The Utility of Seals in Interpreting the Influences of Empires on Periphery Urban Settlements: The Case of Iron Age Chatal Hoyuk

Typical approaches to seals in ancient Near Eastern studies often ignore the role of the individual human agent in both the creation and use of the artifact type. Favoring the functional attributes of a seal as evidence for the existence of larger socio-cultural structures, these approaches rarely incorporate discussions on how an agent's experience of such structures informs the creation and reproduction of these seals. To introduce the variable of human agent into more functionally oriented approaches to seal studies, an emphasis must be placed on the notions of intentionality and choice that go into the production of a seal. Arguing that lived experience goes hand in hand with functional considerations of seals, this paper uses the case study of Chatal Hoyuk to explore how seals can be used as evidence for interpreting such experiences. By analyzing seals as intentional creations that incorporate the experiences of an individual agent, the continuity perceived in the stamp seal tradition at Chatal Hoyuk can be interpreted; the stamp seal tradition reflects a lack of intervention by and influence of the affairs of foreign political powers and large-scale empires during the Iron Age period at the site.