59 T his paper investigates a clay stopper from Boz Höyük (Dinar, Afyon) in order to shed light on the character- istics of sealing practices in western and central Anatolia during the Early Bronze Age (EBA). The first part of the study focuses on a detailed analysis of the artefact, a survey find collected in 1952 by James Mellaart, subse- quently published without much information provided (Mellaart 1954: 216) and currently stored within the premises of the British Institute at Ankara (cat. no. AS4[1954]216 no. 466). The second part integrates the results of the analysis within the context of the broader region in order to assess how seals and sealings may have been employed during the third millennium BC, exploring their potential connection with systems of centralised administration and assessing them in relation to the archae- ological evidence for social complexity in EBA western and central Anatolia. Boz Höyük The site of Boz Höyük is located on the northeastern outskirts of the village of Yeşilhöyük on the plain of the Büyük Menderes, the largest river in western Anatolia (fig. 1). The settlement was first identified by Mellaart, who attributed the materials on the surface to the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods (Mellaart 1954: 183, 185, 188, 223–29, 233). More recently Özdemir Koçak resur- doi:10.1017/S0066154619000048 Reassessing western and central Anatolian Early Bronze Age sealing practices: a case from Boz Höyük (Afyon) Michele Massa and Yusuf Tuna Bilecik Şey Edebali University, Turkey, and Hacettepe University, Turkey michele.massa@bilecik.edu.tr Abstract This paper presents a detailed investigation of an Early Bronze Age clay sealing from Boz Höyük, a settlement mound located along the Büyük Menderes valley (inland western Anatolia). The artefact, clearly local in manufacture, was employed as a stopper to seal a bottle/flask and impressed with two different stamp seals. These elements are compared to all other published contemporary sealings in western and central Anatolia, in order to understand the degree of complexity of sealing practices in the region. In turn, evidence of Early Bronze Age Anatolian sealing practices is discussed in relation to the available evidence regarding the degree of social complexity in local communities. It is suggested that, during the Early Bronze Age, sealings were employed for product branding rather than control over storage and redistribution of commodities, and only at the beginning of the second millennium BC did the region witness the introduction of complex administrative practices. Özet Bu makale, Büyük Menderes vadisinde (iç batı Anadolu) yer alan Boz Höyük yerleşmesinden ele geçen Erken Tunç Çağı kil mühür baskısının detaylı bir incelemesidir. Açıkça yerel üretim olan bu kil mühür baskısı, bir şişeyi/flask kapatmak için tıpa olarak kullanılmış olup, üzerinde iki farklı damga mühür baskısı bulunmaktadır. Bu unsurlar, bölgedeki mühürleme uygulamalarının karmaşıklık derecesini anlamak için, Batı ve Orta Anadolu’da yayınlanmış diğer çağdaş mühürlerle karşılaştırılmıştır. Ayrıca, Erken Tunç Çağı Anadolu mühürleme uygulamalarına ait kanıtların, yerel topluluklardaki sosyal karmaşıklık derecesine ilişkin mevcut kanıtlarla bağlantısı tartışılmıştır. Tüm bu verilerin sonucunda Erken Tunç Çağı boyunca, malların depolanması ve yeniden dağıtılması üzerinde kontrol sağlamak yerine, ürün işaretlenmesi için mühürlerin kullanıldığı ve bölgede karmaşık idari uygulamaların ancak erken M.Ö. II. bin yılda gözlemlenmeye başlandığı önerilmiştir. Anatolian Studies 69 (2019): 59–75 © British Institute at Ankara 2019