Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009-2017 Seasons 9781912090198, 1912090198

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çatalhöyük excavations

Çatalhöyük Research Project Series 12

çatalhöyük 12

This volume discusses the main excavations at Neolithic Çatalhöyük East undertaken from 2009 to 2017. The site is well known because of its large size, elaborate symbolism and wall paintings, and long history of excavation. This volume covers the last period of excavation directed by Ian Hodder in the North and South Areas of the site. It also describes the work conducted in the GDN Area on the later phases of occupation. The main aim of these excavations was to understand the layout and social geography of the settlement (both houses and open areas) and to situate the elaborate art and symbolism within a secure architectural and depositional context. Excavation and conservation methods are described, along with the campaign of geophysical prospection. Considerable focus is placed on detailed dating using Bayesian modeling that alters significantly our understanding of the organisation of the settlement. New light is thrown on the degree of contemporaneity of buildings and on the continuities and breaks in house occupation and in the site as a whole. A fuller understanding has also been reached of the variability of houses and burials and of how these variations relate to social differentiation. The descriptions of excavated units, features and buildings incorporate results from the analyses of animal bone, chipped stone, groundstone, shell, ceramics, phytoliths, and micromorphology. The integration of different types of data and of different voices within the excavation team mimics the process of collaborative interpretation that took place during the excavation and postexcavation process.

the 2009–2017 seasons

Front cover: Excavations under way in the North Area Back cover: Excavations under way in the North Area Both photos: Jason Quinlan.

ian hodder

ISBN 978 1 912090 20 4

BIAA 56

Edited by

ian hodder

BRITISH INSTITUTE AT ANKARA Monograph 56 Çatalhöyük Research Project Series 12 2022

This volume is dedicated to Ibrahim Eken in loving memory and gratitude

ÇATALHÖYÜK EXCAVATIONS THE 2009–2017 SEASONS

Edited by Ian Hodder

BRITISH INSTITUTE AT ANKARA Monograph 56 Çatalhöyük Research Project Series Volume 12 2022

Published by British Institute at Ankara 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH www.biaa.ac.uk

This book is available from Oxbow Books 10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford, OX1 2EW www.oxbowbooks.com

ISBN 978 1 912090 19 8

© British Institute at Ankara 2022

All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the British Institute at Ankara.

The publication of this volume has been generously supported by

Typeset by Abby Robinson Printed by Short Run Press Ltd, Exeter

Contents Contributors Acknowledgements

vi vii

1. Questions, history of work and summary of results Ian Hodder

1

2. Excavation, recording and sampling methodologies Shahina Farid, Ian Hodder and Dominik Lukas

27

3. Chronology and overall phasing of North and South Areas Shahina Farid, Ian Hodder, James Taylor and Burcu Tung

45

4. Geophysical survey at Çatalhöyük: results of combined magnetometer and ground penetrating radar Kristian Strutt, Stefano Campana, Jessica Ogden, Gianluca Catanzariti and Gianfranco Morelli

85

5. Conservation at Çatalhöyük: reflections on practice Ashley M. Lingle

99

6. Building 7 and associated spaces: the ‘Shrine 8 annexe sequence’ (Space 470, Space 487 and Space 492) and spaces to the west including Buildings 100 and 104 James Taylor

113

7. Building 17 and Spaces 628 and 620 James Taylor

125

8. Buildings 162, 161, 160, 43 and Space 559 open area James Taylor

143

9. Building 76 James Taylor

183

10. Building 79 James Taylor

195

11. Building 80 James Taylor

203

12. Building 87 and Building 85 James Taylor

245

13. Building 86, Space 344, Space 367 and Space 329 James Taylor

251

14. Building 89 James Taylor

257

15. Building 96 James Taylor

281

16. Buildings 97 and 130 James Taylor

297

17. Building 118 and Space 583 James Taylor

321

18. Spaces 553 and 581 James Taylor

327

19. A northern timescape Alex Bayliss, David Chivall, Shahina Farid, Tomasz Goslar, Justine Issavi and Burcu Tung

329

iii

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons

20. Building 5 Burcu Tung

387

21. Building 52 and related buildings Burcu Tung and Marek Z. Barański

395

22. Building 77 Burcu Tung

429

23. Building 102 Burcu Tung

463

24. Building 108 Burcu Tung

475

25. Building 113, Building 116, Space 532 and other related spaces Burcu Tung

481

26. Building 114 Burcu Tung

491

27. Building 119 and Building 112 Burcu Tung

511

28. Building 128 and related spaces Burcu Tung

521

29. Building 129 Burcu Tung

529

30. Building 131 Burcu Tung

537

31. Building 132 and related spaces Arkadiusz Klimowicz and Burcu Tung

567

32. Building 139 Cristina Belmonte and Burcu Tung

605

33. External areas in the North Shelter Justine Issavi and Burcu Tung

611

34. The Gdańsk (GDN) Area excavations and building archaeology research project Marek Z. Barański

633

Bibliography

729

Online supplementary material Supplementary material available online (https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12) comprises additional elements for chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34. 6. Building 7 and associated spaces: ten figures (S6.1–S6.10). 7. Building 17 and Spaces 628 and 620: 23 figures (S7.1–S7.23). 8. Buildings 162, 161, 160, 43 and Space 559 open area: 41 figures (S8.1–S8.41). 9. Building 76: 17 figures (S9.1–S9.17). 10. Building 79: seven figures (S10.1–S10.7). 11. Building 80: 42 figures (S11.1–S11.42). 12. Building 87 and Building 85: seven figures (S12.1–S12.7). 13. Building 86, Space 344, Space 367 and Space 329: three figures (S13.1–S13.3).

iv

Contents

14. Building 89: 28 figures (S14.1–S14.28). 15. Building 96: 13 figures (S15.1–S15.13). 16. Buildings 97 and 130: 41 figures (S16.1–S16.41). 17. Building 118 and Space 583: six figures (S17.1–S17.6). 18. Spaces 553 and 581: two figures (S18.1–S18.2). 19. A northern timescape: 14 figures (S19.1–S19.14), S19.14 being the the downloadable CQL2 code file, Catal North.oxcal. 20. Building 5: four figures (S20.1–S20.4). 21. Building 52 and related buildings: 23 figures (S21.1–S21.23). 22. Building 77: 42 figures (S22.1–S22.42). 23. Building 102: 17 figures (S23.1–S23.17). 24. Building 108: four figures (S24.1–S24.4). 25. Building 113, Building 116, Space 532 and other related spaces: seven figures (S25.1–S25.7). 26. Building 114: 15 figures (S26.1–S26.15). 27. Building 119 and Building 112: 12 figures (S27.1–S27.12). 28. Building 128 and related spaces: seven figures (S28.1–S28.7). 29. Building 129: nine figures (S29.1–S29.9). 30. Building 131: 30 figures (S30.1–S30.30). 31. Building 132 and related spaces: 30 figures (S31.1–S31.30). 32. Building 139: one figure (S32.1). 33. External areas in the North Shelter: six figures (S33.1–S33.6). 34. The Gdańsk (GDN) Area: 34 figures (S34.1–S34.32), along with the downloadable preferred chronological model (Catal_GDN.oxcal).

Please visit https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12 for a list of figures and a list of tables in this volume.

v

Contributors Marek Z. Barański Alex Bayliss Cristina Belmonte Stefano Campana Gianluca Catanzariti David Chivall Shahina Farid Tomasz Goslar Ian Hodder Justine Issavi Arkadiusz Klimowicz Ashley M. Lingle Dominik Lukas Gianfranco Morelli Jessica Ogden

Faculty of Architecture and Design, Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk Historic England Independent researcher, iPAT Serveis Culturals Department of History and Cultural Heritage, University of Siena 3DGeoimaging, Turin, Italy Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, University of Oxford Institute of Archaeology, University College London; Scientific Dating, Historic England Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań Department of Anthropology, Stanford University Department of Anthropology, Stanford University Faculty of Archaeology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań Department of Archaeology, University of York Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago Geostudi Astier, Livorno School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies; Bristol Digital Futures Institute, University of Bristol

Kristian Strutt James Taylor Burcu Tung

Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton Department of Archaeology, University of York Archaeological Research Facility, University of California, Berkeley

vi

Acknowledgements This publication of four volumes (Volumes 12, 13, 14 and 15 in the Çatalhöyük Research Project Series) would not have been possible without the help of a large number of individuals, institutions and sponsors. We have attempted to list everyone who assisted the Çatalhöyük Research Project during the period of excavation and post-excavation work (2009–2017; 2018 study season) covered in these volumes and apologies are extended to anyone who has been inadvertently overlooked. Special thanks to Türk Ekonomi Bankası (TEB) for their support of this volume. Funding for the field research was provided by a wide variety of corporate and academic bodies. The main corporate sponsors were Boeing, Yapı Kredi Bankası, Shell and Koçtaş. I am particularly to them for providing support over most of the 25-year period of the project. They sustained the project through crises and celebrations and provided incalculable scientific, cultural, social and economic benefits to many. The John Templeton Foundation also provided key support for the period covered by these volumes, and I am particularly grateful for the advice and help provided by Paul Wason. During this period of research funding was also provided by the following: British Institute at Ankara, Global Heritage Fund, Foundation for Polish Science, Free University Berlin, Hedef Alliance, Humboldt Foundation, Imitatio (Thiel Foundation), Kaplan Foundation, Konya Çimento, Konya Şeker, National Geographic Society, National Science Foundation, Polish Heritage Council, Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Polish National Science Center, Stanford Archaeology Center, Stanford University, SUNY Buffalo, TAV, Turkish Cultural Foundation, University College London, University of Gdansk, University of Poznan, US Embassy in Ankara. The project worked in Turkey with a permit from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, General-Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums. Over the period covered by these publications much support and advice was given by the department and Director Generals, through their representatives on site (bakanlık temsilcileri). The project worked under the auspices of the British Institute at Ankara, and I would like to thank in particular Lutgarde Vandeput, Gülgün Girdivan, Tamar Hodos, Stephen Mitchell and Shahina Farid. Additionally, I am grateful for the support of the BIAA committee members and for the assistance of the Ambassadors and staff at the Turkish Embassy and consulates in London, Washington and Los Angeles and the British Ambassadors in Ankara. The patrons of the project are Professor Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn and Sir David Attenborough.

In the region, help and support were provided at many levels, in particular by the Konya Vali, the Konya Koruma Kurulu, the Cultural Director, the Konya Museums Director Yusuf Benli and his staff, officers at the Emniyet, our bank managers at Konya Yapı Kredi, the Çumra Kaymakam and Belediye Başkan. We would also like to extend our thanks to the Jandarma commitants, and the managers of the Dedeman Hotel in Konya, and Asim Kaplan from Karavan. Since 2009 the project managers have been Shahina Farid, Banu Aydınoğlugil, Yıldız Dirmit and Bilge Küçükdoğan. The latter in particular played a major role in extracting us from the site in 2016 and in overseeing the winding up of the project at Stanford and in Turkey. I am also forever grateful to the Assistant Director Serap Özdöl for her guidance and contributions to many aspects of the project over many years. We owe an enormous debt to those who managed the project on site, particularly the camp manager Levent Özer, whose wise advice steered the project through many trials and successes. Our guards at the site were our close companions over the years: Ibrahim Eken and Mustafa and Hasan Tokyağsun. These volumes are dedicated to the memory of Ibrahim, whose long-term devotion to the project and gentle manner warmed the hearts of all who interacted with him. From the local village of Küçükköy, we would like to thank the people and their mukhtar. Those who worked at the site and contributed directly to the project in various ways are included in the list of team members that follows. Doğu Furkan ACARER, Donovan ADAMS, Sabrina AGARWAL, Rifat AHSAN, Sam AINSWORTH, Atiye AKBULUT, Bünyamin AKBULUT, Hanafi AKCAN, Hasan AKÇAY, Enver AKGÜN, Kiraz AKOĞLU, Mustafa AKYURT, Moussab ALBESSO, Sophie ALCOCK, Richard ALLEN, Thomas ALLEN, Mehmet ALTINAY, Emma ANDERSON, Jennie ANDERSON, Veysel APAYDIN, Renata ARAUJO, Theodore ARNOLD-FORSTER, Mehmet ARSLAN, Numan ARSLAN, Monique ARNTZ, Althea ASARO, Gemma ASHBURY, Eleni ASOUTI, Mert ATALAR, Sonya ATALAY, Soner ATEŞOĞULLARI, Christopher ATKINSON, Quentin ATKINSON, Deanna AUBERT, Jeffrey AVISS, Gianna AYALA, Fahri AYÇİN, Banu AYDINOĞLUGİL, İnan AYDOĞAN, Melike AYHAN, Sema BAĞCI, Mustafa BAHÇECİ, Jack BAIGENT, Roseleen BAINS, Daniella BAR-YOSEF MAYER, Marek Zbigniew BARAŃSKI, Judit BARASTEGUI,

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Alexandra BARMETTLER, Daniela A. BARRANTES, Marta BARTKOWIAK, Isabel BARTLEY, Célia BASSET, Rachel BASSINGER, Purnur Ece BAŞ, Emmeline BATCHELOR, Erin BAXTER, Alexandra BAYLISS, Umut BAYRAM, Tolga BAYRAM, Carlos BAZUA, Joel BEATH, Menna BELL, Cristina BELMONTE SANTISTEBAN, Brenda BENAVIDES, Lise BENDER JØRGENSEN, Lucy BENNISON CHAPMAN, Åsa BERGGREN, Johanna M. BERGKVIST, Mary BERMAN, Julia BEST, Barbara BETZ, Elisa BIANCIFIORI, Peter BIEHL, Patrycja BIELSKA, Rachel BINGHAM, Tom BIRCH, İsa BİLGİÇ, Serdar BİLİŞ, Stephanie BLACK, Emmy BOCAEGE, Amy BOGAARD, Nikita BOGDANOV, Patrick BOLL, Jennie BORGSTROM, Sezgin BOŞLAMAZ, Hannah J. BOWDEN, Garrett BOYD, Mathew BOYD, Başak BOZ, Ahmet BOZGEYIK, Malwina Ewa BRACHMANSKA, Henry BRADFORD, Jacob BRADY, Maxime BRAMI, Matthew BRITTEN, Kelly BROWN, Nicholas BROWN, Hallvard BRUVOLL, Laura BUCCIERI, Eniko BUDAK, Mikolaj BUDNER, Bayram BULUT, Narcis BURGUES, Oliver BURTON, Gesualdo BUSACCA, Emine BÜLÜÇ, İsmail BÜLÜÇ, Numan BÜLÜÇ, Jennifer BYRNS, Agnieszka BYSTRON, Katarzyna BZDUCH, Tiffany CAIN, Kelly CALDWELL, Stefano CAMPANA, Erica CAMURRI, Gözde CAN, Frank CARPENTIER, Christopher CARLTON, Robert Bergman CARTER, Tristan CARTER, Julie CASSIDY, Gianluca CATANZARITI, Rebecca CESSFORD, Merve CEYLAN, Benjamin CHAN, Ian CHANNELL, Michael CHARLES, Jessica CHATBORN, Claire CHRISTENSEN, Kimberly CHRISTENSON, Angeliki CHRYSANTHI, Maciej CHYLENSKI, Piotr CIESIELSKI, Marguerite CLARKE, Christopher CLEERE, Julia CLINE, Andrew COCHRANE, Jon COGDALE, Alana COLBERT, Tara COPPLESTONE, Grant COX, Michelle CREPEAU, Kyle CROSSET, Caitlin L. CURTIS, Cassy CUTULLE, Lech CZERNIAK, Agata CZESZEWSKA, Duygu ÇAMURCUOĞLU, Hatice ÇELİK, Lokman ÇELIK, Mahmut ÇELİK, Mustafa ÇEŞŞUR, Elif S. ÇIPLAK, Leyla E. ÇIPLAK, Mehmet ÇIRAK, Davide D’ERRICO, Nihan Dilşad DAĞTAŞ, Nevio DANELON, Julie DAUJAT, Anna DAVENPORT, Antonia DAVIDOVIC WALTHER, Neil DAVIES, Tudur DAVIES, Danielle DE CARLE, Alysha DE SOUZA, Funda DEĞER, Nicolo DELL’UNTO, Mateusz DEMBOWIAK, Marvin DEMICOLI, Burcu DEMİR, Arzu DEMİRERGİ, Işıl DEMİRTAŞ, Meghan DENNIS, Lindsay DER, Emma DEVEREUX, Paola DI GIUSEPPANTONIO, Charlotte DIFFEY, Bela DIMOVA, Emilie DINGLER, Sermin DİNÇ, Ayşe Ş. DİNÇER, Filiz DİRİ, Yıldız DİRMİT,

Triantafyllia Eirini DOGIAMA, Chris DOHERTY, Irene DORI, Sean DOYLE, Kelly DU RAND, Güneş DURU, Graeme EARL, David EBNER, Daniel EDDISFORD, Leslie EDMONDS, Selma EFELER, Erol EKEN, Fadimana EKEN, Fatma EKEN, Selda EKEN, Saliha EKEN, Turgut EKEN, Ümmügülsüm EKEN, Sophie EKSTRAND, İzettin ELALMIŞ, Hermione ELDERTON, Nada ELIAS, Mustafa Özgür ELMACIOĞLU, Erica EMOND, Claudia ENGEL, Ahmet ERDOĞAN, Burçin ERDOĞU, Kerim E. ERGEN, Duygu ERGENÇ, Müge ERGÜN, Gunhild ERIKSDOTTER, Rebecka ERNTELL, Tuğçe ERTABAK, Duygu ERTEMİN, Osman ERTÜRK, Cumhur ERTÜZÜN, Üğür EYİLİK, Catherine FAIRLESS, Chris FARIA, Shahina FARID, Sayeh FATTAHI, Michelle FEIDER, Haşim FERAHKAYA, Lauren FIELD-FIDLER, Rose FIGURA, Clara FILET, Dragana FILIPOVIC, Patrycja FILIPOWICZ, Ashley FISHER, MAX FORREST, Maurizio FORTE, Hayley FOSTER, Katrina FOXTON, Jenna FOWLER, Sheelagh FRAM, Tom FRANKLAND, Ingmar FRANZ, Dorian FULLER, Fabrizio GALEAZZI, Michelle GAMBLE, Eleonora GANDOLFI, Mary GANIS, Virginia GARCIA-DÍAZ, Aroa GARCIA-SUAREZ, Katrina GARGETT, Evan GAROFALO, Gary GIBBONS, Bonnie GLENCROSS, Andrew GOLDMAN, Sarah GONZAGA, Lara GONZÁLEZ CARRETERO, Donna Rae GOULD, Nuriye GÖKÇE, Juan Jose GARCIA GRANERO FOS, Sarah GRANT, Laura GREEN, Rachel GREENBERG, Haskell GREENFIELD, Janet GRIFFITHS, Daniel GRISWOLD, Lisa M. GUERRE, Hilal GÜLTEKIN, Burçin GÜMÜŞ, Ramazan GÜNDÜZ, Gülgün GÜRCAN, Erkan GÜRÇAL, Sevgi GÜRDAL, Simge GÜREŞ, Nergis GÜRSES, Küpra GÜVEN, Anna HABERLAND, Piraye HACIGÜZELLER, Remi HADAD, Scott D. HADDOW, Christoffer HAGBERG, Lori HAGER, Cordelia HALL, Julie HAMILTON, Anette HANSEN, Katarzyna Weronika HARABASZ, Karen HARDY, Menekşe HAREMKAHYA, Beth HARLEY, Karl HARRISON, Laura HARRISON, Caroline HEBRON, Juliette HEMELAAR, Andrew HENDERSON, Liz HENTON, Xose HERMOSOBUXAN, Lucia HERRERO, Simon HILLSON, Rachel HODARA, Claire HODSON, Kerrie HOFFMAN, Milicent HOLMAN, John HOLSTON, Phillip HOLT, Braxton M. HOOD, Jedrez HORDECKI, Rosemary HOSHINO, Michael HOUSE, Helen HUMAN, Susan HYDEN, Trevor ILIFF, Rachel IRESON, Justine ISSAVI, Graham ISTED, Resul İBİŞ, Tunç İLEDA, Bianca JACKSON, Mark JACKSON, Antonia JAMES, Rosemary JEFFREYS, Emma JENKINS, Erik JOHANSSON, Emily JOHNSON, Karolina JOKA,

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Acknowledgements Jennifer JONES, Kimberly JONES, Sarah JONES, Sian JONES, Kristina JONSSON, Emma JORDAN, Rosemary JOYCE, Friederike JÜRCKE, Ceren KABUKCU, Tuukka KAIKKONEN, George KAMBOUROGLOU, Till S. KAPPUS, Aydan KARADEMIR, Akrivi KATIFORI, Ali KAVAS, Kevin KAY, Ramazan KAYA, Vahap KAYA, Nurcan KAYACAN, Nuray KAYGAZ, Courtney KEMNITZ, Sheena KETCHUM, Kübra KILIÇ, Katy KILLACKEY, Hyunyoung KIM, Laurie KING, Ian KIRKPATRICK, Galip KİRAZ, Arkadiusz KLIMOWICZ, Adam KLUPS, Christopher KNÜSEL, Georgia KOROMILA, Vasileios KOURTIS, Vasiliki KOUTRAFOURI, Tomasz KOZLOWSI, Marcin KRZEWICKI, Milena KUBIACZYK, Gülbin KULBAY, Cansu KURT, Nejla KURT, Sevim KURTULDU, Sıla KURTULUŞ, Aldona KURZAWSKA, Melek KUŞ, Orhan KUŞÇUOĞLU, Bilge KÜÇÜKDOĞAN, Ahmet KÜRKMEN, Ditte Kannegaard KVIST, Jacquelyn KYLE, Florence LAINO, Carla LANCELOTTI, Clark LARSEN, Mikael LARSSON, Jinok LEE, Christina LEMORINI, Amanda LEON, Nicola LERCARI, Andrzej LESZCZEWICZ, Xuelei LI, Amanda LINDSEY, Arzu LINGA, Ashley Morgan LINGLE, Mikolaj LISOWSKI, Yan LIU, Alexandra LIVARDA, Rafael LIZERRALDE, Catherine LONGFORD, Serena LOVE, Jackie LOW, Leilani LUCAS, Dominik LUKAS, Julius LUNDIN, Stella MACHERIDIS, Helen MACKAY, David MACKIE, Marco MADELLA, Richard D. W. MADGWICH, Wiebke MAINUSH, Anna MARCHLEWSKA, Arkadiusz MARCINIAK, Elizabeth MARGOLIN, Darko MARICEVIC, Gemma MARTIN, Louise MARTIN, Jack MARTINEZ, Michele MASSA, Wendy MATTHEWS, Richard MAY, Camilla MAZZUCATO, Graeme MCARTHUR, Romy MCINTOSH, Claudia MCKENZIE, Katherine MCKUSTER, Sanaz MEHRAN, Teddy MENDOZA, Mehmet MERTEK, Lynn MESKELL, Gamze MEŞE, Alison MICKELL, Danica MIHAILOVIC, Eva Maria MIHAN, Marco MILELLA, Marina MILIĆ, Slobodan MITROVIĆ, Olja MLADJENOVIĆ, Lauren MONKS, Lucie MONO, Sophie MOORE, Gianfranco MORELLI, Colleen MORGAN, Jacob MORIS, Stephanie MOSER, Chiara MOTTOLESE, Elmas MOTUK, Mehmet Ali MOTUK, Jacqui MULVILLE, Charlene MURPHY, Daniel MURPHY, Inbal NACHMAN, Carolyn NAKAMURA ALDRICH, Goce NAUMOV, Adam NAZAROFF, Kate NELSON, Alexandra NEUMANN, Kelly NGUYEN, Bjorn NILSSON, Dorthe NISTAD, Antoni NOWAK, Selin E. NUGENT, Katie O’CONNELL, Aslı OFLAZ, Jessica OGDEN, Sinan OMACAN, Llonel ONSUREZ, David ORTON, Sonia OSTAPTCHOUK, Sara OUENES, Lütfi ÖNEL,

Yasemin ÖZARSLAN, Mihriban ÖZBAŞARAN, Onur ÖZBEK, Özlem ÖZBEN, Ozan ÖZBUDAK, Serap ÖZDÖL KUTLU, Füsun ÖZER, Hakan ÖZER, Levent ÖZER, Özlem ÖZHABES, Özge ÖZKAN, Hembo PAGI, Francesca PAJNO, Philip PARKES, Kamilla PAWLOWSKA, Aruna PAWSON, Halle PAYNE, Chloe PEARCE, Jessica PEARSON, Daniela PEDROZA, Marta PERLINSKA, Sara PERRY, Anda PETROVIC, Paul PETTERSSON, Matteo PILATI, Camile PILLIOUGINE, Marin PILLOUD, Sharmini PITTER, Charles PIVER, Marek POLCYN, Marta PORTILLO RAMIREZ, Adrienne POWELL, Tera PRUITT, Laia PUJOL-TOST, Liz PYE, Lyla PYNCH-BROCK, Joanna PYZEL, Ling QIN, Jason QUINLAN, Antoinette RAST-EICHER, Flavia RAVAIOLI, Roddy REGAN, Katarzyna REGULSKA, Emily RICHARDSON, Megan RIDSDALE, Jana ROGASCH, Nolwen M. ROL, Kate ROSE, Elizabeth ROSEN, Eva ROSENSTOCK, Jamie ROWE, Abel RUIZ-GIRALT, Nerissa RUSSELL, Eugen RUZI, Philippa RYAN, Anna RYBARCZYK, Freya SADARANGANI, Josh SADVARI, Hannah SAINSBURY, İsmail SALMANCI, Nicole SAM, Carlos G. SANTIAGO MARRERO, Judre SAPRANAUSKAITE, Marta SAJ, Jill SAUNDERS, Billy SAWOYO SANKEI, Melania SAVINO, Heeli C. SCHECHTER, Sophie SCHMIDT, Eline SCHOTSMANS, Mesa SCHUMACHER, Jessica SCORRER, Mitchell SCOTT, Jerrod SEIFERT, Uğurcan O. SELÇUK, Recep Yunus SERİN, Gülay SERT, Kent SEVERSON, Harish SHARMA, Daniel SHAW, Russell SHEPTAK, Hannah SHILLING, Lisa-Marie SHILLITO, Anna SHOEMAKER, Ruth SIDDALL, Matilda SIEBRECHT, Maroles SIJSTERMANS, Ahmet SİVAZ, Ebru SİVAZ, Fadimana SİVAZ, Havva SİVAZ, Keziban SİVAZ, Mevlüt SİVAZ, Saliha SİVAZ, Zekeriya SİVAZ, Arne SJÖSTROM, Cassie SKIPPER, Dean SMITH, Kierstyn SMITH, Mehmet SOMEL, Tiffany SOULE, Muhammet SÖKEN, Abdurrahman SÖNMEZ, Charlotte SPIERING, Mira STEVANOVIC, Shannon STEWART, Ivana STOJANOVIĆ, Helen STOKES, Weronika STOSIK, Marketa SŤOVÍČKOVÁ, Elizabeth A. STROUD, Kristian STRUTT, Amy STYRING, Thomas SUTCLIFFE, Lauren SWEET, Martyna SZYMCZAK, Melike ŞAHİN, Neriman ŞAHİN GÜÇHAN, Elmas ŞENER, Esra ŞENER, Nevriye ŞENER, Muhsin ŞENOL, Ayşegül TABAKOĞLU, Wang TAO, Duygu TARKAN, Dena TASSE-WINTER, James S. TAYLOR, Beliz TERCELI, Kilian TEUWSEN, Gregory THOMA, Johanna THUNBERG, Belinda TIBBETTS, Jenna TINNING, Hatice TOKYAĞSUN, Mavili TOKYAĞSUN, Yusuf TOKYAĞSUN, Margaret TOMASZCZUK, Angela TORNEY, Jovana TRIPKOVIC, Hoang Anh N. (Elizabeth) TRINH, Christina TSORAKI, Gemma TULLY,

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Mevriziye TUNCAY, Burcu TUNG, Didem TURAN, Özge TUTAR, Mustafa TUTUMLULAR, Talu TÜNTAŞ, Ali TÜRKCAN, Ülcan TÜRKKAN, Katheryn TWISS, Hakkı UNCU, İdris USLU, Özgür Can USLU, Bilgehan USTA, Oktay UZUN, Ekin ÜNAL, Petra VAIGLOVA, Anne VAN GIJN, Mirjam VAN SAANE, Milena VASIĆ, Maria VAYANOU, Renee VD LOCHT, Rena VEROPOULIDOU, Owen VINCE, Alice VINET, Sophie VULLINGS, John WAINWRIGHT, Sam WAKEFORD, Gillian WALKER, Jiajing WANG, Johnathan WANG, Marcin WAS, Amanda WATTS, Sadie WEBER, Willemina WENDRICH, Elizabeth WESSELLS, Joanne WESTBROOK, Lucy WHEELER, Harvey WHITEHOUSE, Jade WHITLAM, Patrick WILLETT, Alice WILLIAMS, Chelsea WISEMAN, Jessie WOLFHAGEN,

Karen WRIGHT, Nurcan YALMAN, Thaer YARTAH, Mustafa YAŞ, Hasan YAŞLI, Hatice YAŞLI, Hulusi YAŞLI, Hüseyin YAŞLI, İsmail YAŞLI, Lokman YAŞLI, Metin YAŞLI, Mustafa YAŞLI, Osman YAŞLI, Rabia YAŞLI, Senay YAŞLI, Tulin YAŞLI, Lisa YEOMANS, Gökhan YEŞIL, Gülay YILANKAYA- ERDOĞU, Nejat YÜCEL, Onur YÜKSEL, Eren YÜNCÜ, Mustafa ZEYTIN and Bright ZHOU. Volumes 12–15 in this series would not have been produced without the work of Scott Haddow, Jason Quinlan, Kathryn Killackey, Dominik Lukas and Camilla Mazzucato. I am very grateful to them for their commitment.

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1. Questions, history of work and summary of results Ian Hodder

Çatalhöyük is a 9,000-year-old tell site in central Turkey. First excavated by James Mellaart (e.g., 1967) in the 1960s, a new project began in 1993 (Hodder 1996; 2000). The site is of international significance because it is large (13.5 ha) at an early date, had dense population, has rich symbolism and sub-floor burial, and was occupied for 1,500 years; the Neolithic Çatalhöyük East mound dates from 7100 BCE to 5900 BCE, with the Chalcolithic Çatalhöyük West Mound overlapping in time in the last quarter of the seventh millennium BC and continuing on until 5600 BCE (Orton et al. 2018). The well-preserved buildings and rich art in the Neolithic mound give a unique insight into early village life. The site allows study of many of the main questions dealing with the early formation of settled villages/towns and the early intensification of agriculture. The site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2012. This volume is one of four which discuss interpretation of the material obtained during excavation of the site from 2009 to 2017. Early work on the surface of the mound in 1993–1995 is published in Volume 1 (Hodder 1996), and the methodology is described in full in its own volume, Volume 2 (Hodder 2000; for updates see Hodder, Marciniak 2015 and Berggren et al. 2015). The excavation and the interpretation of contexts and buildings excavated in 1995–1999 are described in Volumes 3–6 (Hodder 2005; 2006a; 2006b; 2007), and Volumes 7–10 describe the excavation and interpretation of material obtained in the 2000–2008 seasons (Hodder 2013a; 2013b; 2014a; 2014b). Volume 11 recounts the excavation of Building 3 by a team from the University of California at Berkeley (Tringham, Stevanović 2012). The new series of four volumes (Volumes 12–15) presents reports on the results of excavations in 2009– 2017, although many contributors also take the chance to summarise and compare results over the 25-year span of the Çatalhöyük Research Project. This volume describes the excavation results regarding architecture and the deposits uncovered in the 2009–2017 seasons. Volume 13 reports on the ways in which humans engaged in their material and biotic environments, using a wide range of archaeological evidence. Volume 14 turns from ‘ecofacts’ and biology to material artefacts recovered from the site in these seasons, including a range of claybased objects (ceramics, clay balls, tokens, figurines) as

well as those made of stone, shell and textile. Volume 15 is also based on the 2009–2017 excavations, but its aim is synthetic, drawing on material from Volumes 12 to 14 to deal with broad themes. Data from architecture and excavation contexts are linked into broader discussion of topics such as social networks, seasonality, curation, colour, community engagement and outreach. Future volumes will describe other excavations and analyses undertaken over recent years under the permit provided to the Çatalhöyük Research Project. Volume 16 will describe the excavations on the West Mound (Anvari, Biehl forthcoming), and subsequent volumes will describe the work in the TP and TPC Areas (Marciniak et al. forthcoming) and on the historic materials found on and off the mound (Jackson, Moore 2018). Questions When in 1991–1992 the initial plans to excavate Çatalhöyük were discussed with the Anıtlar ve Müzeler Genel Müdürlüğü, it was made clear that excavation was only part of the brief that was being set. Just as important were the conservation and public presentation arms of the project, and this has remained a concern of the Department and of the Kültür ve Turizm Bakanları. It is for this reason that so much time and funds have been invested in infrastructure, building and conservation research. In 2005 a Site Management Plan was completed as part of the European Union/Euromed project TEMPER (Hodder, Doughty 2007). This Site Management Plan (see www.catalhoyuk.com) has been continually updated, in particular during the process of applying for and gaining UNESCO World Heritage status in 2012. The Site Management Plan, produced as a result of consultation with all stakeholders, provides guidelines that have directed the archaeological, conservation and presentation aspects of the project’s work in the 2009–2017 period. The dig house (with seven laboratories, three stores, a Visitor Centre and accommodation for 80 people) has been completed and updated according to the plan. The Site Management Plan also called for the construction of stores or depots, and four storage buildings have been completed. Shelters were also called for in order to preserve mudbrick buildings and allow controlled excavation and year-round visits by tourists. A permanent cover was completed over the South Area in 2001–2002. A shelter was also constructed over the North Area in 2007–2008.

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons The need to place Neolithic buildings on display as indicated in the Site Management Plan has very much constrained excavation policy. In many cases in this volume we describe buildings that we have excavated down to the latest floor levels, removing all fills and in some cases the uppermost floor levels, but where we have not completed the excavations by digging the floors, walls and construction features. Thus many of the buildings described in this volume have been only partially excavated (see table 1.4). Some buildings have been partially excavated for other reasons, including the fact that parts of the building occur outside our limits of excavation or outside the shelters. In addition, the provision of shelters allowed tourists to visit the site year-round and allowed excavated buildings to be left open, to be viewed from wooden walkways. However, this practice often had deleterious effects on the exposed unfired mudbrick walls and soft clay features. There is continual mention throughout this volume of the damage caused in order to make a fragile site of this early date open to the public.

structure. The focus on social geography had a number of more specific components. One component concerned social and economic differentiation. Mellaart argued that he had discovered an area of the site inhabited by priests and their shrines and houses. But right from the first phase of the current project we had found uniformity across the site. Surface survey, geophysical work, surface scraping and excavation all showed that wherever one dug on Çatalhöyük, one tended to find the same thing: houses containing evidence of domestic activity varying only slightly in size and elaboration, and areas of refuse or midden. There seemed little on which to base any argument for social and economic differentiation. So the fourth phase of excavation (2009–2017), followed by analysis and publication (2018–2019), focused on trying to understand how social and economic organisation varied through time. The excavation in 2000–2008 had concentrated on earlier and later levels of occupation on the East Mound, but it became increasingly clear that there was evidence for major shifts in many aspects of the evidence, especially around 6500 BCE and also in the latest levels as occupation became more dispersed, including spread to the West Mound. It became critical to examine the middle levels of occupation, especially South M–O (Mellaart’s Levels VII and VI), and to open more contiguous buildings of the same time period in the North Area (North G). At the same time, Arek Marciniak undertook excavations on the latest levels of occupation on the East Mound (Marciniak et al. 2015), followed by related work by Marek Barański (Barański et al. 2015; Barański 2016; this volume, Chapter 34) in the adjacent GDN Area. The overall trajectory of the project has thus been from the study of individual houses to communities and larger-scale social geography. But I have so far given the impression of a limited set of research questions that animated the project as a whole. In fact, the size of the project meant that many different sources of funding had to be sought and a range of different research questions asked. For example, funding for detailed dating was obtained by Hodder and Bayliss from NSF and AHRC, while NSF funding was also obtained by Twiss and Bogaard in order to study the integration of faunal and botanical data. A large number of graduate students have focused on particular research questions. While all such projects worked within the general overarching aims just described, the project has benefited from the diversity of perspectives brought by these individuals with their different funding sources (see Hodder, Marciniak 2015). This is particularly true of a series of grants obtained from the John Templeton Foundation that all dealt with various aspects of the rich symbolism from the site in asking questions about religion and cognition. These

Research questions The long (25-year) aim of the Çatalhöyük Research Project has been to situate the elaborate symbolic production at the site within its full environmental, economic and social context. Why did this rich outpouring of symbolism and ritual occur at this time and this place? Can we understand why the art and symbolism were produced and can they help us understand why people formed large agglomerations and intensified resource procurement? In the earliest phase of the current project (1993– 1995), minimal excavation took place. The work concentrated on regional survey (Baird 2002; 2005), on planning and studying the surface of the mounds, conducting surface pickup, drawing eroded profiles of the earlier excavation trenches and using geophysical prospection. The project also undertook a re-evaluation of the material in museums that had been excavated by Mellaart. All this work was published in 1996 (Hodder 1996). During the second phase of excavation (1996–1999), analysis and publication (2000–2002), the research aim focused on individual buildings, asking questions about site formation processes and trying to understand whether the mudbrick buildings on the site were sometimes shrines (as Mellaart had suggested) or whether they were all houses (even if at times with much symbolic and ritual content). For the results of this work see Hodder (2005; 2006a; 2006b; 2007). In the third phase of excavation (2000–2008), followed by analysis and publication (2009–2012), the research aims turned from individual houses to the social geography of the settlement as a whole and larger community

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Chapter 1: Hodder. Questions, history of work and summary of results grants were also important in adding to the multivocality and interdisciplinarity which have always been at the heart of the project. The Templeton projects involved bringing specialists in religion, philosophy and anthropology to spend a week each year engaging with the archaeologists at the site and ultimately producing a series of edited volumes. In 2006, research funding for a three-year period from the John Templeton Foundation was directed towards the following four questions: (1) How can archaeologists recognise the spiritual, religious and transcendent in early time periods? (2) Are changes in spiritual life and religious ritual a necessary prelude to the social and economic changes that lead to civilisation? (3) Do human forms take on a central role in the spirit world in the early Holocene, and does this centrality lead to new conceptions of human agency that themselves provide the possibility for the domestication of plants and animals? (4) Do violence and death act as the foci of transcendent religious experience during the transitions of the early Holocene in the Near East, and are such themes central to the creation of social life in the first large agglomerations of people? Answering this first set of Templeton questions proved very productive and resulted in a publication entitled Religion in the Emergence of Civilization: The Example of Çatalhöyük (Hodder 2010). One of the results of this work was the identification of different general house types at Çatalhöyük based on burial and architectural and symbolic elaboration. The most notable were ‘history houses’ (Hodder, Pels 2010), which are architecturally elaborate buildings with multiple burials that endure for generations and undergo numerous rebuilding phases. Houses can also have multiple burials whether we have evidence they were part of a long sequence or not. There are also elaborate houses without many burials and rebuildings, and there are non-elaborate houses. These four different house types and their associated burials at Çatalhöyük allowed us to explore social differentiation in relation to the symbolic and religious features in the houses. In a second Templeton project (2009–2012) entitled ‘Religion as the basis for power and property in the first civilizations. The analysis and publication of Çatalhöyük’, another set of four questions explored the relationship between symbolism and differentiation in relation to the already excavated data from 2000 to 2008. The four research questions were as follows, the first two relating to a focus on social geography and the second two relating to change through time: (1) At Çatalhöyük what is the relationship between religious and other symbolism and the control of production in

the different house types? For example, are there differences in the productive activities associated with history houses, elaborate houses and other houses? Is there evidence for differences in health and in skeletal markers of mobility and workload between history houses, elaborate houses and other houses? (2) Is there secure evidence that important symbolic and religious objects were handed down in houses, and preferentially in ‘history houses’, at Çatalhöyük? For example, what are the sequential processes by which some buildings became transformed into history houses while others declined? Is there evidence that objects were handed down from building to building through time creating histories, and does such transfer occur preferentially in the history houses? (3) Through time how does the ‘history house’ system change, and is there a concomitant decline in the role of religious symbolism? This question relates directly to the question identified above about changes in the social geography of Çatalhöyük through time. For example, what are the economic changes evident at the site in the upper levels? Were cattle domesticated, for example? What are the social changes associated with the upper levels? Do households become larger, more integrated and with less focus on continuity with the past? (4) Is religion related to power and property elsewhere in the emergence of civilisation in the Neolithic of the Middle East? For example, how does the changing role of ritual and differentiation at Çatalhöyük play a part in larger and longer-term changes across the Middle East and Anatolia during the Neolithic? This second Templeton grant allowed us to pursue the overarching aim of opening extensive areas in the Middle period of occupation at the site. The results were published as Religion at Work in a Neolithic Society: Vital Matters (Hodder 2014c). A third Templeton project (2012–2015) asked a further four questions that followed on from the results of the second project and explored the hypothesis that religion had a primary role in the origin of settled life because it allowed the production of the two main struts of that life – historical depth and attachment to place. The first question considered whether Çatalhöyük could be considered a ‘history town’. If groups of houses were tied together by history houses, was it possible that the settlement as a whole was constructed so that the inhabitants of could ‘read’ the history of their relationships with each other in the layout of their settlement? A second question extended the same point to the landscape as a whole. Was that too, including the organisation of fields, linked into the arrangement of houses in the settlement? Third, how did the ‘history house’, ‘history town’ and ‘history landscape’ at Çatalhöyük emerge?

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Fourth, what is the relationship between religion and history making at other sites in the Neolithic of the Middle East? The results of this project were published as Religion, History and Place in the Origin of Settled Life (Hodder 2018a). A fourth Templeton project (2015–2017) shifted focus from religion to aspects of cognition, in particular, consciousness, creativity and notions of self. Again, four questions were asked: (1) Have levels of consciousness increased over time, leading to greater abstraction and objectification of thought? (2) Did rates of innovation and creativity increase during the Neolithic as seen through the sequence at Çatalhöyük? (3) Were there forms of cognitive change in the Neolithic that might have been related to a greater awareness of an integrated self? (4) Did any observed cognitive changes occur suddenly, or were they stretched out over time? The answers to these questions were published in Consciousness, Creativity and Self at the Dawn of Settled Life (Hodder 2020). Overlapping with these projects on religion and cognition at Çatalhöyük, between 2013 and 2016 funding was obtained from Imitatio, a group of scholars following the mimetic theory of René Girard. The general hypothesis explored was that there is a link between violence and the sacred. Specifically at Çatalhöyük it was argued that the process of mimesis whereby humans desire the same things as each other leads to violence that can easily break out into violence of all against all. This type of rampant violence can be resolved by the participants turning against one – the scapegoat. The latter may then take on a sanctified position as the one that brought peace to society, and through time the sacrifice of the scapegoat is repeated and re-enacted in ritual in order to sustain peaceful order. This hypothesis was seen to be relevant to the ritual treatment of the bull at Çatalhöyük. This work was published as Violence and the Sacred in the Ancient Near East: Girardian Conversations at Çatalhöyük (Hodder 2019). Overall, then, the Templeton and Imitatio projects, as well as funding from research foundations and commercial sponsors, allowed excavation and postexcavation work to pursue the main questions of the third and fourth phases of excavation at Çatalhöyük. As the main research concerns shifted from individual buildings to overall social geography and change through time, the funding allowed large areas of excavation to take place in the North Area, and it allowed deep excavations to take place in the South Area. And it did so by involving the issue of variation in symbolism and ritual. In this way the larger aim of the project as a whole since its inception could be effectively pursued: ‘to situate the elaborate symbolic production at the site within its full environmental, economic and social context’ (see above).

Regional trends The above research questions can be situated within wider understanding of the Neolithic in Turkey and the Middle East. A full account of the regional trends within which Çatalhöyük is situated is provided in Volume 14, Chapter 2; only a brief summary is provided here. In Central Anatolia, by the second half of the ninth millennium there are both small settlements as at Boncuklu and Pınarbaşı (Baird 2007b) and the large highly agglomerated village at Aşıklı Höyük (8400–7400 BC) (Esin, Harmanakaya 1999; Özbaşaran 2011; Özbaşaran et al. 2018). At the latter site there is very little evidence of storage facilities in domestic houses. As a result of large-scale area excavation, a clear social geography has been identified, with public ritual buildings (frequently renewed) separated from other dwellings by a monumental street. The dwellings are organised into sectors by narrow spaces or narrow streets, and there are collective common middens. The area with public ritual buildings and perhaps storage is distinctive in having larger numbers of pressure-retouched projectiles and higher percentages of cattle bones. There is evidence of butchering and sharing of meat. Overall, the evidence is interpreted in terms of the collective and communal rather than in terms of centralised elites. In cultural and social terms, Çatalhöyük emerges from a strong local tradition on the Konya Plain, as seen at Boncuklu (Baird 2007a). The parallels with this site of the late ninth and early eighth millennia include below-floor burial, painting and wild animal installations, chipped stone point typologies and, most tellingly, a separation in houses between ‘clean’ floors (with burial and symbolism) and ‘dirty’ floors (with hearths and activity traces). There are of course many differences between the sites, in terms of layout and economy (for example, the shift to a heavy dependence on sheep at Çatalhöyük), but the socio-cultural continuities are strong, especially when contrasted with Cappadocian sites such as Aşıklı Höyük. It is fascinating to note that the north/south, clean/dirty division within houses at Boncuklu is inverted through most of the sequence at Çatalhöyük (Hodder, Cessford 2004). But the earliest levels see ovens and hearths in the northern part of buildings (in Buildings 161 and 17). It is possible to conceive of the early population at Çatalhöyük being largely derived from small sites such as Boncuklu and Sancak and others identified by Baird in the Konya Plain survey (Baird 2005). Can Hasan III is another possible source (French 1972), and there are undoubted similarities in settlement organisation and use of a microblade lithic tradition. Although there are also similarities in lithic tradition with Cappadocia, the Konya Plain sites differ markedly from Aşıklı Höyük, where there is less symbolism in houses.

