Galabovo in Southeast Europe and beyond: Cultural Interactions during the 3 rd -2 nd millennium BC 24 – 27 October 2018, Galabovo, Bulgaria International Conference, Galabovo 2018 ‘Early Bronze Age Anatolian Trade Network’ and its Northwestern Extention into the Balkans Vasıf Şahoğlu Ankara University, Turkey sahoglu@ankara.edu.tr ABSTRACT Third millennium BC was a time of transformation for Anatolian cultures. While the first half of the millennium is characterized by a scattering of individual settlements bearing common regional traits with no obvious centralization, by the middle of the 3rd millennium BC a new phase begins with the rise of complex societies throughout Anatolia. The geography of Anatolia consists of different niches of plains separated by high mountains and joined by river valleys. This geographic structure triggered the formation of regional niches which gave rise to regional centres surrounded by smaller settlements. By the second half of the 3rd millennium BC, a long distance trade / exchange network, termed by the author as the Anatolian Trade Network (ATN), began to extend throughout Anatolia and beyond reaching Mesopotamia and North Syria on the southeast, Cyprus (Philia Phase) in the south, western Anatolia, the Cyclades (Kastri Group) and Greek Mainland (Lefkandi I) in the west and finally Thrace and Balkans in the northwest. The ATN was triggered by the exchange of various raw materials and finished products mainly of metals. This formation also resulted in the transmission of new ideas and technologies eventually starting historical periods in Anatolia. Various extensions of the ATN have been discussed in various publications. This talk intends to highlight the details of the north-western extension of this long distance trade network into Thrace and the Balkans.