

ROBERTSON,

JEFFREY D. SEIBERT, DEEPIKA C. FERNANDEZ,

AND MARC U. ZENDER

SPACEAND SPATIAL ANAL\

IN ARCHAEOLOGY

Il

UNIVERSITY OF
CALGARY
PRESS
 1

© 2006 Elizabeth C. Robertson, Jeffrey D. Seibert, Deepika C. TABLE OF CONTENTS

Fernandez, and Marc U. Zender Preface ix
Kathryn L Reese-Ta v/or
Published by the University of Calgary Press
Acknowledgments xi
2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
T2N 1N4 www.uofcpress.com
Elizabeth C. Robertson, Jeffrey D. Seibert, Deep ,‘ka
C. Fernandez, and Marc U. Zender
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION
1. Introduction xiii
University of Calgary. Archaeological Association. Conference
Jeffrey Seibert
(34th 2002 University of Calgary)
Space and spatial analysis in archaeology / edited by Elizabeth
C. Robertson [et all.
Part I: Theoretical and Conceptual Approaches
2. Beyond Geoarchaeology: Pragmatist Explorations of Alternative
...

Co-published by the University of New Mexico Press. Vicwscapes in the British Bronze Age and Beyond 3
Papers originally presented at the Conference: Space and spatial Mary Ann Owoc

I 3. Perceptions of Landscapes in Uncertain Times: Chunchucmil,

analysis in Archaeology held at the University of Calgary, Nov.
18th., 2002.
includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 10: 1-55238-168-4 (University of Calgary Press)
ISBN 13: 978-1-55238-168-7 (University of Calgary Press)
ISBN 10: 0-8263-4022-9 (University of New Mexico Press)
ISBN 13 978-0-8263-4022-1 (University of New Mexico Press)
1. Social archaeology—Congresses. 2. Spatial systems—
Congresses. 3. Archaeological geology—Congresses. 4.
Landscape archaeology—Congresses. 5. Archaeoastronomy—
Congresses. I. Robertson, Elizabeth C., 1971- 11. Title.
CC72.4.V56 2005 930.1 C2005-902763-o
Yucatan, Mexico and the Volcán Barii, Panama 15
Karen G. Ho/mberg, Ti-avis W Stanton, and Scott R. Hutson
4. Specialization, Social Complexity and Vernacular Architecture:
A Cross-Cultural Study of Space Construction 29
Elizabeth A. Bagwell
5. Mlaya Mortuary Spaces as Cosmological Metaphors 37
Fame/a L. Gel/er
Part II: Intrasite Spatial Analysis
6. The Behavioural Ecology of Early Pleistocene Hominids in the
Koobi Fora Region, East Turkana Basin, Northern Kenya 49
S. Al. (‘achel and J. W K. Harris

No pait of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval 7. Spatial Models of Intrasettlement Spatial Organization in the EIA of
system or transiintted, in any form or by any means, without Southern Africa: A View from Ndondondwane on the Central Cattle Pattern
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an Access Copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call
8. The Intrasettlement Spatial Structure of Early Neolithic Settlements
toll free to 1-800-83-5777. in Temperate Southeastern Europe: A View from Blagotin, Serbia 69
J-laskel Green fie/d and Tina Jongsma
We acknowledge tile financial support of the Goveriirneiit of
Canada through the Book Publislntig Industry Development
Program (BPIDP), the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Part Ill: Architectural Complexes
Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. 9. The Inhabitation of RIo Viejo’s Acropolis 83
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Printed and bound in Canada by
‘This book is printed on 55 lb. Eco book Natural. 10. Who Put the “Haram” in the Mahram Bilqis? 97
Cover design by Mieka West. William D. Glanzman
11. The Form. Style and Function of Structure 12A, Minanhá, Belize 107
tanada Cosart ConieS des Arts
foriheArts duCanada Jeffrey Seihert
11+1
uanaua 12. The Machine in the Ceremonial Centre
H. Stanley Loten -
115

I
 N
BOATS, BITUMEN AND BARTERING: THE USE OF A UTILITARIA GOOD TO
ANCIE NT ANGE SYSTEMS
TRACK MOVEMENT AND TRANSPORT IN EXCH