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Chapter 1: Hodder. Questions, history of work and summary of results However, new genomic evidence (summarised in Volume 13, Chapter 18) indicates closer links between Çatalhöyük and Aşıklı Höyük than between Çatalhöyük and Boncuklu. On the other hand, the aDNA data indicate that, beyond a general derivation from the east, the Cappadocian-Konya Plain grouping is relatively distinct from the Levant, indicating a somewhat separate trajectory. Epipalaeolithic and aceramic Neolithic central Anatolians (as seen at Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu) shared traits with groups in the Caucasus, Zagros and Europe. But the genomic profiles in Central Anatolia in the early Neolithic are closely related to Epipalaeolithic populations in the same region (Lazaridis et al. 2016; Feldman et al. 2019; Chyleński et al. 2019), suggesting the spread of technology, ritual and domestic species rather than predominantly people. From the aceramic period to the ceramic Neolithic period, human movement between Anatolia and neighbouring regions increases. Populations of the PPNB Levant (for example, ‘Ain Ghazal) show higher genetic affinity to Neolithic Anatolians than did the Natufians who lived in the same region 2,000 years earlier (Kılınç et al. 2017). Similarly, the population of Tepecik-Çiftlik had more links to Levantine and Zagros populations than did people at aceramic Boncuklu who lived in the same broad region 2,000 years earlier. These changing genetic affinities can be explained by some gene flow from the Levant into Anatolia, alongside the cultural influences (Cauvin 2000). There is also evidence of genetic affinities between Central Anatolia and the early Neolithic in northwest Anatolia and Europe. Indeed, it is tempting to argue that Çatalhöyük was one source of the spread of early farming into these areas. As we will see below, there is evidence of population increase and higher densities of occupation, as well as stress and disease on human bodies, in the Middle period of Çatalhöyük from about 6600 to 6500 BCE. After 6500 BCE there is evidence at the site for greater mobility and dispersal. Regional survey has found a scarcity of sites contemporary with the main ceramic layers at Çatalhöyük (Baird 2005). It is almost as if the site sucked in population and then spat it out again in the later levels of occupation, culminating in an increase of Chalcolithic sites on the plain. Seen at a larger scale, it is possible that such forces stimulated more distant dispersal. In Volume 14, Chapter 2, Marciniak makes the claim that the spread of farming into western and northwestern Anatolia, as well as new developments in Cappadocia, can be seen as the result of migration from Çatalhöyük. The examples he gives include Gökhöyük, the houses of which are indeed remarkably similar to Çatalhöyük, with the same internal division of clean and dirty space. Other examples are Erbaba, Bademağacı,

Höyücek, Hacılar IX–VI and Kuruçay in the Lake District and adjacent areas. In northwestern Anatolia cultural influence is seen at Uğurlu, Pendik, Fikirtepe, Aktopraklık, Menteşe and Barcın (Özdoğan 2010; Karul, Avcı 2011; Roodenberg et al. 2003; Gerritsen et al. 2013; Erdoğu 2013), as suggested by the dark burnished ware of the Fikirtepe culture, which is parallel to the dark burnished wares of Central Anatolia. In western Cappadocia cultural influence is seen at Tepecik-Çiftlik and Köşk Höyük (Bıçakçı et al. 2012; Öztan 2012). Central Anatolia is located at a cusp between east and west in terms of the spread of farming (Özdoğan 2010). In many aspects the cultural assemblage from Çatalhöyük has similarities with the Marmara and Balkan region (bone spoons, bone belt hooks) rather than with the southeast of Turkey. This difference also includes the social organisation of settlements and ritual. As Özdoğan has argued, to the east special buildings are more commonly found and a general focus on ancestors and history making. But to the west of Çatalhöyük, special buildings do not dominate and there are extramural cemeteries (for example, in the Fikirtepe culture sites with rectangular architecture in the Marmara region) (Özdoğan 2011), although many of these regional differences are cross-cut by change through time. Overall, then, Çatalhöyük is part of a distinct local tradition on the Konya Plain, certainly linked culturally and by the exchange of obsidian with Cappadocia but with its own distinctive focus on symbolic elaboration. Through time there is increasing human dispersal to and from the Konya Plain. There is also much evidence of a wider cultural koine. There are similarities in myth and symbolism (Hodder, Meskell 2011) over enormous areas and time periods, and overall general trends from northern Mesopotamia and the Levant into Anatolia. Throughout the region houses often increase in size from the Epipalaeolithic onwards into the large settled villages of the MPPNB. Çatalhöyük is one of a number of ‘megasites’ (Verhoeven 2011) that, as at Çatalhöyük itself, often break up into smaller more dispersed units in the ceramic Neolithic. There are intriguing similarities in this process over extensive areas. In Volume 13, Chapter 15, Haddow et al. describe a wider process of increased secondary burial and separation of burial from houses as seen at both Çatalhöyük and Tell Sabi Abyad (Akkermans 1987), and there are indeed marked similarities in the multi-mound structure of the latter and of later Çatalhöyük. The emergence of elaborately painted pottery in northern Syria is reminiscent of the painted pottery at Çatalhöyük West. Çatalhöyük can thus provide an insight into important regional trends in social and economic processes, as well as a potential impetus for the spread of farming and a source for population dispersal.

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Excavation history and procedures Çatalhöyük was first excavated by James Mellaart in 1961–1965 (Mellaart 1962a; 1963a; 1964; 1965; 1966; 1967). His work focused on the southwest area of the East Mound, where over 160 buildings were excavated in 14 levels numbered from 0, I, II to XII. Level VI was subdivided into VIA and VIB. These excavations established the importance of the site as a large and densely packed Neolithic ‘town’. No further work was conducted at the site until the present project began in 1993. As noted above, the first years of the project were spent in surface survey, and excavation began in earnest in 1995. This volume is concerned with presenting the results of specialist analysis of material from the areas of excavation at Çatalhöyük (fig. 1.1) known as South and North, as well as the GDN Area. The excavations in the South Area (fig. 1.2) between 1995 and 1999 were initially focused upon a 20m x 20m area in the southwest part of the mound, which was investigated by James Mellaart in the 1960s. The main aim of our work in this area was to investigate the earlier occupation levels at the site, and the lowermost deposits above the lake marl were excavated and designated Level Pre XII.A–E. This work was reported on in Volume 3. In

2000–2008, work continued in the South Area under a shelter. The Foundation Trenches for this shelter were first excavated (in 2002) and then excavation concentrated on later levels within the shelter in the upstanding deposits around the edges of the original 20m x 20m area. The aim was to reduce these surrounding deposits so that we could safely return to excavation of the lowest levels in the 20m x 20m area. In the 1995–1999 period, our excavations in the North Area aimed to contribute to the research aim of understanding the formation processes in individual buildings. In the northern area, buildings were excavated in great detail (Buildings 1 and 5 discussed in Volume 3). In 1997, a team from the University of California, Berkeley began excavating Building 3 in the BACH Area and continued until 2002 (published in Tringham, Stevanović 2012). The KOPAL excavations consisted of a long trench across the northern flank of the mound to investigate site formation processes (1996–1997) and an offsite area to the north of this to determine what natural and cultural deposits were present (Boyer et al. 2006). In the 2000–2008 period of work, the smaller excavations in the northern part of the mound were extended in order to understand the overall social geography of settlement

Figure 1.1. Map of excavation areas on the East and West Mounds at Çatalhöyük (Camilla Mazzucato).

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Figure 1.2. Buildings excavated in the South Area (Camilla Mazzucato).

Chapter 1: Hodder. Questions, history of work and summary of results

7

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons in this area. A 40m x 40m trench was identified as being relatively undisturbed by later historic activity on the basis of surface research conducted in 1993–1995 (Hodder 1996). Between 2004 and 2008 the 4040 Area was investigated in order to understand the social geography and change through time in this part of the site. In 2007 the foundations for a shelter covering the 4040 Area, Buildings 3 and 5 were excavated. The shelter was then built, allowing excavations in 2008 to take place in a more controlled setting. The 4040 Area was renamed North Area (fig. 1.3). Excavations by other teams, especially the TP (Team Poznan) team led by Arek Marciniak of Poznan University and Lech Czerniak of the University of Gdansk in Poland and the IST team led by Mihriban Özbaşaran and Güneş Duru of Istanbul University, allowed further exploration of the upper levels of the East Mound. On the Chalcolithic West Mound, excavation by three teams (University of Thrace at Edirne led by Burçin Erdoğu, Selçuk University at Konya led by Ahmet Tırpan and Asuman Baldıran, and Berlin University and SUNY Buffalo led by Peter Biehl and Eva Rosenstock) allowed an increased understanding of the developments in the sixth millennium BC. Apart from the inclusion of the IST results in Volumes 7–10, all the excavations by other teams (TP, West Mound) are being published in separate volumes. In the period 2009–2017, excavation continued under the direction of Arek Marciniak on the late levels found between TP and the South Shelter. The area is designated TPC (Team Poznan Connect), and targeted excavation in Mellaart’s old trenches (GDN) from levels 0 to III has been undertaken by a team led by Marek Barański (the latter reported in Chapter 34). In this period the main focus of excavation has been in the South and North Areas. In the South Area, excavations concentrated on middle level buildings in order to fill gaps in the sequence. It also proved possible to return to the earliest levels in this part of the site. In 1999 the deep sounding had discovered open areas and animal penning deposits above the Pleistocene marl, and we had not found the earliest houses at the site. In the period since 1999 it was hoped to return to these early deposits beneath Buildings 17 and 43 in the hope of finding houses. We did manage to achieve this and dig below these two buildings in 2017, but again open areas were uncovered. In the North Area the focus was on understanding the overall plan of buildings and exploring the variation between buildings and their inter-relations. The methods of excavation using a modified form of single context recording allied with reflexive procedures are described in Chapter 2 in this volume. In particular, ‘priority tours’ led to the identification of a

list of units that would be studied by all labs during post-excavation so that data could be compared. A list of 456 priority units was selected for analysis, including 71 units from the TPC Area. During the first stage of the selection process each laboratory team provided a ‘wish-list’ of preferred units for study. Depending on how many labs chose the same unit, units were given different weights. The final list, which contained both priority units (that is, units identified as priority during excavation) and other units prioritised in the post-excavation process, included: (a) units selected by two or more labs; (b) units from certain buildings and spaces that were prioritised (based on Level attribution and type of context), such as B.77, 79, 80, 160, 131, 132 and Sp.489, 490; and (c) for the final publication cycle it was deemed necessary to provide a more contextualised and integrated study of burials and therefore a list of units from burial contexts was selected by the Human Remains team and these were analysed by all labs. To ensure comparability of results among different materials, all labs were requested to provide the same consistent information for all units selected as part of this process. This includes basic taphonomic information, count, weight and basic identification of species/artefact type (or size class for faunal material) for each priority unit. (For further discussion of the selection of priority units see Volume 14, Chapter 16.) I found this kind of interaction very valuable indeed, but it also highlighted how one-sided priority tours can be. Three times a week, lab specialists visit the excavation to provide feedback on units prioritised by the excavation teams, but also to hear more about the progress of the excavation. While this allows us to exchange information in the field, I do think it would be equally beneficial to have the excavators visit the labs in order to see the material they excavated once it has been washed/processed (Diary, Christina Tsoraki, 17 July 2015). Bayesian analysis of all reliable radiocarbon determinations from Çatalhöyük using OxCal indicates that the main occupational sequence at Çatalhöyük East revealed so far probably lasted from ca 7100 to ca 5950 cal BC (table 1.2) with considerable overlap with the West Mound that continued into the early sixth millennium. In Volume 7, Chapter 3, Bayliss et al. describe the long history of radiometric dating at Çatalhöyük East culminating in their renewed large-scale project integrating Bayesian statistical analysis. This renewed radiometric programme is ongoing, and until it is complete we do not have accurate links between the northern and southern areas of excavation.

8

Chapter 1: Hodder. Questions, history of work and summary of results

Figure 1.3. Buildings excavated in the North Area (Camilla Mazzucato).

9

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons The work completed in dating the North Area is described in Chapter 19, and a revised and expanded chronological model covering the uppermost parts of the south mound is described in Chapter 34. The current state of dating for the overall site is described in Chapter 3 (see also Bayliss et al. 2015; Marciniak et al. 2015; Orton et al. 2018). Tables 1.1 and 1.3 give the numbers of units excavated in each data category and in each level in the North and South Areas. Table 1.3 shows a much more even spread of units than was achieved in the earlier campaigns (the differences between the unit totals in tables 1.1 and 1.3 result from the ways in which Levels are attributed via Space). While over 160 building numbers have been assigned by the project, it is important to note that not all buildings were fully excavated. Many buildings could not be excavated for structural reasons or could only be partially excavated as they had to be left on display. Table 1.4 provides the amount excavated per building for 81 at least partially excavated buildings. For the more fully excavated buildings, table 1.4 also shows the numbers of burials and an elaboration index. The latter measure of architec-

North Area Activity Arbitrary Cluster Construction/make-up/packing Cuts Fills Floors Middens Skeletons Total

tural complexity was devised by Hodder and Pels (2010), and it simply sums, for any one phase of a building, the numbers of floor segments, basins, benches, installations (protuberances on walls, including bucrania and other animal fixtures), pillars and paintings in the main room of the building. It could be objected that this measure mixes mundane architectural features such as floor segments and wall pillars on the one hand, and symbolic features such as paintings and bucrania. However, it is difficult to discern which features are more or less symbolic; for example, floor segments seem to have played an important symbolic role in differentiating areas of activity. The simple sum of features does seem to provide a measure that correlates with other variables such as numbers of burials (see Hodder 2016). The arrangement of the sections and chapters in the volume follows the conventions used in other Çatalhöyük volumes (especially the excavation Volumes 3 and 7). This introductory chapter introduces aims and methods, research questions and history of work and draws some general conclusions that link this volume into the results from other volumes (15 in all at the time of writing).

2000–2008 2009–2017 Total (1993–2017) Percentage No. of units Percentage No. of units Percentage No. of units 1% 5% 4% 28% 10% 24% 15% 6% 7%

31 141 93 709 250 624 371 142 177

1% 2% 1% 39% 13% 21% 14% 2% 6%

40 66 31 1,088 374 589 400 55 178

1% 5% 2% 32% 11% 25% 15% 3% 7%

80 391 162 2,525 910 1,979 1,189 236 530

100%

2,538

100%

2,821

100%

8,002

4% 4% 3% 37% 10% 17% 15% 7% 3%

86 79 74 795 211 364 321 149 68

2% 1% 3% 37% 11% 23% 17% 3% 4%

43 26 68 934 281 577 441 89 90

2% 4% 3% 36% 10% 20% 17% 6% 3%

171 295 231 2,752 725 1,480 1,269 451 204

100%

2,147

100%

2,549

100%

7,578

South Area Activity Arbitrary Cluster Construction/make-up/packing Cuts Fills Floors Middens Skeletons Total TOTAL

4,685

Table 1.1. Excavated units by data category (produced by Dominik Lukas).

10

5,370

15,580

Chapter 1: Hodder. Questions, history of work and summary of results Temporal groupings of levels

South

North

Final

Late

TP, TPC, GDN

I

TP.O-P

II

TP.N

South.S

TP.M

South.Q

North.H–J

TP.L

South.Pb South.O Middle

Early

Cal BC

6300–5950 BC

III IST

IV

6500–6300 BC

V

South.Pa South.N

Mellaart

TP.Q-R South.T South.R

IST

VIA VIB

North.F–G

South.M

VII

South.L

VIII

South.K

IX

South.J

X

South.I

XI

South.H

XII

6700–6500 BC

7100–6700 BC

South.G Table 1.2. Current understanding of the relationships between levels in the South and North Areas.

Chapter 19 presents the important results of a dating programme using Bayesian statistics that is gradually being applied to the site as a whole. The equivalent results for the South are in progress, but it was possible to include the North results in Chapter 19, even though full integration with the excavation results from each building must await future publication. The chapters describing individual buildings are organised by internal phasing, established as interpretations of the Harris Matrix for each building and open space (provided in the online supplementary material). The rationale for phasing within the continuous occupation of a building has been discussed at length by Farid (2000; 2007a; 2014a; Farid, Hodder 2014) and is based most commonly on the movements of major features such as hearths and ovens within buildings. But undoubtedly the phasing remains an interpretation of breaks within a continuous sequence. The Çatalhöyük database is available online at www.catalhoyuk.com so that alternative phasing can be explored by researchers. Similarly we have, as in other volumes, decided not to mention each and every unit number; this would have clogged and lengthened the text unacceptably; again, researchers can explore all individual units in the online database. Throughout the text there is reference to diary entries made during excavation in the field. I have discussed the practice of quoting diaries, especially in the volume on

the reflexive methods used on the project (Hodder 2000). The point of showing diary entries is to alert the reader to the fact that all archaeological data are interpretations made ‘at the trowel’s edge’ (ibid.). The interpretations result from complex decision-making while in the trench and in the on-site laboratories. At times the quoting of diaries may seem to be unnecessary or disjointed, but the underlying purpose is precisely to disturb the text and to confront the apparent objectivity of what is claimed. The quoting of diaries was most effectively achieved in Volumes 3 and 7 (Hodder 2007; 2014a). The gradual dwindling of resources at the end of the project has meant that the inclusion of diary references in this volume is rather diminished. For a detailed account of the use of diaries over time in the Çatalhöyük project see Mickel (2013). The chapters on individual buildings and open spaces were written by the named author but often making use of specialist reports provided by team members. So in chapters ‘with contributions by’ other authors, specialists provided texts about, for example, ceramics or lithic material found in the building or open space, and the main author integrated these into the text. In chapters without such contributions, no separate specialist reports could be prepared within the time and resources available, and the main authors made their own decisions about which finds to mention.

11

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons 2000–2008

2009–2017

Levels - North Area North ?F North F SCRAPE ?G North ?G North G SCRAPE ?H North ?H North H North I North J Total

Number

Levels - South Area

Number

South G South ?H South H South ?I South I South ?J South J South ?K South K South ?L South L South ?M South M South ?N South N South O South ?P South P South Q South R South S South ?T South T

3 355 86 936 2 11 471 224 25 2,113

Total (1993–2017)

Units 17 554

Spaces 3 21

Buildings 1 8

Units 50 814

Spaces 7 23

Buildings 2 9

290 1,744

16 44

6 12

1,038 4,584

37 63

7 14

13 208 15

1 23 6

0 11 2

2,841

114

40

73 854 223 29 7,665

2 37 12 1 182

0 13 3 1 49

1 1 2 1 1 3 5 4 8 12 12 28 7 2 6 10 1 12 11 7 5 1 4

0 0 1 0 0 2 2 2 4 2 5 10 2 1 3 7 0 2 3 3 1 0 1

1

1 25 29 160

1 10 334 429 377 493 33 27

9

1

0

102 18 75 41 11 15 342 510 685 432 611 785 90 48 360 1,440 10 570 470 390 572 39 73

18 58 41

1 1 1

0 1 0

14 3 59 332 2 260 21 90 30 360 1,428

2 1 3 6 2 11 5 7 1 6 10

1 1 2 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 7

221 9

9 4

2 2

1

1

Total

1,920

2,956

71

33

7,689

144

51

TOTAL

4,033

5,797

185

73

15,354

326

100

Table 1.3. The numbers of units excavated in each level.

the middle levels. There was also a continued focus on the social geography of the settlement and the role of the ‘history houses’ that were rebuilt more times, were more elaborate (see elaboration index above) and had more

Answering the questions: synthesis and integration As noted above, our main research aims in the 2009– 2017 seasons were to understand how social and economic organisation varied through time, especially in

12

Chapter 1: Hodder. Questions, history of work and summary of results burials beneath the floors. During this period there was also an emphasis on cognitive questions and the organisation and social efficacy of ritual and religion. These questions led us to examine the entanglements between humans and their material worlds at various scales, from the overall use of the landscape around the site, to the arrangement of buildings on the site, and to the social lives of the inhabitants of the mounds. There has been much debate about the population size of Çatalhöyük, with the range of figures suggested by Cessford (2005a) contested by Bernardini and Schachner (2018), who prefer a smaller size. However, the arguments of the latter are based on theoretical considerations and evolutionary expectations. The data themselves continue to support slightly higher figures, if not as high as the 3,500–8,000 people estimated by Cessford. The GPR surface survey described in this volume, Chapter 4 indicates that at least in the main occupation levels of the northern part of the East Mound, settlement was closely packed and extensive. Also of relevance are the results from the study of open spaces discussed in this volume, Chapter 33 and closely dated in Chapter 19. Maps of 25-year time slices of occupation on the northern mound allow us to calculate the probabilities of how many spaces were in use, how many spaces were abandoned, and how much space was open at any one time. Through the 25-year time slices, in-use houses are on average 53% of the space. Different figures are obtained from the later occupation in the GDN Area, as discussed in Chapter 34. Also of note is that recent excavations on a small eminence on the eastern slope of the East Mound have found that occupation is in the Final period (Çiler Çilingiroğlu, personal communication). So this area can be excluded from calculations of the population size at the height of occupation in the Middle period. If we assume that four–ten people lived in a house, then we get total populations for the East Mound as a whole at maximum density in the Middle period of between 1,000 and 4,000, but there would have been lower numbers in later and earlier levels. Indeed, the series of time slices shown in Chapter 19 for the North Area and in Chapter 34 for the GDN Area seem to show pulses of denser settlement interspersed with periods of less dense occupation and more scattered housing. How this number of people was organised remains a key question. Undoubtedly a central constituent was provided by the houses, which, although in some respects acting independently, were grouped into neighbourhoods, especially in the Early and Middle periods. In addition, houses were differentiated by the numbers of burials and symbolic elaboration in them. It seems that these more elaborate buildings, termed ‘history houses’, acted as focal points for a number of houses. These ancestral buildings

were often rebuilt in the same place, and they may have acted as conduits for the passing on of ritual information and for the strong social codes that are prevalent in all houses. All houses have much the same internal layout, and there were strong codes about the types of behaviour that could occur in different parts of the house. The house, then, was central to the passing down of rules of behaviour, and so it is to the house that we must first turn in order to understand how status and authority were maintained. Building continuity. ‘History houses’ were initially defined as those buildings with large amounts of burials and symbolic elaboration (Hodder, Pels 2010). Figure 1.4 uses current data to explore whether, in buildings in which occupation deposits have been entirely excavated, there is indeed a correlation between the minimum number of individuals buried in a building and the elaboration index. For all time periods together, Spearman’s correlation is significant. When conducting this same analysis for the different time periods for which there are sufficient data, it is apparent that the greatest contribution towards this positive correlation occurs in the Middle period, with the Early period in particular showing no significant relationship. It is also of interest that the slope of the relationship increases through time, indicating increased differentiation over time. There is less evidence now that these history houses (with more burials and symbolic and ritual elaboration) were always rebuilt repeatedly on the same footprint. Attempts have been made to examine the correlation between numbers of burials in buildings, symbolic elaboration and number of rebuilds (see Hodder 2016). However, it has always been difficult to demonstrate the longevity of building sequences, as in very few cases have we been able to excavate more than four buildings in a column; there is also much variability in the number of burials per building in any one column.

Figure 1.4. The relationship between MNI (minimum number of individuals buried in a building) and the elaboration index. The envelope indicates the confidence level. (figure produced by Claudia Engel).

13

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Building Area

Level

% Complete Internal Side Plat- Burnt Y/N Elabration Total no. of No. of known excavated in plan m sq. room form index (Eı) individuals rebuilds m sq. m sq.

1

North

North G

100

Y

37.96

9.83

11.91

Y (partially)

33

60

2 (B1-B.5)

2

South

South K

75

Y

22.13

5.14

6.27

N

16

0

no known rebuilds

3

North/ North G BACH

100

Y

27.54

6.26

10.11

N

17

8

no known rebuilds

4

South

South L

50

N

NA

NA

NA

N

NA

0

no known rebuilds

5

North

North F

50

Y

39.04

10.37 2.59

N

10

5

2 (B1-B.5)

6

South

South L

25

Y

38.89

10.06 6.85

N

9

10

4 (S.VI.10-B.24B.6-B.17)

7

South

South L

0

Y

NA

NA

NA

N

NA

0

5 (S.VI.8-B.20B.7-B.16-B.18)

8

South

South M

0

Y

NA

NA

NA

N

NA

0

5 (S.VI.1-B.8B.21- B.22- B.23)

10

South

South T

75

N

NA

NA

NA

N

NA

0

4 (B.10-B.44B.56-B.65)

12

North

North ?H

15

N

NA

NA

NA

N

NA

1

2(B.12-B.77)

13

North

North H

15

N

NA

NA

NA

N

NA

0

no known rebuilds

16

South

South K

25

Y

23.73

NA

NA

N

12

0

5 (S.VI.8-B.20B.7-B.16-B.18)

17

South

South K

75

Y

35.68

9.05

6.11

N

22

25

4 (S.VI.10-B.24B.6-B.17)

18

South

South J

25

Y

24.15

4.16

NA

N

3

1

5 (S.VI.8-B.20B.7-B.16-B.18)

20

South

South M

0

Y

NA

NA

NA

N

NA

0

5 (S.VI.8-B.20B.7-B.16-B.18)

21

South

South L

0

Y

NA

NA

NA

N

NA

0

5 (S.VI.1-B.8B.21-B.22-B.23)

22

South

South K

0

Y

26.32

NA

NA

N

6

0

5 (S.VI.1-B.8B.21-B.22-B.23)

23

South

South J

50

Y

21.88

4.38

NA

N

6

2

5 (S.VI.1-B.8B.21-B.22-B.23)

24

South

South M

25

Y

NA

NA

NA

N

12

0

4 (S.VI.10-B.24B.6-B.17)

40

South

South M

36cm-long bull (that is, male Bos) horn core (18617.x1). Its surface was too poorly preserved to assess age with any precision, but the faunal team believed the animal to have been at least reasonably mature.

316

Chapter 16: Taylor. Buildings 97 and 130 1960s investigation. An isolated human cranium (19235) and loose infracranial bones were found within deposit (19226) (fig. 16.26). The head was orientated to the south, facing west. The rest of the body was absent and likely to have been truncated during excavations in the 1960s, when the building was perhaps misunderstood as being rectangular. During the investigation of the cranium (19235) and following the removal of the room fill (19222) it was discovered that this deposit was associated with the disturbed skeleton (19224) of a young adult female that was likely to be contemporary due to its close proximity. This burial was designated F.3548. The skeleton was tightly flexed and resting on the left side with the head to the southwest. Phytoliths were closely associated with the upper part of the skeleton, as was red pigment, which also appeared on the underside of the burial. The lower body of skeleton (19224) had been truncated during the 1960s excavation. The burials were placed into a single shallow cut (19225) within the room-fill deposit (19226) (fig. 16.27); the fill (19225) consisted of dark-brown/grey, silty clay with inclusions of plaster and cattle bone. Of interest is that the two burials were placed into the backfill of the building rather than within the eastern platforms of a room. It is entirely possible that these burials were not strictly associated with the abandonment of B.97 but rather may have been interred early in the sequence of an overlying building.

Figure 16.25. West-facing photograph showing charred grain cluster (19238) (photograph Çatalhöyük Research Project).

Phase A: modern disturbance and Mellaart’s excavations The 1960s excavation Infill (19218) and (19245) consisted of mid-greyishorange mixed sandy clay silt with inclusions of burnt brick and plaster; the deposit represents the primary backfill of the building following the 1960s excavation (online fig. S16.40). The infill sealed the building features investigated during the 1962 excavation. It was apparent from a thin compact surface of silt clay (19244) that the building had remained exposed for some time following excavation and prior to backfilling. The underlying building features were in the majority of cases truncated by the 1960s investigations. An example is the east bench (F.3456) where a likely bucranium was removed from the east end associated with post (F.3456) against the east wall (F.4088). Animal burrows further truncated the platforms, particularly those located in the north of the building. No in situ finds were excavated as a result of the earlier excavation. The uppermost layer of infill to be removed (18135) consisted of mid-orange-grey sandy silt with a moderate quantity of collapsed wall plaster fragments and occasional burnt mudbrick fragments. The presence of in situ burnt plaster on the walls in the northeast and southwest corner of the space indicated that the building was itself burnt rather than just filled with burnt rubble from the adjacent burnt buildings. The thickness (up to 80mm) of the wall plaster within the collapse suggests that that the building was in use for a long time before it was put out of use by the fire. Burials. Within the odd-shaped southeast corner of B.97, three sequences of room fill containing plaster and brick fragments ((19222), (19226) and (19263)) were identified as not having been fully excavated during the

Conclusions and summary discussions of material culture Building 97 is an odd building, potentially spanning two or three levels of occupation in the South sequence. Physically, this articulates as a series of changes of layout

Figure 16.26. Northwest-facing photograph showing burial F.3458 skeleton (19224) and isolated human cranium (19235) found within infill deposit (19226) (photograph by Çatalhöyük Research Project).

317

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons

Figure 16.27. South-facing photograph showing burial cut (19225) and midden dumping in southeast corner of B.97 (photograph by Çatalhöyük Research Project).

within the same main and unchanged outer wall footprint (as in the case of the earlier Buildings 162/161). The true longevity of the structure remains unclear because the earliest phases of the building remain unexcavated. What is clear is that its earliest incarnation accommodates a small (presumably pre-existing) B.130. Initially thought to be a southern annexe to B.6 to the north, B.130 was actually a very small, simple and remarkably unelaborate building in its own right. The earliest internal layout of B.97 appeared to run around the southern and eastern edges of B.130 before the space was restructured and the northwestern corner was reclaimed. Later in its use life the building appeared to have been partially destroyed by a fire which preserved many of the posts on the western side of the building, including all of those which comprised the partition wall. Indeed, the intensity of burning was much greater in this part of the building, suggesting that the fire may have been centred there. Throughout its lifespan there were no clear ovens in the structure, rather a complex series of sub-ovoid structured hearths close to the southern wall, with a smaller sequence of associated square structured hearths situated immediately to the northwest. This particular layout of fire installations is unusual, although it should be noted that the earlier, albeit much smaller B.130 also only had a hearth against its southern wall. In terms of material culture, the full range of types was found throughout the sequence. The archaeobotanical remains were present at a low to moderately high density throughout the sequence, representing typical mixtures of food, fuel and processing residues, including from a series of ‘use’ deposits (dirty floors, hearth/oven fills, etc.). Crops represented in the burned fills and earlier ‘use’ deposits (and therefore linked to occupation of the building) included a fairly standard

318

range of multiple cereals (naked barley, threshing wheat, emmer, ‘new type’ glume wheat) and pulses (lentil, pea). Notably one of two burial fills (18666) contained a relative abundance of botanical items, indicating that quite ‘dirty’ fills could be used for this purpose, as observed also in other buildings. In a similar way, the faunal assemblages in B.97 can be summarised as a background of middens and fills, with multiple special deposits in and around Sp.365, although most of this material also came from secondary and tertiary middens and fills. A few deposits stood out as probably derived from activities/events in or near the structure (albeit post-abandonment). Very little material worthy of note was found in Sp.469. Most of the analysed units contained bones with variable taphonomic signatures and little if any mutual coherence (that is, mixed deposits). Overall, the building also contained a moderate absolute number and density of shells. The assemblage comprised Unio (freshwater mussels) shells alongside a moderate number of other freshwater species and only one marine shell (Antalis). Both spaces yielded shell material. Although there was variation across the sequence of sub-phases, no significant patterns were noted. By contrast, the Neolithic abandonment deposits (Phase B97.B; represented only by one unit: (19238)) were characterised by a small/moderate amount of remains, but in higher density compared to a typical occupation unit. The majority of shells in this unit were also heavily burnt, as might be expected in this abandonment context. The hearth fills in F.3549, F.3528, F.3530 and F.3531 all yielded higher densities of freshwater shells (mainly Valvata and Pl. corneus, and some Bithynia opercula) and low numbers and densities of Unio shells, suggesting that these freshwater shells may have been brought in amongst the roots of freshwater plants. A total of 25 ceramic sherds was retrieved from B.97 (for a total weight of 239.9g), consisting of a combination of Light Silty Ware and Dark Gritty Micaceous ware (see Volume 14, Chapter 4). This combination is in line with the building being mainly associated with Level South O. Most of the ceramic sherds were found in the ‘foundation fill’ (Phase B.97.D), where 95 of the 173 large clay balls or fragments thereof were also found. Building 97 also contained 73 ground stone objects (seven of which were indeterminate). Thirty-six tools and fire-cracked rocks came from two units ((18135) and (19218)) in Phase B.97.A. As such, the building has a rather small assemblage of objects (n=30) associated with occupation layers and dirty floors in Sp.365. Only two objects derived from units specifically attributed to the abandonment phase, with the rest being distributed

Chapter 16: Taylor. Buildings 97 and 130 throughout the occupation sequence. No fixed grinding installations were in use throughout the occupation history of the building. This is not unusual (cf. B.89, B.80 and B.77). The presence of primary and secondary andesite flakes along with a bead preform suggests that activities such as the production of andesitic grinding tools and tufa beads may have taken place within the building. The presence of 12 finished stone disc beads in (19604) (Phase B97.C.3) made from tufa, marble, hard limestone and phyllite is of note. Being finished beads showing varying degrees of use, they clearly do not represent material under manufacture. It is possible that they were once strung together forming a specific piece of jewellery that perhaps was accidentally damaged. Further beads were also found in floors in phases B97.C.4 and B97.C.2, suggesting a trend throughout the occupation sequence. A single hand-held schist palette was found in (19672) (Phase B.97.C.6).

In terms of the chipped stone assemblage, there are clear differences in the make-up of the B.97 assemblage in comparison to other buildings in the level. The split between sources in B.80, for example, was approximately 50/50 while B.97 had 20/80 Nenezi Dağ/Göllü Dağ. The building yielded a wide range of chipped stone technologies and types, with a slight majority showing no signs of use. However, B.97 also differed from B.80 in other respects, specifically because the obsidian caches found in this building yielded a relatively large number of placed/intentional deposits. The building differed from most other buildings in terms of the number (n=5) and shape (generally rounded and ovoid with scraping edges all around) of large formal scrapers. Acknowledgements Building 97 was excavated across several seasons under the various supervision of Kristina Jonsson, Lisa Yeomans and Onur Yüksel, assisted by Theodore ArnoldForster, Jack Martinez, Darko Maričević, Allison Mickel, Kate Rose, Kierstyn Smith and Lauren Sweet.

Supplementary material For supplementary material related to this chapter, please visit https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12. It comprises figures S16.1–S16.41. The phased matrix of Building B.97 can be found in fig. S16.41.

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17. Building 118 and Space 583 James Taylor Introduction Building 118 (Level South J: fig. 3.6) was previously called House 25 by Mellaart and initially identified by him as a Level XII structure. The building was located to the immediate north of B.43. Initially it was targeted by Mellaart as a potential point at which he might expose the earliest architecture in his sequence, after his failure to do so in his deep sounding in 1964. However, the exposure of House 25, Level XII in 1965 was as far as he got in this aim, because he never returned to the site after that season. This structure turned out to have been affected considerably by the 1960s excavation and its subsequent exposure, and in the north side of the structure almost none of the floors and original features survived. To the south of the structure preservation was better, and it turns out that many of the features (including an oven, platform, hearth and bins) remained fairly well preserved (in some cases even running under the southern section). In the 1994–1995 seasons the building was cleaned and a single auger hole was drilled through the centre of the structure, revealing considerable depth of anthropogenic material (up to 4m including two possible underlying marl plaster surfaces) (fig. 17.1). The aim of excavation in later seasons was, like Mellaart before us, to establish the presence, or not, of earlier architecture in order to increase our overall understanding of the earliest structural remains of the site. Preliminary phasing and overview of internal features Excavations have shown that this relatively small building consisted of one space, with an array of poorly preserved (probably due to exposure since the 1960s) internal features. These included a deflated platform in the southwestern corner and a small structured hearth in the south (possibly in lieu of an oven), as well some ephemeral bins to the east and northeast of the space. There was some evidence, particularly in a sondage excavated in the northeastern corner of the building through the surviving occupation, of underlying architecture, presumably associated with an earlier structure that is as yet unexcavated.

Figure 17.1. East-facing overview of B.118 (Sp.510) under excavation (photograph by Kierstyn Smith).

certain point the scouring and erosion in the north of Sp.510 allowed us to excavate a small targeted trench. Within this test trench the earliest features to be identified were a pair of walls (aligned in the conventional double wall arrangement with no apparent between-wall fill), F.7209 and F.7210 (fig. 17.2). The walls were not fully exposed, and only four to five courses of the southern wall F.7210 were visible in the sondage, to a height of ca 0.33m. The total visible length of the walls was ca 3.21m; however, they clearly extended underneath the overlying walls of B.118, which was set at a slightly different alignment to this earlier architecture. Unusually, the mortar was a middark grey-brown slightly clay silt, whilst the bricks were a light whitish-grey marl-like material, resembling wall plaster.

Pre-Building 118 Underlying architecture In order to establish the presence or otherwise of early architecture, it was necessary to expose some archaeological deposits beneath the main B.118 structure. At a

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Phase

Description

Pre-Building 118

Evidence of architecture belonging to an earlier, undefined structure emerging through the foundation layers of the building.

B118.C: construction

Layout and construction of the building.

B118.B: occupation

Apparently the only phase of occupation and use of internal features.

B118.A: Neolithic room fill/abandonment and postabandonment

Residual Neolithic room fill (present in corners and south of building), mostly scoured out by Mellaart’s intervention before being backfilled by 1990s sieved spoil.

Table 17.1. Phases in B.118.

Figure 17.2. North-facing photograph of detail of sondage in Sp.510, showing underlying architecture (walls F.7209 and F.7210) (photograph by James Taylor).

The southern wall F.7210 was sealed in the sondage on its southern exposed side by a dense grey-brown silt, which resembled ‘conventional’ ‘building in-fill’ seen elsewhere on the site (30631). The deposit was fairly homogenous, with no horizontal laminations (floors or such like). It did, however, include some plaster lumps and flecks, which were aligned to suggest that they had been laid as tips. The base of this deposit was not reached at a level of ca 1,003.83m above sea level, some 0.33m deep. However, it is worth noting that an augur hole described above indicated the presence of a possible plaster surface ca 1.00m below the existing surface of this deposit (ca 1,004.06m above sea level), with another ca 1.00m below that. There was an additional 4.00m of cultural material below this, which brings the total depth of anthropogenic material in line with that in the deep sounding excavated in 1999 (see Hodder 2007).

excavated as part of the overlying Sp.510, as they were originally thought to be room furniture along the northern wall of that space. With hindsight and an understanding of the two earlier walls, however, it became clear that these deposits were almost certainly the uppermost structural components of these early walls (bricks and mortar), which had been disturbed and degraded during previous excavations and their subsequent exposure. The sequence included three probable mortar courses ((30623), (30642) and (30643)) and two patches of brick ((30624) and (30638)). For the most part these extended along the length of the walls, respecting their width, and brought the highest elevation on the top of the wall to ca 1,004.27m above sea level, making the walls approximately 0.44m in the current exposure. The poor state of these courses and the pale ‘marliness’ of the brick components (resembling in situ plaster) were the reasons these elements were initially mistaken for benches or degraded platforms. Phase B118.B: occupation Most of the excavated units in this sequence that can be definitely attributed to B.118 belonged to a number of features (room furniture including ovens, hearths, platforms), located for the most part around the eastern and southern parts of Sp.510. However, stratigraphically, the earliest deposit found in the space was a ca 50mmthick grey-brown clay-silt make-up layer (30614), to which some very patchy residual marl plaster surface adhered (so badly degraded that it was not numbered separately), at a height of ca 1,004.10m above sea level. This deposit was sealed on its southern side by one of the make-up layers (30610) of a platform sequence (F.7203) which dominated the southwestern portion of the space. In fact, the lowest identifiable stratigraphic unit in the platform sequence, a dark-grey-brown, ‘greasy’, clay-rich silt surface (30645), was in itself one of the earliest deposits excavated in the room. This surface effectively defined the area within which the rest of the platform was built up (fig. 17.4).

Phase B118.C: construction Immediately sealing the tops of the walls (and not related stratigraphically to the room fill 30631) was a short sequence of ‘linear’ deposits that were actually

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Chapter 17: Taylor. Building 118 and Space 583

Figure 17.3. Plan of B.118 Phases C and B (plan by Camilla Mazzucato) (shading is used to aid visual understanding of the different features in buildings; in general, darker shading indicates more upstanding features).

Figure 17.4. North-facing photograph showing clay-rich construction platform surface (30645) and a kerb (30647) adjacent to oven (F.7202) in the southwestern corner of Sp.510 (photograph by Onur Yüksel).

Sealing this earliest floor was a shallow ‘kerb’ (30647), which curved around to respect an oven (F.7202) in the southwest corner of the space (see below). The kerb was approximately 1.70m long (east– west) by 0.20m wide and stood no more than 50mm high. For the most part the kerb defined the northern limit of

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the platform; almost all other units that made up the structure respected it. The southern limit of the platform was not visible, as the feature extended below the southern limit of excavation. Sealing the kerb was a sequence of make-up deposits and plaster surfaces that represented the various use phases of the feature. Most of the floors were removed as part of the make-up that they were associated with, since they were so patchy and ephemeral that it was difficult to split them. The sequence included the following units: (30641), (30639), (30621), (30636), (30635), (30634), (30617). The last grey-brown make-up layer (30605) also sealed the central make-up and patchy floor (30614) and was finally sealed by another very patchy layer of white surface plaster (30603), which marked the top of the platform at ca 1,004.17m above sea level, some 0.20m high. To the immediate west of the platform (F.7203) was an oven (F.7202), which respected the kerb of the platform (although it is hard to ascertain which was earlier stratigraphically). The oven formed a typical horseshoe shape, ca 0.79m wide (northwest–southeast); the length of the oven, however, remained unclear, since it extended beyond the southern limit of

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons excavation (fig. 17.5). The superstructure survived to a height of approximately 50mm, although it was slightly lower at the front (northern) end, possibly suggesting where the mouth of the oven was. The outside of the oven was plastered at some point with a fine white plaster (30646), which functioned with the kerb (30647) and earliest floor (30645) of the platform (F.7203). The inside of the oven contained at least two baked oven floor surfaces (30632 and 30633), approximately 30mm thick. The northern limits of the oven had a clear relationship with a large ‘dirty’ floor deposit (30652) which extended to the northern side of the room (some 2.56m north–south by ca 1.78m east– west). The southern side of this floor appeared to be darker and to contain more charcoal, suggesting that perhaps it was associated with rake-out activity from the oven. Also associated with the oven was a distinct cluster of four clay balls (online fig. S17.1), both whole and fragmented (30630), which lay adjacent to the western side of the mouth, directly upon this dirty floor. A small (90mm diameter) scoop (30620) of unknown function was also cut into the northern part of this dirty floor (in the northwest corner of the space). The fill of this scoop (30619) was soft grey silt with charcoal flecks and was very distinct from the material that was cut by the scoop. Sealing the southern part of the dirty floor was a more formal plaster surface (30650), which was ca 1.46m north–south by ca 1.32m east–west, at a level of ca 1,004.08m above sea level. This surface appeared to delimit an area associated with a bin (F.7201) at the western end of the space (online fig. S17.2) and a platform that abutted the northern wall, to the west of centre (F.7211). This area, utilising these features as a boundary, was subsequently filled with another short sequence of ‘dirty floors’ (less than 0.05m thick) (30615) which sealed the underlying plaster surface.

The bin consisted of two component units: superstructure (30651) and a white plaster surface (30644/30648). The bin itself was ca 0.63m long (east– west) by ca 0.63m wide, and the walls (which were scoured almost to the floor of the bin itself) were ca 90mm wide. The bin itself was sterile and had no in situ fill. The northern platform (F.7211) was a simple construction consisting of a coarse white plaster makeup (30649) sealed by a finer plaster surface (30609). This structure was square, being up to 0.93m wide in each direction by 160mm high. At ca 1,004.24m above sea level, with the bin surface at ca 1,004.17m, both of these features were raised slightly above the southern plastered floor (30650) with which they were clearly associated. On the immediate east of the southern platform (F.7203), also running under the southern limit of excavation in the space, was a small structured hearth (F.7205), at least 0.71m in diameter (online fig. S17.3). This hearth (not completely excavated) had two burnt fills removed from its centre ((30637) and (30601)). Also on the southern side of the space, in the southeast corner, again extending below the southern limit of excavation, was a compound layer consisting of a sequence of ‘greasy’ clay-rich plaster surfaces (30608) that formed a gentle ‘ramp’ F.7204 sloping from east to west from the corner (online fig. S17.4). These deposits were grouped because the surfaces were badly damaged (presumably because they had been exposed in previous seasons) and did not clearly interact with anything around them stratigraphically. This platform-like feature was approximately 2.03m long. To the immediate north of this was a possible bench (F.7212), which appeared to abut the eastern wall of the space. This feature consisted of two layers of make-up ((30627) and (30628)) forming an approximate rectangle, ca 1.34m long (north–south) by ca 0.45m wide. Only ephemeral traces of plaster were found associated with these deposits, and the bench was not very well preserved. With hindsight, given the evidence of earlier architecture as detailed above, it is possible that this feature may be not in fact a bench but a southern return of the early walls.

