Between 2900 and 2330 BCE, the Euphrates and Tiger alluvial plain hosted kingdoms known to be the first to use writing both in an intensive and extensive way and within different perspectives, from practical to political, economic, religious or historical ones. Along with this decisive evolution, for the first time human settlements clearly witness the existence of hierarchical political and religious systems as parts of an interregional network. Although diversity is to be found in different ways between them, these first historical kingdoms share many features and noticeable similarities. Deposition of goods in temples, whatever their type, is one of them although it obviously followed different processes. Starting with the beginning of excavations in this geographical area at the end of the 19th century, the recognition of this important phenomenon brought extraordinary amounts of objects, mostly linked by their types and qualities. When variation among contexts was recognized shortly after these pioneering field works, all drew attention on the actual links they witness between parts of the society and the divinities once honored. Conversely with what can be seen for more recent periods of Near Eastern antiquity, Early Dynastic power seems to have built or expressed a relationship to deities which was less exclusive than the one which would prevail afterwards. In other words, even though Early Dynastic kings are linked to Gods in many special ways, this trend did not lead to the exclusion of other parts of the society from being represented in the temples at least through their deposition of goods. In turn, this can be viewed as the reflection of a different approach to the temple as an institution, to religion or to power itself and must be considered as one of the key features of Early Dynastic societies. This volume offers a set of recent studies that were presented during the course of the 20th ICAANE. It brings together scholars whose works evidence how an integrative approach mixing concept, context, text, materiality and symbols can give a more realistic account of this very diverse phenomenon and its relevance in a historical perspective.

The fifth volume of the Çukuriçi Höyük series deals with the stratigraphy and architecture of Early Bronze Age settlements. In Early Bronze Age 1, a hitherto unique metalworking center for the region of western Anatolia is found at Çukuriçi Höyük. The large-scale excavations uncovered a densely built-up settlement area, which consisted of numerous buildings that can be accessed from squares and paths. In addition to the building materials used in the individual room units, this volume also deals with different construction techniques, accessibility, and installations such as ovens and hearths. Detailed stratigraphic and building research studies also clearly show that the living and workshop areas successively expanded from free-standing buildings to an agglutinating construction method over the settlement mound. Based on the new excavation results and taking into account interdisciplinary studies, statements can be made about the sociocultural structure of the Early Bronze Age metalworking center at Çukuriçi Höyük. A close examination of the research results thus generates new perspectives and interpretative approaches for the social structure at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC in western Anatolia and the Aegean.

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