Mark Schwartz and David Hollander

State (Jnversity, I Gampus Drive, Allenda/e,
A/ark Schwartz, Department of Anthropology, Grand Valley
Michigan 49401, U S.A.
South Florida, St. Petersburg, 140 Seventh Avenue
David/Jo/lander, College oJ Marine Science, University of
South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701, US.A.

ancient exchange. Many of the methods presented

ABSTRACT
in this symposium have a great deal to contribute to
the study of ancient exchange. Landscape patterns
Any study of ancient exchange must involve a deter
can hint at trade routes, ancient roadways and trad
mination of the geographic source of trade goods and
ing posts or caravanserai (Gates 2005). The analysis
their movement in the exchange system. In current
of prestige goods and their role in an exchange system
analyses of the fourth millennium B.C. Mesopotamian
can help identify the participants in the economic net
colonial trading system known as the Uruk expansion,
work (Law 2005). Finally, technological analyses of
the prestige goods that were involved are extremely
rare in archaeological deposits and hard to source
certain artifacts can suggest different modes of trans
chemically. To remedy this, our research has focused
port employed by ancient people in a trading system
(Miller 2005). However, if these sources of data or ar
on analyses of bitumen, a utilitarian petroleum tar
tifact assemblages are absent, it can be extremely dif
which is abundant in archaeological contexts, is chemi
ficult or impossible to reconstruct the inner workings
cally sourceable, and also serves as a secondary marker
of ancient exchange. This is particularly noticeable in
for other trade goods. Stable carbon and stable hydro
the fourth millennium B.C. colonial trading system
gen isotope analyses in addition to molecular data have
in the Near East known as the Uruk expansion. This
helped to detail the organization of exchange of the
paper attempts to address this problem by examining
Uruk expansion. In addition, spatial-functional analy
an archaeological proxy for ancient exchange goods.
ses have yielded new information on early boat tech
nology and the early riverine transport of exchange
With this proxy material, one can track the movement
goods on the Euphrates River. The site of Hacinebi,
of trade goods through chemical analyses, examine
changing patterns of trade over time and reconstruct
a local Anatolian site in southeast Turkey which had
the ancient transportation technology used to trans
a Mesopotamian enclave in its latter history, revealed
port these trade goods. With this data one can then ad
several bitumen artifacts that appear to have been the
dress larger theoretical questions concerning the Uruk
remnants of a coating placed on early reed boats to
waterproof them. The oldest pieces are the earliest
expansion.
fragments (3800 B.C.) from this area of the Near East,
demonstrating the antiquity and widespread use of this
transport technology. While many of the trade goods
THE URUK EXPANSION
are missing from the sites involved in the Uruk expan
sion, the material used to both seal and move these
The ancient Near East is one of the best areas to inves
goods is present and provides an opportunity to study
tigate the nature of trade in early complex societies be
several different aspects of the archaeology of trans
portation simultaneously. cause the rise of states in vlesopotamia is linked close
ng
This article was written for the In Transitconference ly to long-distance, cross-cultural trade with emergi
southe rn
complex societies in Anatolia and Iran. The
session on ancient transport systems and discusses the setting
alluvium of Iraq and southwestern Iran was the
archaeology of transportation from the perspective of
32
 I
of major cultural advancements in the fourth millen THE STUDY AREA: HACINEBI TEPE
nium B.C. During the period between 3100 and 3700
B.C., the world’s first urban centers grew dramatically, Hacinebi Tepe is an ideal site to explore this ancient
most noticeably at the 250-hectare site of Uruk from exchange system and anthropological issues of inter-