Figure 17.5. South-facing photograph showing detail of oven (F.7202) (photograph by Onur Yüksel).

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Phase B118.A: Neolithic room fill/abandonment and post-abandonment The most substantial in situ room fill was a strip along the southern wall of the structure, which consisted of two units of homogenous brown clay-silt, some 0.95m thick ((22355) overlain by (22354)). These were truncated by and formed the southern limit of excavation of Mellaart’s abandoned second deep sounding (fig. 17.6). Forming the only complete sequence of Neolithic

Chapter 17: Taylor. Building 118 and Space 583 abandonment for this building, the deposits were sealed by the midden sequence that marked the transition into an external space (defined as Sp.583 below). The oven (F.7202) situated in the southwest corner was finally filled with a deposit consisting of a burnt, ash-rich silt (30629), which was clearly in situ as it supported baked fragments of the oven superstructure (collapsed wall and ceiling). Generally, the evidence for the Neolithic abandonment of the structure was fairly ephemeral. Mellaart probably scoured out deposits when he first uncovered the building during his 1960s excavation campaigns. The greatest expanse of actual room fill associated with the closure of the structure was in the southwestern corner of the space, where a large block of material ((30626) and (30622)) was removed by the team to expose that corner. The removed material formed a rectangle ca 1.80m east–west by ca 0.85m north–south (some 0.46m thick) and consisted of more or less homogenous and fairly sterile mid-grey-brown silt; there was some evidence of tipping, mainly indicated by variation in colour. This material was probably associated with another Neolithic deposit in the western part of the space (30602). This was a thin (up to 50mm thick) deposit that sealed the dirty floor sequence and bin F.7201 against the western wall. This material was very mottled homogenous silt and was all but sterile of material culture. However, there was clear evidence of brick and pale white plaster fragments. It seems likely that this deposit was a residual layer of primary demolition of the structure, suggesting a fairly ‘conventional’ closure sequence. To the immediate east of this was a small patch of collapsed plaster debris, (30613). Whilst the eastern side of this deposit was irregular, its western limit was straight (north–south orientated) and

aligned along the edge of the residual room fill (30602). It also coincided with the eastern limit of the platform (F.7211), hinting at the possibility of a partition or change in spatial zoning here. This was further reinforced by the presence of a ca 0.43m-diameter post-retrieval pit ((30612), filled by (30611)) against the northern wall, in line with this division (online fig. S17.5). In the northeastern corner of the space was some heavily disturbed and truncated material that was interpreted as residual Neolithic room fill ((30618) and (30606)). Presumably this material was left in situ in the corners when Mellaart truncated the main deposit in the centre of the room. These deposits were sealed by a band of dark clay-rich silt which ran along the northern limits of the space (30616). This was interpreted as mudbrick collapse or disturbed/degraded brick material, a process that may relate taphonomically to exposure by excavation in the 1960s. It became evident fairly early on that a unit number needed to be attributed to Mellaart’s excavation (30607), which was effectively an irregular cut that accounted for the varying levels of preservation of features and internal fills in B.118. It was important to define this as a unit because of the way that walls were preserved. The topmost ca 0.40m of the northern and eastern walls of Sp.510 were truncated very obliquely in the vertical plane by Mellaart’s excavation, suggesting a fairly aggressive level of prospection in this intervention. The excavators noted: During excavation some deposits were noted in N‐E corner of the building that were more compact than our 1990s backfill, but critically Mellaart appears to have hit the building hard, obliquely truncating the walls on the north and east sides and scouring out the northeastern floors of the space. To the south he has left fill + midden and bits of overlying structure in situ (presumably because he has bored down in the footprint of a building higher up in the sequence). This material remains standing in section, and still masks the southern part of the building (US, JST, 15 July 2013). Furthermore, these early excavations did not uncover the southern part of the space, and so the southern limits of this ‘cut’ were essentially the section recorded in detail by the current team in the 1993–1995 seasons (see Hodder 1996).

Figure 17.6. South-facing photograph showing section through the in situ Neolithic (and modern) room infill of B.118 ((22355) overlain by (22354)) (photograph by Numan Arslan).

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Space 583: post-abandonment middening in Building 118 Where deposits had been left in situ on the southern side of Sp.510, a series of ensuing middens were identified to the north of B.43. This sequence appeared to represent a

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons period of discrete (external) midden deposition (Sp.583) within the abandoned B.118. The earliest of these deposits were a series of seven mixed midden deposits ((22343), (22344), (22345), (22346), (22349), (22351) and (22352)). The end of this midden sequence was marked by the deposition of a compact grey-brown silty clay (22338), interpreted by the excavators as collapsed material on the basis that it contained lots of mudbrick and plaster fragments. However, it could also have been (and was more likely) a fill of a foundation cut for the north wall of Sp.552, although further excavation is required to prove this. If this does prove to be the case, then this and the overlaying deposits may be more rightly associated with the construction of B.160. The deposit was sealed by another layer (22336), which was a layer of dark-grey-brown clay (ca 60mm thick) (online fig. S17.6 and fig. 17.7). Conclusions Building 118 is a relatively early structure within the sequence of the site. Although Mellaart placed it in his Level XI, our stratigraphic relations place it as probably contemporary with B.161 (being adjacent to its northern end) and possibly overlapping with the use of B.17. It appears to have been built after the footprint of B.161. This suggests that, like B.161, this structure may have been extant whilst the area to the west was open as a penning area (Sp.620), just prior to the construction of B.17. Such considerations place B.118 in Level South J, equivalent to Mellaart’s Level X. Building 118 itself was an unusually small and simple structure, with very little elaboration, which upon abandonment was left to fill with accumulated midden and was used as an open space through the adjacent sequence of buildings (including Buildings 160 and 43). It is not clear to what extent B.118, with its unusual slightly rounded sub-rectangular footprint, is representative of earlier buildings in general at the site (given that Buildings 162 and 17 both have a more

Figure 17.7. Photograph of Mellaart’s 1965 deep sounding (Sp.583 correlates with the Roman numeral XI) (reproduced from Mellaart 1966).

conventional square footprint). It should be noted that a sondage in B.118 revealed earlier underlying walls, suggesting this was not the earliest structure in the sequence. Acknowledgements Building 118 was excavated under the supervision of James Taylor, with the assistance of Numan Arslan, Matteo Pilati, Kierstyn Smith and Onur Yüksel.

Supplementary material For supplementary material related to this chapter, please visit https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12. It comprises figures S17.1–S17.6.

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18. Spaces 553 and 581 James Taylor (adapted from contributions by Marek Barański, Numan Arslan, Cristina Santisteban and Onur Yüksel)

Introduction These two spaces represent a pair of superjacent structures, partly excavated by James Mellaart during his 1960s campaigns. With Sp.553 being broadly contiguous with the use of the adjacent B.43 to the west, and Sp.581 with the later B.89 to the south, neither space was fully exposed nor revealed any significant internal phasing because of their previous excavation. Sp.581 was situated on the northeast side of the doglegged kink on the east side of B.43. Space 553 Space 553 is the western part of the main room of a building that Mellaart designated E.VIII.27. It was exposed in the 1960s and had been gradually and naturally backfilled since then. As part of the 2016 season excavations, some of the features within Sp.553 were re-excavated in order to collect suitable samples for the purpose of the radiocarbon dating programme. Space 553 abutted the eastern wall F.1855 of B.43 (fig. 18.1). However, it seems that it was earlier than this building. This hypothesis can be proved by some midden layers ((22372) visible in section) that accumulated alongside the southern wall of Sp.553. These deposits were later truncated when the eastern wall F.1855 of the main room (Sp.235) and northern wall F.7822 of the annexe (Sp.600) of B.43 were constructed. Interestingly, the external face of the southern wall F.3569 of Sp.553 was covered with an about 1.0cm-thick distinct layer of orangish clay. The northern wall F.3567 of the annexe was also abutted by midden deposits (see Sp.583: (19773), (22230), (19776), (22322)), within which some zoomorphic clay figurines were found. These layers sealed remnants of unspecified mudbrick wall or foundation F.3567 (Sp.604) that was partly truncated during the 1960s excavation and is still visible in section. It is not clear, though, which Mellaart building these features can be assigned to. Excavation included two fire installations (F.3570 and F.3571) situated in the southwest corner of the room. The southern, western and northern walls were partially dismantled for safety reasons, as well as to

Figure 18.1. South-facing overview of Sp.553 (photograph by Marek Barański).

allow easy passage to Buildings 160 and 161 within the main excavation trench. These simple walls (F.3569: south wall, F.3568: west wall and F.3567: north wall) were made up of greyish mudbricks and greyishbrown/brown mortar with some traces of eroded wall plaster and were preserved to a height of about 0.7m above the exposed features (the floor within Sp.553 was not defined as it must have been exposed in the 1960s and eroded since then). The main feature of Sp.553 was a large oven (F.3570), about 1.1x1.2m, built in the southwest corner against southern wall (F.3569). It consisted of a domed superstructure and a sequence of floors and make-ups.

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons The superstructure was only partly preserved; however, traces of its original outline were visible on the face of the wall. The oven underwent at least three rebuilding episodes. The early two floors could have been deliberately dismantled as these features were preserved to a very small extent. Also, the oven was largely truncated by animal burrows. The latest and thickest base covered most of the oven’s interior. It must have been exposed in the 1960s as it was sealed with backfill. The entire oven seemed to be placed on an earlier unexposed floor within Sp.553. The large oven (F.3570) was abutted from the north by another oven (F.3571), which was cut into the western wall F.3568 of Sp.553 (online fig. S18.1). It was considerably smaller and measured about 0.5x0.7m. Also, it was in a more intact state of preservation. This feature consisted of a superstructure and a sequence of floors and make-ups as well as final fill. As with the large oven, three main rebuilding episodes were distinguished in the small oven on the basis of the number of preserved floors. The superstructure was made up of finely backed orangish clay and was a few times replastered. The floors were thin and made up of shiny lime and clay. The oven interior seemed to have been cleaned regularly as there was not much charcoal found. However, a few clay balls and stones were situated on the latest oven floor and next to the oven’s opening. Both ovens seem to mark the final phase of use of Sp.553. These fire installations might have been associated with other (earlier) features that were found alongside the western (F.3568) and southern (F.3569) walls. Due to the large extent of damage/erosion, it was hard to define the original form and function of these features. It seemed that a platform (F.3573) with a possible bench and traces of multiple re-plasterings was situated in the northwestern corner of the space. More to the south, between the platform and the small oven, there could have been some kind of basin (F.3572), rectangular in plan. However, none of these features were excavated.

Space 581 Space 581 is in fact only defined by remnants of walls most probably associated with Mellaart’s so-called ‘red shrine’, S.VIII.31. The southern wall (F.7807) was preserved in situ to a height of eight brick courses. It was made up of orangish-brown mudbricks and greyish mortar and was partially excavated in 2015. The wall was situated on a thin layer of rubble covering the top of the southern wall (F.3569) of Sp.553 (online fig. S18.2). It also truncated the northern wall (F.7822) of the eastern annexe (Sp.600) of B.43. Traces of some kind of niche (19749), sealed with possible layers of burnt plaster (maybe traces of an earlier fire installation), were found on the wall face. This feature was clearly associated with a floor which left a mark on the wall in the form of a horizontal line. The southern wall truncated the northern wall of the eastern annexe of B.42. The western wall was excavated as F.7806. The northern wall was preserved in the form of a wall collapse (19748) that was found within backfill (19747). This feature bore traces of multiple layers of plaster painted in red. There were also fragments of bucranium found next to these remnants. It is possible that they constituted a primary wall decoration. Conclusion There is very little to say about this remnant structure, other than that it was partially exposed by Mellaart in his 1960s campaigns. Although the space extended under the eastern limit of excavation, the stack of buildings that it belongs to are responsible for a dogleg in on the eastern side of B.43 and its predecessors (Buildings 160, 161 and 162), suggesting that Spaces 553 and 581 form the top of a stack of buildings that predates the former and hinting at the notion that the earlier structures lie (perhaps obviously) further east, towards the centre of the mound. Acknowledgements These buildings were excavated under the supervision of Marek Barański, with the assistance of Numan Arslan, Cristina Santisteban and Onur Yüksel.

Supplementary material For supplementary material related to this chapter, please visit https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12. It comprises figures S18.1–S18.2.

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19. A northern timescape Alex Bayliss, David Chivall, Shahina Farid, Tomasz Goslar, Justine Issavi and Burcu Tung

Introduction Situated at the top of the northern end of the East Mound at Çatalhöyük, the North Area was investigated systematically by the Çatalhöyük Research Project between 1993 and 2017. As noted in Chapters 1–3, the focus of the excavations in this part of the site gradually shifted from understanding the depositional processes in individual houses to exploring the social geography of the settlement, including questioning whether distinct neighbourhoods could be identified. The aim was ‘to understand variation among contemporary buildings’ (Hodder and Farid 2014: 3). The difficulty of demonstrating contemporaneity, however, quickly became apparent. The frequency of reconstructing buildings within the same footprint limited relationships derived from superposition and also meant that the complex stratigraphic connections between them were only available where full excavation could be undertaken. The results of our excavations demonstrated that that abutting relationships between buildings were actually not a clear marker for their contemporaneity. As Farid noted, ‘decades may have divided the closure and rebuild of neighbouring houses and rarely are groups of houses or neighbourhoods closed and rebuilt at the same time’ (Farid 2014a: 92). In short, it became clear that revealing the social geography of the mound was a challenging task and that a detailed scientific dating programme would be needed. By the time that work in the North Area reached its conclusion in 2017, sufficient stratigraphic links had been traced to enable a detailed programme of chronological modelling to be undertaken for the northern part of the excavated area beneath the North Shelter. Existing dating for the North Area The existing understanding of the chronology of the North Area is based on three strands of evidence: radiocarbon dating, stratigraphic relationships and artefact assemblages. Campaigns of radiocarbon dating have been undertaken previously in the North Area. Cessford (2005b: 84–88) used Bayesian statistics to combine the relative phasing sequence for Buildings 1 and 5 (Cessford 2007b; 2007d) with the calibrated radiocarbon dates available to him, and Bayliss et al. (2014: §5) presented alternative models for these data, based on a

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reinterpretation of the taphonomy of the dated samples, the discovery and resolution of a technical problem with 11 of the original measurements (Bronk Ramsey et al. 2004a), and two additional results (Bronk Ramsey et al. 2009: 338). Stevanović (2012a: 56–60) reported a series of radiocarbon dates on charred plant remains from B.3 and related deposits, which were calibrated but interpreted without the use of formal statistical modelling. Detailed discussion of the stratigraphic sequence of B.1, the uppermost parts of B.5 and associated deposits was presented by Cessford (2007b; 2007d), and Stevanović (2012a) described the excavated sequence in the BACH Area. Full stratigraphic analysis of buildings and spaces excavated between 2000 and 2008 has been published (Hodder 2014a: Chapters 11–30), and full stratigraphic analysis of buildings and spaces excavated between 2009 and 2017 is presented below (Chapters 20–33). Stratigraphy provides relative dating for sequences of related deposits, but separate strands can only be placed into a single sequence through the process of phasing. Needless to say, phasing requires the careful evaluation of stratigraphic relationships, artefact assemblages, and the radiocarbon dates. The phasing of North Area archaeological deposits was first conducted by Farid (2014a). Despite the inherent difficulties, Farid (2014a: 93–96) phased the North Area using abutting relationships, comparable heights and material assemblages. Abutting relationships were used in areas where artefact assemblages did not produce significant differentiation. The obsidian chipped stone industry was the primary artefact assemblage used in the definition of the North levels. The different sources of obsidian used for the production of tools and the percentage of pressure blades in comparison to percussion blades were the most important discriminating factors (this volume, Chapter 3). In the end, Farid distinguished five main phases in the North Area, Levels 4040 F–J (later termed North F–J). The southern end of the exposed 40x40 area was placed in the later phases, while the stratification of the northern end of the area covered earlier phases of Neolithic occupation. A gap in the settlement originally interpreted as a street (see Hodder 2007, Chapter 1 and Hodder 2014a, Chapter 1) seemed to mark a stratigraphic disjuncture and could not be interpreted as a coherent space with a function.

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Methodology The current dating programme for Çatalhöyük East is being undertaken within a Bayesian statistical framework (Buck et al. 1996), implemented using the iterative approach to radiocarbon sampling and chronological modelling described by Bayliss et al. (2014: 68–79 and fig. 3.16). The objective of dating the deposits in the North Area is to tie them into the human-scale narrative that is currently under development for the whole sequence through the East Mound recorded further south (Bayliss et al. 2015; Marciniak et al. 2015; this volume, Chapter 34). Since precise chronologies can be aggregated into longer periods of time but coarse chronologies cannot be split into shorter time frames, date estimates that are precise to within half a century or so (at 95% probability) are essential for constructing narratives on this scale. To explore whether the excavated sequences of the North Area would be able to provide a chronology of the required precision given the available samples and methodology, a formal assessment was undertaken in 2015 after the renewed archaeological focus on this area (Bayliss, Tung 2017). This concentrated on identifying long stratigraphic sequences of deposits (at least three successive buildings/open areas), which contained a sufficient number of the kinds of unit likely to contain datable material that was freshly deposited in the unit from which it was recovered (principally human burials, articulating animal bone from midden and short-lived charred plant remains from fire installations). Based on this assessment, it was decided to centre this study on the series of buildings and spaces that could be stratigraphically related to B.77. Further excavation was undertaken in 2016 and 2017 to extend this sequence. The implementation of the scientific dating programme was complicated by several practical considerations. There were restrictions and delays in the export of material for analysis. This meant that very little charred plant material was available for radiocarbon dating until late in 2017, and so sampling had to concentrate on human and animal bone. Radiocarbon dating of this material at Çatalhöyük is challenging, as collagen preservation is often poor (e.g., Marciniak et al. 2015: 157–58). Following the unexpectedly high failure rate of bone samples submitted for dating in January 2016 (71%), the programme was effectively suspended until a wider range of material became available for dating at the end of 2017. This material included both charred plant remains and further samples of articulating animal and human bone. The first samples of charred plant remains were submitted for dating in December 2017 and, following the completion of %N measurements to pre-screen for collagen preservation in the bone samples, further samples of both bone and charred plants remains were submitted

for dating in April 2018. Effectively, very little additional suitable material remains undated. Of the 301 bones from the North Area for which %N values were obtained, 98 (33%) met the threshold of 1.1 %N that was thought to be needed on this site to identify correctly 79% of bones as containing sufficient (>1%) or insufficient ( 3%; this is discussed further below. One pair of replicate measurements were made on the same sample in Oxford (OxA-37416–7), which are statistically consistent at the 5% significance level (table 19.1).

Details of the 47 results available from B.1, B.5 and related deposits are provided by Bayliss et al. (2014: table 2 and 79–89). Full technical information on the 20 measurements on charred plant material from the BACH area can be gleaned from a variety of sources (Göktürk et al. 2002; Cessford 2005b: table 4.13; Stevanović 2012a: table 4.2) and is consolidated in table 19.2. The 100 newly obtained measurements from the North Area thus join 67 existing results to make a total of 167 radiocarbon determinations from Neolithic deposits in this area of the East Mound. Model construction Model construction is an interpretative process in which Bayesian statistics provide a formal and explicit methodology for weaving together different strands of evidence to produce a combined chronology that should be both more precise and more reliable than its individual components. Stringent demands are made of both the radiocarbon dates and the archaeological understanding of stratigraphy, sample taphonomy and context in general. Procedures must also be adopted to account for the inherent statistical scatter in a group of related radiocarbon dates (Buck et al. 1992; Bayliss et al. 2007). In this section we describe the staged approach we have adopted for model construction, and the choices we have made at each step. Outliers and misfits In the first stage of our analysis, we construct stand-alone preliminary models for each building and open area included in our study (online figs S19.1–S19.13). These models implement a uniform phase of use for each structure/open area (Buck et al. 1992), which assumes that once constructed it was used relatively continuously until it was abandoned. This approach is statistically uninformative and accounts for the statistical dependencies between measurements made on samples derived from a period of activity. These models also include the relative stratigraphy within each building or space; that is, direct stratigraphic relationships as recorded in the Harris matrices, not the phasing scheme. Stratigraphic relationships between buildings and open areas are not included in these models, and no account is taken of the statistical dependencies of measurements made on samples derived from the period of occupation of the North Area as a whole. The purpose of these models is to provide an initial assessment of results which may be misplaced. We must be clear about the reasons why this might occur, so that we can take measures to incorporate each radiocarbon date appropriately in the model. There are three categories of such measurements:

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape Laboratory number

Sample reference

Context and material

Radiocarbon age (BP)

δ13C (‰)

Poz-6567

8375

bulk sample of nine charred cereal grains from burnt debris on the late floor of B.114

7720±50

Poz-6569

8467

bulk sample of 12 charred cereal grains from late floor of B.114

7750±50

Poz-6570

8463

bulk sample of six charred cereal grains from burnt deposits on the floor of B.114

7800±50

Poz-6647

8518

bulk sample of 13 charred cereal grains from make up of floor in B.114

7710±40

PL-980559A

2255

unidentified charcoal from midden infilling B.3

7730±80

–24.4

AA-27976

2255

unidentified charcoal from midden infilling B.3

7780±55

–24.6

PL-980515A

2256

charred seeds from midden infilling B.3

7620±100

–23.6

Poz-6566

2229

bulk sample of nine cereal grains from dark midden infilling B.3

7580±50

PL-980514A

2215

charred seed from infill of B. 3

7810±100

Poz-6653

8394

bulk sample of 16 fragments of nutshell from ashy fill of oven F.785 in B.3

7810±40

Poz-6648

8533

bulk sample of nine cereal fragments from use of oven F.1011 in B.3

7830±50

Poz-6656

8570

unidentified charcoal from earliest floor (F.167) in southeastern corner of B.3, 7850±50 including a thin layer of ash and charcoal

Poz-6646

8483

unidentified charcoal from earliest floor platform F.162 in B.3

Poz-6650

6389

bulk sample of seven cereal grains from burnt deposit around hearth F.613 in B.3 7810±50

Poz-6644

8235

bulk sample of ten cereal grains from mixed layer of burnt debris associated with oven F.646 in B.3

7750±40

Poz-6654

8539

bulk sample of seven cereal grains from use of hearth F.778 in B.3

7830±40

Poz-6645

8305

bulk sample of eight cereal grains from heterogenous fill of bin F.172 in B.3

7760±40

8589

bulk sample of seven cereal grains from midden under B.3

7780±50

8253

bulk sample of nine cereal grains from midden in Sp.85

7780±50

8388

unidentified charcoal from infill of Sp.89

7740±40

B.114

Sp.678

B.3 –24.7

7940±50

Sp.636 Poz-6565 Sp.85 Poz-6651 Sp.89 Poz-6652

Table 19.2. Radiocarbon measurements from the BACH Area of Çatalhöyük East obtained in 1998 and 2004 (14C ages have been corrected for fractionation using the cited δ13C values which were measured by IRMS, where these are not given the 14C ages have been corrected for fractionation using δ13C values measured by AMS).

(1) Statistical outliers: the 1 in 20 radiocarbon results whose true age lies outside the 95% range. These must be retained in the model, as their exclusion would statistically bias the model outputs. (2) Misfits: dates which do not fit in the expected stratigraphic position, or which are inaccurate for some technical reason. Generally, samples which prove to be residual can be used as termini post quos for their contexts, but intrusive samples or inaccurate measurements need to be excluded from the analysis. Sometimes it may be possible to reinterpret the stratigraphy.

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(3) Offsets: measurements that are systematically offset from the calibration data by a knowable amount (most commonly, reservoir effects that can be accounted for in the calibration process). We clearly have the potential for all three categories of measurement in our assemblage of radiocarbon dates from the North Area. In a series of over 160 measurements, there should be eight or nine statistical outliers. There is certainly the potential for inaccurate radiocarbon results (especially on bone samples that produced low yields of collagen), and there is always potential for a

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons charred plant macrofossil to be reworked or intrusive in the deposit from which it was recovered. All the charred plant material and all the faunal remains derive from organisms which would have been in equilibrium with the terrestrial biosphere, but a number of samples of human bone and tooth (and a single bird specimen) were dated that could potentially incorporate a hard-water error from a component of freshwater resources in the diet of the individuals whose remains were dated. We consider these potential issues for each radiocarbon date in each model using three strands of evidence. We test the statistical consistency of groups of measurements on different single charred plants from the same deposit to identify misfits, using the method of Ward and Wilson (1978). This is on the basis that although some fired features were undoubtedly used over a period of time (and thus all the radiocarbon results from a feature would not be expected to be statistically consistent), our sampling has concentrated on deposits interpreted as relating to discrete events. If this interpretation is correct, and the sampled material was freshly deposited, then the results on different samples would be

expected to be statistically consistent. Those that are not may be residual or intrusive. Model and individual agreement indices (Bronk Ramsey 2009a: 356–57; 1995: 429) provide an indication of the compatibility of the radiocarbon dates with the prior information included in the model. Finally, and probably most importantly, we use our archaeological understanding of the character of each sample to assess the possibility of different potential sources of error. Twelve measurements are available from B.132 (table 19.1). Two results are available on single charred plant remains from each of five units. Four of these pairs of measurements are statistically consistent ((31570), T′=1.1; (32009), T′= 2.0; (32072), T′= 2.0; and (32790), T′=0.6; T′ (5%)=3.8, ν=1 for all), but the fifth pair are statistically divergent ((32755), T′=28.4; T′ (5%)=3.8, ν=1). Poz-100807, a charred emmer grain from the base of oven F.7732, is clearly on a residual sample. Four of the units come from a sequence of three ovens (fig. 19.1). A date on a juvenile bone which probably lay in the ground with its unfused epiphysis (OxA-37445) came from the packing below B.132 and so has been inter-

Figure 19.1 (continued horizontally opposite). Harris matrix of units from which radiocarbon samples have been dated in the North Area (the sequence in B.3 and Sp.678 is derived from the interpretative narrative of Stevanović (2012a)).

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape preted as relating to its construction. The final measurement was obtained on a skeleton interred during the period of use of the building. A model which incorporates the stratigraphic sequence of B.132 with the available radiocarbon dates, treating Poz-100807 as a terminus post quem, has poor overall agreement (Amodel: 40; model not shown). Three dates have poor individual agreement; Poz-100530 (A: 4) is probably on a residual cereal, Poz-100529 (A: 48), which may also be residual, and Poz-100519 (A: 46), which may be a slightly late outlier. The date on the human skeleton (OxA-37371) has good individual agreement in the model (A: 131), which suggests that this individual did not consume a detectable proportion of non-terrestrial foodstuffs. Online figure S19.1 shows a model for B.132 which interprets both Poz-100807 and Poz-100530 as residual. This model has good overall agreement (Amodel: 101). Twenty-one measurements are available from the middens which infilled the southern side room of B.132 after its abandonment (Spaces 488, 489 and 490; table 19.1). Four of these were experimental measurements on

low-collagen bones (less than 5% collagen yield), all of which are anomalously recent (P: 0 for all). Two are replicate results produced on the same sheep/goat vertebra in Oxford, which are statistically consistent (table 19.1). The two measurements on charred cereal grains from fire spot (22032) in space 488 are not statistically consistent (T′=4.0, T′ (5%)=3.8, ν=1). OxA-36883 is interpreted as being from a residual sample and is included in the model as terminus post quem. A model which incorporates the radiocarbon dates with the stratigraphic sequence of units in this area (fig. 19.1) has poor overall agreement (Amodel: 18; model not shown), and Poz-79466 has extremely poor individual agreement (A: 0). This measurement is clearly far too young for its stratigraphic position, and since the sample was a juvenile sheep bone that seems to have lain in the ground with its unfused epiphysis, it is unlikely that it was intrusive. It appears, therefore, that the measurement is anomalously recent. As described above, another measurement on bone made at this time in Poznań (Poz-100752) is significantly more recent than a replicate measurement made in Oxford on the same bone (OxA-37138; T′= 11.7, T′ (1%)=6.0,

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons ν=1; table 19.1). Both these samples had collagen yields at Poznań well above the minimum threshold required for accurate dating (1.8% and 3.1% collagen by weight respectively), but both samples were amongst those for which the alkali step was omitted during pre-treatment. It seems possible that this was essential for removing more recent contaminants from these bones. To investigate this possibility, excess collagen from Poz-100752 was regraphitised and redated, providing a statistically consistent second measurement (Poz-109289, T′=1.6, T′(5%)=3.8, ν=1); the weighted mean of the Poznań results (7669±32 BP) is still significantly earlier, however, than OxA-37138 (T′=10.8, T′(5%)=3.8, ν=1). This confirms that an alkali step in pre-treatment is required for accurate dating of these samples (see Technical Note at the end of this chapter). For this reason, both Poz-79466 and Poz-100752/Poz-109289 have been omitted from further analysis. When this is done, the model has good overall agreement (Amodel: 112; online fig. S19.2), with only one date, Poz-79474, having low individual agreement (A: 46). This may be a slight outlier. There are eight radiocarbon measurements from six human burials in B.108 (table 19.1). Unfortunately, four of these measurements are on bones which produced low collagen yields and provide dates that are clearly anomalously recent (P: 16, P: 0, P: 0, P4; online fig. S19.3). Poz-100657 is significantly later than OxA-37179 on the same skeleton (T′= 8.8, T′ (1%)=6.0, ν=1; table 19.1). This sample was also processed without an alkali-step, so we have chosen to exclude this result from the analysis. The remaining measurements on three burials have good individual agreement in the model for B.108 (Amodel: 111; online fig. S19.3). Ten radiocarbon results are available from B.77 (table 19.1), of which one is on a low-collagen bone that produced a radiocarbon date that is anomalously recent (P: 0; online fig. S19.4). Four features produced pairs of measurements on single charred plant remains, all of which are statistically consistent ((16494), T′=0.0; (19555), T′= 0.0; (22055), T′= 3.1; and (22059), T′=0.2; T′(5%)=3.8, ν=1 for all). The final measurement is on a fragment of carbonised brain found inside the articulated cranium and mandible of an old man in burial F.3615. This sample also dates to the period of use of the building. A model which incorporates the stratigraphic sequence of the samples (fig. 19.1) with the radiocarbon dates has good overall agreement (Amodel: 83; online fig. S19.4). Poz-79509 has low individual agreement (A: 49) and may be a slight outlier. The date on the human flesh (Poz-100658) has good individual agreement in the model (A: 86), which again suggests that this individual did not consume a detectable proportion of non-terrestrial foodstuffs.

Seven radiocarbon dates are available from B.131 (table 19.1). Two ovens produced statistically consistent pairs of measurements on charred plant remains ((22691), T′=0.3; (32517), T′= 0.2; T′ (5%)=3.8, ν=1 for both). A further single grain of charred wheat from a cluster on the floor has been dated (Poz-100737), although another grain from the same deposit failed to produce sufficient carbon for analysis at Oxford. Two further samples of carbonised brain tissue from two articulated human burials date to the period of use of the building. A model which incorporates these measurements with the stratigraphic sequence within the building (fig. 19.1) has good overall agreement (Amodel: 113; online fig. S19.5). Both dates on carbonised human flesh have good individual agreement (Poz-79139, A: 97 and Poz-100804, A: 116), suggesting minimal consumption of non-terrestrial food resources by the dated individuals. There are three radiocarbon measurements from B.129 (table 19.1). OxA-37370, a measurement on a juvenile animal bone which seems to have lain in the ground with its unfused epiphysis and so was probably not residual, comes from the foundation trench of the building and so has been interpreted as dating to the time of its construction. The other two dates are from skeletons. A model combining these dates with this stratigraphic sequence (fig. 19.1) has good overall agreement (Amodel: 104; online fig. S19.6). Two pairs of measurements are available on charred plant remains from each of two features in B.139 (table 19.1). Both pairs of results are statistically consistent ((23168), T′=0.0; (23172), T′= 1.9; T′ (5%)=3.8, ν=1 for both), and the model for the building has good overall agreement (Amodel: 107; online fig. S19.7). Twenty-six radiocarbon measurements are available from the midden area in the central part of the North Shelter; 12 on single fragments of charred plant remains, 11 on articulating groups of animal bone (table 19.1), and two on bulked samples of cereal grain (table 19.2). A pair of results is available on single grains of charred cereal from a fire spot in Sp.631, which are statistically consistent ((32137), T′=0.0; T′ (5%)=3.8, ν=1). Three pairs of measurements are available on charred plant remains from three fire spots in Sp.610, all of which are statistically consistent ((32126), T′=1.7; (32112), T′= 1.7; (32115), T′= 0.5; T′ (5%)=3.8, ν=1 for all). Four results on charred plant remains – two from an ash dump and two from a fire spot – are available from Space 85. The pair from the ash dump are statistically inconsistent ((32107), T′= 6.6, T′(1%)=6.0, ν=1), but those from the fire spot are consistent ((32111), T′=0.1; T′ (5%)=3.8, ν=1). It appears that OxA-36798 is residual. Two bone samples were processed without an alkali step at the Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory (Poz-100754–5).

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape Excess collagen from Poz-100755 was regraphitised and redated, producing a statistically consistent measurement (Poz-109281; T′= 2.0, T′(5%)=3.8, ν=1). When these results are excluded from the analysis, OxA-36798 is included as a terminus post quem and all the radiocarbon dates are incorporated with the stratigraphic sequence of the midden layers (fig. 19.1), the model has good overall agreement (Amodel: 157; online fig. S19.8). The two measurements on 32144.F39 and F40 (Poz-100755 and Poz-109281) are clearly anomalously recent, but Poz100754 is older than expected from its stratigraphic position. As this sample was from a set of articulating vertebrae, it is unlikely to be redeposited, but it is possible that the large bird of unidentified species that made up the sample may have ingested freshwater resources and so have a small reservoir effect. Twelve measurements have been obtained from B.114, eight from this study (table 19.1) and four from previous research in the BACH area (table 19.2). Pairs of measurements of short-life single-entity charred plant remains are available from two fire installations, both of which are statistically consistent ((21169), T′=0.0; (22128), T′= 1.0; T′ (5%)= 3.8, ν=1 for both). The four samples dated previously each consisted of bulked cereal grains, which may have incorporated some reworked material (Bayliss et al. 2014: 75). One bone sample was treated without an alkali step (Poz-100751). Excess collagen from this sample was regraphitised and redated, producing a statistically consistent measurement (Poz109292; T′= 0.8; T′ (5%)= 3.8, ν=1), although this has not been included in the model (see above) and is clearly anomalously recent (21550; P: 1). A model combining the stratigraphic sequence within the building (fig. 19.1) with the other radiocarbon dates has good overall agreement (Amodel: 109; online fig. S19.9). The other sample of human bone produced a date that has good individual agreement in the model (OxA-37143, A: 81), and it is unlikely that either dated individual consumed a detectable amount of non-terrestrial food resources. The dates on all four bulked samples have good individual agreement (A: 110, A: 91, A: 106, A: 111) and appear to reflect fresh deposition. Two statistically consistent measurements on grains of charred barley are available from a fire spot in B.113 (table 19.1; (20447), T′=0.0; T′ (5%)=3.8, ν=1), and the model for the building has good overall agreement (Amodel: 106, online fig. S19.10). No formal assessment or analysis has yet been undertaken on the series of radiocarbon dates obtained from the BACH area (table 19.2). These include nine measurements on bulk samples of charred plant remains from Building 3. Five of these are samples of charred cereal or nutshell from deposits associated with fire

installations and so probably have a functional relationship with the units from which they were recovered. The taphonomy of the cereal grain from the heterogenous bin fill of F.172 (Poz-6645) is more uncertain, but it may be the remnants of the use of the bin; that of the charred seeds recovered from the infill of the building (PL-980514A) is most hazardous and, again cautiously, we have chosen to include this date as a terminus post quem for overlying deposits in the model. Two samples of unidentified charcoal (Poz-6646 and Poz-6656) may have an old wood offset and so can only provide termini post quos for the use of the early floor from which they were recovered. A Harris matrix showing the recorded stratigraphic relationships between the units from which the samples were recovered is not available to us, and so we have incorporated a sequence for the dated deposits derived from the interpretive narrative provided by Stevanović (2012a) into the model shown in online figure S19.11. This model has good overall agreement (Amodel: 154; online fig. S19.11). A more conservative model, which does not include any sequence between the dated samples, provides almost identical results (the median values of the start and end boundaries vary by eight and four years respectively). The narrative for the BACH area suggests that B.3 was infilled by midden, which we have identified as Sp.678. Four measurements are available from this midden, two on bulked samples of charred seeds and two on unidentified charcoal (table 19.2). We have discussed above 14 measurements on single entity charred plant macrofossils from midden deposits, of which we have identified two (14%) as probably residual. The bulked cereal grains thus probably do provide accurate dates for the deposition of this midden, although the dates on unidentified charcoal can only provide termini post quos. The model constructed on this basis has good overall agreement (Amodel: 112; online fig. S19.12). A further sample of unidentified charcoal from the infill of Sp.89 (table 19.2) similarly provides a terminus post quem for overlying deposits, and a single sample of animal bone from Sp.532 (table 19.1) dates the time when midden accumulated there. The provenance and taphonomy of the samples dated from Buildings 1 and 5 have been considered in detail by Bayliss et al. (2014: 79–89), although it is necessary to revise the model presented there (Bayliss et al. 2014: fig. 3.23) in the light of the anomalously recent results that have been produced on many of the Neolithic bone samples from Çatalhöyük in Poznań when an alkali-step was omitted from the pre-treatment protocol. All but one of the 11 bone samples from B.1 dated in Oxford underwent a full acid-base-alkali pre-treatment, followed

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons by gelatinisation and ultrafiltration (Brock et al. 2010: 106–7 (AF)). The exception was OxA-11182, a partially burnt wild goat horn core placed in bin F.215, which underwent demineralisation in acid and ultrasonification without an alkali step (Brock et al. 2010: 108 (RR)). The C:N ratio of this sample (3.9) is outside the acceptable range for collagen but within the range accepted for such bulk fractions. In these circumstances, it seems prudent to regard this result with suspicion. A model for B.1 that incorporates the stratigraphic sequence of samples and assessment of their taphonomy presented by Bayliss et al. (2014: 79–89) but excludes OxA-11182 has poor overall agreement (Amodel: 58; model not shown). Four samples have poor individual agreement: OxA-11045 (A: 34), OxA-11078 (A: 33), OxA-11176 (A: 14) and PL-9800521A (A: 51). OxA11182 is rather later than would be expected from its position in the model (P: 5), which may support our caution in accepting the accuracy of this measurement. OxA-11176 is on a bulk sample of cereal grain from the upper floor (1417) in the southern part of Sp.71, which is noted as having been disturbed by animal burrowing. It is certainly possible that the sample included a component of more recent intrusive material. If this result is also omitted, however, the model still has poor overall agreement (Amodel: 58; model not shown). In this case, five samples have poor individual agreement: OxA-11045 (A: 37), OxA-11078 (A: 18), OxA-11079 (A: 57), OxA-11077 (A: 56) and PL-9800521A (A: 49). Three of these samples, like OxA-11176, come from the southern part of Sp.71. Animal burrowing is also recorded in the unit which produced OxA-11077 (1332), but it is not the case for the units producing OxA-11078 (1415) and OxA-11079 (1429). For this reason, we also interpret OxA-11077 as containing a component of intrusive material and omit this result from the model (it should be noted that Cessford (2005b: 86–87) also regarded this measurement as anomalously recent, on the basis of its statistical inconsistency with the other three results on charred plant remains from bin F.215). This reading produces a model that has good overall agreement (Amodel: 61; online fig. S19.13), with the same four measurements having poor individual agreement (OxA-11045 (A: 36), OxA-11078 (A: 18), OxA-11079 (A: 57) and PL-9800521A (A: 51)). This stage of the modelling process has identified 15 measurements on bone made at the Poznań Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory as anomalously recent, of which nine were expected to be problematic as they produced less than 0.5% collagen by weight. The other six, however, have collagen yields between 1.3% (Poz79466) and 7.8% (Poz-100754), although none received an alkali-step during pre-treatment. For this reason,

cautiously, we have excluded all six measurements from further analysis. We have similarly excluded the result on one bone sample that was processed without an alkali-step in Oxford. Two single charred cereal grains (two out of 14, 14%) have been identified as residual in areas of midden. And two single-entity charred plants from fire installations in buildings have also been identified as residual (two out of 32, 6%). Four samples of unidentified charcoal can only provide termini post quos for overlying activity, and one sample of bulked charred seeds from the BACH area is of such uncertain taphonomy that we have again used it as a terminus post quem. None of the dates on human remains from buildings that also have dates on samples of charred plant remains show detectable signs of dietary reservoir effects. Six experimental measurements, on particulate carbon staining the ribs of human skeletons and calcified hackberry seeds, have been omitted from the analysis of the B.1/B.5 sequence. Two samples of charred plant material have been identified above as containing a component of intrusive material and so were also omitted; two samples of unidentified charcoal were modelled as termini post quos for the deposits from which they were recovered; and an additional 28 measurements were similarly modelled as termini post quos because of the uncertain taphonomy of the dated samples (Bayliss et al. 2014: 88). Overall, at this stage of the analysis, 24 measurements (14%) have been omitted from our models as we consider them to be inaccurate for scientific reasons, and 39 (23%) are incorporated as termini post quos. Thirty-five of these samples were inherited from previous research. Stratigraphic sequences In the next stage of model construction, we include the relative sequence known from stratigraphy between the buildings and open areas from which we have radiocarbon dates. The relative stratigraphic sequence of units illustrated in figure 19.1 provides the first strand of informative prior information for this model, including both the internal sequence of deposits within each building or open area and the stratigraphic relationships between them. But we also need to add inter-stratified buildings and spaces that have not been sampled for dating (fig. 19.2). The longest stratigraphic strand in the North Area is the strand that begins with the construction of B.132 and ends with the abandonment of B.129 (fig. 19.2). The strand moves through B.132, its abandonment and then use as a burial ground (Sp.602), the construction of B.77, its use and destruction by fire, and then the construction of B.131 to the north of B.77, not above it. The two buildings are stratigraphically tied to each other, however, through a relationship between two niches. The

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape

Figure 19.2. Schematic diagram illustrating the prior information between building and open areas included in the preferred chronological model defined in supplementary information (online fig S19.14: Catal_North.oxcal). Further relationships included in the model are listed in Tables 19.3 and 19.4. Black borders indicate uniform phase boundaries; calculated parameters are indicated in italics underlined in grey. southern niche of B.131 (F.4109) cuts into the infill of a niche (F.6063) that was cut into the northern wall of B.77, and B.77 must thus have been already abandoned before the construction of B.131. Once B.131 was abandoned, B.129 was constructed above it. Building 131 was itself constructed above B.139. Over the southern side room of B.132, an open area in which midden was deposited (Sp.488–90) was established. Subsequently, B.108 was constructed on top of this midden area. Northeast of Building 77 lay a sequence of open area deposits (defined as Sp.625, Sp.636, Sp.631, Sp.610 and Sp.85). The interpretation of these deposits is complex, as they have not been completely excavated. The lowest recorded layer from midden-like deposits ((23634), Sp. 625) probably accumulated against the already-standing eastern wall of B.139 (F.8387), although understanding this relationship was obscured by the truncation caused by ditch F.8382. These deposits were earlier than Sp.602 and the construction of B.119. Midden thereafter accumulated continuously but has only been investigated further north (Sp.636). The constructions of B.114 and B.3 define the transition from Sp.636 to Sp.631. The

walls of B.114 have not been excavated, but midden layer (32142) was observed to run under them. The same unit ran beneath the remnant west wall (F.636) of B.3 and can be equivalated to the midden beneath these walls that was partially excavated by the BACH team ((32142)=(8589)). Although only partially excavated, this sequence can be related to the stratigraphy further to the west, because it was observed that midden (32142) is equivalent to midden (32147) in the section of a Roman grave cut (F.5077). The eastern wall (F.7712) of B.131 cut midden layer (32139), which is stratigraphically later than (32142), thus defining the transition between Sp.631 and Sp.610. Similarly, the eastern wall of B.129 (F.8858) cuts midden layer (32114), defining the transition between Sp.610 and Sp.85. Space 608 was the southern annexe of B.114, connected to it by a crawl-hole (F.8145). This space was dismantled and the crawl-hole blocked by the northern wall (F.1022) of B.113, and so this building was constructed after B.114. Building 114, however, seems to have continued in use, as the crawl-hole was turned into a niche (F.8143). The northern wall (F.1022) of B.113 also cut into the largely unexcavated open area Sp.532,

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Relationship

Evidence

Consequence

B.132/B.139

Inter-wall fill (23640) between the northern wall of B. 132 start B.132 is before end B.139 (F.7584) and southern wall of B.139 (F.8386) demonstrates start B.139 is before end B.132 that the two buildings must have been at least partially contemporaneous.

B.139/B.5

Crawl-hole (F.8394) cut through the northern wall of end B.139 is before end B.5 B.139 (F.8395) and the southern wall of B.5 (F.224) start B.5 is before end B.139 demonstrating that the buildings must have been partially contemporaneous; after it went out of use the crawl-hole was filled and plastered over on the B.5 side, so B.5 continued in use after B.139 was abandoned.

B.139/B.5

Inter-wall fill (22183), the northern wall of B.139 (F.8395) start B.139 is before end B.5 and the southern wall of B.5 (F.224) demonstrate that the two start B.5 is before end B.139 buildings must have been at least partially contemporaneous.

B.131/Sp.568

Bin F.7716 in Sp.568 was constructed against the northern start B.131 is before end Sp.568 wall (F.7707) of B.131, which must have been standing when it was constructed.

