Transhumance on the Eastern Anatolian High Plateau in the 2nd Mill. B.c

Abstract

The Eastern Anatolian high plateau experienced major socioeconomic and cultural changes towards the end of the 3rd mill. B.C. which resulted in a new culture being formed in the Middle Bronze Age. Pastoralist, semi-nomadic and nomadic lifestyles are associated with this culture. Both the excavation and survey materials show that mounds were densely inhabited during the Early Trancaucasian Period (Kura-Araxes) and Middle Iron Age. This lacuna suggests that the agricultural valleys of the Eastern Anatolian high plateau were not densely populated in the Middle Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age. However, the cemeteries found widespread on the high pastures imply the existence of a considerable population. The Middle Bronze Age settlement system on the high plateaus of Eastern Anatolia appears to have persisted into the Early Iron Age. It seems that in the extended period from the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age until into the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age, the nomadic population slowly began to gather around certain organizational and economic centers. However, there were no major changes in the socioeconomic system based on pastoralism and transhumance until the time of the Urartian kingdom.