w’hich the period gets its name (Nissen 1988; Pollock regional interaction because its stratigraphic sequence
1992; Wright 1986; Wright and Johnson 1975). The rise allows a diachronic study of the Uruk expansion. The
of these cities was parallel to the appearance of early 3.3-ha, fortified, Late Chalcolithic Anatolian settle
administrative/writing systems, social stratification, ment is located on the Euphrates River at the historic
kingship, warfare, and other key elements of early east-west crossing point of the Euphrates (Dilleman
states (Nissen 1988: Pollock 1992; Stein 1999). The 1962:135; Oates 1968:7) and the head of the main
complex political economy of the region was based on north-south riverine trade route along this river
the abundant agricultural resources of the region, the (Chesney 1850:45; Great Britain 1916:167; Idrisi 1840,
mobilization of surplus, and the control of craft spe 11:137). The earliest sequence at the site (Phase A [ca.
cialists (Pollock 1992; Wright and Johnson 1975). 4100—3800 B.C.] and BI [ca. 3800—3700 B.C.]) dates to
However, while arable land, livestock and bitumen the early fourth millennium B.C., before the Uruk ex
were plentiful, vital resources such as metals, stone pansion and is referred to as the “Pre-Contact period.”
and timber were completely absent in the region. This ‘Tie later phase (Phase B2, ca. 3700—3300 B.C.) con
is seen by some as the impetus for the establishment sists mainly of a continuation of this local occupation
of intensive trade with neighboring regions. The pres with what appears to be a small Mesopotamian enclave
ence of Uruk-style artifacts and architecture in distant in the northeast corner of the site (Stein 1999; Stein
areas of southeast Turkey, Syria and Iran during the and Misir 1994; Stein et al. 1996). The stratigraphic
Late Uruk period has been interpreted by some to sequence of the ancient community permits one to
be evidence of trading colonies (Algaze 1989, 1993). examine the effect Mesopotamians had on the organi
Spanning an area of approximately 5500 km , this
2 zation of exchange, subsistence and administrative ac
trading empire, known as the Uruk expansion, is re tivities of the Anatolians by examining the artifactual
garded by many as the world’s earliest colonial trading material from levels before and during “vIesopotamian
system. contact.
I The Uruk expansion provides archaeologis ts
with the opportunity to examine the economic, po
litical and social impact of state level societies from
RESULTS: GEOCHEMICAL
Mesopotamia on smaller, emerging complex societies PRELIMINARY
OF UTILITARIAN GOODS
in the foothills of the Taurus and Zagros mountains. ANALYSES
Guillermo Algaze, a leading researcher on the Uruk
in detailing the exchange system
expansion, contends that trade with Mesopotamian The major problem
the Uruk expansion in general is
colonies produced and economic overspecialization at Flacinebi and
goods in archaeological deposits.
in local communities focused on trade related activi the rarity of trade
timber are all perishable materi
ties, making their economies inflexible, unstable and Textiles, grain and
are rare at Hacinebi and hard to
prone to collapse with the end of the Uruk expansion als. Copper artifacts
studies on obsidian at Hacinebi
(Algaze 1989, 1993). l Jsing the principles of world sys source. Provenience
socie have detailed some exchange linkages, but since obsid
tems theory, Algaze believes that the core state
the less ian sources lie only in Anatolia, obsidian cannot serve
ties of Mesopotamia extracted surplus from
Mesopotamia (Stein 1999).
complex peripheral societies of Turkey, Iran and Syria. as a marker for trade with
ma One of the most promising avenues of research, then,
This research attempts to address this view with
because this utilitarian pe
terial from an ideal site to test these issues, Hacinebi lies with bitumen analysis,
Tepe. troleum tar is abundant in archaeological contexts, is
chemically sourceable, and is a secondary marker for
other trade goods.