B.1/B.131

Inter-wall fill (22613) between southern wall of B.1 start B.131 is before end B.1 (F.4/6) and northern wall of B.131 (F.7707) demonstrates start B.1 is before end B.131 that the two buildings must have been at least partially contemporaneous.

B.1/B.129/B.131 Inter-wall fills (3030) & (3036) accumulated between the start B.1 is earlier start B.129 southern wall of B. 1 (F.4/6) and the northern wall of B.131 start B.131 is before end B.1 (F.7707) and were overlain by the northern wall of B.129 start B.1 is before end B.131 (F.218=F.7558), demonstrating that B.1 and B.131 were at least partially contemporaneous and the construction of B.1 and B.131 was earlier than the construction of B.129. B.108/B.113

Inter-wall fills (20920) & (20939) between east wall of start B.113 is before start B.108 B.108 (F.3627) and west wall of B.113 (F.3647) demon- start B.108 is before end B.113 strate that the two buildings must have been at least partially contemporaneous; the east wall of B.108 (F.3627) sealed a foundation deposit of B.113 and must thus have been constructed after it (see Chapter 26).

B.113/B.114

Inter-wall fill (22117) between south wall of Sp.87 of start B.114 is before end B.113 B.114 (F.1024) and north wall of B.113 (F.1022) demon- start B.113 is before end B.114 strates that the buildings must have been partially contemporaneous, but B.113 cuts into and replaces Sp.608 of B.114; so B.114 must have been constructed, then Sp.608 went out of use and B.113 was constructed, but Sp.87 & Sp.88 of B.114 continued in use.

B.3/B.114

North wall of B.114 (F.1026) abuts south wall of B.3 start B.3 is before end B.114 (F.763) (although there was no inter-wall fill), suggesting start B.114 is before end B.3 that the buildings were probably partially contemporaneous.

Sp.89/B.114

West wall of Sp.89 (F.1017) abuts north wall of B.114 start Sp.89 is before end B.114 (F.1026) (although there was no inter-wall fill), suggesting start B.114 is before end Sp.89 that the buildings were probably partially contemporaneous.

Table 19.3. Additional constraints derived from abutting relationships between buildings and spaces that have radiocarbon dates included in the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape which in turn abutted B.116 (table 19.3). The east wall of B.108 (F.3627) sealed a foundation deposit of B.113 (30119), and so must have been constructed after it (table 19.3). Another open area, Sp.678, lay above B.3. The second strand of informative prior information consists of sequences that have been derived from relationships between abutting buildings. These include inter-wall fills, the crawl-hole (F.8394) between B.5 and B.139, and bin F.7716 in Sp.568, which was constructed against the northern wall (F.7707) of B.131. These relationships are listed in table 19.3. This additional information has caused us to modify the component of the model for the North Area from that illustrated by Bayliss et al. (2014: fig. 3.23). We have implemented a uniform phase for the use of B.5, as this is now separated from B.1 by the use of Sp.568, and re-parameterised this component of the model so that parameter names are consistent with those for other buildings and spaces. Further stratigraphic analysis also makes it clear that the external midden in Sp.153 (an inter-wall fill) was later than the southern wall of B.1 (F.4/6) and the northern wall of B.131 (F.7707), and earlier than the northern wall of B.129 (F.218=F.7558) (table 19.3). A badly truncated open area (Sp.184/Sp.185), including fire installation F.11, lay above B.1 and post-dates its abandonment. As illustrated in figure 19.2, a further twelve buildings and spaces for which we do not have any radiocarbon dates can be connected to the sequence of dated buildings and spaces by stratigraphy. The walls of B.12 overlay those of B.77 (House 2014b: 485). Oven F.11 and related features attest to a later open area (Sp.184/Sp.185) above B.1 (Cessford 2007d: 510), and B.101 was constructed before B.1 because layer (2558), which is cut by the western wall of B.1 (F.2), built up against the eastern wall of B.101 (F.219). Building 119 was constructed above the midden of Sp.625 (Chapter 33) and before the end of midden accumulation in Sp.631, as this midden overtopped a retaining wall (F.5078) that had been built against the southern wall (F.8104) of B.119. Building 112 in turn was constructed above the walls of B.119 (Chapter 27). Building 116, which has only been partially revealed, was a large three-space structure. The largest room (Sp.534) was abandoned and used as an open area (Sp.99/Sp.101) before the construction of B.113 above, and one of its side rooms (Sp.214) went out of use before the construction of Sp.89 (Chapter 25). Walls of both B.3 (F.763) and B.114 (F.1026) overlay the northern wall of B.116 (F.8132). Sp.349 is a building that has only been partially excavated (Farid 2014c: 579; Chapter 28). Since its southern wall (F.7718) underlies the north wall (F.174) of B.3, it is earlier than B.3 and, once abandoned, was used as an open area (Sp.530) before B.128 was constructed above it. Building 128 was

built after the construction of B.102, as it reused the southern wall of B.102 (F.3655) as its northern wall. Building 102 in turn was built over another partially excavated building (Sp.455). Further relationships between these buildings and spaces have been inferred from inter-wall fills, from deposits that accumulated against standing walls, from abutting walls, and from relationships with midden retaining walls and shoring walls (table 19.4). Some of these relationships provide further ties between undated buildings and dated buildings (for example, the interwall fill (23061) between the western wall of B.131 (F.7706) and the eastern wall of B.101 (F.219)). Other relationships are between dated and undated buildings that cannot be stratigraphically related into the sequence of dated buildings (for example, inter-wall fills (21165) and (19590), which indicate that B.113 and B.49 to the south were probably at least partially contemporary). Even more tenuous are links between an undated building and another undated building that can be linked to the dated sequence (for example, inter-wall fill (16440), which indicates that B.12 and B.135 were at least partially contemporaneous). There is a point where such links become so weak that they are effectively meaningless. This is the case for the various relationships between the northern walls of the B.52 complex, and buildings and spaces to the north (table 19.4, indicated by *). These walls were reused, apparently constructed originally as part of B.163 or B.167 but reused as the northern walls of B.52 and even B.51 above that (Chapter 21). In these circumstances, the abutting relationships effectively show that the B.52 complex was contemporary with some (unspecified) part of the sequence further north. We have therefore chosen not to include these relationships in the chronological model. An eventful horizon We also have other archaeological evidence for the sequence and contemporaneity of some buildings. Building 77 went up in flames, and the conflagration marked the adjacent structures. For example, the external face of the western wall of B.114 was heavily scorched by the fire and therefore the construction of B.114 must predate the destruction of B.77. The burning appears to have spread to the newly constructed B.113, as can be observed through the burning pattern within the building (see Chapter 25). We therefore calculate one parameter which is the destruction of both buildings (end B.77 is also the end of B.113). Finally, B.108, which was largely eroded, was probably constructed before the B.77 fire, as part of its northern wall was fire damaged.

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Relationship

Evidence

Consequence

B.1/B.131

The eastern wall of B.1 (F.7) cut the northwest corner of start B.131 is before start B.1 B.131 (F.221=F222=F.7706=F.7707) (Bayliss et al. 2014: efigure 1)

B.101/B.1

Layer (2558), which lies under the western wall (F.2) of start B.101 is before start B.1 B.1, built up against the eastern wall of B.101 (F.219) (Cessford 2007d: 529).

B.131/B.101

Inter-wall fill (23061) between the western wall of B.131 start B.131 is before end B.101 (F.7706) and the eastern wall of B.101 (F.219) demonstrates start B.101 is before end B.131 that the two buildings must have been at least partially contemporaneous.

B.129/B.12

Inter-wall fills (16439) and (16440) between the southern start B.129 is before end B.12 wall of B.129 (F.7560) and northern wall of B.12 (F.3082) start B.12 is before end B.129 demonstrate that the two buildings must have been at least partially contemporaneous.

B.12/B.135

Inter-wall fill (16440) between the western wall of B.12 start B.12 is before end B.135 (F.3083) and eastern wall of B.135 (F.7576) demonstrates start B.135 is before end B.12 that the two buildings must have been at least partially contemporaneous.

Sp.631/B.119

Inter-wall fill was observed, but not excavated or recorded, start Sp.631 is before end B.119 between midden retention wall F.5078 and the southern start B.119 is before end Sp.631 wall (F.8104) of B.119, suggesting that B.119 was in use as the midden of Sp.631 accumulated and overtopped wall F.5078.

Sp.532/B.116

Two midden-retaining walls (F.7701 and F.7700) of Sp.532 start B.116 is before end Sp.532 abut the western wall (F.3678) of B.116, suggesting that start Sp.532 is before end B.116 Sp.532 was at least partially contemporaneous with B.116.

B.3/B.128

North wall of B.3 (F.174) abuts south wall of B.128 start B. 3 is before end B.128 (F.3660) (although there was no interwall fill), suggesting start B.128 is before end B.3 that the buildings were probably partially contemporaneous.

B.112 or B.119/B.102

Inter-wall fill (21575) between wall F.7616, which forms start B.119 is before end B.102 the eastern wall of both B.119 and B.112, and western wall start B.102 is before end B.112 of B.102 (F.3652) demonstrates that the two buildings must have been at least partially contemporaneous.

B.112 or B.119/B.128

Inter-wall fill (21352) between wall F.7616, which forms start B.119 is before end B.128 the eastern wall of both B.119 and B.112, and western wall start B.128 is before end B.112 of B.128 (F.3656) demonstrates that the two buildings must have been at least partially contemporaneous.

B.112 or B.119/Sp.349

Inter-wall fill was observed, but not excavated or recorded, start B.119 is before end Sp.349 between wall F.7616, which forms the eastern wall of both start Sp.349 is before end B.112 B.119 and B.112, and the western wall (F.7599) of Sp.349

Sp.99/B.49

Midden retaining wall (F.7103) in Sp.99 abuts the northern start Sp.99/Sp.101 is before end B.49 wall (F.1661) of B.49, suggesting that the two spaces were start B.49 is before end Sp.99/Sp.101 at least partially contemporaneous.

Table 19.4. Additional constraints derived from abutting relationships including buildings and spaces that do not have radiocarbon dates included in the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal); * indicates a relationship not included in this model for reasons discussed in the text.

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape Relationship

Evidence

Consequence

B.113/B.49 and Inter-wall fills (21165) and (19590) lay at the junction B.167 or B.52 or between the southern wall (F.7100/F.7341) of B.113, the B.51* northern wall of B.49 (F.1655) and shoring wall F.7104 (which abutted both the northern wall of B.49 (F.1655) and the northern wall of the B.52 complex (F.1577)). This fill suggests that B.113 and B.49 were probably at least partially contemporaneous. As F.1577 was originally constructed as part of B.167 but was retained successively as part of B.52 and B.51, we do not know with which of these buildings to the south B.113 was contemporary.* B.163 or Successive inter-wall fills (21646) and (21648) have been B.52*/B.108 recorded between the southern wall of B.108 (F.3634) and wall F.2008. This wall was originally constructed as the northern wall of B.163 but continued in use as the northern wall of B.52. Strictly, therefore, we do not know whether B.108 was contemporary with the occupation of B.163 with the occupation of B.52.* B.132/B.163 or East wall (F.7126) of B.132 abuts wall F.2008 (see above), B.52* suggesting that B.132 was contemporary with either B.163 or B.52.* Sp.532/B.167 or Midden-retaining wall F.7104 in Sp.532 abuts the B.163, or B.52 northern (F.2007 and F.1577) and eastern (F.1578) of the or B.51 B.167/B.163/B.52/B.51 complex. As these walls were originally constructed as part of B.163 or B.167 but were retained successively as part of B.52 and B.51, we do not know with which of these buildings to the south Sp.532 was contemporary. B.167/B.163 Eastern wall (F.8528) of B.163 abuts the western wall (F.1580/F.2041) of B.167, suggesting the two buildings were at least partially contemporaneous. B.165/B.163 Eastern wall (F.2144) of B.163 was built against, and may have truncated, the western wall (F.8530) of B.165, suggesting that B.163 may be later than B.165.

start B.113 is before end B.49 end B.49 is before end B.113 start B.167 is before end B.113* end B.113 is before end B.51*

start B.163 is before end B.108* start B.108 is before end B.52*

start B.163 is before end B.132* start B.132 is before end B.52* start Sp532 is before end B.51*

start B.163 is before end B.167* start B.167 is before end B.163* end B.165 is before end B.163*

Table 19.4 (continued). Additional constraints derived from abutting relationships including buildings and spaces that do not have radiocarbon dates included in the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal); * indicates a relationship not included in this model for reasons discussed in the text.

statistical dependencies between measurements made on samples derived from the period of use of each building or open area. But these buildings and open areas are not unrelated. They are all part of the period of occupation of the North Area of Çatalhöyük as a whole, and so a second level of modelling is required to take account of the statistical dependencies between samples from buildings and open areas in this period of activity. As the beginning of this period of activity is effectively a limit of excavation, we have modelled an abrupt beginning to the dated period of activity (again using a

Relationality The final element required to combine the disparate strands of stratigraphy from the North Area into a holistic chronological model is a protocol to allow for the statistical dependencies between suites of radiocarbon dates that derive from the same period of activity (Bayliss et al. 2014: 55–56). We do this on two levels. First, we retain the uniform phases of use for each structure/open area (Buck et al. 1992) implemented in the first stage of model construction. This approach accounts for the

347

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons uniform distribution; Buck et al. 1992). The end of Neolithic occupation in this area of the tell may, however, have been more gradual, and so we have allowed for this possibility by employing a flexible trapezium distribution (Lee, Bronk Ramsey 2012) for the end of this period. This allows our modelled ending to be abrupt or gradual as suggested by the data and provides an estimate for the pace of this transition. Retaining the uniform phases of occupation for each building or open area for which we have radiocarbon dates (denoted by the black bars in fig. 19.2) within the overall period boundaries (dark grey bars in fig. 19.2), allows the model to estimate the intervals between the end of a building or space and the start of a stratigraphically later building or space (denoted by the light grey parameter names in fig. 19.2). For example, the parameter B.132/Sp.488-9 calculates the period of time between the abandonment of B.132 and the first accumulation of open area deposits in Spaces 488 and 489. As described above, we consider the accumulation of midden-type deposits in each open area to constitute one continuous period of related activity, the space numbers reflecting constructional episodes which occurred within the continuum of deposition (for example, the construction of B.114 separating deposition in Sp.636 from deposition in Sp.631). This modelling approach allows the data to suggest whether there are observable gaps: it assumes neither continuity nor discontinuity. This model is defined by the CQL2 code provided in supplementary information as online fig. S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal). It has good overall agreement (Amodel: 73), but only if two further adjustments are made. The radiocarbon date (OxA-37140) from skeleton (22621) in grave F.7715 in B.129 has poor individual agreement (A: 4), as it is significantly later than all the other Neolithic activity in the part of the North Area included in the chronological modelling. It appears most likely that this burial was inserted into the area of B.129 after that building, and indeed this part of the mound, had gone out of use. An alternative possibility is that this measurement is anomalously recent, although the collagen yield (1.4% weight) and C:N ratio (3.2) are both within the expected range for bone collagen, and so this seems less likely. For this reason, OxA-37140 is excluded from the analysis. As suggested above, Poz100529 from the base (32072) of oven F.8318 in B.132 is rather earlier than its position in the model would suggest (A: 13). This sample, like the charred wheat grain (Poz-100530) dated from the same deposit, is probably residual, and it seems likely that the charred plant remains dated derive from reworked material in the clay of the oven base rather than from the use of the

oven. Poz-100529 has therefore been incorporated in the model as a terminus post quem in the same way as Poz100530 was, earlier in the process of model construction (online fig. S19.1). Although, with these two minor adjustments, this model has good overall agreement (Amodel: 73), 11 dates have poor individual agreement. Of these, only two have individual agreement indices less than 20. Poz100737, a single grain of wheat from a cluster on the floor of B.131 (A: 2; fig. 19.5), and OxA-11078, a bulk sample of charred seeds from floor (1415) in the persistently problematic southern part of Sp.71 in B.1, discussed above (A: 12; fig. 19.8). Both these samples are rather later than would be expected from their position in the model. It is, of course, possible that these samples of charred plant remains were intrusive, but it is also possible that these are simply extreme statistical outliers. In the end, our interpretative choices in how to model these particular measurements do not affect the outputs of the model substantively. For example, when Poz-100737 is excluded from the model as potentially intrusive, the median of the posterior distribution for start B.131 differs by three years from that illustrated in fig. 19.5. In these circumstances, we have decided to retain both these measurements in the model. An interrupted chronicle Our preferred model for the chronology of activity excavated in the North Area of Çatalhöyük East is illustrated in figures 19.3–19.12 and defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.4 (Catal_ North.oxcal). The overall form of the prior information included in this model is illustrated in fig. 19.2. Highest Posterior Density intervals for key parameters are listed in tables 19.5 and 19.6 and illustrated in figures 19.13–19.16. The results of the model suggest that the earliest activity we have excavated in the North Area dates to 6695–6650 cal BC (95% probability; start North; fig. 19.3). Since we have allowed for a gradual ending of occupation in this area of the tell, our model estimates the time when activity began to decline and the time when it finally ended. The beginning of this end occurred in 6475–6420 cal BC (95% probability; start end North; fig. 19.3), and occupation in this area finally ended in 6470–6400 cal BC (95% probability; end North; fig. 19.3). Overall, this decline occurred over a period of 1–45 years (95% probability; period of end North; distribution not shown), probably over a period of 1–20 years (68% probability). There is a clear gap to the inserted burial in the area of B.129, which occurred 20–215 years (95% probability; gap to F.7166; distribution not shown), probably 60–185 years (68% probability), after the end of all other Neolithic activity in the

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape Parameter

Highest Posterior Density interval 95% probability

68% probability

start North Area

6695–6650 cal BC

6675–6655 cal BC

start end North Area

6475–6420 cal BC

6465–6435 cal BC

end end North Area

6470–6400 cal BC

6455–6420 cal BC

start B.1

6510–6475 cal BC

6505–6485 cal BC

end B.1

6490–6450 cal BC

6475–6455 cal BC

start B.3

6640–6580 cal BC (93%) or 6555–6535 cal BC (2%)

6630–6605 cal BC

end B.3

6600–6475 cal BC

6580–6495 cal BC

start B.5

6680–6570 cal BC

6665–6610 cal BC

end B.5

6610–6500 cal BC

6580–6515 cal BC

start B.12

6540–6460 cal BC

6520–6475 cal BC

end B.12

6490–6425 cal BC

6480–6445 cal BC

start B.49

6675–6550 cal BC

6660–6585 cal BC

end B.49

6555–6430 cal BC

6530–6455 cal BC

start B.77

6620–6510 cal BC

6585–6575 cal BC (4%) or 6565–6510 cal BC (64%)

end B.77

6555–6495 cal BC

6535–6500 cal BC

start B.101

6670–6495 cal BC

6655–6525 cal BC

end B.101

6515–6430 cal BC

6500–6450 cal BC

start B.102

6650–6520 cal BC

6625–6555 cal BC

end B.102

6610–6430 cal BC

6555–6450 cal BC

start B.108

6570–6500 cal BC

6550–6510 cal BC

end B.108

6550–6440 cal BC

6515–6460 cal BC

start B.112

6615–6450 cal BC

6575–6480 cal BC

end B.112

6555–6420 cal BC

6510–6440 cal BC

start B.113

6585–6510 cal BC

6565–6525 cal BC

=end B.77

6555–6495 cal BC

6535–6500 cal BC

start B.114

6645–6585 cal BC

6640–6610 cal BC

end Sp.608

6615–6525 cal BC

6595–6545 cal BC

end B.114

6550–6465 cal BC

6530–6475 cal BC

start B.116

6680–6590 cal BC

6665–6620 cal BC

end B.116

6655–6555 cal BC

6635–6580 cal BC

start B.119

6655–6615 cal BC

6650–6630 cal BC

end B.119

6640–6500 cal BC

6630–6560 cal BC

Overall North Area

Buildings B.1

B.3

B.5†

B.12*

B.49*

B.77

B.101*

B.102*

B.108

B.112*

B.113

B.114

B.116*

B.119*

Table 19.5. Highest Posterior Density intervals for key date estimates from the North Area, derived from the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal); * indicates that no radiocarbon determinations are available, † indicates that only measurements modelled as termini post quos are available.

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Highest Posterior Density interval 95% probability

68% probability

start B.128

6615–6495 cal BC

6600–6525 cal BC

end B.128

6580–6430 cal BC

6530–6450 cal BC

start B.129

6495–6455 cal BC

6490–6435 cal BC

end B.129

6490–6435 cal BC

6480–6435 cal BC

start B.131

6535–6485 cal BC

6515–6495 cal BC

end B.131

6500–6460 cal BC

6495–6475 cal BC

start B.132

6685–6645 cal BC

6665–6645 cal BC

end B.132

6670–6635 cal BC

6650–6640 cal BC

start B.135

6670–6465 cal BC

6655–6520 cal BC

end B.135

6515–6425 cal BC

6490–6445 cal BC

start B.139

6685–6645 cal BC

6670–6650 cal BC

end B.139

6645–6535 cal BC

6630–6570 cal BC

start Sp.89

6630–6500 cal BC

6600–6525 cal BC

end Sp.89

6630–6500 cal BC

6600–6525 cal BC

start Sp.349

6680–6615 cal BC

6665–6630 cal BC

end Sp.349

6650–6600 cal BC

6640–6615 cal BC

start Sp.455

6685–6585 cal BC

6670–6625 cal BC

end Sp.455

6670–6550 cal BC

6655–6590 cal BC

Sp.85

end Sp.85

6680–6640 cal BC

6660–6645 cal BC

Sp.99/Sp.101*

start Sp.99/Sp.101

6635–6535 cal BC

6615–6555 cal BC

end Sp.99/Sp.101

6635–6535 cal BC

6615–6555 cal BC

start Sp.184/Sp.185

6485–6435 cal BC

6470–6445 cal BC

end Sp.184/Sp.185

6475–6420 cal BC

6465–6435 cal BC

start Sp.488-9

6650–6600 cal BC

6645–6615 cal BC

end Sp.490

6640–6580 cal BC

6620–6590 cal BC

start Sp.530

6645–6550 cal BC

6635–6590 cal BC

end Sp.530

6630–6520 cal BC

6620–6555 cal BC

start Sp.532

6680–6585 cal BC

6665–6620 cal BC

end Sp.532

6635–6530 cal BC

6610–6545 cal BC

start Sp.568

6580–6485 cal BC

6540–6495 cal BC

end Sp.568

6520–6480 cal BC

6510–6490 cal BC

start Sp.602

6655–6560 cal BC

6650–6600 cal BC

end Sp.602

6640–6530 cal BC

6625–6550 cal BC

Sp.625

start Sp.625

6680–6640 cal BC

6660–6645 cal BC

Sp.678

start Sp.678

6565–6440 cal BC

6510–6455 cal BC

end Sp.678

6505–6425 cal BC

6480–6440 cal BC

Buildings (cont.) B.128* B.129 B.131 B.132 B.135* B.139 Sp.89† Sp.349* Sp.455* Open Areas

Sp.184/Sp.185 Sp.488–90 Sp.530* Sp.532 Sp.568* Sp.602*

Table 19.5 (continued). Highest Posterior Density intervals for key date estimates from the North Area, derived from the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal); * indicates that no radiocarbon determinations are available, † indicates that only measurements modelled as termini post quos are available.

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape Parameter

Highest Posterior Density interval 95% probability 68% probability

Durations Overall period of end North Area use North Area Buildings use B.1 use B.3 use B.77 use B.108 use B.113 use B.114 use B.129 use B.131 use B.132 use B.139 Open Areas use Sp.488–90 use Sp.625 etc. use Sp.678 Intervals B.132/Sp. 488-9 Sp.490/B.108 B.77/B.131 B.139/B.131 B.131/B.129 Sp.636/B.3 Sp.636/B.114 B.3/Sp.678 Sp.532/B.113

1–45 years 195–275 years

1–20 years 210–250 years

5–50 years 1–145 years 1–95 years 1–90 years 1–55 years 40–140 years 1–35 years 1–55 years 1–30 years 10–130 years

10–40 years 30–120 years 1–45 years 1–55 years 5–35 years 60–120 years 1–20 years 5–35 years 1–15 years 30–95 years

1–60 years 60–170 years 1–85 years

1–30 years 75–125 years 1–35 years

1–50 years 25–115 years 1–40 years 25–140 years 1–20 years 1–55 years (93%) or 80–100 years (2%)

1–35 years 50–95 years 1–20 years 60–125 years 1–10 years 5–30 years

1–45 years 1–115 years 1–115 years

1–25 years 1–60 years 1–60 years

Table 19.6. Highest Posterior Density intervals for key estimates of duration and interval from the North Area, derived from the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal). North Area. The Neolithic deposits included in the chronological modelling for the North Area span a period of 195–275 years (95% probability; use North Area; distribution not shown). How far these modelled estimates reflect accurately the dates of the recorded Neolithic activity in the North Area raises two thorny questions. The first is whether the sample of deposits included in the chronological modelling of this area of the site is representative of the whole. This sample is clearly not random, as it consists of a spatially contiguous area of stratigraphically related buildings and open areas in the northern part of the North Shelter which was deliberately selected to provide the maximum amount of informative prior information for the Bayesian modelling. The beginning of this period is arbitrary, as it is related largely to the limit of excavation. The model

includes dates from five buildings and open areas allocated to Level North F, although probably only the earliest deposits from B.132 have been excavated. This arbitrary limit is, however, probably reasonably representative of the earliest deposits recorded from the North Area as a whole, as only 14 units from Sp.630 have been attributed to the earlier Level North E (table 3.2). The chronological model includes radiocarbon dates from eight buildings and open areas allocated to Level North Ga, seven allocated to Level North Gb, and three allocated to Level North H. The modelled ending is thus probably representative of the deposits investigated in the southern part of the North Shelter, the vast majority of which have been allocated to these Levels (table 3.2; Farid 2014a: figs 4.28, 4.29). It is possible that some of the small number of buildings and spaces further south,

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Figure 19.3. Overall structure of the preferred chronological model for the North Area of Çatalhöyük East. The component sections of this model are shown in detail in figures 19.3–19.12. The format is identical to figure 19.4. The model is defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal). largely beyond the shelter, allocated to Level North I may be slightly later (Farid 2014a: fig. 4.30), although as the use of buildings and spaces allocated to contiguous levels in the North phasing scheme clearly overlap in calendar time (fig. 3.25), it is not impossible that the spaces allocated to Level North I were used within the period indicated by the model. If they were later, then the generally restricted duration of buildings and open areas (cf. fig. 19.15) suggests that occupation of this area of the mound probably did not extend for more than a generation or two beyond the date estimates

provided by the modelling. A number of Neolithic burials have been recorded from eroded buildings of which very little else survived (Hodder 2014a: Chapter 29), but none of these were cut into earlier buildings later than Level North H, so there is no evidence that they are any later than activity attributed to Level North I. Building 47, which has been allocated to Level North J, is very different, on the basis of both its architecture and its finds, to the other buildings investigated in the North Area and may well represent reoccupation of this area of the mound after a gap.

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape The second thorny issue of relevance to the interpretation of the date estimates provided by the model for the end of Neolithic occupation in the North Area is erosion. Given the quantity of colluvium that has been recorded around the sides of the East Mound, Roberts et al. (2007: 557–58) suggest that at least 2.5m (and possibly up to 5m) of deposits have eroded from the mound. But this depth includes post-Neolithic, particularly Classical, material. Erosion of Neolithic deposits would not have occurred equally everywhere, with buildings on the sides of the mound or terraces more likely to slip down the hill. Evidence from the exposed deeper sections also suggests that much of the erosion occurred in post-Neolithic times. Potential erosion of Neolithic deposits within the North Area can be considered in the light of this general information. First, the study area within the North Shelter was deliberately sited ‘over as flat an area as could be located’ (Farid 2014c: 557), although surface erosion was more severe along the eastern edge, where there is an eastward drop-off in the terrain (Farid 2014c: 579). Second, a Roman burial (F.5077), which survived to a depth of 0.9m, was cut through the top of the central midden area (Sp.85). Third, we estimate the average depth of the surviving infill of a Neolithic building at Çatalhöyük East to be ca 1m (this is based on 15 building fills illustrated in Farid (2007a: fig. 3.5)). Erosion of Neolithic deposits within the North Shelter was probably below the average for the site because although there was some unevenness in the heights of contemporary spaces, in general Neolithic deposits appear to have sloped down from southwest to northeast at a gradient of no more than 1 in 16. Erosion of more than 1m of deposits since the woman in grave F.5077 was interred seems unlikely, and more erosion appears to have occurred in the historic period than before. So, we are probably looking at a maximum of ca 1.5m erosion of Neolithic deposits in this area. The majority of this probably consisted of the infill of the Neolithic buildings that have been recorded on the surface in this area (B.1, B.3, B.12, B.101, B.102, B.108, B.112, B.113, B.114, B.128, B.129, B.135). All but three of these retained infill to some extent, and B.128 retained a probable post-retrieval pit (F.7647), demonstrating that it had been closed in the customary fashion at Çatalhöyük rather than simply abandoned. The other two buildings, B.12 and B.112, are only evidenced by walls and below-floor deposits. But B.112 was cut by an early Roman burial (F.3687, which survived to a maximum depth of 0.5 m), which also supports the limited extent of erosion that can have occurred in this area since the Roman period. The survival of plaster floors in B.41, a

building probably dating from the Selçuk period on the western side of the North Area (Hodder 2007: Chapter 31; Farid 2005: fig. 12), also attests to limited erosion of the mound in the most recent millennium. The question is whether we have lost other Neolithic buildings entirely, which do not even survive as vestigial walls. The only possible evidence for this is burial F.7715, which we have argued above, on the basis of its late radiocarbon date (OxA-37140), may represent a burial inserted into B.129. Perhaps it came from a superimposed building that has otherwise eroded without trace? This is certainly possible, although the estimated depth of erosion in this area, along with the expected depth of infill of a building at Çatalhöyük, suggests that we are unlikely to have lost entirely more than one level of buildings. Given the relatively restricted duration of most buildings on the site (see below and fig. 19.15), occupation of the North Area is unlikely to have continued for more than a generation or two beyond the estimated date for the end of such activity provided by the model presented here. We return to the question of erosion below when discussing the changing layout of the neighbourhood through time. Building 132 is the earliest building to have been extensively recorded in the North Area (Chapter 33). Twelve samples from it have been dated, three of which are charred plant remains that we have interpreted as reworked (Poz-100529, Poz-100530, Poz-100807). The model suggests that it was constructed in 6685–6645 cal BC (95% probability; start B.132; fig. 19.4), used for at most a few decades (use B.132; fig. 19.15; table 19.6), before it was abandoned in 6670–6635 cal BC (95% probability; end B.132; fig. 19.4), most likely in the 6640s cal BC (68% probability). The larger, northern space of B.132 (Sp.531) was succeeded by an open area (Sp.602), which was used for burial. All five skeletons were sampled for radiocarbon dating, but neither long bone nor tooth dentine contained sufficient collagen for results to be produced. There is thus a gap in the sequence caused by the lack of viable samples for dating in this area. We can therefore only estimate the dates when this burial ground was in use on the basis of the limiting dates provided by the end of the underlying B.132 and the construction of the overlying B.77 (fig. 19.2). The actual burial in this area could, of course, have only occurred during part of this period with the ground laying otherwise vacant. The model suggests that Sp.602 was established in or after 6655–6560 cal BC (95% probability; start Sp.602; fig. 19.5) and abandoned in or before 6640– 6530 cal BC (95% probability; end Sp.602; fig. 19.5). The smaller, southern space of B.132 (Sp.511) also seems to have lain vacant after the abandonment of the building for a decade or two (B.132/Sp.488–9; fig. 19.16; table 19.6) before the midden of Sp.488–9 began

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Figure 19.4. Probability distributions of dates from B.132, Sp.488–90 and B.108. Each distribution represents the probability that an event occurred at a particular time. For each of the dates, two distributions have been plotted: one in outline, which is the result produced by the scientific evidence alone, and a solid one, which is based on the chronological model used (black: fully modelled; grey: terminus post quem (residual or potential old wood offset). The other distributions correspond to aspects of the model. For example, the distribution ‘start B.132’ is the estimated date when B.132 was constructed. The model is defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

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Figure 19.5. Probability distributions of dates from Sp.602, B.77, B.131 and B.129. The format is identical to that of figure 19.4. The model is defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

were also truncated, either for building materials or for further stability. But the midden in Sp.488–90 accumulated very rapidly, at a rate of between 2.4m and 4cm per year. Even at the median accumulation rate of 12.6cm per year, at least 3m and more probably around 9m of midden would have accumulated over the period of this gap. It is implausible both that this depth of midden would have accumulated in this space, given the heights of the surrounding buildings, and that such a depth was truncated by the construction of B.108. Presumably, once the midden had reached the height of the surrounding buildings, rubbish disposal in this area ended and the plot lay vacant until B.108 was constructed on it. This occurred in 6570–6500 cal BC (95% probability; start B.108; fig. 19.4). The building was abandoned, probably having been used for a number

to form. This happened in 6650–6600 cal BC (95% probability; start Sp.488–9; fig. 19.4). In a period of a few decades at most (use Sp.488–90; fig. 19.15; table 19.6), 2.4m of midden accumulated, ending in 6640– 6580 cal BC (95% probability; end Sp.490; fig. 19.4). Whether this was truly the end of rubbish disposal in this area is uncertain. There is a clear gap of 25–115 years (Sp.490/B.108; fig. 19.16; table 19.6), probably of 50–95 years (68% probability), between the latest midden excavated in Sp.490 and the construction of B.108 above. The walls of B.108 had unusually deep foundations, which, at the eastern end of the building, reached to a depth of about 1.8m below the floor level of the building. Given the amount of material that was dug out for the construction of the building’s walls, it is not difficult to imagine that the upper layers of the open area

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons of decades (use B.108; fig. 19.15; table 19.6), in 6550– 6440 cal BC (95% probability; end B.108; fig. 19.4). Unfortunately, only three of the skeletons produced sufficient collagen for accurate dating from this building. Building 77 lay above the cemetery in Sp.602. It was constructed in 6620–6510 cal BC (95% probability; start B.77; fig. 19.5) and was destroyed by fire in cal BC 6555–6495 (95% probability; end B.77; fig. 19.5), having been used for probably only a few decades (use B.77; fig. 19.15; table 19.6). This estimate is based on ten radiocarbon dates, of which one (Poz-79509) is from a charred twig that we have interpreted as residual. The truncated remains of B.12 were recorded above B.77, consisting of basal wall courses and a single human burial (F.3080). Unfortunately, the collagen in this skeleton was too poorly preserved for radiocarbon dating, so this building can simply be placed between the destruction of B.77 and the end of Neolithic occupation in the part of the North Area included in the chronological modelling, putting it probably in the first half of the 65th century cal BC (start B.12, end B.12; fig. 19.12; table 19.5). Again, these are limiting dates and the building need not have been occupied for the entire period. Building 131, which lies to the north of B.77, was constructed after it went out of use, as its southern niche (F.4109) cut into the infill of a niche (F.6063) in the northern wall of B.77. There appears to have been little or no gap between the buildings (B.77/B.131; fig. 19.16; table 19.6). It has seven radiocarbon dates, although two of these have poor individual agreement, being rather later than expected (Poz-100737, A: 2; Poz-100803, A:25; fig. 19.5). This building is, however, securely stratigraphically linked to both B.129 above, and Sp.568 and B.1 to the north, and thus its dating appears robust. The model suggests that it was constructed in 6535–6485

cal BC (95% probability; start B.131; fig. 19.5) and was abandoned and burnt in 6500–6460 cal BC (95% probability; end B.131; fig. 19.5). It was probably used for a few decades (use B.131; fig. 19.15; table 19.6). Building 129 was constructed on top of B.131, again after a very short interval (B.131/B.129; fig. 19.16; table 19.6). Its dating is problematic. Only two radiocarbon dates could be obtained from the nine burials sampled, due to poor collagen preservation (and one of these, OxA37140, we consider to be a later burial inserted into this area of the mound). These join a measurement on a juvenile animal bone with an unfused epiphysis from the foundation trench of the building. This building is, however, securely stratified in relation to both B.131 and B.1 to the north. The model estimates that it was constructed in 6495–6455 cal BC (95% probability; start B.129; fig. 19.5) and abandoned in 6490–6435 cal BC (95% probability; end B.129; fig. 19.5), after being used for only a decade or two (use B.129; fig. 19.15; table 19.6). The dating of B.139 is also problematic, because only the latest deposits relating to its use have been recorded and sampled. Its destruction by fire certainly pre-dates the construction of B.131, which overlies it, and it must be at least partially contemporaneous with B.5, to which it was joined by a crawl-hole (F.8394). Four radiocarbon dates are available from charred plant remains associated with the final use of two ovens and suggest that this building had been constructed by 6685–6645 cal BC (95% probability; start B.139; fig. 19.6) and was dismantled in 6645– 6535 cal BC (95% probability; end B.139; fig. 19.6). It was probably used for a minimum of several decades (use B.139; fig. 19.15; table 19.6). Following the demolition of B.139, there was a gap approaching a century (B.139/B.131; fig. 19.16; table 19.6), during which this area of the mound was a disused, vacant lot.

Figure 19.6. Probability distributions of dates from B.139. The format is identical to that of figure 19.4. The model is defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape There are a number of strands of archaeological evidence that support the hiatus identified by the chronological modelling between B.139 and B.131. The lowest recorded midden layer (23634) in Sp.625 probably accumulated against the already-standing eastern wall of B.139 (F.8387). It appears to have followed the wall when it collapsed inwards into the building (see above), suggesting that the disused building lay vacant for long enough for the pressure of the surrounding midden to undermine the structural integrity of the wall. This interval need not have been prolonged, however, as instability seems to have been a persistent problem with the eastern wall of B.139 throughout its existence (see Chapter 32). Next is the presence of at least one large, possibly quarry, pit (F.8382), which was cut into the infill of B.139 but sealed by the levelling layer for B.131 (23131). This would be compatible with this area being open for a time between the two buildings. The identified hiatus may also explain why the western wall of B.139 (F.8378) had gone by the time the levelling layer for B.131 (23131) was dumped and why the layout of B.131 is so different from that of B.139. The interval between them was probably such that no one who remembered B.139 was alive when B.131 was constructed. This hiatus also has implications for how we assess the reliability of the date estimates produced by the model for B.139. Given the limited number of radiocarbon dates from this building and the lack of later constraints, there

will be a tendency for the posterior distribution for end B.139 to spread into the gap. It is perhaps, therefore, more likely that the actual date when B.139 was abandoned lies in the earlier part of the given range. Building 5 lies to the north of B.139 but has only been partially excavated. It was removed to the latest occupation horizon in 1998 (Cessford 2007b), after which it has been on public display and subject to ongoing conservation works. A small amount of additional excavation was undertaken in 2015 and 2016 but did not produce samples suitable for radiocarbon dating (see Chapter 20). Only one sample of bulk cereal grain, from a packing deposit representing the final use of the building, has been dated (OxA-11046). Given the uncertain taphonomy of the dated material, this is incorporated in the model as a terminus post quem for the end of the use of the building. Building 5 is earlier than undated Sp.568 above, which is in turn earlier than B.1 (fig. 19.2). It also has stratigraphic relationships with B.139 (table 19.3). On the basis of these limited data, the model suggests that B.5 was constructed in or before 6680–6570 cal BC (95% probability; start B.5; fig. 19.7) and was abandoned in 6610–6500 cal BC (95% probability; end B.5; fig. 19.7). Sp.568 was only identified in 2015, when excavation of a remnant of the southern wall of B.1 (F.6) revealed a bin-like feature (F.7716) abutting the northern wall (F.7707) of B.131. This space thus post-dates the

Figure 19.7. Probability distributions of dates from B.5, Sp.568, B.1 (see also figure 19.8) and Sp.184/Sp.185. The format is identical to that of figure 19.4. The model is defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons construction of B.131 and the end of B.5 (which it overlies) and pre-dates the construction of B.1 above (fig. 19.2; table 19.3). No datable samples were recovered from this space. Consequently, as for Sp.602, discussed above, we can only estimate the dates when it was in use using the limiting dates from these surrounding buildings. This suggests that Sp.568 was established in 6580–6485 cal BC (95% probability; start Sp.568; fig. 19.7) and was abandoned in 6510–6490 cal BC (95% probability; end Sp.568; fig. 19.7). Above Sp.568 lay B.1, which has 46 radiocarbon measurements, although nine are excluded from the model as they are considered to be inaccurate for various reasons, and 22 are included as termini post quos (see above). The revised interpretation described above suggests that B.1 was constructed in 6510–6475 cal BC (95% probability; start B.1; fig. 19.7), used for several decades (use B.1; fig. 19.15; table 19.6), and abandoned in 6490–6450 cal BC (95% probability; end B.1; fig. 19.7). These date estimates are substantively different from those presented by Bayliss et al. (2014: fig 3.23). This is illustrated in figures 19.17 and 19.18, where key parameters from the previous model (recalculated using IntCal20) are overlain by the equivalent parameters from the new model. The date estimate for the construction of B.1 in the new model is constrained to be in the later part of the previous posterior distribution (the median is 35 years later than that from the previous model; fig. 19.17). This is almost certainly correct, as this shift reflects the stratigraphic relationships between B.1 and B.131 and B.129 to the south, and the radiocarbon dates that are now available from those buildings. The date estimate for the abandonment of B.1 in the new model is constrained to be in the earlier part of the previous posterior distributions (the median is 42 years earlier than that from the previous model). This is more arguable. On the one hand, this difference undoubtedly partially reflects the relationship of this parameter to the revised estimate for the date when the building was constructed (through the uniform phase model used for modelling the chronology of this building); on the other hand, we have excluded from the model three of the latest radiocarbon dates from the building (see above). If, for example, these dates are accurate and the latest phases of use of the building are under-sampled, then perhaps the use of the building may have continued for another decade or two. But we note that the end of Building 1 is not constrained by dates from the overlying open area (Sp.184/Sp.185). These differences explain the more substantial shift in the estimated duration of B.1 between the two models (fig. 19.18; the median duration of B.1 in the new model is 80 years shorter, and the Highest Posterior Density intervals

of the equivalent posterior distributions overlap at 95% probability, but not at 68% probability). These results emphasise that it is essential to interpret the results of a model in the light of its strengths and weaknesses. No samples for radiocarbon dating have been located from the open area (Sp.184/Sp.185) above B.1, and this area can simply be placed between the abandonment of B.1 and the end of Neolithic occupation in the part of the North Area included in the chronological modelling (fig. 19.2). This suggests that the space was in use for a short period of no more than a decade or two in the middle of the 65th century cal BC (start Sp.184/Sp.185 and end Sp.184/Sp.185; fig. 19.7 and table 19.5). An open area, which has only been partially excavated, lay to the southeast of B.1 (fig. 19.2; Sp.625, Sp.636, Sp.631, Sp.610 and Sp.85). Deposition of midden-like material was probably continuous in this area, but it has been divided into different spaces on the basis of stratigraphic relationships between these deposits and the construction of surrounding buildings. The lowest recorded layer (23623) in Sp.625 probably accumulated against the eastern wall of B.139, although similar deposits certainly remain unexcavated below. The model suggests that there was no discernible gap between the construction of B.139 and the start of Sp.625 (start B.139/start Sp.625; fig. 19.16) but, given the limit of excavation in this area, little weight should be placed on this estimate. The open area had been established, however, by 6670 –6640 cal BC (95% probability; start Sp.625; fig. 19.9). Similar material appears to have been deposited here until 6595–6495 cal BC (95% probability; end Sp.85; fig. 19.9). The excavated deposits span a period of 60–170 years (95% probability; use Sp.625 etc.; fig. 19.15). The truncation caused by ditch F.8382 means that the excavated deposits from Sp.636 do not physically overlie the excavated deposits from Sp.625; therefore, to estimate the accumulation rate of the deposits in this open area, we calculate the difference between the posterior distributions for the lowest dated sample in Sp.636 (1,011.30m; OxA-37446 and OxA-37447) and the highest dated sample in Sp.85 (1,012.25m; Poz-100669). The 0.92m of deposits accumulated over a period of 40– 125 years (95% probability; distribution not shown), at a rate of between 2.2 and 0.75cm per year (the median accumulation rate is 0.89cm per year). The constructions of B.114 and B.3 define the transition from Sp.636 to Sp.631 in this central open area. The walls of B.114 have not been excavated, but midden layer (32142) was observed to run under them. The model contains ten radiocarbon dates and suggests that this building was constructed in 6645–6585 cal BC (95% probability; start B.114; fig. 19.10). There appears to have

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Figure 19.8. Probability distribution of dates from B.1 (see also figure 19.7). The format is identical to that of figure 19.4. The model is defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

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Figure 19.9. Probability distribution of dates from Sp.625, Sp.636, Sp.631, Sp.610 and Sp.85. The format is identical to that of figure 19.4. The model is defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

been little or no gap between the deposition of the underlying midden and the construction of the building (Sp.636/B.114; fig. 19.16 and table 19.6). In its original form, B.114 consisted of three spaces, Sp.87, Sp.88 to the east, and Sp.608 to the south. Space 608 was connected to Sp.87 by a crawl-hole (F.8145) in its southern wall

(F.1024) which, when this space was dismantled, was blocked by the northern wall (F.1022) of B.113 and turned into a niche (F.8143) in the part of B.114 that continued in use. As this space was completely truncated by the construction of B.113, no samples have been dated from it. It must, however, have gone out of use before the

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Figure 19.10. Probability distribution of the dates from B.3, Sp. 678 and B.114. The format is identical to that of figure 19.4. The model is defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

construction of B.113, probably in the first half of the 66th century cal BC (end Sp.608; fig. 19.11; table 19.5). Building 114 continued to be occupied, however, until 6550–6465 cal BC (95% probability; end B.114; fig. 19.10; table 19.5). Overall, it was used for a period of 40– 140 years (95% probability; use B.114; fig. 19.15; table 19.6), certainly for several generations.

