©Copyright 2014 Aksel Casson
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©Copyright 2014 Aksel Casson Black Sea Change: A Revision of the Sinop Ceramic Chronology Using Luminescence Dating Aksel Casson A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2014 Reading Committee: James Feathers, Chair John Fitzhugh Alexander Bauer Robert Wenke Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Anthropology Abstract Fifty-nine ceramic sherds from eleven archaeological sites within the Sinop promontory of the Turkish Black Sea coast were dated by luminescence to establish a regional ceramic chronology. This absolute chronology was used to evaluate existing assumptions about the occupational history of the promontory and its relationship to the greater region, in both prehistoric and postcolonial periods. Lastly, the efficacy of the luminescence method was explored and advanced through the implementation of new and emerging techniques for dating pottery using luminescence and then for systematically determining the objective value and reliability of each date. Table of Contents Page List of Figures .................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iv Chapter One: Problem Statement and Introduction .............................................................1 Chapter Two: Regional Culture/History of the Sinop Promontory ....................................7 Environmental Characteristics ........................................................................................7 Proposed Regional Connections ....................................................................................12 Archaeological Evidence for Human Settlement of the Sinop Promontory and Environs ......................................................................................................................20 Chronology of Pre-Colonial Ceramic Types in Sinop, Turkey .....................................28 Chapter Three: Archaeology and Chronology Development ............................................30 The Usefulness of Archaeological Chronologies ..........................................................30 Advantages and Applications of Luminescence Dating ................................................35 Key Examples of Luminescence: Three Case Studies ..................................................42 Using Luminescence to Build a Ceramic Chronology ..................................................48 Chapter Four: The Sample and Research Questions ..........................................................57 The Sample: Location, Procurement, and Selection .....................................................57 Demirci Valley ...........................................................................................................60 Demirci Valley loci: Kocagöz and Mezarlıktepe ....................................................61 Karasu Valley .............................................................................................................63 Karasu Valley loci: Güllüavlu, Karapınar, Maltepe Hacıoğlu, and Nohutluk ........64 Highlands ....................................................................................................................66 Highland loci: Kayanın Başı, Maltepe Tepealtı, Tıngır Tepe (aka Tıngıroğlu) ......68 Gerze Coast ................................................................................................................69 Gerze loci: Abdaloğlu and Köşk Höyük .................................................................69 Hypothesis Derived from Regional Sampling ...............................................................70 Sample Selection ...........................................................................................................73 Chapter Five: Luminescence Methods ..............................................................................84 Luminescence Dating: The Application ........................................................................84 Luminescence Dating: Defined .....................................................................................86 Laboratory Analysis ......................................................................................................93 Procedures for Thermoluminescence Analysis of Pottery .........................................94 Sample preparation—fine grain ..............................................................................94 Determination of equivalent dose (DE) ...................................................................95 Determination of dose rate (DR) ............................................................................106 Moisture contents ..................................................................................................106 Chapter Six: Results .........................................................................................................108 Descriptive Data Summary: TL Compared to OSL ....................................................108 Luminescence Evaluation ............................................................................................109 Demirci Valley Loci: Kocagöz and Mezarlıktepe .......................................................113 Karasu Valley Loci: Güllüavlu, Karapınar, Maltepe Hacıoğlu, and Nohutluk ...........116 Highland Loci: Kayanın Başı, Maltepe Tepealtı, and Tıngır Tepe (aka Tıngıroğlu) ..122 Gerze Coast Loci: Abdaloğlu and Köşk Höyük ..........................................................127 i Summary .....................................................................................................................129 Chapter Seven: Implications, Significance, and Future Research .................................130 Implications—Part I: Local Culture/History ...............................................................130 Implications—Part II: Regional Hypotheses ...............................................................136 Implications—Part III: Luminescence Methodology ..................................................144 Future Research ...........................................................................................................149 Conclusions .................................................................................................................154 References ........................................................................................................................156 Appendix I: Equivalent Dose Calculations ......................................................................165 Appendix II: Radioactivity and Dose Rate Calculations .................................................167 Appendix III: Decision-Making Rationales .....................................................................170 Appendix IV: Grading Pass/Fail Data .............................................................................173 ii List of Figures Figure Number Page 1.1 The Black Sea, Turkey, and Sinop (Google Earth) ................................................1 2.1 Turkish Black Sea, highlighting the Pontics (Google Earth) .................................7 2.2 Environmental zones of Sinop promontory (from Doonan, 2004a) .......................9 2.3 Major geological regions of the Sinop promontory (from Ketin, 1962) ..............10 2.4 Currents of the Black Sea (from King, 2004) ......................................................16 3.1a-b Comparison of tree-ring dates with luminescence dates, New Mexico (from Feathers, 2003) .....................................................................................................46 3.2 Temporal relationships of temper and surface treatment attributes, Carolina Sandhills (from Herbert et al., 2002) ....................................................................54 3.3 Carolina Sandhills taxonomy (from Herbert et al., 2002) ....................................55 4.1 Sinop promontory, all sampled loci (prepared by O. Doonan) ............................59 4.2 Macrophotos of selected ware types from Kocagöz (from Bauer, 2006a) ...........76 5.1 The luminescence life cycle .................................................................................87 5.2a Energy diagram of the luminescence model ........................................................88 5.2b Recombination centers .........................................................................................89 5.3a Measured b-value distribution, from non-Sinop dated samples .........................102 5.3b Observed b-values, from Sinop pottery ..............................................................103 5.4 Ratio of OSL:IRSL signal sorted by OSL b-value .............................................104 6.1 All luminescence dates, from Highland to Coast, left to right ...........................112 6.2 Luminescence dates, good grades only, from Highland to Coast, left to right ..112 6.3 Kocagöz luminescence vs. typological age (BP) ...............................................114 6.4 Mezarlıktepe luminescence vs. typological age (BP) ........................................115 6.5 Güllüavlu luminescence vs. typological age (BP) ..............................................117 6.6 Karapınar luminescence vs. typological age (BP) ..............................................118 6.7 Maltepe Hacıoğlu luminescence vs. typological age (BP) .................................120