324 SPACE AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

 available from a rial from Hacinebi. For our pilot project we remedied
Bitumen, a natural petroleum tar chromatog 5 raphyrn
East, could he con this by performing detailed gas 5
variety of seepages in the Near etry analy ses to “fing erpri nt” five archaeo
used primarily in spectrom
sidered the plastic of its day. It was two sour ce samp les (Sch wart z et a). 1999).
material for pottery, logical and
Mesopotamia as a waterproofing tical meth ods of gas chro mato grap hy mass
mastic used in the The analy
reed matting and baskets and as a etrv and com poun d-sp ecifi c isoto pe analy
royal standard of Ur spectrom
production of objects such as the sis are the same ones employed by UN inspector
s to
was likely used
(Forbes 1936). In this form, bitumen if tank ers in the Pers ian Gulf are illeg ally
agin g mate rial for othe r trade goods. Finds determine
as a pack oil (Becker 2000). While very effec tive.
) and textual records carrying Iraqi
of bitumen blocks (Pollock 1990 analy ses are too costly. and time consuming to bc
later perio ds indic ate that Mes opotamians traded these
from data set.
periods after the performed on a large
bitumen as a utilitarian good in the Arch aeolo gists stud ying obsidian artifacts have
n, if not earli er.
Uruk expa nsio is preferable to trade accuracy for
prop ertie s of bitum en make it possible realized that it
The uniq ue tive sample size. For example, in th
artifa cts back to their point of origin. more representa
to sour ce spec ific dian from the Neolithic Italian site c
en seep ages in the Near East have dif analysis of obsi
Diffe rent bitum study of four samples yielded th
histo ries and their chem ical signatures Filiestru, an early
feren t geol ogic the sources used: 50 per cent Si
diffe renc es (Wa ples 1987 ). Bitumen, like following results for
reflect these 25 per cent SC. A later analysis usin
prod ucts, is com pose d of hydrocarbons 25 per cent SB,
all petro leum y different results: 10 per cci
e up of carb on and hydr ogen derived 86 samples gave vastl
mole cules mad 41 per cent SC (Tykot 2003).
life. Different SA, 49 per cent SB,
—

mari ne and terre stria l

from preh istor ic bulk stable isotope analysis w
s will have uniq ue ratio s of carbon was then decided that
types of orga nism because of the lower lab
isoto pes. Thes e heav ier isotopes, ‘ C best suited for this research
3
and hydr ogen when compared to more detaik
H
2
( ) do not degr ade over time and are investment needed
and deut erium chromatography-mass spectrom
“stab le” in cont rast to radio active isotopes analyses such as gas
thus term ed specific isotope analysis. Current
use these stabl e isoto pes were present try and compound
such as C.
14 Beca paper are involved in a large-sc:
ns in vario us form s of simple pre the authors of this
in diffe rent prop ortio utilizing over 500 bitumen samp’
the oil deriv ed from these organisms will sourcing project
historic life, 200 source samples, samp
isoto pic sign ature (Wa ples 1987 ). Therefore, from Hacinebi and over
share this proxies and contemporaneous
en seep ages with diffe rent geologic from archaeological
different bitum large data set will allow us
have their own disti nct chem ical “finger chaeological sites. This
histories will rns of exchange instead of ac
amen tal princ iple lies as the basis for look at overall patte
print.” This fund a handful of samples with lii
to draw site to sour ce corre lations of bitu rately sourcing only
our abili ty nted here in
representative value. The data prese
men. results from the stable carl
proc esses invo lved in carb on and hy paper are preliminary
Because the analyses of a small number of
enric hme nt (sele ction for heavier iso and stable hydrogen
drogen isoto pe ses represent hypot
rent from one anot her, a spec ific carbon samples (Figure 1). The ellip
topes) are diffe clear visual discriminati
will not be auto mati cally paire d with a sized groupings based on
isotope ratio cts.
ples 1987). To put between artifa
specific hydrogen isotope ratio (Wa To this date, previous molecular data suggests
same carb on iso
it another way, two samples with the rial at Hacinebi du
not nece ssari ly have the same hydro there was Mesopotamian mate
tope ratio will this Mesopotamian 1
. Thus , com binin g stabl e carb on and the Uruk period, and that
gen isotope ratio y distinct from Anatolian bitu
help discrimi men was chemicall
stable hydrogen isotope analyses will ander 2000; Schwartz et a!. l
stable carbon (Schwartz and Holl
nate source groups with overlapping e hydrogen iso
le carb on isoto pe ratio s have pro Recent stable carbon and stabl
Stab
isotope values. to confirm that samples from the
aeological samples analyses seem
vided a means of comparing arch Mesopotamian archaeo
rial. We have perfo rmed stabl e carbon of Hacinebi from Uruk
to source mate h material from the sout
analyses on cal contexts clearly matc
isotope analyses by themselves, but these of Kish (Figure 1). This biv
prov ide us with the stati stica l pow er Mesopotamian site
their own did not chemical distinction bet’
ratel y sour ce the arch aeolo gical mate- plot also shows the clear
needed to accu
ING
BITUMEN AND BARTER
Chapter Thirty Two BOATS,
 BITUMEN ARTIFACTS AND ANCIENT
TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY

Besides chemical analyses, spatial functional analy

ses have yielded very different kinds of data. Recent
analyses have generated new information on early boat
technology. Several pieces from I lacinebi appear to be
the remnants of coating placed on early reed boats
to waterproof them. From the largest piece and its
associated latex cast (Figure 2a), one can clearly see
the impressions of reed bundles lashed together with
a -I,
rope, similar to archaeological and ethnographic pat
8”C, %. PDB
terns of reed boats and unlike the impressions of sva
terproofed basketry and reed mats that also appear at
Figure 1. Cross plot of bulk stable carbon and stable Hacinebi. This largest and earliest of the fragments.
hydrogen isotope ratios of bitumen arti dated by strarigraphically associated radiocarbon sam
facts from the site of Hacinebi and from ples to 3800 B.C.. is approximately 20 cm by 20 cm
the southern Mesopotamian site of Kish. and weighs.66 kg. While they are not the earliest reed
boat fragments in the world, these are the earliest frag
ments from this area of the Near East, demonstrating
bitumen from Mesopotamia and Anatolia archaeo the early and
widespread use of this technology.
logical contexts from the site of Hacinebi, hinting at The world’s earliest reed boat fragments date to the
chemical distinctions between bitumen from these sixth millennium
B.C. and are from the H3 site on the
two geologic source areas. Initial results also imply Suhiya coastal
plain in Kuwait (Carter and Crawfird
that Mesoporamian trade goods were coming from 2001). These
pieces and the fragments from Hacinehi
multiple, culturally distinct areas of Mesopotamia as are identical to
bitumen artifacts which were identified
one can see from the two distinct elliptical areas of as fragments
of reed boats from 2500—2200 B.C. from
Uruk context artifacts from Hacinebi. the site of Ra’s al-Junayz in Oman (Tosi and Cleuziou
From the data on Anatolian context bitumen at 1994). The perpen
dicular construction of reed and
Hacinebi, it is also clear that multiple local non rope and the
presence of barnacles on the reverse side,
Mesopotamian bitumen sources were utilized by the demonstrate
that the Ra’s al-junavz artifacts were
local population (Figure 1). There are at least three if exposed to
salt water for an extended period of time
not more local Anatolian sources represented in the as a waterproofing
layer on a reed material (Tosi and
Hacinebi assemblage that were used by the local pop Cleuziou
1994). These reed bundles were lashed to
ulation. The evidence of multiple Anatolian bitumen gether
to form vessels that were either boat-shaped
sources present at Hacinebi serves as further proof rafts,
whose buoyancy relied on the reeds them
of the existence of exchange networks with different selves, or
actual boats which had the ability to dis
areas of Anatolia in the Pre-Contact phase of the site place
water (Johnstone 1980; Thesiger 1964:126—127,
and supports the scenario of Hacinebi as part of a de Plate
41). This technique of construction (illustrated
veloping, socially complex culture before contact with in Figure
2b), is the most efficient way to construct
Mesopotamia. If Hacinebi was engaged in long-dis riverin
e craft using only teed and rope (Heyerdahl
tance Anatolian trade networks before Mesopotamian 1979:15—19)
and has been noted historically and
contact, it would be consistent with the idea that the ethnographica
lly in areas of the world ranging from
Mesopotamians set up a colony at Hacinebi to tap into Lake Tiricac
a in Peru to New Zealand and Australia
already existing, extensive trade networks in Anatolia to the marshe
s of southern Iraq to Lake Chad in the
(Stein 1999). This is a logical conclusion considering Sudan (Horne
ll 1946:39—60; johnstone 1980:7—17;
the strategic location of Hacinebi on the Euphrates Ochsenschlager
1992:67). While modern reconstruc
and its possible function there. tions of ancient reed boats including the one from
Ra’s al-Junayz have accurately depicted these vessels