The midden layer (32142) in Sp. 636 that was observed to run under the walls of B.114 also ran beneath the remnant west wall (F.636) of B.3 and is equivalent to the midden beneath these walls that was partially excavated by the BACH team (8589). There is, however, a discernible gap of several decades between the latest deposits recorded in Sp.636 and the construction of B.3

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Figure 19.11. Probability distribution of the dates from B.116, Sp.89, Sp.99/Sp.101, Sp.532 and B.113. The format is identical to that of figure 19.4. The model is defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14.

alternatively, that the midden was partially truncated by the construction of that building (although the potential hiatus here could easily be an artefact of the fact that only a single sample has been dated from this space). After its construction in the middle of the 66th century cal BC (start B.113; fig. 19.11; table 19.5), Building 113 was inhabited for a few decades (use B.113; fig. 19.15; table 19.6), before it was destroyed in the same conflagration as B.77 in the latter part of that century (=end B.77; fig. 19.11; table 19.5). It was constructed before B.108 to the west but was probably at least partially contemporary with that building (table 19.3). To the east of B.114 lies an enigmatic small building, Sp.89. It was investigated in a very small part of the BACH trench to the south of B.3, and so the stratigraphy is hard to interpret. One of its walls (F.1017) abuts the north wall of B.114 (F.1026), which suggests that they were probably in contemporary use (table 19.3). A single bulk sample of unidentified charcoal (Poz-6652, table 19.2, fig. 19.11) has been dated from the infill of this space and provides a terminus post quem for its disuse. On this basis, we may very tentatively suggest that it may have been used at some time in the 66th century cal BC (start Sp.89, end Sp.89; fig. 19.11; table 19.5).

(Sp.636/B.3; fig. 19.16; table 19.6), and so perhaps some midden deposits were truncated when B.3 was built. This occurred in 6640–6580 cal BC (93% probability; start B.3; fig. 19.10; table 19.5) or in 6555–6535 cal BC (2% probability). It continued in use for several generations (use B.3; fig. 19.15; table 19.6), until it was abandoned in 6600–6475 cal BC (95% probability; end B.3; fig. 19.10; table 19.5). This date estimate is based on nine radiocarbon dates, three of which are modelled as termini post quos. The disused B.3 lay in ruins, perhaps briefly, perhaps for up to a century (B.3/Sp.678; fig. 19.16; table 19.6), before rubbish was discarded in this area, possibly in the earlier 65th century cal BC (start Sp.678, end Sp.678; fig. 19.10; table 19.5). This period of rubbish disposal endured for a few decades at most (use Sp.678; fig. 19.15; table 19.6). Further south even than the truncated southern space of B.114 (Sp.608) was open area Sp.532. One sample of animal bone has been dated from this midden, which confirms that it was deposited sometime between the mid67th and later 66th centuries cal BC (start Sp.532, end Sp.532; fig. 19.11; table 19.5). It is possible that there was no deposition in this area for a few decades before B.113 was constructed (Sp.532/B.113; fig. 19.16; table 19.6) or,

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape To the east of B.113 lay a largely unexcavated open area (Sp.99/Sp.101). No radiocarbon dates are available from this area, although it went out of use before the construction of B.113 cut through the accumulated deposits at the western end of both spaces and was within the footprint of B.116, and so dates to after the abandonment of that building. These constraints are sufficient to suggest that it was probably used at some point within the first half of the 66th century cal BC (start Sp.99/Sp.101, end Sp.99/Sp.101; fig. 19.11; table 19.5). B.116 lies at the base of the excavated sequence in this part of the North Area and has only been partially revealed. It consisted of three spaces, the largest of which (Sp. 534) became open area Sp.99/Sp.101 when it went out of use. One of the side rooms of B.116 (Sp.214) lay beneath Sp.89, and walls of both B.3 and B.114 overlay the northern wall of B.116. Abutments between two middenretaining walls of Sp.532 and the western wall of B.116, suggest that these may be partially contemporaneous (table 19.4). On the basis of these constraints, the use of B.116 can be placed between the start of dated activity in the North Area (although it could, of course, have been constructed earlier than this) and ca 6600 cal BC (start B.116, end B.116; fig. 19.11; table 19.5). One further building can be very loosely tied to the stratigraphic sequence in this area. B.49 was probably partially contemporary with Sp.99/Sp.101, as a midden-retaining wall of this space (F.7103) abutted its northern wall. It was also probably partially contemporary with B.113 on the basis of inter-wall fills (21165) and (19590) (table 19.4). These constraints do little more than confirm, however, that B.49 was contemporary with some part of the sequence further north (start B.49, end B.49; fig. 19.12; table 19.5). To the north of B.3, a partially excavated building (Sp.349) must be earlier than B.3, as its southern wall lies under the northern wall of that building (see above). The presence of inter-wall fill between the eastern wall of Sp.349 and wall F.7599, which formed the eastern wall of both B.119 and B.112 to the west, also suggests that it was probably contemporary with one of those buildings (table 19.4). These relationships place this building between the start of the dated sequence in the North Area and the construction of B.3, and so it was probably occupied during the middle decades of the 67th century cal BC (start Sp.349, end Sp.349; fig. 19.12; table 19.5), although it could, of course, have been constructed slightly earlier. Once abandoned, Sp.349 was used as an open area (Sp.530) before B.128 was constructed above it. Abutting walls suggest that B.128 was at least partially contemporaneous with B.3 to the south and either B.112 or B.119 to the west (table 19.4), and it was certainly constructed after B.102, as it reused the southern wall of B.102 (F.3655) as its northern wall. The presence of inter-wall

fill suggests that B.102 was partially contemporary with B.119/B.112 to the west (table 19.4), and it was constructed over another partially excavated building (Sp.455). No samples have been dated from any of these buildings or spaces, so the model provides limiting dates based on this stratigraphy and the radiocarbon dates from the related buildings and spaces. Most of these relationships are not direct, and so the evidence is tenuous. It suggests, however, that Sp.455 may have been occupied during the later 67th or earlier 68th century cal BC (start Sp.455, end Sp.455; fig. 19.12; table 19.5), although again its initial construction may have been slightly earlier than this. Open area Sp.530 was probably also used in the decades around 6600 cal BC (start Sp.530, end Sp.530; fig. 19.12; table 19.5). The possible dates for B.102 and B.128 are much broader and simply place them somewhere between ca 6600 cal BC and the end of Neolithic occupation in the North Area (start B.102, end B.102, start B.128, end B.128; fig. 19.12; table 19.5). To the west of this sequence, building 119 was constructed above the deposits of Sp.625 (Chapter 33) and before the end of midden accumulation in Sp.631, as this midden overtopped a retaining wall (F.5078) that had been built against its southern wall. B.112 in turn was constructed above the walls of B.119 (Chapter 27). The eastern wall of B.119 was reused as the eastern wall of B.112, and so the inter-wall fills and abutting relationship of this wall only tie this sequence to that to the east loosely (table 19.4). No radiocarbon dates have been obtained from these buildings, but these relationships suggest that B.119 was probably constructed and used at some point in the later 67th or first half of the 66th century cal BC (start B.119, end B.119; fig. 19.12; table 19.5), and that B.112 dates to anywhere between that time and the end of Neolithic occupation in the part of the North Area included in the chronological modelling (start B.112, end B.112; fig. 19.12; table 19.5). It has been possible to provide limiting dates for two other partially excavated buildings that do not have radiocarbon dates, on the basis of their stratigraphic relationships. Building 101 was constructed before B.1 because layer (2558), which is cut by the western wall of B.1, built up against its eastern wall (see above), and inter-wall fill between this wall and the western wall of B.131 suggests that these two buildings were at least partially contemporaneous (table 19.4). Even more tenuous is the link provided by the inter-wall fill between walls of B.12 and B.135, which suggest their contemporaneous use (table 19.4). Both B.101 and B.135 were probably abandoned in the first half of the 65th century cal BC, although they could have been constructed at any time before this (start B.101, end B.101, start B.135, end B.135; fig. 19.12; table 19.5).

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Figure 19.12. Probability distribution of the dates of B.12, B.49, B.101, B.102, B.112, B.119, B.128, B.135, Sp.349, Sp.530 and Sp.455. The format is identical to that of figure 19.4. The model is defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

Overall, the preferred model discussed here includes 142 (85%) of the 167 radiocarbon measurements from the North Area. Sixteen results on bone samples are excluded as anomalously recent for technical reasons, six experimental measurements, on particulate carbon staining the ribs of human skeletons and calcified hackberry seeds, have been excluded from the modelling of B.1, as have the results on two samples of bulk charred plant remains which we suspect may have included a component of intrusive material. One burial is judged to be inserted. Forty of the dates included in the preferred model have been incorporated as termini post quos, either because they are judged to be residual or of uncertain taphonomy, or because they consisted of

unidentified charcoal that might have an age-at-death offset. Thirty-five of these measurements were inherited from previous research. Radiocarbon dates have been obtained from 12 buildings and four open areas, although three of these have only a single dated sample. The chronological modelling has, however, included a further 11 buildings and five open areas that can be stratigraphically related to the buildings and spaces that have radiocarbon dates. Additionally, we have chosen not to include B.51, B.52, B.163, B.165 and B.167 in the chronological model, as we judge their stratigraphic relationships with the dated sequence further North to be too tenuous to be useful.

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape Relational histories Figures 19.13 and 19.14 present the estimated dates for the construction and abandonment of 23 buildings and nine open areas in the North Area of Çatalhöyük East. Those with radiocarbon dates are shown in the lower parts of these graphs, and those which have no scientific dates but can be placed within the sequence on the basis of their stratigraphic relationships are shown in the upper parts. We have not only strung out these events in their relative order and spacing, but have aligned multiple sequences so that they become one. This is a continuum where archaeological phasing is replaced by the probability of contemporaneity. It is critical to appreciate that this chronology is no absolute linear succession of instants. Based on the nuclear decay of an isotope that is formed in the upper atmosphere of planet earth, uncertainty is an inherent property of our chronology, and the planetary reference frame links our views of the past, the present and simultaneity with those of the inhabitants of Neolithic Çatalhöyük (Bayliss, Whittle 2015: 213–14). The sequence and pace provided by our chronology thus places past events within the inter-subjectively experienced specious presents of past generations of people who lived at Çatalhöyük, allowing us to trace the connections between past, present and future happenings and to construct narrative from the chronicle (Bayliss et al. 2007: 1–3). Our subjects are the human inhabitants of Çatalhöyük, and so to engage with their experiential presents our chronologies must be precise to somewhere within the range of 1/25 of a second (approximately the shortest interval of human perception) and a lifetime of human consciousness. To reveal the multi-temporal palimpsest of these presents, the timescape of the northern part of Neolithic Çatalhöyük (Whittle et al. 2011: 682–83), we must tackle duration – persistence from the past into the present, and from the present into the future. This can only be estimated reliably for buildings and spaces with more than one radiocarbon date, and so only the posterior distributions of duration for the ten buildings and three open areas that meet this criterion are illustrated in fig. 19.15. We must also identify gaps in occupation or deposition, and estimate the duration of these breaks. These are difficult to recognise with certainty, as there are confounding factors in the archaeological record (see below). Posterior distributions for potential pauses in the North Area sequence are illustrated in figure 19.16. Duration is key because it sheds light on the mechanisms that make persistence possible. Beyond the reference frame of personal experience and personal memory, people interact with each other to form society; and society endures beyond a single human lifetime. Traditions are transmitted through

active and social memory, and at an even deeper timescale, in myth (Whittle et al. 2011: fig 15.28). In constructing histories at the timescale of lifetimes and generations, we must not lose sight of the longer term into which these aggregate nor the yearly round of which they are constituted. The chronology for the North Area outlined above, however, means that we are not confined to an afternoon when a knapping event occurred or to the centuries covered by periodisation, but have reclaimed time of the middling sort. Persistence Figure 19.15 shows the duration of use of the ten buildings and three open areas in the North Area for which we have sufficient information to make such estimates reasonably reliable. Highest Posterior Density intervals for these distributions are given in table 19.6. Six buildings have median durations of 25 years or less. Building 108 was also probably inhabited for a relatively short period (its distribution has a long tail of probability because there are insufficient measurements from this building to estimate the date when it went out of use precisely). Buildings 3 and 139 were probably in use for more than one generation and may have been used for several. It is possible that the most elderly inhabitant remembered these houses being constructed when they were abandoned, although it is also possible that no one who remembered them being built was alive when they were decommissioned. We note that both buildings were succeeded by a hiatus. Building 114 appears to be different. Its median duration (90 years) is the longest of all the buildings dated from the North Area, and it is likely that none of its latest inhabitants remembered the house being built. They lived in the house of their ancestors. Two open areas have median durations of less than 25 years, although Sp.488–490 may have been truncated by the construction of B.108 and, in actuality, have had a duration more akin to that of the central open area (Sp.625 etc.). The estimate of duration for the central midden area is that of the excavated deposits: earlier midden was observed below the limit of excavation, and so this practice would have persistence in this place for longer than is apparent from the posterior distribution. There is simply not enough information here to know whether persistence was more common in open areas than in buildings. In the North Area, maybe two-thirds of buildings endured for only a few decades (or even less), with the other third enduring for longer than this, up to about a century. Most people probably lived in a house that someone in the household remembered being constructed, if not in a house that they had helped to construct themselves. Whether a similar pattern will emerge for open

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Figure 19.13. Probability distributions of key parameters for the date of buildings, derived from the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

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Figure 19.14. Probability distributions of key parameters for the date of open areas, derived from the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

Figure 19.15. Probability distributions of key parameters for the duration of use of buildings and open areas, derived from the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons areas, implying that buildings had their own areas for rubbish disposal, or whether open areas generally persisted for longer, implying that they were used and managed collectively, cannot be assessed from these limited data.

The shape of these distributions is important in interpreting them. Where there was no gap at all, the distribution would be expected to tail from zero. On this basis, we can suggest that B.131 was probably constructed immediately after the B.77 fire, that B.129 was constructed immediately after the abandonment of B.131, and that B.114 was constructed directly upon the midden deposits of Sp.636 (the interpretation of start B.139/start Sp.625 is more problematic, given that much of B.139 remains unexcavated). For distributions which tail from zero but have much longer tails, there are two possibilities.

Gaps Estimates for intervals between the abandonment of one building and the construction of its successor, and between buildings and open areas which precede or succeed them, are shown in figure 19.16. Highest Posterior Density intervals for these distributions are given in table 19.6.

Figure 19.16. Probability distributions of key parameters for intervals between buildings and open areas, derived from the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal).

Figure 19.17. Probability distributions for the dates when B.1 was constructed and abandoned, derived from the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal) (black), and from the model defined in Bayliss et al. 2014 (figure 3.23), recalculated using IntCal20 (grey).

Figure 19.18. Probability distributions for the duration of use of B.1, derived from the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal) (black), and from the model defined in Bayliss et al. 2014 (figure 3.23), recalculated using IntCal20 (grey).

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape Either there was no gap but there is a dearth of data (this may be the case for Sp.532/B.113, as these have one and two radiocarbon dates respectively), or there was a short interval (this may be the case for B.3/Sp.678, as these have nine and four radiocarbon dates respectively). Where the distribution does not tail from zero, there was certainly an interval between the two parameters concerned. This is the case for Sp.636/B.3 and B.132/Sp.488–9, where the interval was probably of only a few decades, and for Sp.490/B.108 and B.139/B.131, where the interval was probably half a century or more. The model includes three other hiatuses which are not illustrated in figure 19.16. These are the use of open areas Sp.602 and Sp.568, and the use of the southern room of B.114 (Sp.608). No samples could be dated from these areas. The burials in Sp.602 contained insufficient collagen for dating, and neither Sp.568 nor Sp.608 (which was entirely truncated by the construction of B.113) produced any material suitable for dating. These durations are not illustrated, because what the model has estimated is the gap between the preceding parameter and the succeeding parameter. The activity of interest need not have filled this entire gap – there could have been a hiatus that cannot be estimated by the model. For example, the burials in Sp.602 could have occurred over only a few years in between the abandonment of B.132 and the construction of B.77 – they need not have occurred throughout this interval. This brings us to our interpretation of these intervals. There are three possibilities: • • •

(Sp.636/B3; fig. 19.16) could easily arise from truncation of the midden during the construction of the building. First, the radiocarbon dates show no evidence of hiatus in the accumulation of midden in this central area (fig. 19.9), and second, at the much slower accumulation rate in this area (the median accumulation rate is 0.89cm per year), only around 20cm of midden would have had to be truncated. This is almost as if the surface of the open area was levelled before construction of the building began. A similar situation may have occurred when B.113 was constructed over Sp.532. As discussed above, the gap between the abandonment of B.139 and the construction of B.131 (B.139/B.131; fig. 19.16) appears to represent a hiatus in activity (although some limited pitting activity may fall within this interval). In two other cases, modest gaps of a few decades have been identified between the abandonment of buildings and the disposal of rubbish within their footprints (B.132/Sp.488–9; B.3/Sp.678; fig. 19.16). The four vacant lots that our modelling has identified can be added to the 12 buildings and four open areas for which we have modelled date estimates that are based on radiocarbon dates from those spaces, and a further 11 buildings and five open areas for which we have limiting dates estimated by the model but no radiocarbon dates. A northern timescape Figure 19.19 is a schematic diagram which shows the probabilities that each of the dated buildings, open areas and vacant lots in the part of the North Area included in the chronological modelling was in use in 25-year timeslices (the darker the shading the more probable it is that a building or space was in use in that time-slice). Areas that have radiocarbon dates or are inter-stratified between radiocarbon-dated buildings and spaces (fig. 19.2) are shown at the bottom of the diagram, and those for which we have limiting dates only are shown at the top. Figures 19.20–19.29 map these probabilities in space. Buildings, open areas and vacant lots are shaded in proportion to the probability that they were used in a particular 25-year period. The outlines of those which do not have any radiocarbon dates are dotted, to indicate that these probabilities are limiting dates rather than actual estimates of the date of occupation. No building or space has a probability of more than 10% of dating to before 6675 cal BC or after 6425 cal BC. The time-slices therefore run from 6675–6650 cal BC to 6450–6425 cal BC. The probabilistic nature of these plans must be recognised, as the overall probability that any time-slice is entirely accurate is quite low (for example, in a timeslice where 12 buildings or open areas each had an 80% chance of being present, it is only 7% probable that all of them were in fact present in that time-slice).

a gap in sampling the truncation of deposits a hiatus in activity

We think that all three categories have been identified in the North Area. As just discussed, Sp.602, Sp.568 and Sp.608 are examples where there is a gap in sampling (and Sp.568 and Sp.608 were also truncated by later construction activities). These fall in between dated buildings and spaces, but there are other examples (e.g., Sp.184/Sp.185) which fall between a dated building or space and the limits of the modelling. Where a building succeeds an open area, it is always possible that deposits were truncated during the construction of the building. As described above, we think it very likely that the upper part of Sp.488–90 was truncated when B.108 was constructed, although given the very fast accumulation rate of deposition in this space (the median accumulation rate is 12.6cm per year), there was probably a hiatus of deposition in this area which spanned a substantial part of the modelled interval. In contrast, the modest interval between the end of Sp.636 and the construction of B.3

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Figure 19.19. Schematic diagram showing the periods of use of the different buildings and open areas in the North Area of Çatalhöyük East (shading derived from the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal)).

occupied for part of the time within these limits, not for the whole period. For example, we are reasonably confident that B.101 and B.135 went out of use in the first half of the 65th century cal BC (end B.101, end B.135; fig. 19.13), and so neither building is likely to have been constructed before ca 6550 cal BC. But the stratigraphic space in which they can lie clearly allows a much earlier dating for both buildings (fig. 19.19). Although it is possible to use the expected duration of a phase of activity formally in a model as prior information (e.g., Kidd 2019), we have chosen not to do so in this study because we do not consider that we have sufficient robust estimates of the duration of buildings from Çatalhöyük yet for this to be a reliable approach. Rather, we have chosen to omit from our mapping the three buildings with the most loosely constrained

Inevitably, this space-time mapping raises difficult issues. The first is what to do when we apparently have more than one building or space in the same place at the same time. For example, it is very likely that both Sp.625 (99% probable) and B.119 (89% probable) were in use at some point during the first time-slice, 6675–6650 cal BC (fig. 19.20). But Sp.625 is physically below B.119, so it must have been in this place in the earlier part of this timeframe and B.119 constructed over it later on. These cases are discussed in the narrative below. The second issue is how to treat buildings which have no radiocarbon dates and are only very loosely connected to the dated sequence. These can have very broad limiting dates (fig. 19.19, upper). Since most buildings in the North Area were inhabited for under 50 years (fig. 19.15), these buildings were almost certainly

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape limiting dates (B.49, B.101 and B.135), as we chose at an earlier stage of our analysis not to include in the model at all similarly loose relationships between the B.52 complex and buildings to the north (table 19.4). Figure 19.20 shows the plan of the part of the North Area included in the space-time mapping in 6675−6650 cal BC. A series of buildings surround an open area (Sp.625), the northernmost part of which appears to have been covered by the construction of B.119 later in this time-slice. Midden was observed to run under B.3 and B.19 but has not been excavated, so its eastern and northern limits are unknown. Figure 19.21 shows the plan in 6650−6625 cal BC. The buildings around the northern side of the central midden area (now Sp.636/Sp.631) continued in use, but B.132 to the southwest was abandoned. Its southern space lay unoccupied (hiatus B.132/Sp.488−90) before rubbish disposal began in this area (Sp.488–90), and its northern room also became an open area used for burial (Sp.602). To the southwest, B.116 probably remained in use. The southern and eastern parts of the central midden area (Sp.636) may have been sealed by the construction of B.114 and B.3 respectively in this period, although this more probably happened in the succeeding time-slice. Figure 19.22 shows the plan in 6625−6600 cal BC. The buildings around the northern side of the central midden area (now Sp.631/Sp.610) probably continued in use, although there is some probability that both B.139 and Sp.349 were abandoned during this period, and that B.102 was constructed above Sp.455. B.114 and B.3 were constructed by now, and B.116 probably remained in use. To the south of B.114, midden was deposited in open area Sp.532, although its northern limit with Sp.608 of B.114 is unknown, as this was truncated in antiquity. In the southwest, midden continued to be deposited in Sp.488–90, and Sp.602 continued to be used for burial. Figure 19.23 shows the plan in 6600−6575 cal BC. There was probably an extensive area of vacant ground to the west of the excavated area at this time, as B.139 was abandoned, Sp.602 was still in use for burial, and midden deposition had probably ended in Sp.488–90. To the north, Buildings 5 and 119 were probably still occupied, as were Buildings 3 and 114. Rubbish disposal continued in the central midden area (now Sp.610/Sp.85), in Sp.532 to the south of B.114, and in Sp.530, which was now bounded by B.102 to the north, B.119 to the west and B.3 to the south. In the southeast, B.116 had probably been abandoned, to be replaced by the very small B.89 and open area Sp.99/Sp.101. Figure 19.24 shows the plan in 6575−6550 cal BC. There is continuity with the previous time-slice, although B.128 was probably built over open area Sp.530 during this period. There is also some probability

that B.112 may have replaced B.119 at this time, that B.77 was constructed in the central part of the western vacant lot, and that B.113 was built over the southern part of B.114 (but it is more probable that all of these occurred slightly later). Figure 19.25 shows the plan in 6550−6525 cal BC. Building 113 was probably constructed at this time, substantially reducing B.114 in size and covering over Sp.532. B.77 was constructed to the west. Vacant lots flanked it to the north and south, although B.108 was probably constructed during the course of this time-slice. Deposition was ending in the central midden area (now Sp.85), and it is unclear whether B.5 still stood or had been replaced by open area Sp.568. In the northwest, B.112, B.102, B.128 and B.3 were still probably occupied. The southeastern part of the investigated area, which had once been occupied by Sp.89 and Sp.99/Sp.101, lay vacant. Figure 19.26 shows the plan of the area included in the space-time mapping in 6525−6500 cal BC. B.114, B.113, B.77 and B.108 form a block of inhabited buildings in the southwestern part of the investigated area. B.3 had probably been abandoned by now and was part of a large vacant lot that surrounded these buildings on their northern and eastern sides (in the areas formerly occupied by B.139, the central midden (most latterly Sp.85), B.3, Sp.89 and Sp.99/Sp.101). Some activity is apparent in the open area, Sp.568, to the northwest. Buildings 112, 128 and 102 may still have been occupied at this time, but without radiocarbon dates it is hard to tell. This period ended in flames when B.77 and B.113 were destroyed by fire. Figure 19.27 shows the plan in 6500−6475 cal BC. B.108, B.12, B.131 and B.1 form a solid block of buildings to the west of the investigated area. It is not clear whether B.114 was still occupied, or whether it too was abandoned following the B.77/B.113 fire. Otherwise, the area to the east of B.108/B.12/B.131 was vacant. It is not clear whether the buildings to the north (B.112/B.128/B.102) had yet been abandoned. Figure 19.28 shows the plan in 6475−6450 cal BC. B.108 was probably abandoned by this time, and B.131 had been replaced by B.129. This probably formed a block of inhabited buildings in the northwest of the investigated area with B.12 and B.1, although B.1 was probably abandoned during the course of this timeslice and replaced by open area Sp.184/Sp.185. Probably the area to the east lay vacant, with some rubbish disposal occurring in the area formerly occupied by B.3 (Sp.678). Figure 19.29 shows the plan in 6450−6425 cal BC. Some activity probably endured in Sp.184/Sp.185 and may have endured in B.129 and Sp.678.

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Figure 19.20. Plan of the North Area in 6675–6650 cal BC (shading derived from the model defined by the CQL2 code provided as online figure S19.14 (Catal_North.oxcal); buildings and spaces with limiting date only shown with dotted outlines).

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Figure 19.21. Plan of the North Area in 6650–6625 cal BC (format as figure 19.20).

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Figure 19.22. Plan of the North Area in 6625–6600 cal BC (format as figure 19.20).

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Figure 19.23. Plan of the North Area in 6600–6575 cal BC (format as figure 19.20).

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Figure 19.24. Plan of the North Area in 6575–6550 cal BC (format as figure 19.20).

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Figure 19.25. Plan of the North Area in 6550–6525 cal BC (format as figure 19.20).

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Figure 19.26. Plan of the North Area in 6525–6500 cal BC (format as figure 19.20).

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Figure 19.27. Plan of the North Area in 6500–6475 cal BC (format as figure 19.20).

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Figure 19.28. Plan of the North Area in 6475–6450 cal BC (format as figure 19.20).

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Figure 19.29. Plan of the North Area in 6450–6425 cal BC (format as figure 19.20).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons These were dynamic timescapes: on average, around a third of lots changed use between one time-slice and the next. And vacant lots were a commonplace of everyday experience. Gaps in our sampling for radiocarbon dating mean that we only have five lots where we have a continuous series of radiocarbon dates that allow us to estimate hiatuses, but we have identified four, possibly six, open areas in which deposition did not occur, among sequences consisting of eight buildings and five open areas where rubbish disposal did occur (fig. 19.30). This means that there was at least twice as much open space in the North Area as is apparent from considering midden areas alone. Both the character and the amount of open space varied through time. At some times open space was concentrated (e.g., fig. 19.20; fig. 19.27), and at other times it was scattered in smaller plots amongst the buildings (e.g., fig. 19.21; fig. 19.25). Generally, between a third and half the investigated area was open space at any one time, and the proportion of vacant lots appears to have increased through time as this part of the mound was abandoned (fig. 19.31). Given the greater erosion on the eastern side of the North Shelter as deposits approached the slope (see

above), we must consider whether the large vacant lot postulated on the eastern side of the shelter in the later time-slices (figs 19.25–19.28) is plausible, or whether it is an artefact of differential erosion. The presence of late midden disposal (Sp.678; figs 19.28–19.29) within the long-abandoned footprint of B.3 does encourage us to hope that if there had really been substantial activity in this area, some trace would have survived to be recorded. We also note that earlier in the history of the northern timescape, a similarly extensive vacant lot existed in the western part of the investigated area (figs 19.23–19.24), and so such a space is not without precedent. Figure 19.30 also allows us to consider the succession of buildings and open areas in a new way. If we ignore the pauses that are only visible because of the programme of radiocarbon dating and chronological modelling, then, in these five sequences, the four midden areas are succeeded by buildings, and the four buildings are succeeded by two middens and two buildings. The longest sequence of buildings is the stack formed by B.139, B.131 and B.129, which runs from before the start of our dated sequence in the North Area to its very end (that is, for 195–275 years (95% probability; use North Area; table 19.6). But if we

Figure 19.30. Stratigraphic strings of buildings and open areas from the North Area that have continuous sequences of radiocarbon dates that allow gaps in deposition to be identified (dark grey: buildings, white: vacant lots, light grey: midden).

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Figure 19.31. The proportions of space occupied by buildings (black), open areas (grey) and vacant lots (white) in the area of the northern space-time mapping through time. consider the pauses, then only one midden area is immediately succeeded by a building; in the three other cases there is a hiatus before construction. And there was a pause before rubbish disposal occurred in both the abandoned buildings that were succeeded by middens, and a substantial pause between B.139 and the succeeding B.131 (B.139/B.131; fig. 19.16), although B.129 did succeed B.131 without a discernible gap (B.131/B.129; fig. 19.16). Duration also matters. The combined duration of B.131 and B.129 is 10–80 years (95% probability; B.131 and B.129; distribution not shown), probably 25–60 years (68% probability). This is within the range of active, if not personal, memory (Whittle et al. 2011: fig 15.28). Discussion of the social geography of the settlement clearly needs to accommodate the dynamic flux and the multiple interruptions that we see in this part of the site during this time period. Conclusions The chronological modelling of the most intensively excavated part of the North Area of Çatalhöyük East combines a series of over 160 radiocarbon measurements from 12 buildings and four open areas with a detailed reading of the stratigraphic and archaeological sequence.

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Formal date estimates have been produced for 23 buildings, nine open areas and four vacant lots that have been identified through the dating programme. The estimates for buildings and open areas that do not have radiocarbon dates are limiting dates within which the relevant activity is estimated to have occurred (it need not, and most likely usually did not, extend for the entire time period covered by the estimate). All but three of these date estimates have been used to reconstruct a northern timescape for Çatalhöyük East in eight successive 25-year time-slices from the start of the excavated sequence ca 6675–6650 cal BC to the probable end of occupation in this area of the East Mound, ca 6450–6425 cal BC. The potential loss of Neolithic deposits by erosion and whether the area included in the chronological modelling and space-time mapping is representative of the wider area investigated in this part of the mound are considered. The dating programme has not only placed the excavated spaces in time, thus clarifying their relative sequence, but it has also added pace and identified localised gaps in the sequence. Most buildings were used for a few decades, although a few were in use for longer, perhaps for up to a century (fig. 19.15). Building 114 is the most reliable candidate for a building that outlived its original inhabitants. These variable, but generally short, durations for buildings mirror the pattern observed for a sequence of slightly later buildings further south (Marciniak et al. 2015: fig. 5). Midden accumulation rates vary wildly from ca 12.6cm per year in Sp.488-490 to 0.89cm per year in the central midden area. This variation encompasses the 4.1cm per year previously estimated for the accumulation of midden in the Hodder deep sounding (Bayliss et al. 2015: 16). The identification of localised gaps in deposition and quantification of their duration is perhaps the most significant finding of this study. It has important implications for the density of the settlement and for the continuity of activity in a locality (figs 19.20–19.29). We can only identify interruptions in the sequence where we have a continuous series of radiocarbon dates. Less than half the sequences included in this study meet this criterion, so there are undoubtedly further gaps to be discovered. In some cases, suitable samples simply do not exist (e.g., Sp.602, Sp.568), but there is some potential for the existing archive to extend this study (e.g., B.119, Sp.530, B.102, B.128). Further excavation, of course, would enable the extension of the sequence earlier and probably refine and confirm some of the stratigraphic relationships presented here. It should be noted that the stratigraphic links to B.49 and the B.52 complex to the south are presently so loose that their dating would, in effect, amount to a separate exercise.

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons This study, and that for the combined GDN, TP and Mellaart Areas A and B (this volume, Chapter 34), represent the first attempts to reconstruct the timescape inhabited by the people of Neolithic Çatalhöyük at a scale that encompasses lived experience. The posterior density estimates for the dates of buildings, open areas and vacant lots produced by the models (figs 19.19 and 34.70) replace archaeological phasing with probabilities of contemporaneity. This brings its own challenges. We may have moved a step closer to the experiential presents of

the Neolithic inhabitants of Çatalhöyük, but uncertainty is now integral to the plot and it still has to be configured. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Cristina Belmonte Santisteban and Arkadiusz Klimowicz for discussion of particular stratigraphic issues, Ruth Tringham for tracing further details of the radiocarbon dates obtained by the BACH project and Greg Hodgins for technical details of the measurements made at Arizona in the 1990s.

Technical Note This finding prompted a review of all the radiocarbon results reported by the Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory on bone samples from Çatalhöyük. Between 2005 and 2018, 71 samples were dated, of which 49 are from Neolithic deposits and 22 are later. These come from the North, TP, TPC and GDN Areas of the East Mound, and from the West Mound. The samples were therefore comparatively close to the surface, and consequently collagen preservation was poor (only 35% of samples from these areas had more than 1.1%N, in comparison to 53% of samples from the South and Mellaart Areas). The reliability of each of these dates was assessed by considering its compatibility with stratigraphically related dates from other laboratories and on other material types in the interim chronological models currently available for these areas of the site (only that for the TP Area has been published so far (Marciniak et al. 2015: fig. 2)). This assessment of reliability was then considered in relation to the technical details of the pre-treatment of each sample. Ultrafiltration was adopted by the Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory in January 2006. Five samples, all from Neolithic deposits in the TP Area, were dated before this without ultrafiltration. Four of these samples are clearly anomalously recent (Marciniak et al. 2015: table 1), and the fifth is clearly accurate as it has a statistically consistent replicate from another laboratory (Poz-7449, 7100±50 BP, and UCIAMS-113463, 7145±20 BP, T′=0.7, T′(5%)=3.8, ν=1). All other samples were processed using ultrafiltration, either with a long alkali pre-treatment (0.1M NaOH at room temperature for 1 hour; Neolithic, n=23; later, n=15), a short alkali pre-treatment (0.1M NaOH at room temperature for a few minutes; Neolithic, n=2; later, n=3), or with no alkali step (Neolithic, n=19; later, n=4). Twenty of these samples were dated despite having less than the 0.5% collagen yield that is usually employed as the threshold for accurate dating in the laboratory. Fifteen of the results are clearly anomalous in comparison to related dates, one (from a Roman burial) appears to be accurate, and in five cases we have insufficient evidence to assess the reliability of the date. These results suggest that the threshold collagen yield usually employed in the laboratory is reasonable, and that measurements on samples that produced less than 0.5% collagen by weight should not be regarded as providing accurate dates. Twenty-seven samples underwent a long alkali pre-treatment in addition to ultrafiltration and produced more than 0.5% collagen by weight. Twenty-six of these dates appear to date their contexts accurately, and in one case we have insufficient information to assess the accuracy of the date. These results are reliable. Five samples underwent a short alkali pre-treatment in addition to ultrafiltration, all producing more than 0.5% collagen by weight. Four of these samples (one Neolithic and three from later contexts) produced accurate results, but one (Poz-79144, a Neolithic sample from the GDN Area) produced a result (7320±50 BP) that is anomalously recent in comparison to a replicate measurement on the same bone (UCIAMS-215838, 7525±20 BP; T′=14.2, T′(5%)=3.8, ν=1). Poz-79144 yielded 3.1% collagen by weight, the other Neolithic sample processed using this method, 0.9% collagen, and the three later bones 5.4%, 8.0% and 10.0% respectively. Results on Neolithic bone processed in this way must be viewed with some caution, but results on later bones are probably accurate (possibly because of their much higher collagen yields). Fourteen samples were ultrafiltered but did not undergo an alkali-step during pre-treatment. Six of these produced accurate dates, six produced dates that are inaccurate, and in two cases we have insufficient information to assess reliability. All the post-Neolithic samples produced dates that are compatible with those from surrounding contexts, and all the dates that appear to be inaccurate are from Neolithic samples. Again, it seems that dates on Neolithic samples produced using this method should be viewed with suspicion, but those on later bones are probably accurate. In this case, the relationship between perceived accuracy and collagen yield is less clear-cut, although again all the samples which produced more than 5% collagen by weight appear to have produced accurate dates.

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Chapter 19: Bayliss et al. A northern timescape Overall, at Çatalhöyük, all measurements made at the Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory on bone samples that produced less than 0.5% collagen by weight are regarded as inaccurate and excluded from analysis (n=20). All measurements on bone samples that underwent a long alkali pre-treatment and ultrafiltration and yielded more than 0.5% collagen are considered accurate and are included in the modelling (n=27). Samples that underwent no alkali pre-treatment, no ultrafiltration or only a short alkali step are considered probably inaccurate and so excluded from the modelling if they are from Neolithic deposits (n=16), but probably accurate and so included in the modelling if from later periods (n=7). This distinction probably arises from the higher collagen yields of later samples. Any measurement that has a statistically consistent replicate measurement from another laboratory is considered to be accurate, no matter how it was pre-treated in Poznań (n=1). Supplementary material For supplementary material related to this chapter, please visit https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12. The supplementary material comprises figures S19.1–S19.14 (S19.14 being the downloadable CQL2 code file, Catal North.oxcal).

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20. Building 5 Burcu Tung

Building 5 (fig. 20.1) is located at the northeastern corner of the North Shelter, immediately north of Building 139 and west of Building 119. It is the predecessor of Building 1, the first complete Neolithic building excavated by the Çatalhöyük Research Project. It is phased into Level North F, based on both its stratigraphic relationship to B.1 (Chapter 3) and the radiocarbon evidence. One of the earlier buildings uncovered by the Çatalhöyük Research Project, B.5 was exposed in 1998, by a team supervised by Craig Cessford (Cessford 2007a). After the infill of the building was completely removed, only a few depositional events within the building were excavated. Subsequently, the plastered walls and various features of the building were consolidated and conserved over time so as to showcase a complete Neolithic building to the public. With its impressive white plastered walls, large oven and honeycomb-like bins in its side room (fig. 20.2), Building 5 soon became an important visual attraction to the visitors on site. Despite extensive conservation efforts, as well as the utilisation of different shelters, the earthen features and walls of B.5 heavily degraded over time due to their exposure to the harsh environmental conditions of the Konya Plain. Therefore, it became an archaeological imperative to assess certain questions surrounding the nature of Building 5 during the final excavation campaign of the Çatalhöyük Research Project. Building 5 is a rectangular structure that contained four spaces. The exposed extent of B.5 is 8.4 to 9m east–west by 5.8m north–south. The internal living area of the building is about 35m2. The outer edges of the eastern, western and northern walls partially remain under archaeological deposits. The former excavations revealed three phases of the building: Phase B5.C, for deposits predating the final occupation; Phase B5.B, for the final occupation; and Phase B5.A, as the abandonment of the building (Cessford 2007a: 354).

Figure 20.1. South-facing view of Building 5 before the beginning of excavations in 2016. Note the eroded features and floors (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 20.2. West-facing view of Building 5 under excavation during the 1990s showing still-upstanding features (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

area and the northeastern activity area. The southeastern activity area contained the entry to the building, as well as the building’s oven. As in many of the other buildings of the North Area, such as B.77, B.132, B.119 and B.139, the entry to the building was made onto a small platform in the southeastern corner of the space. In B.5, this platform was completely truncated with the retrieval of the ladder during the abandonment of the building. Immediately west of the entry ladder was a large oven, cut into the southern wall. The southwestern activity area was a raised platform that also acted as the

Layout of Building 5 and summary of previous findings Building 5 (fig. 20.3) consisted of a rectangular main room, Space 154, with side Spaces 156 and 157 to the west and Space 155 to the east. Space 154 had four distinct activity areas: the southeastern activity area, the southwestern activity area, the northwestern activity

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Figure 20.3. Plan of Building 5 Phase B (plan by Camilla Mazzucato) (shading is used to aid visual understanding of the different features in buildings; in general, darker shading indicates more upstanding features). passageway to Sp.157. A large niche, F.245, was cut into the southern wall, immediately west of the oven. The northwestern activity area was also raised, but only slightly, distinguished from the northeastern activity area by its clean plasters. The northeastern activity area connected to the eastern side room, Sp.155. Space 154 contained five posts abutting the walls. One post was located at the southwestern corner. Two engaged posts faced each other, centrally within the space, as evidenced by the post scars on the western partition wall F.230 and eastern partition wall F.229 with corresponding post retrieval pits. Another engaged post was located at the northwestern corner of the building, abutting northern wall F.226, while another engaged post was located about 2.4m to its east, defining the northeastern corner of the space. Side room Space 157 was subdivided into two main areas (see Cessford 2007b: 367, fig. 11.8) with a narrow partition wall that was truncated during abandonment. The northern end of the space was accessed through the main room, while the southern end of the space was accessed through a crawl-hole cut into partition wall F.229. The southern end of the space contained a doublebasin feature abutting the eastern wall. This feature was abutted by a post-pad type of feature, defined previously as a pillar. Another post-pad/pillar abutted the shallow

partition of the room centrally. An elongated narrow raised area abutted the eastern wall at its southern end. Space 156, which comprised the northwestern corner of the building, was accessed through Sp.157, although the access was blocked with six courses of mudbrick prior to the abandonment of the building (Cessford 2007b: 373). The enigmatic space contained no features. To its south was Sp.157, which contained six large bins lining the western, southern and, partially, eastern walls of the space (see Cessford 2007b: 370–72, figs 11.12 and 11.14). Few of the occupational deposits of the building were excavated. However, through the depth of the accumulated floors observed in the sections of the post-retrieval pits, as well the addition of support wall F.228 against the original northern wall of the building, F.226, it was clear that B.5 had a rich occupational history. The abandonment of B.5 was systematic and efficient. A number of artefacts were found within the building, in its different spaces within different contexts, which were interpreted as deliberately placed and associated with the abandonment of the building. For example, within post-retrieval pit F.240, located in Space 154, against its western wall were two elaborately worked fine bone points, an obsidian projectile and a double-pointed bone bead (Cessford 2007b: 384). A greenstone axe, 3284.x1, was placed on the floor by the

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Chapter 20: Tung. Building 5 threshold between Spaces 154 and 155. Space 155 contained two cattle scapulae (Cessford 2007b: 388). Space 156 contained a number of intentionally placed items on its final occupation floor, by the walls at the southwestern corner. These items included a pair of sheep horn cores with a clay ball placed between them, an obsidian projectile and other stone tool pieces, a sheep/goat scapula, cow-sized ribs and another individual sheep horn core (Cessford 2007b: 374). Space 157 also contained an unworked young cattle scapula and a well-used antler (Cessford 2007b: 389). After the placement of the artefacts, the upper courses of the walls were dismantled and thoroughly processed to create the infill of the building. This compacted infill became the foundation onto which B.1 would be built.

Shelter (Shippen 2006; Schmisseur 2007). All the walls and features were covered in geotextile, then supported by acrylic sacks filled with pearlite, and finally buried under sacks full of spoil. Once the construction of the North Shelter was completed, in 2008, the building was reopened with a walkway that cut across its top, giving visitors a delightful birds-eye view of the building (online fig. S20.1). Some damage was noted to the features of B.5 after its reopening, but most remained intact. For example, niche F.245 and the plaster that covered the southern wall were still intact (see Caldwell 2008: 254, fig. 20.175). Unfortunately, over the next few years, as the conditions under the North Shelter exacerbated erosion (see Chapter 5), the building’s degradation accelerated. For example, the bins in Sp.157 were excavated in 2010 by the conservation team, as severe cracks damaged the integrity of the structures. Undercutting began to occur at the base of the walls due to the lateral movement of moisture. To remedy this and other erosion processes, capping experiments began in 2010 (Çamurcuoğlu 2010). The first experiments were unsuccessful, and some surface loss of mudbrick occurred as the new capping separated from the experimental areas (Çamurcuoğlu 2011: 104). Different capping mixtures were experimented with through time as the unconsolidated plasters on the walls began to disintegrate at great speed. In particular, the northern face of the southern wall saw heavy damage. The oven that was cut into the wall completely vanished. The thin plaster that covered the wall disintegrated and peeled off. However, this revealed, in 2012, a previously unknown feature: crawlhole F.8394 (see Lingle 2012: 215, fig. 17.1), which encouraged the archaeological investigations of B.5 during the last excavation campaign.

