Malatya-Melid: a new look at the twenty century's archaeological researches. Some remarks on the Late Bronze Age pottery assemblages from Arslantepe

In view of the resumption of work on the Hittite levels at Arslantepe, some preliminary observations have been done on the Late Bronze Age pottery assemblages excavated by the Italian Archaeological Mission on that site in the sixties and early seventies. The Malatya plain represents an unstable political zone during the Late Bronze Age where the Hittite's conquest was a progressive act. The study of pottery is a fundamental element of analysis for this period, absolutely necessary to clarify the relations between distant and different areas under the Hittite infl uence and the level of subordination or independence of local societies from the more organized Central Anatolian political power