Elmali Karatas, II: The Early Bronze Age Village of Karatas.

• Author: Steadman, Sharon R.

By JAYNE L. WARNER. Bryn Mawr College Archaeological Monographs. Bryn Mawr, Pa.: BRYN MAWR COLLEGE, 1994. Pp. xxxii + 220; 206 plates (1 jacketed). $40.

This is the second of six planned volumes detailing the results of the 1963-75 Elmali Plain excavations in southwestern Anatolia, led by Machteld Mellink. The prehistory of southwest Anatolia is filled with gaps and gray areas, and these final reports have the potential to go far in clarifying this prehistory. Each of the volumes focuses on a different aspect of the excavation data, i.e., ceramic analysis, chronology, etc. Volume II reports on the architectural remains from the main settlement, Early Bronze (EB) Karatas, with a particular concentration on the many megaron-shaped structures at this site. The organization of these final reports is useful, especially to those who are concerned with a specific facet of prehistoric southwestern Anatolia, such as architectural remains. However, those seeking an integrated report on the dozen years of work in this region will find the six volumes somewhat unwieldly.

Warner's treatment of the architectural remains at this important EB site is well organized and thorough. The six chapters move from a general description of the region to more specific discussions of the site's architecture and associated remains. References to the over two hundred plates of maps, plans, and photographs are well distributed throughout the text, providing a "user-friendly" report. The text is well supplied with bibliographic references, in footnote form. The absence of a final compiled bibliography is unfortunate; but this arrangement is standard in footnote-formatted volumes.

Chapter one introduces the site and its location in the Elmali Plain, discusses climate, and offers a brief account of exploratory work in the region prior to the Mellink expedition. Warner also introduces the subject of the megaron-shaped buildings as one of the major discoveries at Karatas, and suggests that this architectural style was a mainstay of prehistoric Anatolian house forms. This leads into chapter two which details the topography and chronological sequence at this site. Warner does a commendable job of providing a clear description of the relative chronological phasing of the site, using tables with general descriptions of key ceramic types that designate each period, with a breakdown of EB periodization in relation to the Karatas phasing (pp. 8-10). Her lucid description of the...