Building 5 on public display Today, as visitors walk up the East Mound of Çatalhöyük during their visit to the site, the first stop is the North Shelter, a delicately arched shelter framed with wood. It covers an area 40m by 29m at the northern end of the mound, containing under it a number of buildings including Building 5 (online fig. S20.1). In fact, the placement of the North Shelter was largely dictated by the location of Building 5 and Ian Hodder’s desire to display the building to the public, but this time within a larger context of a Neolithic neighbourhood (Hodder, personal communication). Needless to say, ever since, B.5 has always been in the forefront for public display. The preserved features of the building – for example, the ladder scar or the large bins – better allow visitors to imagine a Neolithic household, something that was difficult to visualise through the eroded remains of Mellaart’s trenches in the South Area. The building, of course, required upkeep and maintenance through time and eventually underwent several different, sometimes experimental, conservation interventions by the different conservation teams that worked within the Çatalhöyük Research Project (see this volume, Chapter 5). A temporary shelter constructed in 1998 gave B.5 adequate protection, and little damage occurred to its features, thanks to the consolidation work conducted by the conservation team. However, even conservation practices came under scrutiny by other members of the Çatalhöyük Research Project, as reflected in the building’s nickname, ‘plastic house’ (Pye 2006). Nonetheless, conservation efforts provided a visual experience no other Neolithic structure could achieve on site at the time. In fact, the little damage that occurred to the building and its internal features during its display in the temporary shelter was applauded. However, the building had to be reburied in 2007 during preparations for the construction of the North

Overview of archaeological investigations 2010–2017 The excavations within B.5 during the final excavation campaign of the Çatalhöyük Research Project did not systematically target the entire building, but rather focused on specific areas to answer specific questions. These strategic investigations were conducted to save valuable time and effort spent in the field. And while in some ways these limited excavations unravelled even more questions, they were crucial in determining stratigraphic links and exposing the rich social history of B.5. The first line of investigations in Building 5 took place in 2015 and focused on the southern wall F.224 to determine stratigraphic relations between B.5 and B.131 to the south. During this time, the extent of the building was also recorded digitally and integrated with the site’s current geodatabase. The following year, in 2016, excavations targeted the northwestern platform of the

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons building to answer a specific research question: does B.5 contain any burials, and if so, what are their nature? This question relates to the nature of the development of specific house strands through time at Çatalhöyük. Cessford (2007b: 380), in his interpretation of the final occupational sequences, relying also on geophysical data, believed there to be no burials within the northwestern activity area. If this were true, B.5 would have been in stark contrast to its descendant, B.1, which contained numerous burials within its prominent northwestern platform. The results of the excavations in this final excavation campaign have given us more information on the social history of this space and have allowed us to reassess some of the earlier interpretations of the building.

Figure 20.4. Bin F.7716 in Sp.568, including detail of layering against B.131’s northern wall (photograph by Robert Bergman Carter).

Investigations of southern wall F.224 As noted above, southern wall F.224 saw considerable damage over the time B.5 was left open for display. In 2015, the wall was thoroughly cleaned to record the remaining features (online fig. S20.2). A small column of wall that had remained from overlying B.1 was removed. This revealed a bin-like feature, F.7716 (fig. 20.4), that abutted the northern wall of B.131 (F.7707), constructed immediately above the inter-wall fill between B.5 and B.139. The very badly preserved feature consisted of two pisé-like walls abutting the northern wall of B.131, which were plastered over with multiple layers of plaster. Patches of plaster were also preserved on the outer face of the northern wall, within the internal extent of the feature. The structure (22162), 0.88m in width and 0.3m in height, was rubified, presumably by the B.131 conflagration. The feature is recorded as belonging to Space 568, an intermediary space above B.5, between the construction of B.131 and B.1. A similar feature was found behind the eastern wall of B.6, abutting the western wall of B.160 in the South Shelter (see this volume, Chapters 7 and 8). Taylor interpreted such a feature as representing the remnants of a space that was entirely cut through with the construction of B.6. There is little evidence to suggest there may have been an extensive space that was quite literally consumed by the construction of B.1 (cf. Sp.608 in B.114, Chapter 29), and the feature may very well have been a temporary element related to B.131. Given the multiple layers of plaster, it may have served as a temporary container, or may have been associated with access to the roof of the building. While the function of F.7716 is unclear, it provides an interesting insight into the stratification of Buildings 131 and 1. Since the feature was built abutting the outer face of the northern wall of B.131, it had to be constructed after B.131. The feature was then cut by the construction of

B.1. This then implies that the construction of Building 1 was later than the construction of B.131, providing a significant boundary in the chronological model of the North Area (see Chapter 19). Another important stratigraphic link for B.5 is made by the crawl-hole F.8394 to B.139 (online fig. S20.3). As noted above, the wall plaster that covered wide-butshallow niche F.224 on the southern wall collapsed before the 2012 field season, revealing a feature that was first interpreted as a smaller niche. Cessford (2007b: 364, fig. 11.4) notes the existence of a large but shallow niche, F.245, in this section of the building, which is seen in the plans and images of B.5. In 2015, the newly exposed ‘niche’ was cross-sectioned and excavated to determine its nature, and it quickly became evident that the feature was a crawl-hole that cut through into the neighbouring Building 139. The excavation of this crawl-hole was completed in 2017, after the exposure of the internal features of B.139. This curious crawl-hole, which had a domed top, was too small, 0.45m in width and 0.35m in height, for an average-sized adult to pass through. The walls and floor of the feature were intensely plastered with a fine, greyish-white plaster, accumulating up to a total thickness of 0.03m by the end of its use. Well before the abandonment of B.5, it was filled in with a relatively clean brown silty clay (22163). Once backfilled, southern wall F.224 was plastered over with multiple coats of white plaster. This crawl-hole is particularly interesting, as it unequivocally represents a physical link between two households, a relatively uncommon occurrence at Neolithic Çatalhöyük. A similar example of a crawl-hole turning into a niche comes from B.114. In fact, the slightly skewed angle of the latter niche and the continuous undercutting of the southern walls in both cases resemble the B.5 example (see this volume, Chapter 26). While crawl-holes are certainly evidence of

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Chapter 20: Tung. Building 5 overlap in the use of buildings, they exhibit different uselife histories in relation to each house. In the case of B.5, the crawl-hole was backfilled before the abandonment, or the end-use, of the building. In B.139 however, the end-use of the crawl-hole also corresponds with the enduse, or the abandonment, of the building. This would mean that the abandonment of B.139 was earlier than the abandonment of B.5. Unfortunately, B.5’s latest oven F.242 had completely eroded away. Furthermore, the larger niche F.245, in which the oven was placed, had also completely eroded away, leaving a 1.1m gap between the eastern and western extents of the southern wall of B.5.

Platform F.3812 originally extended approximately 1.65m north–south and 1.25m east–west, abutting northern wall F.226. After the construction of wall F.228, presumably to support the lean of northern wall F.226, platform F.3812 diminished in size. A series of badly eroded patchy floors and their corresponding make-ups were excavated in sequence from earliest to latest as (32204), (32203) and (32202). No burial cuts were associated with excavated surfaces of F.3812. Platform F.3811, which formed the western platform of the building, extended approximately 1.9m north– south and 1.6m east–west. The excavations revealed four burial events within the platform. The earliest deposits exposed and left in situ are of a burial that belongs to a child, skeleton (32208), whose body was disturbed by the interment of skeleton (22197) in burial F.3813. It is impossible to say much about skeleton (32208), other than that the secondary remains of one of the children identified in fill (32207) within burial F.3813 may belong to this disturbed individual.

Investigation in Space 154 Excavations focused on the northwestern activity area in Space 154 during the 2016 excavation season. This activity area is defined to the north by wall F.226 and post-retrieval pit F.223, to the west by dividing wall F.230, to the south by platform F.239 and to the east by the slightly lower surface of the northeastern activity area. By the time excavations took place in 2016, the boundary between the northwestern and northeastern activity areas, along with quite a few layers of floors and corresponding make-up layers in the northwestern activity area, had eroded away. Nonetheless, excavations were able to reveal a complex history and provide crucial answers regarding the nature of B.5. During the earlier occupational phases of B.5, which have not been revealed elsewhere, the northwestern activity area consisted of two platforms: platform F.3811 to the south and platform F.3812 to the north (fig. 20.5). Towards the later occupational phases of the building the platforms were joined to create one larger platform F.3809, upon which a ledge and a mini-buttress abutting wall F.230 were constructed.

Burial F.3813. Burial F.3813 likely belonged to the primary burial event of a child recorded as (22197) (fig. 20.6). Unfortunately, the skeleton of (22197) was recovered loose and disturbed within the burial cut, due to the disturbance caused by later burial event F.3808. The oval cut for F.3813 was oriented northeast– southwest, was about 0.71m long and 0.35m wide, and was located slightly towards the northeast corner of the platform. Burial F.3810. Burial F.3810, interred after the deposition of burial F.3813, was located at the eastern end of the platform (see fig. 20.6). The burial’s squarish cut with rounded edges was oriented north–south and was 0.81m

Figure 20.5. The eroded western platforms of B.5 (directly in front of white-plastered wall F.230) during the earlier phases of the excavation in 2016 (photograph by Erica Camurri).

Figure 20.6. Poorly preserved primary skeleton (32205) in burial F.3810 (left) and what remains of disturbed primary skeleton (22197) in burial F.3813 (photograph by Scott Haddow).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons in length and 0.56m in width. The cut for the burial was relatively deep at 0.66m. It contained the primary remains of an adolescent (32205) aged 15 years (+/− 3 years) at death. The body was buried flexed, facing west, with head to the south and feet to the north. The bones of the juvenile were extremely fragile and were ‘entirely covered by a high concentration of phytoliths’ (US 32205, EC, 6 July 2016). No artefacts were associated with the skeleton or the fill of the burial. Burial F.3810 was sealed by make-up (22198), an orangish-brown silty clay, which was only preserved at the southeastern end of the platform. This make-up was cut by the final burial event in the platform, burial F.3808.

elements (basket with skull and bundle with infracranial skeleton) belong to the same individual, and it appears that these were interred at the same time, together with a number of different artefacts. The way the burial was executed is intriguing. It had a rather large (0.65 x 0.7m) and deep (0.5m) rectangular cut. First, the container 22196.x1, which held the cranium and mandible (22196), was placed towards the eastern edge of the cut, together with a number of different items (figs 20.8 and 20.9). The cranium was painted red with cinnabar and may have also been lightly plastered. The basket, 22196.x1, contained within it a very interesting collection of items. At its bottom was a circular piece of wood, which was mineralised. The skull was placed above this, upright, facing east. ‘Apart from the cranium, in the container were also: two daggers made of flint (lying under the mandible) [fig. 20.10] and a shell (abutting the eastern side of the container)’ (Diary, EC, 31 May 2016).

Burial F.3808. Burial F.3808 was a unique burial, which represented the superposed interment of two secondary skeletal elements: a red-painted cranium and mandible in a basket, and a bundle of partially articulated infracranial elements, including a vertebral column and limb bones (fig. 20.7). While impossible to prove without further ancient DNA analysis, it is very likely that the two

Figure 20.7. The upper level of burial F.3808, with skeleton (22195) placed as a very tight bundle within its cut (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 20.9. Daily sketch of items in burial F.3808 in Building 5 (by Erica Camurri).

Figure 20.8. Container 22196.x1 with cranium (22196), projectiles 22194.x2, 22194.x3, 22194.x4 and 22194.x5, shell 22194.x6 and ‘macehead’ 22194.x1 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 20.10. Flint blades 22196.x3 and 22196.x4 found under cranium (22196) (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

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Chapter 20: Tung. Building 5 To the west of the container, closer to the western edge of the burial’s cut, were four ‘exquisite’ obsidian projectiles (22194.x2, 22194.x3, 22194.x4 and 22194.x5). These projectiles were placed as a separate cluster, possibly wrapped in an elongated reed matt, as evidenced by the large amount of phytoliths surrounding them. In between the bundle of projectiles and the container with the cranium were a shell, 22194.x6, and a marble ‘macehead’, 22194.x1. The well-preserved shell had remnants of red paint within it, perhaps even representing the pigment on the cranium. The perforated spherical marble 22194.x1 was about 0.06m in diameter, with a complex design of perfectly executed parallel grooves (fig. 20.11). Once the basket with the cranium and other artefacts were placed, the burial was partially filled. Then, the bundle containing the infracranial bones (22195) was placed immediately above the skull, with an east–west orientation. The individual had to be partially decomposed at the time of its interment, as ‘the position of some of the bones (femur behind spinal column) was only possible if she/he was partially fleshed … with just some preserved ligaments holding together the spinal column’ (Diary, EC, 19 May 2016). Furthermore, there were thick imprints of phytoliths perpendicular to the orientation of the burial that appear to represent remnants of cordage that held the bundle together. Once skeleton (22195) was lifted by the excavators, another set of phytolith imprints was observed under the bundle that more closely resembled matting (online fig. S20.4). The individual was missing its hands and feet. This is a clear example of a delayed burial practice (for a wider discussion of such practices see Volume 13, Chapter 15). There are other details in burial F.3808 that make it extremely interesting. The perforated marble sphere showed no signs of wear, suggesting either that it was ‘deposited in the burial not long after it was made’ (Tsoraki 2016: 189) or that it was an object that was kept out of use before its deposition. Either way, it certainly must have been an object of reverence and power, and it represents the only incised example found at Çatalhöyük. Interestingly, like the perforated marble sphere, the four obsidian projectiles showed no traces of use, as if ‘they were manufactured for the sole purpose of being interred within this burial’ (Doyle 2016: 167). The skull in the basket has been identified as a young adult possible male. The curation and treatment of the skull is certainly a symbolic act, possibly representing, amongst other things, reverence, commemoration or the harnessing of power. The juxtaposition of seemingly new creations with a person transformed into another state of being further accentuates the importance of the context.

Figure 20.11. Close-up of the perforated sphere 22194.x1 with grooves organised in crossing pattern (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

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The entire context was sealed by a thick layer (0.04m) of reddish-brown silty clay make-up, excavated as (22192). This make-up layer was in turn sealed with fine layers of plaster that were heavily eroded. During the final occupation phase of the building, platforms F.3811 and F.3812 were joined to form a single, large platform, F.3809. Above this platform, ledge F.243 was built abutting wall F.230. Further, a mini-buttress, F.248, was constructed to support the eastward lean of the western wall. Discussion Assigned to Level North F, Building 5 represents a house that existed midway through the Çatalhöyük Neolithic sequence. Much of the archaeological evidence also reflects this placement: Building 5 follows Çatalhöyük’s typical north–south division in the use of space, with its entry located in the southern end of the building by the oven. The flanking of side spaces to both the east and west of a main space, though, is not very common, and at B.5 this seems to have resulted in the utilisation of the western platform as the main focus of burial. The construction of support walls to the northern wall suggests that an attempt was made to deal with some sort of instability. Similar support walls were utilised at B.114 and B.132 in the North Area, it bears asking whether these walls were built for support or actually fulfilled a specific symbolic purpose. Building 1 was built directly above B.5, following B.5’s footprint. Like B.5, B.1 had two side spaces to the west of its main space. However, B.1 did not have a side room to the east, although two walls keyed into the eastern wall and extending out about 1m defined the bounds of the eastern platform. Such similarly built households helped to inspire the idea of ‘history houses’ and the importance of the members of these houses passing rituals and

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons symbolic practices on through time for the continuity and social coherence of the community (Hodder, Pels 2010). Building 1 has been interpreted as a special case, with its massive number of burials (over 60 individuals), most of which were excavated from the northwestern and western platforms of the building. The discovery of the burials interred in the western platform of B.5 during the final excavation campaign have reinforced our understanding of the strong social connections between B.5 and B.1. The discovery of the different burials under the western platform of B.5 contradicts previous views that the building did not contain any interments at all (Cessford 2007b: 380), in what was thought to be stark

contrast to B.1. What seems even more interesting is that burial F.3808 was very likely the final interment that went into B.5. While it is true that the entirety of the building was not excavated, no other burial cuts were located anywhere in the building during the final excavation campaign, despite the excessive erosion that would have revealed earlier depositional activities. Burial F.3808 likely represents a delayed burial event, a practice that may have happened frequently in the North Area, as evidenced by burials in Sp.602, B.131 and B.129. Furthermore, B.5 demonstrates strong social ties between households through its shared crawl-hole with Building 139.

Supplementary material For supplementary material related to this chapter, please visit https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12. The supplementary material comprises figures S20.1–S20.4.

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21. Building 52 and related buildings Burcu Tung and Marek Z. Barański Building 52 (fig. 21.1) dominates a cluster of buildings that includes B.49, B.48 and B.82, towards the southern end of the North Shelter. B.52 has an unusual life history. The building actually represents the expansion of an earlier Building 167, which annexed much of the footprint and utilised the walls of Buildings 163 and subsequently Building 165. B.52 saw an intense conflagration during its abandonment. The main space of the building was then cleared out for the construction of B.51, which was a small building consisting of a single space, utilising some of the walls of B.52 as well as the northern platforms at the eastern end of Space 94. Through its life history, B.52 underwent a number of structural changes, with not only the addition of side rooms to its northwest and its southeast but also the replacement of many of its posts. The excavation of Building 52 took place over a number of years. It was first exposed in 2005 and left for public display after the end of the 2006 excavation season because of the elaboration it exhibited. Excavations in the

building recommenced in 2013 due to the extensive damage that had occurred in after its exposure beneath the North Shelter. Buildings 163, 165 and 167, three buildings that are stratigraphically under Building 52, were exposed in 2017, the final excavation season of the Çatalhöyük Research Project. However, none of these buildings were excavated in their entirety. Building 52 is abutted by B.49 and B.82. It is probable that the buildings overlapped in use, displaying similar floor heights and lithic assemblages. Farid (2014a) placed B.52 into Level North G, mostly based on the dominance of East Göllü Dağ bifaces and percussion blades, although the later phases of the building also had lithic assemblages that have been placed into Level North H. Within the current framework of the North Area’s phasing, B.52 has been placed into Level North G based on its stratigraphic relationship with B.167, which has been placed into Level North F. Building 167 has been placed into

Figure 21.1. Overview of Building 52 within the North Shelter (photograph Jason Quinlan).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons North F based on its cross-abuttal relationship with B.163, which has a cross-abuttal relationship with B.132. The abandonment of B.165, on the other hand, may even have predated the construction of B.163, based on its appearance of being truncated; this, however, requires further investigation.

The nature of the fire that defined the end of Building 52 has been of interest to many researchers (e.g., Twiss et al. 2008; Harrison 2008). Based on heat patterns evident across the earthen architecture, forensic archaeologist Karl Harrison concluded that the fire in the building started in two separate locations, was sustained with the use of fuel and took place in an openair environment (Harrison 2008). His interpretation suggests that the roof of the building was already dismantled before the building was set aflame. The relatively clean and processed infill of Spaces 290, 255, 291 and 377 also suggests that closure activities had already begun before the fire engulfed Spaces 93 and 94, and to a certain degree Spaces 91 and 92 (See Farid 2014b: 387–89). That another building, B.51, was immediately built, following the blueprint of the eastern end of Space 94 by utilising the same locations for its two northern platforms and central hearth, further suggests that the residents of B.52 carefully deliberated on both the closure of their building and the foundation of B.51. Nonetheless, excavations within Building 51 revealed that the building had a short life history and was abandoned by the more ‘traditional’ means of simply infilling the building. The infill of the main building was relatively sterile, homogenous and well processed, although it was slightly ashy and orange in colour, probably residual remains of the fire. Although the conditions set forth for the conflagration of B.52 may have been different, the artefact density found within the building is comparable to that of B.77. The contents found within the building were not discards but usable items, such as the large number of projectile points found within various bins, and presumably would therefore have been valuable for the building’s residents. The botanical evidence suggests the storage of many foodstuffs within ‘bags’ that hung from the walls in Building 52. Botanical remains such as wild almonds and peas were found within bins as well. The faunal remains recovered within Building 52 convey an interesting story. There was a large stack of horn cores – aurochs and goat – by the bucranium in the main room, remains of an equid were distributed across Spaces 93 and 94, and a large number of sheep and goat metapodials were found, to give a few examples. This ‘represents long-term procurement and considerable effort’ (Farid 2014b: 381) and represents a similar practice of collecting and depositing a single type of material within a building that is to be abandoned as was seen with the ground stone and stone in Building 77.

Overview of B.52’s main features and previous findings At the end of its life history, B.52 (Farid 2014b: 364) comprised the large main Space 94 (fig. 21.2), surrounded to its south and east by multiple rooms, including a space at the western end of the building that was likely used as an open area (Space 90). Space 94 (fig. 21.3) was irregular in shape as a result of the expansion of B.167. The eastern half of the space followed the same configuration as B.167, with two platforms abutting the northern wall. The two platforms would continue to be used as platforms in B.51. To the south of the platforms, the lower floor extended 3.3m by 2.6m. It was divided into two sections, the central floor area and the southern floor area, by raised architectural elements aligned east–west across two posts, one located by the eastern wall (pedestal F.1483) and another by the western raised area (post F.7575). The southern floors contained more features and activity spots in comparison to the central floor area. By the end of the building’s life, the western end of Space 94 stood at least 0.3m above the central floor segment and was dominated also by two platforms, which were separated by a bench. This area underwent a number of changes through time. A plastered bucranium was eventually set into a niche in the western wall. The final rendition of the dividing bench contained left-sided aurochs horn cores attached only to the southern face of the bench. A step connected the lower central floor segment to the southwestern platform, which stood higher than the main floors. A number of posts were placed presumably to assist in bearing the load of an expansive roof. Space 255 to the southeast of Space 94 contained a couple of bins and seems to have been part of Building 52 from its inception, as with its predecessor B.167. Space 290 to the southwest of Space 94, like Space 291, was a later addition that defined the southernmost end of the constantly expanding building. Space 93 was located to the northwest of Space 94 and was part of the building from inception. It contained four large bins (fig. 21.4). To the west of Space 94 were Spaces 91 and 92, which formed a continuous side room that was likely used in domestic activities, as inferred from the oven located at its southern end (fig. 21.5). To the north of Space 91 was Space 377, another added room, whose function remains unclear. The function of Space 90, to the west of Spaces 91 and 92, also remains unclear, but it likely represents an open area added during the final occupation phase of Building 52.

Summary of phasing Table 21.1 represents the main five phases that have been recorded.

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Figure 21.2. Plan of latest occupation Phase B52.5 (see Farid 2014b) (shading is used to aid visual understanding of the different features in building; in general, darker shading indicates more upstanding features).

Chapter 21: Tung and Barański. Building 52 and related buildings

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Figure 21.3. Overview of Space 94, pre-excavation 2013. The erosion on the surfaces of the platforms and the undercutting of the walls is clearly evident (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 21.5. Spaces 91 and 92 showing oven (photograph Jason Quinlan).

took place on internal features, such as the maintenance on a bench or a major remodelling episode of the central floor segment. As with Building 77, connecting the different features and units that were left for display in 2005 to those that remained in the field during their excavation from 2010 onwards was not an entirely straightforward process:

Figure 21.4. Space 93 in Building 52 showing bins (photograph Jason Quinlan). The phasing of B.52 was built on the work completed by Farid (2014b). The phases of Building 52 have been differentiated through the replacement of ovens, as well as large-scale construction activities that took place during the life history of the building (fig. 21.6). These main phases were then divided into sub-phases, which were then distinguished through major renovations that

The building has been left for display since 2005, since it was one of the more spectacular ones, with several platforms, bins, hearths and last but not least a bucranium set in one of the walls. I started working with the bench (F.2021), located on the platform F.2177 in the southwestern corner of Space 94. The bench was also – or had been – quite spectacular, since three large horns were fitted to its northern side. Unfortunately, since the building was destroyed by fire, the horns had already in the Neolithic collapsed and needed to be removed by the conservation team. The same went for the bucranium: after eight years [of] exposure, it needed to be taken down… The difficulties I have met so far have to a

Burials

Phase

Spaces

B.52 Phase 1: construction

576, 90, 93, 94, 255, 290

B.52 Phase 2: early cccupation

576, 90, 93, 94, 255, 290

Burial F.8508

B.52 Phase 3: mid occupation

576, 90, 93, 94, 255, 290

Burial F.7606

B.52 Phase 4: expansion

90, 645, 93, 94, 290

B.52 Phase 5: late occupation

90, 91/92, 93, 94, 290, 291, 377

B.52 Phase 6: abandonment

90, 91/92, 93, 94, 255, 290, 291

Table 21.1. Summary of phasing in B.52.

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Chapter 21: Tung and Barański. Building 52 and related buildings large extent been related to the fact that I have had to take over after the archaeologists who excavated in 2005, a task that is not always easy. For one, the units and features that were already described in 2005 and then left as they were have in the eight years that have passed gone through changes due to erosion and exposure. So I find myself in a position where I have to continue filling out already existing unit sheets, but the information that is ... on them is no longer correct. What to do? Should I leave the information from 2005, which is probably more correct in a sense, when it comes to description of the units in their original state? Or should I describe them as I see them today? I do both as it is, leaving the original notes and adding my own – it seems to be the most sensible thing to do. In some cases, though, I have had to reinterpret earlier information, when I have believed things to be different (as, for instance, in one case where a layer on the platform was described as earlier than the bench, where I could see that it actually comprised both earlier and later parts) (Diary, KJ, 7 July 2013). The predecessors of Building 52: Buildings 163, 165 and 167 Building 52 is a unique building in terms of its development. Its predecessor was B.167, which was a small building in the North Area, built on a north–south axis, within a neighbourhood that certainly had much larger households. Immediately west of B.167 was B.163, which was built immediately south of B.132. West of B.163 were the remnants of B.165. Of these three buildings, only B.167 has been partially excavated.

Figure 21.6. Isometric drawing of the development of B.52 from B.167 (a) through phases of occupation of B.52 (b–d) to B.51 (e) (Marek Barański).

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Building 163 Building 163 is situated directly to the east of building B.165 (figs 21.7 and 21.8). Not all of the limits of the outer walls of B.163 could be defined, as they remained either beneath the walls of B.52 or beneath infill. Its northern wall F.8529 supported the construction of B.52. Its eastern wall F.8528 was truncated severely during the construction of B.52. Its southern wall F.8527 still remains mostly under wall F.2012 of B.52. Its western wall seems to have doglegged towards the west, but it remains under other archaeological deposits, and its definite limit could not be asserted. Similarly, the western end of the southern wall is unclear. It is, however, very likely that the doglegged western wall and the southern wall met each other to form a cohesive space. The interior of building B.163 appears to be divided into two main parts: a northern room Sp.147 (connected with the niche Sp.627 by a narrow passageway) and a southern room Sp.626 (online fig. S21.1). These spaces

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons are separated from each other by a simple division wall F.8532, whose construction could have been associated with one of the late phases of occupation of building B.163. This assumption is based on the fact that the eastern end of wall F.8532 is built against the remnants of a possible multi-plastered bench or another, yet earlier, partition wall F.7767. The arrangement of internal features of building B.163 remains a puzzle, and further excavation are needed for resolution. The whole of the interior of building B.163 seems to have been filled with deposits (23479), (23807) and (23836), which are mostly made up of architectural debris. These remains and scattered pieces come – at least partly – from the collapsed upper storey, as suggested by chunks of floor sequence and fragments of fire installations. There are also some traces of in situ burning that affected the remnants of mudbrick structures F.7767 and F.8532 mentioned above (the very top parts of these features were baked and cracked, in the form of numerous mud clumps). The room fill of building B.163 was partly sealed by a sequence of thin pinkish-orange deposits excavated as (23482). The orange tone of the deposits may derive from coprolites, suggesting that once B.163 was abandoned, the space, defined as Sp.480, was used in penning. It is not possible to state how long this area was used in such a way, but it is very likely that it was at least partly contemporary with Building 167 to the east. While penning deposits have been found across the site in different contexts, they are not always as common as one might expect. The earliest evidence comes from Level South H, Space 199, associated with the construction of the earliest architectural structure found on the Eastern Mound, wall F.551 (Cessford 2007c: 100). Most recently, penning deposits have been identified in the North

Shelter, within Sp.630, the earliest architectural level exposed in the North Area (Chapter 31). Open areas often contain some evidence for herbivore dung used in fuel consumption, but deposits determined to be direct evidence of penning are scarce, particularly since such deposits can often only be confirmed through micromorphological analysis (Matthews et al. 2013). Building 165 Building 165, situated immediately west of B.163, was only partly exposed (see figs 21.7 and 21.8). As a result, only the outlines of the walls that define the northeast corner of the building have been documented. This northeastern corner was dominated by a large platform that was first exposed in 2005, after the fill of Sp.90 was excavated. This platform, F.2142, abutted the northern and eastern walls. The internal faces of the walls were covered with multiple layers of wall plaster, over 0.03m in thickness, suggesting not only the domestic character of space Sp.632 but even possibly a relatively long life history for B.165. B.165 has been assigned to Level North F based on its cross-abuttal relationship with B.163. The building infill has not been excavated. Midden-like deposits accumulated within the building’s boundaries after its abandonment, although it is unclear whether some of these deposits predate the construction of Sp.90, related to the expansion of B.52, or whether they actually postdate Sp.90 and are related to the activities within the space. Building 167 Building B.167 directly precedes house B.52 (fig. 21.9). It is situated on the north–south axis and covers an area of about 21m2. B.167 consists of two spaces:

Figure 21.7. Overview of B.163, B.165 and B.167 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

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Figure 21.8. Plan of B.163, B.165 and B.167 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons northern main room Sp.634 and southern storage annexe Sp.635. These spaces are defined by plastered walls (F.1577, F.1578, F.1580, F2014, F.2015 and F.2016), which are preserved to a height of about 0.7m. B.167 was exposed during the final excavation season. Many of its final occupational deposits were excavated in groups (that is, multiple thin plastered surfaces with relevant make-ups) to hasten the excavation process, in order to understand the evolution of the building. As a result of the excavations, three phases have been distinguished with regard to building B.167: B.167 Phase C, the construction of B.167; B.167 Phase B, the early/mid occupation of the building; and B.167 Phase A, the late occupation of the building. The phasing of the occupation deposits has been distinguished in relation to the building’s fire installation remodelling. Only deposits and features associated with B.167 Phase A and B.167 Phase B were excavated and documented. B.167 does not have an abandonment phase associated with it. Rather, the occupants of the building expanded their residence with the additional construction of multiple rooms to the west of B.167, while knocking down the central section of B.167’s western wall (see below). These activities resulted in the establishment of B.52. B.167 followed the more-or-less standard Çatalhöyük layout (online fig. S21.2), with its clean areas to the north and dirty areas to the south. Main room Sp.634 was divided into three general areas with the use of kerbs and platforms. The northern activity area consisted of two platforms abutting the northern wall. The central activity area was a clean floor surface separated from the southern ‘dirty’ activity area by a kerb and bench. The southern activity area contained both the hearth and the oven of the building. Space 635, to the south of the main room was likely utilised as a storage space.

B.167 Phase B: early/mid occupation. During the early/mid occupation of B.167 (fig. 21.10), in Sp.634, platforms F.8424 and F.8525 dominated the northern part of the space, as they would throughout the occupation of the building. These features were each about 1.2m long and 1.5m wide, and they were separated by ca 0.15mwide kerb F.8526 (online fig. S21.3). The kerb and parts of the platforms alongside the walls F.1577, F.1578 and F.1580, as well as the lower parts of these walls themselves, were painted red. Both platforms were largely truncated by later burials of building B.52. A highly disturbed burial, F.8516, of a primary neonate infant skeleton (23805) may be associated with this phase of B.167. The infant, located underneath a sequence of other burials, was flexed, lying on its right with its head to the south, facing east (online fig. S21.4). The infant seemed to have been buried in a basket that may have been covered in organic material of some sort, as indicated by a variety of residues comparable to those found in Building 77 (see Chapter 22). The infant was buried with quite a bit of personal adornment: This individual was buried wearing a bead anklet consisting of alternating black and white ovoid stone beads that was in situ around the left ankle [fig. 21.11]. Other loose beads of pink limestone were recovered around the neck region and round stone beads were recovered from the region of the right wrist, along with a thin piece of beaten copper in the region of the right hand. A single fragment of the cranial vault revealed cinnabar staining (confirmed with PXRF based on the presence of Hg) (Haddow et al. 2017: 104–5).

Figure 21.9. Building 167 at the end of the 2017 excavation season (photograph Jason Quinlan).

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There was also a small oval depression documented in the plastered surface of the eastern platform, which could be a trace of a burial, but this feature was not excavated. A similar but much larger depression was noted in the central floor area, under floors (23833). The southern edge of these floors was defined by a plastered kerb and a small bench, the latter built perpendicular to the eastern wall F.1578. Bench F.8539 seems also to mark the southern edge of an earlier eastern platform, that only faintly emerged at the end of the 2017 excavations. Further excavations are needed to define its edges, as the platform remains sealed under floors (23833). Within what would have been the original eastern platform of the building, cutting floors (23821) which sealed floors (23833), was burial F.8521. Burial F.8521 included the remains of two individuals: a child (23837) aged 5 years (+/−1.5 years) at death, which appeared to be deposited first and later disturbed by the inhumation of a middle adult female (23827)

Chapter 21: Tung and Barański. Building 52 and related buildings

Figure 21.10. Plan of Building 167 Phase B (plan by Camilla Mazzucato).

(online fig. S21.5). The adult female (23827) was buried flexed, head to the south and feet to the north, facing west. The child was pushed to the east. A single, relatively large ground stone piece was found in direct contact with skeleton (23827), right by the flexed knees.

The southern activity area was characterised by dirty floors (23840) and fire installations, namely a badly preserved circular hearth F.8536 and badly preserved/truncated oven (23822). The building was very likely entered through the southeastern corner, onto a

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Figure 21.11. Detail of the bead anklet found with infant (23805) within burial F.8516 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

platform F.8512, which has been truncated with the removal of the entry ladder during the expansion phase of B.52 (see below). The diagonal print of the ladder can be seen on the southern face of wall F.2015. Further south was side room Sp.635, which contained some patchy floors (23831), as well as remnants of two storage bins. The first of these features was situated in the southeast and the other in the northwest corner of the space. Sp.635 was connected to the main room through a wide opening. B.167 Phase A: late occupation. The late occupation of building B.167 is characterised by a new sequence of floors, platforms and relevant make-ups that had built up over similar earlier features (see matrix online fig. S21.23). The northern platforms F.8524 and F.8525 were re-plastered with multiple layers and continued to be separated by a kerb. Traces of red paint were found on the white plastered surfaces. There was a circular cut through floors (23803) on the western platform. This feature, defined as F.8515, is likely a burial and was left unexcavated. Some minor changes were visible with regard to the southern part of the main room. Two earlier fire installations were replaced with a new hearth (23819) and a domed oven F.8518 that was cut into partition wall F.2015. This dirty floor area was once again separated from the central part of the room by plastered kerb (23818). It is worth noting that the floor to the north of the kerb might at some point have been partly decorated, as suggested by a plaster and corresponding make-up layer (23839) rich in fragments of red pigment. The late occupation phase of B.167 was followed by the construction of B.52.

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Building 52 Phase 1: construction Many of B.52’s walls remain in situ due to the time constraints faced in the final excavation season. Priority was directed to the excavation not of the building’s walls but of the surrounding contexts, albeit excavated out of sequence, to better understand the evolution of the building. As such, most of the steps that took place in the expansion of B.167 and hence the establishment of B.52 have been observed and documented. These are the following, even if not in exact order: the preparation of B.167 for expansion with the removal of posts; the partial knocking down of the western wall of B.167 and the partial truncation of the eastern wall of B.163 to create an opening to Sp.94; the construction of the walls of B.52; the laying of posts and the roof of B.52; and the configuration of the internal features of the building. The construction of B.52 involved the partial truncation of western wall F.1580 of building B.167 and the eastern wall of B.163. This trench, recorded as cut (10166), extended about 2.9m north–south and 0.7m east–west. This action went hand in hand with the removal of one of two side-by-side engaged pillars, abutting wall F.1580, as suggested by double postretrieval pit F.8511. Immediately afterwards, a number of additional walls were constructed east of B.167 to establish B.52. The additional walls that made up the western half of B.52 were carefully constructed and mostly utilised the walls of B.163 as foundations. A total of an additional eight walls formed three separate spaces surrounding Sp.94, in addition to Sp.255. As such, B.52 (fig. 21.12) consisted of an irregularly shaped main room Sp.94, Spaces 255 and 290 to the south of Space 94, Space 93 to the northwest of Sp.94 and Spaces 90 and 576 to the west. It is impossible to discern the order of construction of the walls that formed the newly added spaces, as most of them remain in situ. The remaining northern section of the eastern wall of B.163, F.8528, was sealed by wall F.2007. Similarly, the northern wall of B.163, F.8529, acted as a foundation for wall F.2008, an east–west-aligned wall bonded to F.2007, forming the northern limit of the western half of B.52. North–south-aligned western wall F.2140 was bonded to wall F.2007 to the north and wall F.2012 to the south, forming the building’s western boundary. This wall was constructed not on top of B.163’s western wall but partially on top of its division wall F.8532. Wall F.2012 was built above B.163’s southern wall, and bonded to wall F.2013, built above B.163’s eastern wall. Division wall F.2106 bonded with southern wall F.2012 and, further extending south, bonded to wall F.1486, which in turn bonded to wall

Chapter 21: Tung and Barański. Building 52 and related buildings

Figure 21.12. Plan of Building 52 Phase 1, with the placement of the posts (plan by Camilla Mazzucato).

F.2014 forming Sp.290. Division wall F.2035 bonded to northern wall F.2008, forming space 93. The southern end of Sp.93 was defined by wall F.2032 which bonded to wall F.2007. Of these walls, only F.2140, F.2035, F.2106 and F.2032 were excavated. The walls were constructed utilising a light-brown/orangish-brown fine sandy clay, with bricks measuring about 0.8m in length, 0.3m in width and 0.1m in thickness. A large animal’s mandible

was found directly under the northern end of wall F.2140, recorded as 12371.s7. Wall F.8506, within Space 576, was also excavated: An internal wall defined the northern limit of production area Sp.576. The state of its preservation was bad, as the northern face was exposed for a few seasons. The southern face bore some traces of impure lime plaster. The wall was clearly

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Building 52 Phase 2: early occupation During the early occupation of B.52 (fig. 21.13), Space 94 was dominated by four platforms and a lower floor area. A large oven dominated the southwestern corner of Sp.576, which also contained a number of other features. Side rooms Sp.93 and Sp.290 were relatively devoid of features, although this may be due to later truncations that occurred during various maintenance episodes. Sp.255, having been blocked off during the construction of B.52, remained inaccessible.

bonded with western wall F.2140 of B.52. It seemed that its eastern edge was truncated, as this wall did not abut or bond with any other mudbrick structure to the east. It is possible that this truncation was caused by construction of wall F.2185 associated with Sp.91 and Sp.377 (FS 8506, MZB, 13 June 2017). A number of engaged posts, posts and pillars were employed within Sp.94, presumably for the structural integrity of the roof. However, it is also possible that some of the posts were utilised in the framing of a mezzanine level. Engaged post F.8850 abutted the truncated end of wall F.1580. Engaged post F.8850 was in turn abutted by a second post, F.8851. The end of wall F.2007 was also abutted by an engaged post, F.7770. Similarly, the truncated end of wall F.2013 was abutted by engaged post F.8855. These posts, while undoubtedly supporting the walls, most likely extended towards the roof to support cross-beams that would have held it up. Posts F.8853 and F.8854, which were placed centrally along the line of the former wall, also most likely supported the cross-beams of the roof of the building. An engaged post F.2172 was placed abutting division wall F.2106 at the western end of Sp.94. A pillar, F.8852, was utilised at the southwestern corner of the space, although it is not entirely clear if this pillar held a post. Post F.7587 was located centrally in the southern central floor area. In addition to these new posts and engaged posts within Sp.94, two engaged posts that were utilised within B.167, abutting eastern wall F.1578, carried through into the early phases of B.52 – engaged post F.8513 to the north and engaged post F.7620 to the south. Small buttress-like features that have been defined as ‘benches’ supporting the western wall of the building within Space 576 may have also been placed there as a structural support, although their function is difficult to discern. Many of the engaged posts and posts were renewed during B.52’s Phase 4, a major renovation phase, as evidenced by the retrieval-scars that denoted their presence in the first place. An interesting decision in the use of space during the construction of B.52 was the blocking of Space 255, the southern side room of B.167, with mudbrick and mortar F.7774. It is not clear why the access to this small space was constricted. The brick and mortar of F.7774 sealed the last floor sequence within Sp.255, recorded as (22260). B.52 seems to have had two entrances into the building: a new entrance was placed into Sp.576 at its southeastern corner, while the original entrance into B.167 continued to be used for B.52.

Space 94 Three main activity areas were established during this phase. The northern activity area was dominated by two platforms, built above the former platforms of B.167. Platform F.7617 was to the northeast and platform F.7605 was to the northwest (online fig. S21.6). Immediately south of the platforms was the central floor area, which no longer contained fire installations. The western half of Space 94, the newly built addition, had two western platforms which were separated from each other with the use of a bench. Platform F.7638 was to the north of bench F.8507 while platform F.7637 was to the south (fig. 21.14). Northern activity area. Northeastern platform F.7617 was defined by (23463), which represents a sequence of three light-grey/white plastering episodes and their corresponding orangey-brown make-ups. The new platform, extending 1.43m north–south and 1.3m east– west, was approximately 0.25m shorter in length than its predecessor. However, it extended further west, sealing a kerb that separated the northern platforms in B.167. Similarly, platform F.7605, extending 1.3m north–south and 1.35m east–west, was set back 0.24m. Unit (23483) represents the early use of the platform. Burial F.8508 (online fig. S21.7), cutting into the northwestern corner of platform F.7617, belonged to the primary remains of a prenatal skeleton (23469). The flexed body was lying on its right side, oriented east– west, with the head to the west, facing north. The preterm baby was likely 34 weeks into gestation, making it too young to be viable at birth. The individual seemed to have been placed within a container or wrapping and was laid centrally within its circular cut (23466), with plenty of space to spare. No finds were associated with the skeleton or found within the burial fill (23465). Central floors. Floors (23495) lay immediately to the south of the platforms, covering the northern end of the central floor area. The consecutive layers of burnt floor plaster had some barley impressions. Similar marks were documented in other floors of the building, covering

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Chapter 21: Tung and Barański. Building 52 and related buildings

Figure 21.13. Plan of Building 52 Phase 2 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato). different areas throughout the building’s life history. The impressive preservation of these marks is likely due to the conflagration that marked the building’s abandonment. Floors (23496), on the other hand, covered the southern end of the central floor area, completely sealing the fire installations used within B.167.

was defined by bench F.8507, which transformed through the life of B.52, becoming more elaborate in different phases with the addition of horns, but always remaining a central feature in the western activity area. The eastern edge of the platform was defined by sunken floors connecting platform F.7638 to the floors further east, immediately south of the northern platforms. The earliest floors and the initial construction were excavated as a single unit (23443). The construction of the platform was an orangey brown sandy make-up that abutted the core of bench F.8507 to the south. These first floors were sealed on their eastern end with floor surface (23446), which extended the platform some 20cm to the east.

Western activity area. The western activity area of Sp.94 was dominated by platforms F.7637 and F.7638. Platform F.7638 dominated the northern half of the western activity area, abutting internal wall F.2032 to the north and wall F.2106 to the west. It measured 1.62m north–south and 1.70m east west. Its southern boundary

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Figure 21.14. West-facing photograph of western activity area with platforms F.7637, F.7638 and bench F.8507 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Subsequently, the platform was plastered multiple times with a marl-rich plaster. These plaster renderings, which were badly burnt during closure, were excavated as (23437) and (23430). The core of bench F.8507, (23440), was made from light-brown firm compacted brick, measuring about 0.7m in length, 0.2m in height and 0.2m in depth. It was sealed with marl-based plaster (23441), before it was extended to the edge of the western platforms with (23439) (fig. 21.15). Platform F.7637 made up the southern half of the western activity area, defined by bench F.8507 to the north, wall F.2106 to the west, wall F.2012 to the south and wall F.2013 to the east. Its northeastern edge was abutted by step F.7642, which connected platform F.7637 to the central floor area. Platform F.7637 was covered a number of times with marl-based plasters and their accompanying make-ups, alongside step F.7642. During this early phase of B.52, the platform was simply plastered over, with little evidence of other activities. Platform F.7637 connected Sp.94 to Sp.576 via access F.7754. Access 7754 was made by truncating wall F.2106, which was turned into a threshold (fig. 21.16), formed by a single wooden beam lying flat (22234), connected to two upright beams at both ends. Preserved as phytoliths in addition to salt accretions within the cell structures, the imprints of the wood were highly visible. Platform F.7637 also connected with Sp.290 through access F.2181.

Figure 21.15. Bench F.8507, with extension (23439) and core (23440). Facing south (photograph by Marek Barański).

Figure 21.16. Wooden beam (22234) in passageway F.7754 (photograph by Jason Quinlan). Space 576 Space 576 could be considered the main production area of B.52, given that at this earlier phase of the building, the only oven and hearth were located here. Oven F.8504 dominated the southwestern corner of the space (fig. 21.17). It was cut into both walls F.2012 and F.2140. Truncated in the Neolithic by different construction activities, only its base and a single floor survived, extending 1.16m east–west, 1m north–south. The oval construction, (23420), was oriented east–west, and the eastern end of the feature was shaped to contain a small, open hearth area. The fire installation seems to have been used for only one phase. It was carefully cleaned out before its partial demolition for the construction of oven F.2195, in B52 Phase 3. A shallow pit, F.8500, likely marks the ladder entry into the space, by the mouth of the fire installation. The fire installation was built on top of floor (31411) and (31423), which covered the rest of the space. To the north of the fire installation, abutting western wall F.2140, was bench F.8502. The badly eroded and

Space 255 Space 255, which was a side room that contained bins and other features during the life history of B.167, was blocked with the construction of blocking F.7774, which extended from wall F.2014 to division wall F.2015. The space does not seem to have been utilised at this time.