326 SPACE AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

 rarely used on the full-
(Vosmer 2000), bitumen was
them prone to become
scale working replicas, making
hl 1979:24; Tzalas
waterlogged and/or rotten, (Heyerda
bitants of Hacinebi,
1995). The fourth millennium inha
however, had access to Phragmites
australis (Cay.) Trin.
1979), and sev
Ex Steud., the common reed (Brown
(Lebkuchner 1969;
eral Anatolian bitumen sources
Schwartz et al. 1999).
of reed boats in
The prehistoric and historic use
by several differ
the Near East is well documented
early bitumen frag
ent lines of evidence besides these
at what ancient
ments. Ethnographic material hints r
lly focuses on the
boats must have looked like and usua
who constructed and
Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq, C.
s up until the middle
waterproofed reed rafts and boat
senschlager 1992:67;
of the twentieth century (Och J:
e are also men
Thesiger 1964:126—127, Plate 41). Ther
the nearby regions of
tions of the use of reed boats in
(Hornell 1946).
the Sudan, Greece, Kuwait, and Iran
British explorers in
Accounts from nineteenth-century
ion of reed and bi
Mesopotamia describe the construct
rate the incredible
tumen boats in detail and demonst
the simple materials
ingenuity of humans in utilizing
around them. (a) Reed boat remains from Haci
nebi Tepc
desc ripti on is by F. R. Ches ney (1850) Figure 2.
Once such dated to 3800 B.C. The origi
nal bitu
gate the Euphrates
who himself attempted to navi men wate rproo fed coati ng is on the right
Tepe, Turkey to
from the region around Hacinebi with its mod ern latex cast on the left:
witnessed the con
the Persian Gulf in 1835. Chesney (b) An illus tratio n of reed boat construc
Arabs in southern
struction of a 20-ton reed boat by tion techn ique (afte r Heye rdah l 1979); (c)
the bitum en sour ce of Flit, which
Mesopotamia near reed boats depicted in an Assyrian
relief
majo r, if not the majo r sour ce of bitu
was one of the from the palace of Sennacherib
(after
and the recent past
men in Mesopotamia in antiquity Laya rd 1853); (d—e) 2 exam ples of fourth
vess el was cons truct ed in one day
(Forbes 1936). The millennium B.C. Mesopotamia
n glyp
for the molten bi
using only an axe, a saw, and a ladle tic depi ction s of reed boat s; (d) south
it. These craft were
tumen and a roller for smoothing ern Mes opot amia (afte r Bass 1972), and
and drew only 22
waterproofed both inside and out (e) sout h west Iran (afte r Ami et 1980 ).
inches when empty
inches of water when laden and 6
that these boats
(Chesney 1850). It seems obvious
trade goods down
were quite capable of transporting these impressions are c
ancie nt boat s were simi larly (Potts 1997). It is likely that
the Euphrates and that ld not have ha
waterproofed reed boats which wou
adept at this. exposed (Johnstone 1980).
nnium B.C. their reed bundles
Glyptic evidence from fourth mille Ancient Mesopotamian texts
further strengthe
and 2e), as well as
Mesopotamian tablets (Figure 2d that arch aeolo gical remains of wate
show that ancient the argument
Neo-Assyrian reliefs (Figure 2c), are mos t likel y from some so
the char acter istic reed bund le proofed reed bundles
boats did indeed share describe the u:
Even boat sym bols from of watercraft. Numerous Ur III texts
technique of construct ion. texts from Ur III, 0
essio ns that do not show of reed for boatbuilding while
Mesopotamian seal impr periods describe tl
high uptu rned prow s and Babylonian and Neo-Babylonian
these striations still have s (Potts 1997). Fif
, anot her mark er of reed boat s use of bitumen for caulking boat
sterns and shallow hulls
ING
BITUMEN AND BARTER
Chapter Thirty Two BOATS,
millennium B.C. clay models of bitumen-covered reed
boats from the site of Eridu in southern Mesopotamia
(Safar et al. 1981) and from the site of Tell Mashnaqa in
northern Syria (Weiss 1994) further attest to the antiq
uity and wide geographic range of this form of trans
port Now, the discovery of these boats in Anatolia
adds to our understanding of the site of Kacinehi.
The oldest reed boat piece dates to the early phases
of the site before any evidence of this specific trading
relationship with southern Mesopotamia. Non-local
items dating to before Mesopotamian contact, such as
copper, shell and chlorite, suggests that local Anarolian
trade existed at the site in earlier periods (Stein
1999:137—138). ‘Ehe presence of boats adds further
weight to the argument that the people of Hacinebi
