Looking for traces of cultic practices at Uşaklı Höyük. Some remarks about buildings, texts and potsherds

Uşaklı Höyük, probably the site of ancient Zippalanda, was an important settlement during the Hittite period. The two Late Bronze Age monumental buildings uncovered on the lower terrace and on the southern slope of the mound were in all likelihood official structures, where the performance of activities related to the cultic sphere might have played a significant role. Archaeological evidence, together with an analysis of the Hittite epigraphic sources, can shed light on the historical, social, and cultural environment of the city. Texts relating to the city of Zippalanda give us some hints about the issues of production, function, and use of pottery vessels employed in rituals and festivals. In the Hittite ceramic production, a neat functional distinction between cultic and common vessels is usually unlikely, but a general use in activities related to cultic practises may be hypothesised for different Uşaklı’s typologies.