TOPRAKHİSAR HÖYÜK

In practice, archaeological research often tends to produce datasets from centres in a regional framework. This, being said, in a reverse direction, the side effects of modes of mobility are therefore virtually unknown from the standpoint of peripheral sites, where a great deal of trade goods were produced prior to entering circulation within systems of economic and social encounters.

Under the umbrella of the Hatay Archaeological Museum,  the Alalakh team has been working in the research-rescue excavations conducted at Toprakhisar Höyük in the hilly landscape of Altınözü since 2016. The preliminary results obtained from the intensive surface surveys and rescue excavations revealed a continuous occupation pattern from the second half of the 6^th millennium BC to the 1^st millennium BC with an occupational break in the Late Bronze Age. The late Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age have been explored through architectural and material evidence acquired from the rescue excavations.  The comparative architectural and material assemblage study with the regional center Alalakh (Tell Atchana) has shown that an administrative structure existed at Toprakhisar Höyük in the Middle Bronze Age. The results testify to the textual evidence acquired from the Level VII palace archives of Alalakh, which document a system where local administrators or administrators from Alalakh resided in smaller-scale towns.  This is explored within the theme of luxury agro products including olive oil and wine.

The multi-period nature of Toprakhisar Höyük provides the possibility to create a fine-tuned stratigraphical and chronological sequence, most significantly for the prehistory of the Amuq Valley. This allows for a better reconstruction of the often theoretically discussed center and periphery relations through archaeological evidence.