were developing long-distance exchange relationships
on their own before the arrival of Mesopotamians to
the site. This area of Anatolia has been known histori
cally as an important crossing point of the Euphrates
and as a region of riverine traffic lying on a number of
ancient trade routes (Herodotus 1973, vol. 1:194—198;
Stein 1999:117—118). ‘l’hus, the presence of early wa
terproofed boats provides a more complete picture of
the ancient exchange economy of Southeast Anatolia.
CONCLUSIONS
While historic records can provide some glimpse into
prehistoric trade routes, there is much to be gained
from analyses of utilitarian goods. If trade goods are
absent archaeologicallv, it may be impossible to de
termine the trade participants, origins of trade goods,
and trade routes of the exchange system. In addition
anthropological questions concerning the economy of
early trading partners may he impossible to address.
Combined sourcing and archaeological analyses of
simple utilitarian goods can provide much information
that would be impossible to gain otherwise. The re
search at Hacinehi has used chemical analyses to look
at the source of the packaging material used on trade
goods to determine the participants in the trade net
work and the trade routes used.
Preliminary results hint at some of the dynamics of
this trading system through the distinguishing of arti
facts according to their geologic source. These results
demonstrate that stable carbon and stable hydrogen
isotope analyses can distinguish between bitumen ar
328 SPACE AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS IN ARCHAEOLOGY
tifacts from Anatolia versus Mesoporamia. In addition,
with the limited number of samples in this study, one
can see that trade goods were coming from multiple
Mesopotamian and Anatolian sources. The key prob
lem for future research will be to identify any change
in the proportion of these sources in local contexts
both before and during the Uruk expansion in order
to track any economic changes in the local Anatolian
community. The initial results of this study suggest
that this is possible. With an expansion of the data set
through analyses of all archaeological materials from
Hacinebi. I can identify patterns of exchange and re
construct changing trade patterns. I will also be able
to correlate artifacts from a specific source with other
archaeological information such as their distribution in
the site, their function and their role as finished prod
ucts or production debris. This will allow me to look at
patterns of production and test the validity of a World
Systems Model for the Lruk expansion by determin
ing if local Anatolians were producing specifically for
the Mesopotamians at rhe site.
Initial functional analyses of bitumen artifacts have
also hinted at what types of riverine vessels were used
to transport trade goods in the liruk expansion. The
location of Flacinebi down river from an Important
copper source, combined with the presence of reed
boats and bitumen from at least two areas of Anarolia
suggest that the site was an important regional ex
change center prior to the Uruk expansion. The reed
boat artifacts discovered at Hacinebi are in fact the
earliest evidence of riverine boats in the Near East and
perhaps the world, and attest to the antiquity and wide
spread distribution of this ancient technology. The
identification of early reed boats at Hacinehi has there
fore added a new dimension to our study of indigenous
trade before contact with the states of Mesopotamia.
Thus, while many of the actual trade goods are
missing from the site of Hacinebi. the material used
to both seal and transport these items is present and
provides a powerful methodological tool in the recon
struction of ancient trade roots and trade technology.
With many of the trade goods absent archaeologically.
bitumen artifacts serve as an excellent proxy for these
items and also provide additional economic informa
tion on prodHction and exchange. Preliminary analy
ses presented here give a glimpse into the ancient ex
change patterns and modes of transport of the Uruk
expansion. Employing these methodological tech
niques on a larger set of artifacts in the future should
 Dilleman, L.
119621 Haute Mesoputamie Orientale et Pays Adjacents.
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AND BARTERING
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330 SPACE AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS IN ARCHAEOLOGY