New Evidence for Relations Between the Izmir Region, the Cyclades and the Greek Mainland during the Third Millennium B.C.

Recent excavations carried out within the framework of the Izmir Region Excavations and Research Project (IRERP) around the Gulf of Izmir have gradually began to provide us with new evidence for the cultural interaction within the Aegean region. Until recently, solid evidence for contacts between coastal Western Anatolia and the rest of the Aegean was mainly limited to a few sauceboat sherds from Troy and the parallelisms drawn from evidence at Iasos cemetery.

Excavations at Liman Tepe have revealed monumental architecture in the form of fortifications with horse-shoe shaped bastions and a "corridor house" belonging to the Early Bronze Age 2 period. The evidence provided by remains under the current water level strongly suggest the existence of a harbour complex forming an extension of the EBA 2 fortification system. The importance of maritime contacts of the settlement suggested by this monumental construction is strongly supported by artifactual evidence retrieved from sealed archaeological deposits.

Urfirnis sauceboat sherds have been unearthed within the same archaeological context as the so called "Kastri Group" assemblage in the Aegean at sites such as Raphina, Pevkakia, Ayia Irini and Palamari. Some elements of the "Kastri Group" (bell shaped cup, incised pyxis, depas and possibly tankards) were found alongside sauceboat sherds for the first time in its "homeland" (Anatolia) at Liman Tepe. The strong presence of "Kastri group" elements at Liman Tepe supports the idea that the "Kastri Group" has a more southernly distribution in Western Anatolia. When the evidence is considered as a whole, the intensity of contacts between the Izmir region and the rest of the Aegean world is apparent. Although the settlement at Liman Tepe has been investigated within a limited area, further research will undoubtedly shed new light on the dynamics of interaction within the Aegean and the associated chronological problems including the distribution of the so called "Kastri Group" ceramics.