A new, freely accessible dataset published in Nature Scientific Data provides the first comprehensive, interoperable geospatial catalogue of Middle and Late Bronze Age settlement sites in western Anatolia (c. 2000–1200 BCE). The dataset documents 483 archaeological settlements, each georeferenced and described through standardized metadata including chronology, function, material culture, bibliographic references, and associated ancient mineral resources. It was compiled over more than a decade from excavation reports, systematic surveys, historical sources, remote sensing, and cartographic materials, and is published in open formats (JSON and CSV) with semantic links to international reference databases to facilitate interdisciplinary reuse.
Covering an area of roughly 373,000 km², the catalogue fills a long-standing gap in regional Bronze Age research by integrating previously scattered and inaccessible data into a transparent, machine-readable resource. The dataset's structure supports GIS and statistical analyses of settlement patterns, resource distribution, and connectivity, allowing researchers to explore regional dynamics at scales not previously possible.
The spatial density, distribution, and internal coherence of these settlements underscore western Anatolia's cultural vitality and geopolitical significance during the second millennium BCE. Major centers such as Troy, Beycesultan, and Liman Tepe illustrate the region's integration into extensive exchange networks, while the aggregate evidence points to a distinct cultural sphere that cannot be explained solely as a buffer between Mycenaean Greece and Hittite Anatolia. This empirical foundation strengthens the case for an autonomous cultural region associated with the Luwians, challenging earlier narratives that marginalized the area as peripheral.
By making the dataset openly available and semantically interoperable with global research infrastructures, the project empowers comparative studies across archaeology, digital humanities, and historical geography. It thereby lays a foundation for rethinking Bronze Age settlement systems, economic networks, and cultural interactions in the eastern Mediterranean, and invites further archaeological and interdisciplinary investigation into the region's complex past.
