EARLY BRONZE AGE KARKEMISH IN CONTEXT: A VIEW FROM RECENT INVESTIGATIONS ON THE ACROPOLIS MOUND

Abstract

The Early Bronze Age occupation at Karkemish has long been debated in the archaeological literature with the main narrative
based on a scarce amount of data coming from soundings carried out by the pioneering British Museum excavations at the
beginning of the 20th century. The recent resumption of archaeological investigations at the site by the Turco-Italian Archaeological
Expedition is providing fresh data to improve our knowledge on the earlier occupational levels of Karkemish. A deep
sounding, excavated on the Acropolis, has revealed a long and seamless sequence of architectural levels spanning the mid to late
3rd millennium BC and beyond. This evidence allows us to speculate on the Early Bronze Age occupational history of the site
and to review old interpretations in light of new contextual data.