The Second Millennium Painted Pottery Tradition of the Van Lake Basin

Abstract

Some painted pottery recently purchased by the East Anatolian museums is of considerable interest from the point of view of second millennium cultures in the Van and Urmia Basins. Taking into account the suggestion that a cultural break occurred around Lake Van in the second millennium B.C., the importance of these painted vessels increases.Excavations outside Eastern Anatolia, particularly in North-West Iran, have produced painted pottery in considerable quantities dating to the second millennium B.C. Haftavan Tepe and Geoy Tepe are two of the main sites which supply detailed information about this painted pottery, and suggestions have been made previously by M. R. Edwards about their distribution.The painted pottery in the East Anatolian museums clearly demonstrates that such vessels are not restricted to the region of Lake Urmia. The occurrence of a painted pottery tradition around Lake Van may well indicate that this region was not culturally isolated in the second millennium B.C.