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Figure 21.17. Remnants of superstructure (23420) of oven F.8504 in the southwestern corner of Sp.576. Facing south. The slight depression by the mouth of the oven would have been a hearth area. Immediately to the left of the fire installation is pit F.8503, which is likely where the entry ladder rested (photograph by Marek Barański).

truncated feature, 0.45m long, 0.45m wide and preserved to 0.13m in height, was covered on its top and northern face with plaster (23413). A similar feature, F.8537, was immediately to its north, again abutting wall F.2140, but smaller in size (0.34m by 0.28m, preserved to 0.1m in height). North of bench F.8537 was bench F.8505, similar in size to F.8502. All of the benches had evidence of being plastered over. A large basin, F.7778, was built between benches F.8505 and F.8537, extending over the entire width of the room. Abutting the western face of wall F.2106 was another bench, F.2184, which likely had a structural function. To its north were what seems to have been the remnants of an engaged post, F.8501. These two features were incorporated into a bin F.7777 (online fig. S21.8). The northern end of the space contained a small division wall, F.8506.

Figure 21.18. Bin F.2003 in 2008, after its fill had been completely removed. Facing east (photograph by Dave Mackie). Bin F.2003 (fig. 21.18) was the first bin to have been constructed within the storage room, Sp.93, and therefore has been phased to B52.2. The bin was constructed using a wooden post (16758) that supported its southeastern corner (online fig. S21.9). F.2003 was also the largest bin within the space, 1.2m in length, 0.7m in width and standing at least 0.35m tall. The bin was constructed on a grey make-up layer (11920) that filled a slump towards the northern wall of the space F.2008. The bin walls, which were excavated as a single unit (11922), were made from two constructional elements: an inner core of grey make-up and an outer orangey-brown brick-like layer. The grey core actually abutted a plastered surface on walls F.2008 and F.2007, which presumably belonged to the final plastering of Space 147 and was built up around post (16578). The outer yellowish brick layer abutted the upper reaches of the walls that did not contain any plaster. Other than the construction of the bin, no occupational deposits were found relating to this early occupation phase. This is likely due to the fact that such deposits would have been scoured out during the use of the building itself. However, it should be noted that the bin and the floor of the room were exposed for several years after 2008 and therefore subject to quite a bit of erosion.

Space 93 Space 93 was situated near the northwest corner of B.52. It was accessed through the western space of the building, Sp.91, from its western side. It measured about 2m east–west and 2.4m north–south and contained four relatively large and well-defined bins that flanked the northern and eastern walls. During excavations that took place in the room in 2005, a very large number of different types of artefacts, artefact groups, faunal, and floral remains were found. At the end of B.52’s life history, Space 93 was used for the storage of different types of grain and rather large quantities of meat, as well as stone and bone assemblages, one recognised as a bone-working kit. Burnt rodent bones and pellets found in one of the bins suggest that the room was infested before its conflagration.

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Space 290 Space 290 was accessed from the southeastern end of platform F.7637 in Sp.94, through access F.2181. The space was covered with a thick plaster coating (22269) that sealed the make-up (23460). No finds were associated with these contexts.

Western activity area. The western activity area of the building, defined by platforms F.7638 and F.7637, bench F.8507 and step F.7642, underwent a number of maintenance and re-plastering episodes (fig. 21.23). The floors of platform F.7638 were particularly damaged towards its eastern end, as the conflagration during the abandonment of the building had been focused on this area. A number of badly preserved patchy floors were excavated as (22284), (22238) and (22209). Unfortunately, the connection between the platform and step F.7642 was lost during the conflagration. Step F.7642 was maintained with a number of replastering episodes, excavated as (22251), (22237), (21398). Similarly, platform F.7637 was maintained. Sealing the eastern end of floors (23436) were two consecutive deposits, (22280) and (22249), which acted to fill in a slight slump that had occurred at the eastern end of the platform. On the other hand, the western end of the platform had a circular pit/basin, F.7778, about 0.2m in circumference and 0.12m deep (online fig. S21.10). The function of the feature is unclear; it is possible that it is an emptied cache. The fill of the feature was a distinct light-orangey-brown clean fill. Sealing both F.7778 and maintenance fill (22280) was another floor replastering, excavated as (22236) (online fig. S21.11). Towards the end of B.52 Phase 3, step F.7642 was reduced in size about 0.2m with the addition of infill (21399) that had sandy texture and was dark grey in colour from the fire during the building’s abandonment. This fill was sealed by plaster floor (21396), which covered the entirety of platform F.7637 as well. Essentially, the modification to the step increased the surface area of the platform. (21396) was in turn sealed by (21392), which consists of a relatively coarse (0.02m) make-up layer, topped with one to two layers of plaster renderings (online fig. S21.12).

Building 52 Phase 3: mid occupation The layout of Building 52 during Phase 3 was almost the same as Phase 2, with the exception of the opening of a crawl/access space into Space 255, which of course increased the habitable space of the building. The phase was distinguished on the basis of the renewal of the fire installation in Sp.576 (fig. 21.19). Space 94 Northern activity area. The layout of the northern activity area, specifically platforms F.7605 and F.7617, did not change during B52.3 (fig. 21.20). Both platforms were plastered over at least three to four times, with corresponding make-up layers. On the western platform F.7617, these layers were excavated as (23462) and on the eastern platform F.7605, they were recorded as (21313). Burial F.7606 was placed within platform F.7605, cutting floors (21313) (fig. 21.21). Partially truncated by later burial events F.7120 and F.7112, F.7606 contained the primary disturbed remains of a young adult possible female (21526), buried in a flexed position on its left side, facing the north, with its feet to the east. The cranium and mandible of the individual had been displaced during burial event F.7120. Under the feet of (21526) was an articulated pelvis of a child. Further disarticulated remains of this child were found within the fill of F.7606 and later matched with skeleton (30521), which was excavated from burial F.7120 in 2013. In other words, the child (30521) was interred prior to the interment of adult female (21526) and disturbed during its burial. Most of (30521) was dislodged with the burial of (21526) except for its pelvis, the bones set within the fill at random after (21526) was carefully placed, only to be truncated again at a later burial event. The fill (21525) of burial F.7606 contained some flakes of obsidian, fragments of shell and a small flint flake. Some organic orange residue was found underneath the remains of the child.

Space 576 During Phase 3, Sp.576 was characterised by the construction of a new oven F.2195 (online fig. S21.13), corresponding floors (23406), (31408) and (31409), and an unspecified shallow pit F.7772 (online fig. S21.14), which was built in the place of the earlier fire installation F.2195. All of these features, as well as a basin and pillars associated with the earlier phase, were truncated by a foundation cut related to the renovation activities that would take place in the following occupation phase of B.52.

Central floors. To the south of the northern platforms (fig. 21.22) was the central floor area, sealing floors (23495). This central series of fine plaster floors was excavated as (23468) and (23461). These floors abutted floors (21393), which made up the southern floors of Sp.94, lipping up to the entry area in the southeastern corner of the space.

Space 93 Bins F.2005 and F.2004 were built at the same time and share a wall. They measure 0.55m2 and 0.65m2 respectively (fig. 21.24). The construction of F.2005 (11960)

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Figure 21.19. Plan of B.52 Phase 3 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato).

Figure 21.20. Overview of Sp. 94 at the end of B.52 Phase 3. Facing south (photograph Jason Quinlan).

Figure 21.21. Burial F.7606 of young adult female (21526) within platform F.7605, facing north (photograph Jason Quinlan).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons abutted the southern wall of bin F.2003. After these squarish bins were constructed, all three were covered with multiple layers of plaster (11921, 11961), presumably accumulated through time. Yet the first plastering event for the three bins was synchronous.

Figure 21.22. The eastern end of Space 94, with platforms F.7605 and F.7617 and floors (23468), (34461) and (21393). The fire damage from the building’s closure seeped deep into the central floor area, as evident from the burnt central region. Facing south (photograph by Vasiliki Koutrafouri).

Figure 21.23. The western activity area in B.52 Phase 3. Facing west (photograph Jason Quinlan).

Figure 21.24. Bins F.2005 and F.2004, immediately south of F.2003. Facing west (photograph by Maciej Chyleński).

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Space 255 Blocking F.7774 was truncated centrally to open an access into Sp.255. The cut for access F.7761 was truncated during the abandonment of B.52, therefore its entire extent was unclear. The circular cut was made about 0.2m above the floor level and was about 0.4m at its widest point. This was a small access that would have required a small frame and careful attention in utilisation. Space 255 contained two truncated basinlike features (F.2023 and F.2024), abutting each other in the centre of the room. These, having been exposed in 2007, were highly eroded by the time they were excavated in 2015. When exposed, basin F.2024 was 0.8m in length and 0.4m in width, while F.2023 was 0.6m in length. Another bin was located in the southwestern corner of the space, F.7757. This feature was almost completely eroded, but some of its construction remained abutting wall F.2014. Unfortunately, the extensive erosion that took place within Sp.255 since its exposure in 2005 made any conclusive observations on the nature of the features and their function impossible. However, given that this was a side room, it is very possible that the ‘basins’ were actually binning and were utilised for storage rather than production. The space was blocked again shortly after its opening, during the further expansion of the building in the following phase. Space 290 Basin/bins F.4061 and F.1487 are thought to have been established during B.52.3, above a make-up layer (22268) at the eastern end of the building. Unfortunately, both features had undergone a substantial amount of erosion, and while it was clear that they were constructed above (22268), their relationship to each other was lost. No finds were associated with the construction of these features, or their surrounding contexts. Building 52 Phase 4: expansion Building 52 Phase 4 represents a major renovation phase, which involved truncation of the building’s original western wall F.2140 and in its place, the construction of wall F.2183, as well as a new space to the west of the building, Sp.90 (fig. 21.25). The reason for this renovation is unclear, although it could have been due to some sort of a structural instability of western wall F.2140 and a cave-in of the roof.

Figure 21.25. Plan of B.52 Phase 4 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons However, the excavation of wall F.2140 did not provide any evidence for slumping, as only a few courses of brick had survived the Neolithic truncation. The roof, on the other hand, may have been structurally compromised due to its expanse, despite the structural support of various posts. In conducting the renovations, the residents of B.52 renewed almost all of the posts within Sp.94, suggesting that the inhabitants also renewed the roof of the building. This phase of the building also may very likely have brought the disuse of Sp.255, with the utilisation of blocking F.7761. The renovations took place in three main phases, discussed below. The first step was to remove the posts from Sp.94 while preparing Sp.576 for construction activities. The second step was to renew the western wall of the building, and while doing so, construct the remaining walls that made Sp.90. Finally, new posts were added to Sp.94 as, almost certainly, the roof was renewed. During the excavation process, understanding this massive renovation was certainly a challenge. When F.2140 was recorded in 2005, it was thought to belong to the predecessor of B.52, Sp.147. This made quite a bit of sense, given the archaeological evidence at the time (see Farid 2014b: 361). Then, the leading theory on the development of B.52 was that it was the result of merging two households, defined as Sp.147 and Sp.146. The oven cut into western wall F.2140 could be seen on the site, and it was, quite naturally, interpreted as further evidence that Sp.147 – which at the time was defined by walls F.2140, F.2012, F.2013 and F.2008 – was a typical Neolithic household. The excavations that took place in Sp.91/92, however, revealed first the foundation trench that was made for the construction of wall F.2183. It then became clear that the evolution of B.52 was more complex than had originally been thought: I have since long realised that what you think to be right in the beginning of the interpretation process usually proves to be wrong at the end. Or at least different. And my god, this building really took a turn to something different a couple [of] weeks ago…. We realised (after a long session of posing questions) that the wall F.2183 actually was bounded to the walls creating Space 90, as well as with the outer walls of the western part of the building. This changed everything for us in the way we viewed the building, and new questions arose on how the building had been built and functioned through its life cycle. Amazingly frustrating at the time, in the heat. When we thought we had everything under control, that was when everything changed dramatically (Diary, CH, 5 August 2015).

Upon closer investigation, it became clear that F.2183 was bonded to F.214 and F.2139 in Sp.90. But on the same alignment F.2139 and F.2012 were not bonded, and neither were F.2141 and F.2008 to the north. Hence, it became clear that adding Sp.90 to the building involved a dramatic renovation. Further evidence of this renovation could be seen within Sp.94: a massive makeup layer (30539) had sealed the shallow post-retrieval marks across the space. B.52 Phase 4.1 Space 94 In Space 94, all the posts aligned with walls F.1580 and F.2007 were removed (fig. 21.26). The imprints that remained from the removal of the posts were relatively shallow. Most of them were rectangular in shape. Post F.8850 to the north, abutting wall F.1580, was 0.45m in length and 0.25m in width. Immediately to the south, the retrieval scar of post F.8851 was 0.36m by 0.45m. Post scar F.7770 to its west was similar in size. Centrally, post F.8853 was another rectangular scar, and rather impressive in size: 0.51m by 0.35m. To its southeast was post scar F.8854. Post F.8855 abutted F.2013. Centrally located in the southern part of the central floor area was post scar F.7587. Immediately southeast of that, the ladder entry into the space was removed, evident through post scar F.8541. Space 645 It must have been during this time that the western wall of the building, and of Sp.576, was truncated to make space for the construction of the new western wall of the building, F.2183. A large trench was therefore executed across Sp.576 (fig. 21.27), about 0.6m wide.

Figure 21.26. Orthophoto of Sp.94 with all the post scars (orthophoto by Jason Quinlan).

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Chapter 21: Tung and Barański. Building 52 and related buildings Space 255 Space 255 went out of use with the blocking of access F.7761 with (8899) (online fig. S21.15). It is impossible to say how early this blocking happened, although it definitely took place before the construction of oven F.1485, in B.52 Phase 5. There is archaeological evidence suggesting that the space was cleaned out before the conflagration of the building on abandonment, unlike Sp.93 and Sp.94, which contained a large number of artefact assemblages. The only part of this space that was visibly fire damaged was to the north. The north wall F.2015 and its blocked access F.1626 were highly discoloured and made brittle by the fire; post F.2026 in the northeast corner was also burnt in situ. The majority of the room was scoured clean, leaving two truncated central basins (Phase B.52.D) that showed no signs of burning or scorching. It is probable that any fire debris and damage was cleared from this room prior to infilling, but as no other wall was scorched, nor did the remaining floors or basins show any sign of fire damage, it must be assumed that the post caught fire from the other side of the wall where a second seat of fire is suggested to have taken place in the oven area of the house. Perhaps then, in a controlled environment, Sp.255 was subjected to less damage (Farid 2014b: 388). It is certain that the space had actually gone into disuse by the end of B.52 Phase 5. That it happened in the expansion phase of the building is uncertain. Unfortunately, oven F.1485 was truncated by the construction of B.51, and stratigraphically, it can only be placed above the major renovation that took place in Sp.95 during B.52 Phase 4.2. Therefore, the disuse of Sp.255 has been placed to B.52 Phase 4.

Figure 21.27. Orthophoto of foundation trench cut (31402) for the construction of wall F.2183. The southern end of wall F.2140 is also truncated by the construction of the southern wall of Sp.90, F.2139, which was bonded to F.2183. The foundation trench for F.2139 was recorded on the southern side of F.2139 as cut (16755) in 2008 (orthophoto by Jason Quinlan).

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B.52 Phase 4.2 Space 94 Once all the posts were removed, a thick make-up layer (30539) was placed on the central and southern floor area in B.52. This make-up, which had been substantially damaged by the conflagration of the building, sealed all of the central post-scars. It abutted the northern platforms, as well as the newer western platform F.2174 (see below). Its southern edge was defined by wall F.7774. A ground stone, 30539.x1, was placed within the make-up centrally, in what would become the southern floor area. At the same time, platforms F.7638 and F.7637 were both sealed with (21379), upon which the core of bench F.7118 would be built (see below).

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Figure 21.28. Platforms F.3694 and F.3695, B.52 Phase 4.2 (photograph by Rémi Hadad).

Figure 21.29. Wall F.2183 cutting wall F.2140. Facing south (photograph by Marcin Krewicki).

The northern platforms were also renovated at this time. The fill for burial F.7606 from the previous phase was sealed by (30532), which was a thick (0.15m) makeup layer of light-brown silty clay, damaged from the building’s conflagration in places. This thick make-up marked the beginning of platform F.3695. Similarly, the last plaster floor of platform F.7617 was sealed by (21312), a composite unit comprised of a very thick foundational make-up similar to (30532), marking the beginning of platform F.3694 (fig. 21.28). The make-up of both platforms was covered with multiple fine plastered surfaces, with one final surface painted red. These events were excavated as part of (30532) and (21312).

The excavation of F.2183 revealed that the bricks utilised in the construction of the wall were likely reused, as excavations ‘identified at least four types of brick, ranging from grey to yellow and orange… from plastered to not plastered’ (US, CH, 29 July 2015). In fact, some of the bricks may have derived from F.2140. These re-used bricks were, however, sitting on a lightbrown-coloured foundation course, (31406), considered foundation bricks because of the homogeneity the whole length of the wall, where the previous bricks had been obviously re-used and gave a more heterogenous impression. The bricks of this unit all had imprints of straw, probably from the drying of the mudbricks. The bricks must have been wet for the softer straws to make any form of impression…The straw might have been put on the ground to elevate the bricks, creating some airflow underneath, etc. The fact that the imprints are continuous on all of the bottom bricks is significant, and something to look for when excavating bonded walls F2139, F.2012 and F.2141 (US 31406, CH, 29 July 2015).

Space 645 The addition of Space 90 to the western end of B.52, and therefore the creation of Sp.645, marks B.52 Phase 4.2. The northeastern corner of Sp.90 was placed above the meeting point of F.2140 and F.2008. However, rather than utilising F.2140 as a foundation, wall F.2183 was constructed extending south at about a 5° angle east of F.2140, thus slightly decreasing the size of the western side room of B.52 (fig. 21.29). The resulting Space 645 was defined to the east by wall F.2106, to the north by wall F.2008, to the west by wall F.2183 and to the south by wall F.2012. Wall F.2183 was bonded to the north with wall F.2141 and to the south with wall F.2139. These in turn were bonded to wall F.221, and they all together defined Sp.90, which extended approximately 6m north–south and 4m east–west. The space, which contained external-area types of deposit, has only been partially excavated, and its exact function remains unknown. The northern wall of the space, F.2141, was built immediately adjacent to what seems to be the northern wall of an earlier building, B.165. The northern, eastern and southern walls of Sp.90 remain in situ.

Once the walls were set in place, the foundation trench was filled with a compact sediment made from rubble. This was in turn sealed by make-up (22287) and (22216). B.52 Phase 4.3 Space 94 Immediately after the addition of Sp.90, the roof of B.52 was set back in place. This resulted in the renewal of a number of posts within Sp.94. Post F.8851 was replaced by post F.2173, while post F.7770 was replaced by F.2173. Post F.8850 was removed completely. What survived of the posts within F.2173 and F.7573 were the bottom parts of upright planks, embedded into the floors.

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Chapter 21: Tung and Barański. Building 52 and related buildings The two central posts were replaced by a single post, F.7575. Post F.8855 was replaced with post F.2178. Further, a second post, F.1480, was placed immediately to the east, abutting wall F.2014. The entirety of these newer posts was recovered as carbonised remains due to the conflagration of the building during its abandonment. Further, they all cut make-up (30549).

during the expansion and major renovation of the building. Burial F.7120 (cut 30517, fill 30518) was a multiple burial that contained the primary remains of middle adult male (30522) and infant (30523) and the secondary remains of two other individuals (Haddow et al. 2016; see also Volume 13, Chapter 15). The adult male (30522) (fig. 21.31) was buried in a tightly flexed position, head to the west, lying on its back, arms to its sides, and hands by its feet. Infant (30523) was placed immediately above its legs and pelvis area. The infant was flexed lying on its right, its limbs disturbed due to later burial activities. There were numerous beads associated with the infant, found both within the fill and associated with the skeleton. Find numbers 30518.x1 and 30518.x3 represent rows of beads found around the ankles of the infant, made from a soft pink and yellowish-brown sedimentary rock (online fig. S21.16). Further, two green beads, 30518.x4 and 30518.x5 (see Volume 14, Chapter 10), were found in the abdominal region of the infant, very similar to those found in burial F.7127, associated with infant (30511) (see below). The fill of the burial (30518) also contained a single shell, 30518.x2, similar to those found in other burial contexts. The interment of F.7120 is contiguous with a truncation that occurred around the eastern and southern edges of northwestern platform F.3694 (fig. 21.32). The truncation cut into the painted surface (30528) of the western platform, as well as floor and make-up (30516) on platform F.3695. The cut for the trench was 0.2m deep and was filled by brown silty clay fill that contained plaster bits within its matrix. No artefacts or rubble of any sort were within the fill to point to the function of the trench. It may be remaining evidence of the removal of an architectural element. The trench may have marked either the removal of a partition that surrounded platform F.3694 or an attempt to construct one. The former seems more likely to be the case. The truncation was sealed by (21120), which represents two consecutive plastering events and their respective make-ups that defined platform F.3694. These floors in turn were sealed on the western edge of the platform by the construction of kerb F.3693, above platform F.3695 (online fig. S21.17). The kerb was 0.09m wide and about 0.05m tall, forming a clear edge between the two platforms. Once the kerb was constructed, both platforms were re-plastered with a marl plaster on a make-up. Four consecutive thick plastering events and their corresponding make-ups were excavated as (30525) upon northwestern platform F.3694. On northeastern platform F.3695, floor (30507) abutted the kerb and was sealed by floor (30504), which in turn was sealed by another floor, this time painted red (20634).

Building 52 Phase 5: late occupation Building 52 Phase 5 represents the final occupation phase of Building 52 (fig. 21.30; see also fig. 21.2). It is marked by the construction of F.2185, which formed Spaces 377, 91 and 92 in place of Space 645. Space 291 was added to the southeastern end of the building with the construction of three walls. While this is B.52’s most expansive state, it is also a time where the occupation of Sp.255 was discontinued. Many of the activities within the building were focused within Sp.94, particularly the two distinct activity areas – the northern activity area and the western activity area — both defined by double platforms. Three subphases were identified in Sp.94. The phasing was differentiated on the basis of the different maintenance episodes and small-scale construction activities that took place on top of the southwestern platform F.2177. These were then correlated with the sequence of floors that were recorded on the northern platforms. By the end of the final occupation phase, Platform F.2177 stood almost 0.5m higher than the central floor area in Sp.94. Pillar F.2179 continued to support a post at the southwestern corner of the space. At this point the platform stood higher than its neighbouring platform, F.2174 to the north. The central floor area was exposed in 2007 and excavated in 2013 and 2014. The already highly damaged and friable surface had unfortunately undergone a hefty amount of erosion. Therefore, many of the later features on the central floor area have been tentatively tied into the building’s stratigraphic sequence. Four subphases were identified within Sp.91/92, based on the construction of walls F.2185 and F.4062, the construction and abandonment of oven F.4060, and some interment activities within the space discussed in Farid (2008). Because Sp.91/92 and Sp.94 do not have stratigraphic links in terms of the fine depositional events within the spaces, the phases within the two spaces have been correlated based on the sequence of archaeological deposition. B.52 Phase 5.1 Space 94 Northern activity area. The first occupation subphase of the last occupation is defined by the interment of burial F.7120 in northeastern platform F.3695. This burial cut the surface (30516) that defined the final resurfacing

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Figure 21.30. Plan of Building 52 Phase 5 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato).

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Figure 21.31. Burial F.7120 within platform F.3695. Facing north (photograph by Scott Haddow).

Central floors and southern activity area. The central floor area immediately south of the northern platforms was highly eroded. Kerb F.1582 formed a division between the central and southern floors. Hearth F.1482 was formed at this time in the central floor segment immediately south of kerb F.1582. The hearth was truncated by the construction of B.51 and badly damaged from the fire. The excavation of the hearth as an arbitrary layer (21329) revealed a small scoop, F.7588, filled with ash. During the use of the hearth, five other scoops were deposited immediately around it (F.7585, F.7586, F.7589, F.7596 and F.7597) (online fig. S21.18). These scoops contained charcoal and ash; however, scoop F.7586 also contained a considerable amount of burnt bone within its fill (21334). Hearth 1482 was used continuously until the abandonment of the building, after which it was sealed by hearth F.1573, which was the main hearth of Building 51. A badly truncated oven, F.1485, was cut into blocking F.7774 and wall F.2015.

Figure 21.32. Overview of the northern activity area in Sp.94. To the left is platform F.3694 and truncation F.7323. To the right is platform F.3695 and kerb F.3693. Facing north (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 21.33. Overview of southwestern platform F.2177 with bench F.2118 and floors (30519). Facing west (photograph by Paul Eklov Pettersson).

Western activity area. Perhaps the defining feature that marks the transition to the final occupation phase of the building is the construction of horned bench F.7118, forming the division between platform F.2174 and platform F.2177, built above platforms F.7638 and F.7637 respectively. Horned bench F.7118 was built above bench F.8507, extending from the western wall of Sp.94, above the northern edge of the platform, eastward some 1.2m (fig. 21.33). Oblong in shape, the ‘bench’ was much narrower than its predecessor, only 0.3m thick at its eastern end and 0.16m thick at its western end, standing 0.2m above the floor surface upon which it was built (30519). The feature had six sets of wild male sheep horns and one pair of wild goat horns set into its core (30501), which was a pure clay-rich material. The wild-goat-horn pair was the third pair in the row, located at the bottom of the bench.

The bench was plastered over a number of times, the layers excavated as (21383), and it saw a number of repairs (21382, 21389). The bench stood by itself in this area for some time, evidenced by continuous floor and make-up deposit (30519). A number of partition elements, however, were soon added and joined with bench F.7118 during B.52 Phase 5.2 to clearly delineate very specific divisions of space (see below) upon platform F.2177 (fig. 21.34). During B.52 Phase 5.4, the feature would be sealed within the construction of a larger bench, this time adorned with bovine horns F.2021, dominating the western activity area in the building (see below). Feature F.7118 is one of a kind, both in its form and in its context. While Mellaart himself documented horned benches within buildings such as Shrine VI.61 and Shrine VI.14, within levels that correspond to Levels

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Figure 21.34. Daily sketch by Rémi Hadad showing burial cuts in north of the main room and some of the relationships around bench F.7118, including the appearance of divisions in the southwest platform F.2177 (see fig. 21.35).

North G, and South N and O (Mellaart VI), these are adorned with bovine horns, not sheep and goat horns. There is something quite intentional and specific about the use of wild horns and the utilisation of both sheep and goat. Further, there is no other documented example of a large horned bench, as with F.2021, having a predecessor. Perhaps it is also important to note that while similar structures – horned or not – have been called ‘benches’ on site, and throughout the documentation process, it is clear that they are not features made for sitting upon. They certainly served as a division of space and were a crucial symbolic element for the Neolithic Çatalhöyük household, as almost all buildings during the mid-Neolithic occupation sequence seem to have contained different versions of these ‘benches’. The use of the term ‘bench’ reflects how the Çatalhöyük Research Project has inherited Mellaart’s denominations for these architectural features rather than attempting to describe their function anew. After bench F7118 was constructed, the southwestern platform area was plastered over with at least seven to eight fine layers of plaster renderings, excavated as (30519) (see above). A single ground stone,

30519.x1, which had large plant imprints of chaff and even grain within its matrix, was found lying on the floor (online fig. S21.19). The corresponding plastering events were recorded as (11934) on northwestern platform F.2177. Two partition features were built on top of (30519); these were joined and eventually attached to bench F.7118 (fig. 21.35). First, pisé-like constructions (21314) and (21309), extending 0.6m north–south, were attached to wall F.2012, forming F.7316. Then, an L-shaped partition F.7315 was created: A foundation for the partition wall was made, consisting of light-grey mortar (21328) which was placed on the floor (30519) with a layer of hay in between (21328.s3). Secondly, the core of the wall was formed by alternating mortar (of a darker character) and possibly re-used bricks in a row on top of the foundation layer. Thirdly, the northern side of the core was covered with a make-up layer and plaster (30526). In a later stage the wall was repaired using a light-grey mortar (30535) not unsimilar to the one used for the foundation (FS, PEP, 17 July 2014).

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Chapter 21: Tung and Barański. Building 52 and related buildings head. This make-up was then plastered over with a marl-rich plaster that contained plant inclusions. The plaster may have even been the same one used in the plastering of the walls. A relatively loose fill (20649) supported the posterior of the bucranium and contained one antler, 20649.x1, and a worked stone, 20649.x2. While it is possible that the artefacts were placed intentionally, it should be noted that they could also have been a part of the post-conflagration infilling process, falling behind the bucranium due to post-depositional processes. Figure 21.35. Overview of the two partitioned spaces created by the construction of divisions F.7315 and F.7316 on top of platform F.2177 (photograph by Rémi Hadad).

The partitions were built without any wooden planks and were plastered over with a quite wet and sticky plaster. This is evidenced from the inner walls that ‘were concave with clay applied in an erratic way without paying attention to creating smooth surfaces, which left hand and finger prints’ (US, 30527, 6 August 2013). The outer walls, while plastered, were also not smooth. The whole feature was plastered with a light-grey plaster (30526). The northern part of the ridge, which attached to the horned partition, was heavily perturbed by animal and insect activity. While it was initially thought that the partitions were created in separate events, their excavation made it clear that their construction techniques, with the utilisation of hay beneath the walls as foundation in both features, likely pointed to their contiguous construction. It is unclear what these partitions functioned as during this phase of the building. Bucranium (11963) was placed within niche F.2175, which was cut into partition wall F.2106 at either the end of B.52 Phase 4 or the very beginning of B.52 Phase 5. The bucranium dominated the northwestern platform, F.2175. Symbolically, it seems to have been the crux of the building, given that during abandonment, the fire was most concentrated immediately in front of it, above platform F.2175 (see below). The bucranium was somewhat protected from the fire, as 13 horn cores were found piled neatly above it. Nonetheless, the conflagration had scorched the delicate construction (fig. 21.36). The feature was consolidated upon its exposure in 2008 and lifted in 2013 as a block. While it was not excavated, it seems very likely that the bucranium was built by covering a bovine skull using a sandy clay-rich make-up layer to shape an extremely accurate representation of a cattle

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Space 91/92 The beginning of the phase was marked by yet another seemingly large construction episode, in the form of the construction wall F.2185, which would transform Space 645 into two different areas, Sp.377 and Sp.91/92 (fig. 21.37). The northern end of F.2185 abutted F.2035 and doglegged to abut wall F.2183. Its northernmost section was excavated in 2008, while the remainder was excavated in 2015. The wall was built above a greyishbrown foundational mortar (22286). The bricks (22231) that constituted the wall were a light-orangey-brown sandy clay and similar in their matrix to the mortar (22232). Support wall F.4062, situated at the southwestern corner of Space 92, abutting the western and southern walls of the space, was constructed at the same time, as evidenced by the use of the same materials. In fact, the gap between F.4062 and F.2185 may have been a Neolithic truncation that occurred before the abandonment of the building. A number of partial and truncated floors excavated correlate with the newly founded more constricted space (22224, 22211, 22217, 22213). Sealed by the construction of oven F.4060, floors (22217) and (22213) likely correlate with dirty floors (16744) and (16764) that were excavated in 2008. Situated at the corner of Space 92, oven F.4060 was in a deteriorated state by the time it was excavated in 2015, having been exposed to the elements since 2008. Stratigraphically, it was no longer linked to any other features or deposits. About 1m in length and 0.7m in width, the oven abutted the southern wall of Space 92, F.2012, as well as support wall F.4062. Its superstructure (16772) (online fig. S21.20), rubified from use, was originally a greyish-brown sandy deposit that was plastered (22205) before being prepared with the addition of make-up (22203) for floors (22202). The mouth of the oven faced north, the oven having been built with a north–south orientation rather than east–west like the former ovens in the space. The oven had a second set of floors (16771), which were badly preserved. No finds were associated with the scoured floors.

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons

Figure 21.36. Bucranium (11963) before lifting, in 2013. Facing west (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

eastern and western ends showed signs of repair. It was then plastered by a light-grey silty clay plaster (20624), which was hardly preserved by the time of excavation. Space 290 The cut for recess F.1488 has been phased to this final occupation phase of B.52. The cut truncated the eastern end of both basin F.4061 and basin F.1487, possibly marking their disuse. A small niche, F.2182, may also have been cut into wall F.2012 from its northern face from Sp.290. Figure 21.37. Overview of Sp.91/92 at the beginning of the 2015 excavation season, prior to the excavation of wall F.2185. Oven F.4060 sits prominently at the southwestern end of the space (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Space 93 During B.52 Phase 5, the latest addition to the bin complex within the space was bin F.2002. Defined to its west, north and east by walls (including the wall of bin F.2003), its sole construction was a single wall that was about 0.84m long and at most 0.11m thick. The wall actually abutted the plaster covering F.2003 (11921). Its

Space 291 The construction of Space 291 has been phased to the final occupation phase of B.52. This space was exposed in 2005 and left unexcavated. No features were found within the space when it was first exposed, and its function was unclear then as it is now. Most likely, however, the space was constructed as a barrier between B.52 and the open space to the south. B.52 Phase 5.2 Space 94 Northern activity area. The beginning of B.52 Phase 5.2 was marked in the northern activity area by two different

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Chapter 21: Tung and Barański. Building 52 and related buildings truncations that occurred on northeastern platform F.3695: a small trench that seems to have removed a feature, F.7127, and a burial, F.7112. Both truncations occurred through the red-painted plastered surface (20634). At some point during the different maintenance episodes on platform F.3695, but definitely above deposit (30507), a pedestal-like feature must have been centrally set on the platform, by its western edge (fig. 21.38). This feature was then later removed, as evidenced by a cut (20941) that outlined its rectangular shape. The infill of the cut (20674), having been affected by the conflagration of the building, was friable. Red surface (20634) was also centrally cut by burial F.7112. The burial contained a very tightly flexed middle adult female (20655) laying on its left, head to the west (fig. 21.39) (Haddow et al. 2016; see also Volume 13, Chapter 15). Phytoliths were found around its femurs, pelvis, ankles and ilium, very likely the remnants of a cord that was used to keep the body flexed. The cut (20648) was rather deep (0.56m), with the skeleton placed at its very end. An interesting feature within the burial was the placement of the feet, right by the ledge that was created through the stepping in of the cut. The infill of the burial was excavated in three arbitrary units due to its depth: (20651, 29652, 20654). Two shells, one that held red ochre within it, 20654.x2, were notable artefacts found with the skeleton. The infill was sealed with a thick (0.07m) layer of plaster (20646) within the boundaries of the cut. Such ‘lids’ were noticed in many of the burials of B.3 (Tringham, Stevanović 2012). These deposits in turn were covered with (20615). This was a mixed deposit, which included a lot of eroded platform material, but it was also a renovation attempt to fix the slumping of the platform surface towards the northern wall: cracked ground stones were placed within the slump and padded

over with make-up for the preparation of undoubtedly straighter surfaces. Such an attempt to remedy the sunken edge of a platform was also observed in B.77, although in that case, the material utilised was clay balls and not firecracked ground stone (see Chapter 22). The northwestern platform F.3694 was sealed with a fine make-up and plaster, which actually represented several episodes of plastering events (30508). The northeastern part of the platform, by wall F.1577, was sinking, and it was filled with fire-cracked stone embedded into the make-up. This repair must correspond to the same repair that took place in platform F.3695. Western activity area. At this point, the divisions constructed by F.7316 and F.7315 were filled in to create a short-lived step or platform on top of southwestern platform F.2177. Prior to this, it appears that a cache may have been removed from this area of the building, identified as F.7555. The feature’s fill (30536) contained no discernible artefacts. The empty circular pit, while thought to have been a burial cut before its excavation, may actually have been formed through two separate events, a cut made first for the placement of a cache and a cut made for the retrieval of the cache, the former event having been truncated by the latter (online fig. S21.21). These enigmatic pits are common across the site and non-cache interpretations are certainly possible. The southwestern corner of platform F.7122, delineated by partitions F.7315 and F.7316, was filled in with a heterogeneous deposit (21112) that contained a lot of rubble. An individual, recorded as F.7334 (fig. 21.40), was actually placed on floor (30519) in this area before its infilling. Skeleton (30531) belonged to a primary disturbed infant of 9 months (+/−3 months) at death that was placed on its right, facing the north with its feet to the south.

Figure 21.38. Red-painted plastered floor (30504) on northeastern platform F.3695, clearly truncated by cut F.7121 and burial F.7122 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 21.39. Burial F.7112 of middle adult female (20655), facing north (photograph by Scott Haddow).

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Figure 21.40. Burial F.7334 within the fill of platform F.7122. No cuts could be associated with the disturbed infant skeleton which seems to have been placed on the floor of platform F.2177, within the division created by F.7316 and F.7315. Facing south (photograph by Scott Haddow).

Figure 21.41. Overview of the western activity area within Sp.94 at the end of B.52 Phase 5.2. Access F.2109 is in line with the short-lived mini-platform created by the filling of divisions F.7315 and F.7316 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Unfortunately, animal burrows went through the infant’s torso, and many of its bones were missing. The fill surrounding the skeleton was arbitrarily excavated as (30530), given that no cut was associated with the burial. No finds were associated with the individual. It is very likely that at this stage, or possibly during the construction of partition walls F.7315 and F.7316, the access which connected Sp.94 to Sp.91/92 was modified. Wooden threshold F.7754 was sealed with reused bricks (22233) and (22227), which not only heightened the step, but also narrowed the passageway 0.3m, creating access F.2109 (fig. 21.41).

if it was, it was a thin plaster that eroded shortly after the exposure of B.52. The cut (30502) went through a number of eroded plaster floors grouped as (20614). Burial F.7127 represents the burial of a middle adult male (30514) (fig. 21.42), accompanied by at least six subadults (30524, 30513, 30511, 30510, 30512, 30515) (fig. 21.43), with ages ranging from 6 months to 5 years old. The individuals were in different phases of decomposition. There are a number of things that are unique regarding this context. First, all of the individuals were buried in a single event: The individuals were buried together at the same moment. Indeed, no disturbance which could indicate several episodes of digging, depositing of new bodies is observed. The position of the different bodies, very intricate and often in direct contact, is impossible to realise in several burial (episodes) without disturbances (RH, 28 July 2013).

Space 91/92 B.52 Phase 5.2 is marked by the closure of oven F.4060. The floor of the oven was scoured, after which a cluster of three ground stone fragments as well as many larger animal bones, such as ribs and an equid pelvis, were placed inside before its infilling. It is also possible that the closure of the massive oven occurred in the final occupation of the building, during B.52 Phase 5.3. In either case, after the closure activities, the space continued to be used, as two neonates were buried where the oven once sat (see below).

This is certainly not a common incidence on site. Second, the conflagration of the building literally baked the skeletons and the artefacts buried with them, allowing for the recovery of many organic items:

B.52 Phase 5.3 Space 94 Northern activity area. In the northern activity area, the last occupation of the building was likely marked by burial F.7127 within northwestern platform F.3694. This was a remarkable multiple burial, which may well have been associated with the decision to close the building (Haddow et al. 2016; see also Volume 13, Chapter 15). The platform does not seem to have been resurfaced after the event, or

The materials within the grave, protected by several layers of clay/plaster, in an anaerobic milieu, were not directly affected by the fire. They were ‘baked’, or ‘steam cooked’ (une cuisson à l’étouffée). Some organic remains were thus preserved: textile [between (30513) and (30511)] [fig. 21.44], wood [boat-shaped bowl covering cranium of (30513) and small artefact just above its feet], organic tissues [viscera and ‘flesh’ from baby (30511), brain from all

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Figure 21.42. Middle adult male (30514) within burial F.7127. Facing north (photograph by Scott Haddow).

Figure 21.43. Combined image showing some of the skeletons placed on adult within burial F.7127.

The burial fill (30503) contained a large number of artefacts, some of which could be associated with skeletons. Several shells were found within the burials, four of which were clearly deliberately placed with the burials. Shells 30503.x6 and 30503.x7 were most likely associated with the adult, and both contained some brown sediment, with what seems to be colour pigments mixed with fibres and roots. Two green beads, 30503.x1 and 30503.x2, were found on either side of the head of infant (30511) and were very likely earrings. Similar beads were also found in burial F.7120, discussed above. A complete marble bracelet, 30503.x8, was found at the bottom of the fill. While it was impossible to associate it with any one of the skeletons, due to the disturbance that was caused by animal burrowing, it most likely belonged to one of the infants, with its relatively small circumference. A shiny metallic triangular pendant that had a triangular crystal structure on one of its sides was found underneath the cranium of the adult. Also, a bone spatula was found at the very bottom of the fill. The textile was found between infant (30511) and child (30510). It is not possible yet to associate the textile 30503.x9 with any one of the individuals. I’ve always thought while excavating human burials that if we’re going to remove them from their resting place, we should at least do it with dignity and respect. Associating the elements with [one] individual (though a standard in physical anthropology procedure) I think falls into this category of ethics, and I feel ultimately responsible for making sure as much of the individual can be reassociated out of these ‘floating’ contexts within earlier burials of the feature (Diary, Jenny Byrnes, 25 July 2012). Southern activity area. Eroded and disturbed floors (22311) have been attributed to this phase. These floors sealed most of the ‘scoops’ that cut into floor (30539) in the first occupation of this phase and were contemporary with the floating plastered floors excavated in the northern central floor area as (21310).

Figure 21.44. Samples of textile preserved from within burial F.7127 (see also Volume 14, Chapter 11) (photographs by Jason Quinlan). the preserved crania within the cut], and fibres/roots (in red-painted shells)… Concerning the wood, the specialists identify maple, which is very rare on site and probably exogenous (RH, 28 July 2013).

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Western activity area. The southwestern platform F.2177 was raised some 0.10–0.15m with the filling of the partition created by F.7315 and F.7118, and the filling of the southeastern end by step F.7636. Fill (30506), which covered the southwestern section of the platform, seemed to have been made up of crushed bricks and even contained a single badly damaged brick (30509) within its matrix. Fill (20557), which also partially sealed F.7118, filling the partition area created by F.7315 and the horned bench, was heterogeneous in composition, with smaller inclusions of rubble. These fills were sealed by plaster floor (20656), which represented multiple plaster layers.

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Floor (20656) was partially sealed by the core of yet another, and this time the most monumental, bench of the building: horned bench F.2021. The sandy clay core, (17997), also sealed F.7118 and was badly damaged by the fire in the building (online fig. S21.22). It contained at least three large cattle horns on its northern face, creating an impressive, albeit asymmetrical, feature on top of massive platform F.2177. The horn cores had collapsed towards the north during the conflagration of the building (fig. 21.45), and therefore at the time of excavation were completely disarticulated from the bench, which had also eroded due to its exposure to elements after 2005 (see Farid 2014b: 370, fig. 15.13). Once the bench was constructed, platform F.2177 was then plastered multiple times. These plastering events were excavated as a single unit (10300). Space 91/92 The final occupation phase of Space 91/92 is marked by the interment of two neonates at the southern end of the space, cutting oven F.4060. The relationship of the burials to the final floors (16704) was unclear at the time of excavation (Farid 2014b: 373). It is very possible that these two neonates represent some of the final activities that took place within Building 52 before its closure. Further, the interment of these neonates may be related to the interment of another neonate in burial F.2006, which occurred in Space 377 (see below). Space 377 The stratigraphic sequence of Space 377 is tied to Space 91/92 through the construction of wall F.2185. The small space seems to have been primarily used as a support ‘cell’ to the main building. It was filled with (14197), which was sealed by deposit (11909), which may have been either a worn floor or a trampled fill. This was cut by another burial of a neonate (F.2006) (See Farid 2014b: 373), which has been attributed to B.52 Space 91/92 Subphase B.1.

Figure 21.45. Bench F.2021 in 2005. The collapsed horns were clearly attached to the top of the bench. Facing east (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

the assemblages could be interpreted. More recently, the abandonment of the building has been discussed in the context of the burials in the northeast and northwest platforms of Sp.94 (Haddow et al. 2016), noting that the final multiple burial (F.7127), with the inclusion of numerous subadults in different stages of decomposition accompanied by a primary adult, may mark a significant closure. As noted earlier in the chapter, current interpretations of the rich material culture, particularly the numerous aurochs horn cores carefully stacked together within the fill of the building, suggest a massive effort in procurement. The horn cores were very likely symbolically meaningful and brought into the building as part of the closure rituals, similar to the accumulation of ground stone in B.77.

Building 52 Phase 6: abandonment The abandonment of B.52 has been extensively discussed in various publications. Farid (2014b) elaborates on the archaeological deposition, while Harrison (2008) discusses it in the context of the mechanics of the conflagration. Harrison notes that the fire of the building was heavily concentrated within Sp.94, its extreme temperature suggesting a constant flow of oxygen to accelerate the ignition of the fuel. Farid notes that this may have been attained by the opening of the roof before the conflagration. Twiss et al. (2013) fail to provide a conclusive interpretation on the intentionality of the building’s conflagration, given different ways in which

Conclusions In terms of its inception and modification through time, B.52 was perhaps the most complex building dating to the Middle levels of the mound excavated by the Çatalhöyük Research Project. In formal architectural terms,

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Chapter 21: Tung and Barański. Building 52 and related buildings B.52 resulted from the expansion of B.167. Building 167, a north–south-oriented building with a main room and a southern side room, was expanded drastically by the increase in size of its main room and the addition of three spaces to its northwest, west and southwest. This remarkable architectural inception of B.52 necessitated massive, large-scale maintenance, as observed in B.52 Phase 4. During this time, the entire western half of the building was essentially re-built, as something required the renewal of the building’s structural posts within Space 94. The roof of Space 94 may have become unstable due to its expansive central area. Whatever the case, as the inhabitants of B.52 undertook this massive renovation project, they further enlarged the area of their household with the addition of another enclosed space, Sp.90 to the west of B.52. During the final occupation phase of the building, another smaller space, Sp.291, was appended to the southeastern end of the space, possibly to keep encroaching midden deposits from damaging the building. From an archaeological standpoint, these practices could be interpreted as acts of aggrandisement by a household. In fact, the act of aggrandising could be seen in different architectural modifications within the building itself. Interestingly, while northern platforms within Sp.94, which were essentially the continuation of the northern platforms of B.167, continued to remain central in terms of their maintenance and use as a burial

space, the newer western addition of the space was exceptionally transformed and modified to create a massive western double platform, divided by a bench. Both platforms and the bench were maintained and developed extensively, eventually becoming some 0.5m taller than the central floors. Further, the bench itself could be interpreted in terms of aggrandisement, as it was transformed at the final occupation phase of the building from being a smaller partition structure containing goat and sheep horns to a bigger formal bench, with large aurochs horn cores attached to it from one side. Further, burial F.7127, the final, complex multiple-individual interment within the building, could represent a practice of aggrandisement by reifying the relations of those interred. B.52 was abandoned most likely through a highly ritualised and massive conflagration event. The abandonment involved a huge investment in or by the household, as evidenced through the remarkable artefactual assemblage. What is further remarkable here, is that after this ‘grand’ output, a much smaller new building – B.51 – was constructed within the eastern half of the building. The inhabitants of B.51 used the same northern platforms and central floors as the inhabitants of B.52. This building, likely short-lived (Farid 2014a; 2014b), was abandoned and infilled, with very few closure deposits. In a way, B.51 represents a massive reduction of the aggrandised B.52 world.

Supplementary material For supplementary material related to this chapter, please visit https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12. It comprises figures S21.1–S21.23. The phased matrix for Building 52 can be found in fig. S21.23.

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22. Building 77 Burcu Tung With contributions by Scott D. Haddow, Christopher Knüsel, Marco Milella and Belinda Tibbets (Human Remains); Amy Bogaard, Michael Charles, Dorian Fuller, Dragana Filipović, Laura Green, Lara Gonzalez, Ceren Kabukcu and Liz Stroud (Archaeobotany); Kathryn Twiss, Jacqui Mulville and Jesse Wolfhagen (Zooarchaeology); Christina Tsoraki (Ground Stone); Sean Doyle (Chipped Stone); Lucy Bennison-Chapman (Clay Objects); Rena Veropoulidou (Shell); Milena Vasić (Ornaments); Duygu Tarkan (Ceramic); Ashley Lingle and Gesualdo Busacca (Conservation and Pigment)

Building 77 (fig. 22.1) is located in the North Shelter, immediately south of B.131 and west of B.114. It is one of the four buildings within the North Shelter to have been completely excavated by the Çatalhöyük Research Project. Building 77 was excavated between 2008 and 2015 by a number of different excavators. When it was first exposed in 2008, the aim was to leave the building on display to the general public, due to the number of different elaborations it exhibited. However, it became clear that the building, which was burnt during its abandonment, eroded at a rate that would have caused its features to disappear in just a few years. Therefore, excavations recommenced in the building in 2010 and continued until the end of the 2015 excavation season. Building 77 (fig. 22.2) was a rectangular building, covering an area 7.3m by 4.8m in size, with two spaces. Main room Space 336 had a living area measuring 4.4m by 4.4m, while side room Space 337 had a living area measuring 4.2m by 2m. The building had seven phases of occupation excluding its construction and abandonment, within which at least 39 individuals were interred under

Figure 22.1. Building 77 in 2008, facing north (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

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the floors and platforms in its main space. The extensive occupation of the building is evident in the modification of its internal features as well as its plastered walls, which in certain areas exceeded a total thickness of 0.04m. As noted above, the building was burnt during its abandonment. In fact, the conditions of its burning preserved remarkable information about the possible height of the roof and the use of lighter architectural elements and posts within the building. A number of deposits from many different artefact groups were uncovered in situ on the floors of the building, including worked bone, ground stone, burnt human remains, and various organic deposits that could be associated with the preparation of a meal (House 2014b: 493–98). Further, the conditions of the burning preserved organic tissue such as brain and other materials related to a number of individuals interred within the building. The initial interpretation of the archaeological record surrounding the conflagration was dogged by the problem of equifinality: Harrison et al. (2013) explicitly noted that the high temperatures observed in the rubification of the walls would have required additional fuel. However, a mezzanine level evidenced through impressions of wood posts and twig, resembling pisé-like construction, found extensively within the building’s infill, would likely have provided sufficient fuel (House 2014b). The interpretation of the intensity of the artefact groupings such as deer horn cores and ground stone relating to craft production, as well as the grains found surrounding the bins (but not inside them), has been discussed in the context of both deliberation and accident (Hodder, Farid 2014: 17–18). As such, until the re-evaluation of the building’s contexts, it has been impossible to say whether the burning of the building was intentional or not. However, most recently, Christina Tsoraki’s work on the ground stone assemblage has provided strong evidence of intentional abandonment practices. Deliberate burning thus seems most likely at present (Tsoraki 2018, see below).

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Building 77 was built above Building 132. However, B.77 is much smaller in plan, using only B.132’s northern and eastern walls as the foundation for its own walls. B.77’s southern wall was set over 1m further north than the southern wall of B.132’s main space, Sp.531. The area on which B.77 was founded was used as a cemetery for some time (Sp.602) before the building was built (see Chapter 31). Based on its stratigraphic relationships with the spaces discussed above and B.131, B.77 has been phased within Level North Ga.

F.6052. The southern engaged pillar F.6056 contained a moulding on its northern side. The southern end of the main room was dominated by a circular central hearth F.6064. There was no oven associated with the final phase of the building. The southeastern corner had an entry platform (F.6053), which the entry ladder, post F.6054 abutted. The ladder was a single post that had steps carved into it and was further attached to the southern wall with a pisé-like structure that was plastered over many times. The western end of the southern activity area contained a platform upon which a large quern stone was placed. This platform allowed access to Space 337, to the west. The northwestern corner of Space 336 was dominated by a large bin-like structure, F.6050. The walls of F.6050 were constructed with pisé-like light material that was then plastered over many times. It incorporated two posts in its structure. There was no clear evidence of access into or egress from the bin structure. Immediately south of this structure was another bin, which was flanked to the south by a bench. Access into bin F.6051 must have been through the bench, as its eastern edge incorporated two large posts, F.7593 and F.7594. At this final stage of the building’s use-life, the walls and all elaboration features such as the bucranium and horned pedestals were covered in a white marl wash. There were no traces of red paint on this wash, in stark contrast to the extensive use of red paint throughout the building’s life history (see below).

Summary of phasing and overview of internal features The phasing of the building was completed based on the examination of the archaeological record of its main room, Space 336. The southeastern, southern and northeastern activity areas of Space 336 contained the largest number of features that underwent substantial changes throughout the building’s life history. The nine phases, with varying subphases, that include the construction and abandonment of the building and reflect the changes that took place in the life history of the building are summarised below. The internal configuration of Space 336 The organisation of the use of space in Building 77 shows very little change from its inception (fig. 22.3). The main room of the building was delineated into six general sections. The northwestern section was distinguished by multiple bin/basin-like structures that would eventually form a massive, partitioned area supported by timbers. The northern wall was flanked by two platforms that denoted the northern and northeastern sections: the lower central platform F.6062/F.3617 and the higher northeastern platform F.6051. Eastern platform F.6052 was yet another section, flanked on each side by engaged pillars. The southeastern corner was used as an entry to the room. The southern end of the space was easily distinguished from the central floor segment as a different activity area. The use of space in the main room followed the typical Çatalhöyük layout, with fire installations to the south, and platforms to the north and east. At the very end of its life history (fig. 22.4), Space 336 had a large northern platform (F.6062) and a large niche (F.6063) on the northern wall. The northeastern platform (F.6051) was the highest platform in the building, and its western and southern edges were flanked by two spectacular pedestals (F.8134 and F.8135) that had protruding cattle horn cores. A smaller niche (F.6067) was located centrally in relation to the northern platform, 0.7m above the base of the platform, while a small bucranium (F.3093) was placed immediately above the niche. The eastern wall contained two engaged pillars that flanked the eastern platform,

Phasing a degenerating building One morning we came up and were working for approximately an hour before we realised that a panel of red had fallen, revealing a panel of painted incised decorations. The building is crumbling. Just in the time that I’ve been here it seems that we are trying to retrieve as much data and learn as much as possible before it completely collapses (Diary, Sadie Weber, 16 August 2010). In general, burnt buildings at Çatalhöyük begin to erode away swiftly once uncovered, even under the relatively kinder conditions of the shelters. The clay structures that bind the earthen building materials together become transformed with conflagration. Depending on the local temperatures reached in the burn, materials either bond to each other as rigid blocks or they lose their elasticity and their bonds and begin to disintegrate. As each year Building 77 was left exposed for the winter, its burnt surfaces succumbed to the harsh elements of the Konya Plain and deteriorated at a rapid rate. At the beginning of each excavation season, a thick layer of dust would cover the building’s floors, representing what was left of surfaces last exposed.

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Figure 22.2. Plan of B.77 Phase 7 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato) (shading is used to aid visual understanding of the different features in buildings; in general, darker shading indicates more upstanding features).

Figure 22.3. Isometric reconstruction of B.77 during B.77 Phase 3 (reconstruction by Katheryn Killackey).

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Figure 22.4. North-facing view of main room (Sp.336) of B.77 in 2008 (photograph by Jason Quinlan). Sections of the building’s wall and its thick plasters would crumble away in chunks. For example, by 2010 the shallow niche F.6057, which was shaved into the northern wall and plastered over many times, had completely disappeared. The small bucranium placed right next to it came crashing down in 2011, thankfully well after it had been fully recorded. The deterioration of the building left many contexts ‘hanging’, both in the matrix and in the building: many depositional events could not be tied to each other in the field, as the boundaries that revealed these relationships had eroded away. These issues were finally addressed during the final revision of the documentation of the building, in preparation for this chapter (for the conservation problems in the North Shelter see Chapter 5). Needless to say, the Harris Matrix of the building underwent a number of revisions over the years. Michael House (2014b) established the phasing of the abandonment and the final occupation level of the building. The disparate contexts excavated between the 2010 and 2014 field seasons were put together in the summer of 2015 by James Taylor and Burcu Tung for a collaborative exploration of the building’s temporality with regard to its material culture and human remains (see Taylor et al. 2015). Burcu Tung completed the final revision of the matrix. Further, in the revision, a number

of correlations were carefully established between various contexts excavated in different years. For example, F.3609 was a fire installation exposed but not fully excavated in 2010. It was renumbered in 2011 as F.3621, a different oven. The double recording created an excess of stratigraphic units. Another such complication arose from ovens F.3606 and F.3607, which were only partially excavated in 2010. During postexcavation studies it became clear that the floors of these ovens correlated with the floors of F.7108, a massive oven cut into the southern wall of B.77. Similar issues surrounded the northern platform, with its different cuts for burials. Primary associations used in phasing The process of creating the final post-ex narrative of a building takes place through an excavation process in its own right. The instantiation of a unit forces one to dig deep into different strands of time, excavators’ thought processes, photographic documentation, excavation records, diary entries and video all together to construct [a] narrative that holds true to the archaeological record. In this context, B.77 has been a remarkable fulfilling challenge (Diary, BT, 24 April 2017).

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Chapter 22: Tung. Building 77 One of the most important aims during the excavation of B.77 was to correlate the massive wall plaster sequences, which held within them quite a different number of symbolic elaborations, with the various features of the building, as well as its burials. Some of these physical connections never existed, as they were truncated during the Neolithic, such as burial cuts that were obscured by later burial activities. Similarly, wall plasters had often already flaked off in the Neolithic, to be repaired and re-administered in a seemingly endless cycle. Despite such challenges, the phasing of the building was completed through the careful evaluation and then correlation of the building’s different activity areas. First, the southern activity area was phased with regard to the life history of the building’s ovens. Then the northern and northeastern eastern activity areas of the

building were phased with regard to additions or changes to major features. These phases were then cross-correlated with regard to overlapping units as much as possible. The eastern platform F.6052 was a problematic area in this regard, being a single stratigraphic strand with almost no connections to surrounding deposits. The sequence of burials here was correlated to the different phases of the building using judgement. The possibilities of the different temporalities related to platform F.6052, and various other contexts for that matter, are discussed in the relevant sections. Building 77 Phase 1: construction Building 77 was built above B.132, although covering a substantially smaller area, within B.132’s main room. In fact, B.77 was not constructed immediately after the

Phase

Description

B77.1: construction

Subphase 1a. Wall construction, placement of timbers. Subphase 1b. Make-up for internal features.

B77.2: early occupation

Defined by the use of oven F.7583 and hearth F.8128, by the construction of bins in the northeast activity area and first plaster floors across Space 336. Subphases 2a–2d defined by sequence of burials in northeastern platform F.6051.

B77.3: early occupation (incised panel)

Defined by the use of oven F.7308. Accompanying hearth, unclear, but rakeout evident. Subphases evident in northern activity area, platform F.3617. Continuous burial use in platform F.6051.

B.77 Subphase 3a. First burials in north-central platform F.3617, F.7857 and F.7859. Incised panel made on northern wall, by northwestern corner of F.3617. B.77 Subphase 3b. Multi-burial F.7853 in north-central platform F.3617. B.77 Subphase 3c. Burials F.7640 and F.7611 in northcentral platform F.3617.

B77.4: mid occupation (the red hands phase)

Defined by use of oven F.3609/F.3621. Red hands are painted on the northern and eastern walls. Formation of basin F.3610. Burial F.7130 in north-central platform and the construction of bin F.3613.

B77.5: mid occupation (the geometric phase)

Defined by use of oven F.3608/3618. The red hands are painted over and a geometric motif is installed on the eastern wall above the northeastern platform.

B77.6: late occupation (the horned pedestals)

Defined by the use of oven F.7108. The horned pedestals are constructed on the northeastern platform. The small bucranium is also placed on the northern wall by the northeastern platform. A series of burials take place in the eastern platform F.6052. Massive bin F.6050 is constructed.

B77.7: late occupation (the red phase)

Defined by the construction of oven F.3603 and various other features in the southern activity area. Final burial is made onto northeastern platform F.6051. An abundance of red panel decorations.

B77.8: late occupation (the white phase)

Defined by the elimination of the oven, the elimination of all basin and bin-like features in the southwestern activity corner. All walls are plastered with a white wash, eliminating the red.

B77.9: abandonment

Defined by the placement of various artefact clusters across the building in preparation for its burning.

Table 22.1. Summary of phasing of Building 77.

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons abandonment of B.132, as the main room of B.132 was transformed into a cemetery and used as an open space for a brief period of time (see Chapter 31). During the use of Space 602, a number of walls were constructed in the northeastern corner of the space to keep out midden accumulation coming from Sp.636. Building 77 was constructed above these retention walls as well as the still-exposed northern, eastern and, partially, western walls of B.132 (see Chapter 31). A number of activities took place during the construction of the building, not only within the bounds of the space allocated for its construction, but also to its south, in Space 488. Space 488 was created as part of a decision made during the Neolithic to limit the width of Building 77 so that it did not extend more than 5m south from its northern walls. Hence, the entirety of Space 602, which followed the plan of B.132’s main Space 531, was not utilised for the construction of the building. The construction activities have been grouped into two subphases: Building 77 Subphase 1a represents the erection of the walls and associated activities, while Subphase 1b represents the delineation of the internal features. Building 77 Subphase 1a Erection of the walls of B.77. The bonded partition walls and the use of different packing materials for stabilisation under walls not supported by B.132’s walls indicate that the builders recognised the potential for constructional instabilities. This forethought, as with other examples of constructional activities taking place across the mound, demonstrates an attention to detail, and the accumulation and handing down of experience about the conditions on the mound. The construction of the walls took place after an orangey-brown silty clay deposit (22080) was used as levelling and sealed all the activities that had taken place in Space 602 (online fig. S22.1). All the walls were placed within foundation trenches that cut into this levelling deposit as well as the standing walls in the area. Like the eastern wall’s foundation trench F.8130, the northern wall’s foundation trench F.8129 truncated retention wall F.7861. The latter was the last construction within the northeastern corner of Space 602 built to keep the encroaching midden at bay (see above). The southern wall’s foundation trench, F.7591, just like the foundation trenches of the partition walls, cut into levelling (22080), about 1.7 to 1.5m further northward from B.132’s still standing partition wall (online fig. S22.2). The western wall’s foundation trench F.8131 partially truncated the western wall of B.132 at its northern end. The foundation trench for the northern part of the partition wall F.7590, extended only 1.7m, shorter than the recorded extent of the wall itself by about 0.5m.

This cut was filled at its northern end with a clay-rich sediment (22081) that acted as a stabiliser and was in turn sealed with sandy clay loam (22073) that covered the entire foundation trench before the construction of the walls. The southern portion of the partition wall’s foundation trench F.7598 was about the same size as the southern partition wall itself. It was filled with (22082), a friable sandy loam deposit, on top of which the partition wall was built. The southern wall’s foundation trench, on the other hand, was filled with two parallel rows of brick and mortar: ‘Both rows consisted of 7 bricks (0.85m x 0.30m x 0.07–8m) oriented east–west along each other… the foundation was distinguished from the southern wall construction through the application of a thick mortar layer’ (US 22088, AK). Once the outline of the building, and the placement of its walls had been demarcated by the foundation trenches, the walls were constructed (fig. 22.5). All of B.77’s walls, including the northern and southern partition walls, were bonded to each other. The conflagration associated with the abandonment of B.77 had highly damaged the walls in both spaces. The rubification caused by different temperatures and oxidisation levels resulted in a medley of colouring for the brick and mortar, ranging from bright reddish brown to black (fig. 22.6). Despite the changes in colour caused by the burning, it was clear that all the walls were constructed from the same mudbrick and mortar. The original textures and colours of the brick and mortar were only preserved at the very bottom of the southern wall. The mudbrick was made from a light-orangey-brown fine sandy clay with a plant-based temper. It was shaped into bricks about 0.85 to 0.90m long, 0.30m wide and 0.10m thick, the most common brick size seen on site. The mortar used for the building, on the other hand, was grey clay-rich clean sediment that revealed its blocky structure after the temperature change caused by the fire.

Figure 22.5. Image-based 3D model of B.77 midway through its excavation (model built by Maurizio Forte and Nicola Lercari).

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Figure 22.6. Western wall (F.3097) of B.77. Facing west (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

A small circular posthole, 0.16m in diameter, F.7592, was placed at the corner of the western face of the southern partition wall F.3099. The shallow cut (22078) was dug into the foundation deposits and its fill (22077) did not contain any artefacts. Nevertheless, the feature may represent an architectural element related to the passageway between the two rooms. Placement of the vertical timbers in Space 366. At Neolithic Çatalhöyük, building timbers were often retrieved during the abandonment of a house, presumably to be recycled. All of the timbers, including the entry ladder, remained in situ during the abandonment of Building 77. While the fire damaged the timbers extensively, enough was preserved under the floors of the building to give detailed information on their nature (for discussion see Volume 13, Chapter 4). Space 336 contained two engaged posts, both flanking its eastern wall (fig. 22.7). Post F.6055 (17537 timber, 21610 packing, 21609 cut) formed the boundary between northeastern platform F.6051 and eastern platform F.6052. The cut for the post was thin and oval, and the dense packing was used at the bottom of the cut behind the timber. Post F.6056 (17538 timber, 21621 packing, 20600 cut) formed the southern boundary of eastern platform F.6052. It had packing material surrounding the entire cut, clearly placed in after the timber was positioned. A highly polished worked bone tool (17538.x1) seems to have been intentionally placed on the side wall of the cut, which was about 0.65m deep. The artefact suggests that the practice of leaving objects within post holes at Çatalhöyük was not only related to post-retrieval practices. The cuts for both these posts were about 0.3m deep, and each cut contained relatively well-preserved timber. Three posts were placed, in a north–south alignment, about 0.7 to 0.8m east of the northern partition wall (fig. 22.8). The southernmost of these was F.7595 (17540

Figure 22.7. Eastern wall F.3095, with engaged posts F.6055 to the north and F.6056 to the south. Facing east (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

timber, 19594 cut), followed by F.7594 (17543 timber, 19592 cut), followed by F.7593 (17541 timber, 19599 cut). Post pit F.7593 consisted of an oval cut (19599), about 0.37m in width, 0.18m in length and 0.62m deep. The cut ended with ‘two separate pits toward the bottom’ (US, Susan Hyden), most likely actually holding two separate posts (fig. 22.9). The poor condition of post (17541) made it impossible to tell if that was the case. Cut (17543) for post F.7594 was shaped like an elongated oval, about 0.50m wide and only 0.15m thick. It extended 0.58m below the surface. Timber (17540) for post F.7595 was placed within cut (19594), which was similar in shape and size to cut (19599). A fourth post, F.6069, in alignment with the three posts mentioned above, was placed immediately in front of, but not engaged with, the building’s northern wall. Cut (22089) contained timber post (17542). This timber, although recorded in 2008, had completely disintegrated by the time it was excavated in 2012. Two clay ball fragments were found at the bottom of the cut.

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons

Figure 22.8. Posts F.7593, F.7594 and F.7595 placed parallel to division wall F.3098. West facing (photograph by Daniel Eddisford).

Figure 22.9. The double-based post cut (19599) for post F.7593, facing west (photograph by Susan Hyden).

Ladder F.6054 was most likely placed in the southeastern corner of the space at the same time as the posts mentioned above. The walls of B.77 have been estimated to stand at least 3.2m tall, in light of the collapsed walling that was bexcavated from its infill (House 2014b). The height of the ceiling would have easily accommodated a second storey within the building. The light construction materials found within the infill of the space have been extensively discussed (Stevanović 2013) in the context of a roof, rather than a second storey or a mezzanine-level structure. The engaged posts on the eastern walls, with the southern post containing a shelf-like elaboration, are structurally very similar to engaged posts found within buildings such as B.80 and B.79, as well as other examples excavated by James Mellaart. In the latter cases these posts did not continue to the roof but instead supported a horizontal beam that held up an inset in the upper part of the wall (see Chapters 10 and 11 for illustrations). These buildings in the South Area also had good evidence of a second storey or mezzanine level, and the placing of the posts and the evidence from the primary collapse in Building 77 as well as the height of the walls (House 2014b) again point to a second storey of some form.

F.7622 (21617 infill, 21618 cut) was a small scoop of burnt plant material, about 0.23m in diameter and only 0.03m thick. This little scoop was actually cut by another small pit, 0.20m in diameter, F.7623 (21619 fill, 21620 cut), which was most likely a post hole, as evident from its depth of 0.30m. Both these features were in turn sealed by a fire spot (22092), which was irregular in shape and about 0.55m in diameter. The fire spot was a shallow depositional event with an abundance of charcoal within its sandy and ashy darkgrey matrix. The archaeobotanical assemblage of the pit was dominated by chaff-rich residues of cereal processing, especially dehusking of glume (hulled) wheats. It may have been associated with a third small pit, identified as a scoop, found immediately to its east F.7602 (22097 infill, 22098 cut), cutting the primary make-up of the space (22080). This scoop was 0.14m in diameter and relatively shallow, with a clean fill, unlike (22092). It may have served to hold a pot or a basket. Two other small pits were found nearby, within the boundaries of the southern wall’s foundation trench. F.7601 (22095 fill, 22096 cut) cut the infill of the foundation trench deposit (22075). A small (0.2m diameter) and shallow pit with a charcoal-rich infill, it was interpreted as being associated with cooking/burning activities. After it was filled, it was cut by another small pit F.7600 (22093 infill, 22094 cut). This too was a small scoop-like pit.

Other construction activities. During the construction of the walls, other activities took place within Space 336 by the southern wall: four scoop-like deposits associated with small-scale cooking/burning activities, one posthole and a fire spot at the southern end of the building. The location of these activities and their association with burning and cooking are consistent with the use of space at Çatalhöyük in general, the southern end of buildings being associated with domestic activities. Below is a discussion of these activities stratigraphically.

Building 77 Subphase 1b: placing the main features in the building Once the walls were erected and the timbers were set in place, the entirety of Space 336 was sealed by orangeybrown alluvial clay make-up (22084). It is above this make-up that the main architectural features and divisions were placed within the building.

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Chapter 22: Tung. Building 77 The northeastern platform F.6051 was the first platform to be shaped in the space. Its initial make-up (22091), abutting the northern wall, was contained to the west and south with the use of planks. The eastern edge of (22091) actually abutted the remaining stump of the eastern wall of B.132. This layer was sealed by make-up (22079), which was laid out in the same fashion. This make-up and B.132’s eastern wall were then sealed by the earliest plastered floors of the platform. It is possible that during this time niche F.6067 (21612 cut) was cut centrally into the wall by the northeastern platform F.6051. Possibly at the same time, though it is impossible to be certain, a lateral post F.6068 (17569 timber, 21608 cut) was placed centrally above the northeastern platform, cutting through the eastern wall. The make-up of platforms F.6052 and F.3617 abutted platform F.6051. The make-up of northern platform F.3617 was excavated as different units through two separate seasons: (22018), (30590), (30597), (20950). These units were part of the same depositional event that formed the platform itself. The southern boundary of the platform was delineated by a plank, and the make-up was poured into the confined space, to abut the northern wall and the northeastern platform (online fig. S22.3).

The western extent of the platform sloped and gently diffused into the initial make-up of the building (22084) towards the partition wall. The western boundary of the platform was delineated by the construction of a number of bin-like features against the western wall. The outline of the eastern platform was formed with (22009), a darkorangey-brown alluvial make-up deposit similar to the make-up used on the other platforms. Building 77 Phase 2: early occupation In the earliest occupation phase of building 77 (fig. 22.10), the ‘furnishings’ of the building, such as the bins and the oven and the hearth, were established within Spaces 336 and 337. Many of the features that belonged to this phase in Space 336 were heavily truncated and/or worn down. The massive bins of Space 337, on the other hand, were established in this phase and continuously used throughout the life history of the building. The end of this occupation phase was marked by the truncation of oven F.7583 for the construction of oven F.7308 in the southern activity area. A number of burial events took place within the northeastern platform F.6051. The burial events represent different subphases in this first occupation phase.

Figure 22.10. Building 77 Phase 2 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons The southern activity area, Space 336 The first fire installation of B.77, F.7583 (online fig. S22.4) was trapezoid in shape. It was truncated at its northern end in the Neolithic. The oven floor (22064) was built within a cut (22072), which was flanked by a light-orangey-brown sandy clay superstructure (22067, 22069). The oven floors were renovated once (22059) and used for a short period of time before being sealed by two separate deposits (22046) and (22050). To the north of the oven, more centrally, were the remains of a badly truncated hearth F.8128. The southwestern platform F.6058, which had already been defined, contained a small shallow pit F.7564, measuring 0.27 by 0.22m, that cut the earliest floors (22024) in the southwestern corner of Space 336. The fill of the pit (22036) contained a partially articulated skeleton of a lamb. The placement of animal ‘offerings’ within buildings is not common and much more likely to be associated with either house founding or closure activities. If not a symbolic offering, the contents of the pit may represent a commemorative act.

Figure 22.11. Burial F.7609, skeleton (21602). Facing north (orthophoto from a 3D model produced by Scott Haddow).

the positioning of the skeletons. A group of floors and a sandy clay make-up was excavated as a single unit (30102) and represented at least three plastering events that took place above a fine sandy clay loam; this was clearly laid onto the platform while it was still wet, as it contained finger imprints. The eastern and northern walls by the northeastern platform contained bands of red paint in between white plastering events. Unfortunately, the direct connection of these bands to the platform itself were lost, although their stratigraphic position below the red painted hands strongly suggested that these redpainting events may have been correlated with the interment of some of these early burials.

Eastern platform F.6052, Space 336 The eastern platform stands as a singular strand in the Building 77 matrix, and the placement of the burial to this phase was an arbitrary decision. Few floor surfaces have been excavated here, as presumably most of them eroded through use in the Neolithic. Needless to say, the best evidence of the floors came from a thin slither of fine plastered floors (22017) lipping up the eastern wall. Burial F.7609 (skeleton 21602, fill 21603, cut 21604): Burial F.7609 (fig. 22.11) has been arbitrarily placed within this earlier phase of the building. The primary burial, located centrally within the platform, belonged to an infant (21602) that was buried tightly flexed on its left with its head to the west, feet to the east. The burial contained evidence for cord in the binding of the individual. Some of the bones rested upon a soft darkbrown organic material that was initially identified as fur, suggesting that the infant was buried in a hide pouch, its body resting upon the fur. Similar organic residue has survived in other burial contexts within Building 77 and elsewhere in the North Area, particularly in buildings that were burnt.

Building 77 Subphase 2a. Burial F.7865 (skeleton 21698, cut 21697): The earliest interment in this area was burial F.7865, which was for a neonate (21698), located at the northeastern corner of the platform. The incomplete skeleton was in very poor condition. It seems to have been literally ‘tucked’ into the corner of the platform, as cut (21697) followed the edge of the building’s walls. It is very likely that this was the first individual interred within the platform. Building 77 Subphase 2b. Burial F.7860 (skeleton 21681, fill 21682): Burial F.7860 belonged to a child, skeleton (21681), placed at the eastern edge of the platform (online fig. S22.5). The individual was placed loosely flexed, on its left, oriented north–south with its head to the north and feet to the south. The cut for the burial (21683) followed the alignment of the eastern wall of B.77. Burial F.7860 contained over 250 bone, clay, copper, shell and stone beads within its fill (21682)

Northeastern platform F.6051, Space 336 A number of burial activities took place early on within the northeastern platform. The entire phase has been divided into subphases based on these burial events. The cuts for the burials were obscured in almost all instances due to later interment activities. The stratigraphic sequence of the burials was mostly worked out through

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Chapter 22: Tung. Building 77 (online fig. S22.6). It has been difficult to determine what type of ornaments these beads come from. The stone beads, which were varied in colour (black, red, green, white) and material (limestone, marble, phyllite, serpentinite, greenstone, tufa, fluorapatite), were likely strung together in multiple strings and belonged to different types of adornments (for example, necklace, bracelet, anklet). According to the ground stone analysis conducted by Tsoraki, different stone beads show different levels of wear, which suggests that some were worn for a prolonged period and others for a much shorter time. Therefore, the beads in this burial fill represent an assemblage of varied and perhaps distinct biographies.

Figure 22.12. Top section of the basket, before having been block lifted. This would have been the neck area of the basket (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Burial F.7562 (skeleton 30199, basket 22065, infill 22041, cut 22042): Burial F.7562 belonged to skeleton (30199), a primary disturbed infant that was placed within an oval basket. It is impossible to tell whether this was a foundational burial or one of the earliest burials within the platform. An exciting feature of this burial was the preservation, in the form of phytoliths, of the basket in which the individual was buried. The basket was 0.40m long and 0.3m wide. It stood 0.2m high at its southeastern end (fig. 22.12). The profile of the basket would have been C-shaped with a distinct shoulder. An imprint of a smaller basket, or possibly the lid of the oval basket, was removed as 22065.x2. The circumference of this circular basket/ lid was 11.5cm. This section was sitting above an orange organic material and was punctured by the bones of individual (30199). Immediately beneath this piece was a shell that was filled with a red material, most likely cinnabar, recorded as 22065.x3. Once the pelvis of (30199) was lifted, the base of the basket was revealed, partially (about 2/3) preserved. The base had a very clear oval shape (US 22065).

Figure 22.13. Burial F.7309, skeleton (30173) (orthophoto from a 3D model produced by Scott Haddow).

Building 77 Subphase 2c. Burial F.7630 (skeleton 21627, fill 21626, cut 21640): Burial F.7630 belonged to a primary disturbed young adult possible female buried flexed in a supine position. Only the lower section of its upper body and its forearms remained in situ. It was placed centrally but towards the northern end of the platform. Its head would have been oriented towards the northwest. No finds were associated with the skeleton, which was disturbed by later burial activities.

southwestern end of the platform on its left side with its head to the west and feet to the east. A cord impression was found along one of the long bones and sampled as 30154.s3. A variety of beads were found in the fill of the burial. These were a few bone ‘red deer canine’ type beads, limestone disc beads and two Unio beads. A ground stone with pigments still attached to it was found immediately under the individual’s feet. At the edge of the burial were phytoliths, ‘with a distinct spiral pattern from basket or pouch (30154.s4)’ (FS 7309, SH, 19 July 2014).

Burial F.7309 (skeleton 30173, infill 30154/30195, cut 22033): Burial F.7309 was the primary burial of a middle adult male (fig. 22.13). It was discovered in 2013 but excavated in 2014. The flexed body was placed to the

Burial F.3616 (skeleton 19529, fill 30154/30195): Burial F.3616 belonged to a primary disturbed adult female, whose left wrist only remained in situ. This burial was severely disturbed by burial F.7333 and other burials in the

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons area. The skeleton was almost completely displaced by the burial of F.7133 and replaced above the skeleton (20685). The loose bones that belonged to skeleton (19529) were excavated in 2011 (online fig. S22.7). The individual was a mature female adult. Its in situ left wrist was surrounded by a bracelet made from numerous dentalium shell beads.

These features were shallow due to the truncation caused by later activities. They may have represented food storage and food preparation features, although their floors were thoroughly scoured out. The northernmost feature was clearly a bin with a wall, while the remaining two ‘compartments’ may have acted as basins or bins. Bin F.7603 was rectangular and defined by the northern wall to the north, the northern partition wall to the west, post F.6069 to the east and a pisé-like construction that extended 0.7m eastward (30174) to the south (online fig. S22.8). It was constructed above the make-up that also defined platform F.3617. Immediately to the south was bin F.7148, defined to the west by wall F.3098, the south by the edge of platform F.3617, and the east by structural post (17541). This shallow bin/basin feature contained a series of patchy floors (30135) (online fig. S22.9). These floors were contemporary with (30175) and (30133), patchy floors defined in the central area of the northern platform. Floor (30175) was a single thick layer of light-brown plaster that was preserved only at the western end of the platform. Immediately above it, and the same size, were at least four fine sequences of floors and make-up that were excavated as a single unit (30133).

Building 77 Subphase 2d. Burial F.7133 (skeleton 20685, infill 20989): Primary disturbed burial F.7133 contained the skeleton of an adult possible male (20685) lying on its left side in a flexed position with its head to the south (fig. 22.14). The burial was disturbed by later burial activities surrounding F.3697. The cranium was covered in cinnabar, as determined by the portable XRF readings of high mercury in the surrounding matrix. A number of x-finds were recorded within the fill of this burial, some of them most likely associated with burial F.3697 (such as the boar’s tusk pendant 20989.x1) and some most likely associated with burial F.3616 (such as the dentalium beads 20989.x8). The pelvis of the individual was actually cut by burial F.3697. The northwestern activity area and northern platform F.3617, Space 336 The earliest three bins and basins at the northwestern corner of the space were established immediately above the overall make-up of the building (22084).

Space 337 Unfortunately, the abandonment process of the building, as well as the later erosion of floors once the building had been exposed, severed the stratigraphic connections between the side room Space 337 (fig. 22.15) and main room Space 336. An impressive double-bin structure with a smaller bin attached to its front was revealed at the northern end of the room, while a triple-basin workspace was revealed at its southern end. During the abandonment of the building, the bins were partially dismantled, and parts of their structure were left in the room. For example, an oval rim or funnel about 0.2m in length, clearly once the mouth of one of the larger bins, was found placed in front of the bin complex. All of the features excavated in this room will be discussed in the context of this early occupation phase and may be assumed to have been in continuous use throughout the building’s life history.

Figure 22.14. Burial F.7133, skeleton (20685) (orthophoto from a 3D model produced by Scott Haddow).

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Northern storage bins F.3092. The impressive northern double bin F.3092 that was first exposed in 2008 had survived to a height of 0.85m. The joint rectangular bins spanned 2m, and each covered an area of approximate 1m2 (fig. 22.16). The bins were made from pisé-like plastic material that was badly damaged by the fire. Their floors were lined with a compact and relatively clean brown clay that was about 0.03m in thickness and

Chapter 22: Tung. Building 77

Figure 22.15. North-facing overview of side room Sp.337 (left side of image) in 2008. A clay funnel sits in front of bin complex F.3092 (upper left). This piece may have been the mouthpiece for one of the compartments (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 22.17. Secondary support wall to F.3092, through which the bins may have also been accessed (photograph by Max Rosefigura). Figure 22.16. East-facing view of double bin F.3092 prior to its excavation in 2010 (photograph by Max Rosefigura).

showed no signs of re-plastering or renovation. The outer wall of the structure was supported by a secondary wall, perhaps even during the construction of the massive bin (fig. 22.17). A ground stone that was flattened on two sides and found between the two walls was interpreted as a ‘mechanism for regulating grain flow in the NE bin, and could be rolled up a gentle slope between the two skins of the bin structure, allowing the grain out’ (House 2010: 34). The stone may actually also have been placed into the wall of the bin as a symbolic offering, or perhaps as a symbolic form of strengthening, given that the access to the structures was likely from the top (for the placement of grain) and from the very bottom (for the retrieval of grain), and not through the side wall. In front of the southeastern corner of bin F.3092 was a small circular bin, 0.3m in diameter. Initially it was thought that this was constructed to be utilised as an

access-way to the larger bin system, but excavations proved this to be incorrect. In fact, this smaller bin, while built at the same time as the construction of bin F.3092 and with the same materials, was a separate container. Basin group F.3091. A triple basin group F.3091 was constructed to the south of the space along the southern wall. The westernmost basin was first interpreted as a hearth, but this was in fact due to its discoloration from the conflagration of the building. Excavations in 2010 revealed that all of the basins were constructed at the same time, directly above the levelling for B.77. The bin feature was 2m in length and 0.7m in width, divided into three rectangular compartments, each about 0.6m in length (fig. 22.18). The structures were built from a sandy core that was lined with a light brown clay. All of the basins showed evidence of resurfacing. The central floor area of the space was lined with a clay surface (17514), which respected the superstructures of both bins to the north and the basin group to the south of the room:

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Hearth F.8132 accompanied oven F.7308 (online fig. S22.11), located centrally, immediately above the previous hearth. The rubified hearth base excavated as (19558) seems to have been used in a single phase and does not show signs of resurfacing.

Figure 22.18. The triple basin structure F.3091 prior to its excavation in 2010 (photograph by Max Rosefigura).

Eastern platform F.6052 The eastern wall was plastered over with a series of wall plasters excavated as (19545) (online fig. S22.12). The excavators noted 26 to 32 layers of plaster. These were sealed by (17575), which represented the plaster on the side of engaged pillar F.6056, to which moulding or shelf F.6070 was attached. Moulding F.6070: The scar for moulding F.6070 was exposed in 2008: ‘A scar for a molding on the wall was located towards the top and a plastered molding found in the infill suggests that it was a rounded protrusion or shelf’ (House 2014b: 490). Where the moulding was located was affected by such high temperatures that the marl-based plaster of the walls turned into a hard lime plaster. The moulding was reconstructed for public display. In 2009, after the collapse of the moulding and its surrounding plaster due to exposure, the conservation team re-placed the moulding on the eastern wall (fig. 22.20). The entire structure, which contained various adhesives and conservation grout was excavated in 2014. A worked obsidian point was found within the plaster surrounding the base of the moulding. Such ‘pointy’ pieces, as well as animal bone (that is, beaks), were found by Mellaart in similar features.

This single compact clay surface was heavily burnt and varied in colour across its surface based on the intensity of the fire and the oxidization process. Once again this appeared to contain the usual assemblage of cultural material (background noise), including occasional small obsidian flakes, stone fragments and small-abraded animal bone fragments...This was the only floor within [the] central space of the room. As is often found in buildings across the site, there is a marked difference between the multiple wall and floor plaster events in the main space when compared to the side room where there is little or no plaster on the walls or laid floors. There could be several reasons for this; the first being the lack of need to have a nicely presented space for simple storage; the space may have been completely stripped out prior to the fire (House 2010: 35).

Burial F.7333 (skeleton 22026, fill 22027, cut 22051): Burial F.7333 represents the primary burial of an adolescent (online fig. S22.13), buried supine in a flexed position with its head to the north, feet to the south. It was centrally located at the southern end of the platform. No burial goods were associated with the individual, but a flint blade 22009.x1 found within the make-up of the eastern platform very close to the burial cut may have been associated with this burial. The cut for the interment truncated the earliest floors of eastern platform F.6052.

Building 77 Phase 3: early occupation (incised panel) The beginning of the third phase of occupation in Space 336 was marked by the move of the main fire installation of the building further west: oven F.7308 was tucked in right by the southern wall but placed immediately next to the previous oven (fig. 22.19). Southern activity area Once oven F.7583 was out of use, circular oven F.7308 was placed immediately west of it. While its circular cut was preserved, its floors were largely truncated by later activities in the area (online fig. S22.10). This installation had three episodes of use. The earliest floors, excavated as (22055), were then repaired by a make-up layer and re-plastered and used; these make-up and use surfaces were excavated as (22015). The final repair and use surface were recorded as (30167). A beige sandy packing material (22061) was used as its superstructure but only preserved at its eastern end.

Northeastern platform, F.6051 During this phase, two burial events occurred, one shortly after the other, in the northeastern platform. Of these burials, F.7137 is securely placed within the archaeological sequence, while F.7132 was disturbed by later activities that severed its stratigraphic connections. Burial F.7137 at the eastern end of the platform was cut into the floors (30102) from the previous occupation phase and was sealed by a series of floors (at least five fine plaster floors) and make-up excavated as (30559).

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Figure 22.19. Plan of B.77 Phase 3 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato). excavated in 2015 as skeleton (21679). Further, the cranium of the individual was most likely excavated in 2011 as cranium (19501). The extremely firm fill of the burial made it quite challenging to excavate.

Figure 22.20. Moulding F.6070, conserved and reconstructed in 2009 (photograph by Duygu Çamurcuoğlu).

Burial F.7132 (skeleton 19557, infill 20688, cut 30540): Unfortunately, burial F.7132 was not stratigraphically linked with other construction events within the platform due to its later disturbance by burial F.3697. This primary disturbed child skeleton (19557) was lying in its right, with its head to the west facing south (online fig. S22.15). Its lower body was cut by F.3697. No burial items were found in association with this skeleton. Niche F.6057: A small niche was carved into the northern wall, centrally in relation to the northeastern platform and 0.6m above its floor level. The niche was phased to this occupation based on its relationship to the red-hand painting that was executed in the following occupation phase.

Burial F.7137 (skeleton 30549 [=21679=cranium 19501], fill 30548, cut 30574): Burial F.7137 was wedged into the eastern end of the platform within an oval cut that had a north–south orientation (online fig. S22.14). The primary disturbed skeleton of an adult of indeterminate sex was lying on its left, with its legs flexed and knees level with the pelvis. Of the upper body, some vertebrae, ribs and the left scapula remained. The articulated right hand and forearm of the individual was

Northern platform F.3617 Most of the skeletons interred in the northern platform F.3617 were likely interred during this second occupation phase. Unfortunately, the upper boundaries

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons of the cuts for most of the burials were lost during the excavation process. The burial sequence, where possible to elucidate, was made through the stratification of the skeletons. Some of the earlier burials in this sequence may be correlated with the incised panel F.8133, which was clearly administered during this phase. There is in fact a stratigraphic link between the painted red-hand panel F.8147 and this incised panel through the wall plasters on the northern wall, the incised panel being earlier. Finally, bins F.7148 and F.7603 and basin F.7604, located in the northwestern activity area by the partition wall F.3096, were still being used during this phase. Three subphases of occupation have been established in this area, based on the stratification of the burials.

(21629, 21663, 21656, 21654) were interred together (online fig. S22.18). This burial event is unusual in the number of individuals it represents, and it may have marked an important moment within the life history of Building 77. Post-excavation examination suggested that the burials were interred together, as a single event, although the individuals interred may have been in different stages of decomposition. Skeleton (21657), the old adult male, was placed centrally within the platform and the burial cut, in a tightly flexed position facing the south with its head to the west and feet to the east. Two neonates (21629, 21653) and two infants (21656, 21624) were placed above this individual’s skeleton, in some cases, in direct contact. There was evidence of basketry, orange organic imprints and cordage phytoliths on these skeletons. The cranium of another individual (20983) may also be associated with this burial, although animal burrowing highly disturbed the context that was excavated as F.7130. The fill associated with this context (20930) also contained cranial elements from multiple subadults, along with a number of disarticulated bones. While no artefacts were recovered from this burial feature, the burial event itself is unique in the context of Building 77. The tightly flexed nature of the adult and of infant (21656), as well as the evidence for cord binding and the baskets, point towards this burial context as representing the delayed burials of multiple individuals. This phenomenon has been observed elsewhere in the North Area. For a wider discussion of delayed burial in the North Area and on the site as a whole, see Volume 13, Chapter 15.

Building 77 Subphase 3a. Burial F.7859 (skeleton 21678; infill 21677): Burial F.7859 was a neonate burial within a basket, located at the northwestern corner of platform F.3617 (online fig. S22.16). This was the only burial within this phase that was stratigraphically identified. It is very possible for F.7859 to have been the first burial in the north-central platform, but the cut for the burial truncated during the interment of F.3642, which in turn was blocklifted, may have severed stratigraphic connections. It is possible that burial F.7859 was a foundational burial. The burial contained a tightly flexed preterm foetus (21678), approximately 28 to 30 weeks’ gestation at the time of death. The body was placed on its right side, oriented north–south with its head to the south. The individual was buried with a shell and some non-plant organic material that may have been animal hide. Its location seems significant, since it was immediately under another neonate burial that was in a basket, F.3642 (see below).

Incised panel F.8133: Above a make-up (19547), immediately by the northwestern corner of the centralnorthern platform F.3617, an incised and impressed decoration was placed onto the lower face of the northern wall (fig. 22.21). The surviving length of the panel was 0.64 by 0.31m. The design was truncated at both of its ends: from the west due to the construction of bin F.3613, and from the east due to the execution of niche F.6063. It may have originally continued up to post F.6069. ‘There was a faint trace that this incised panel existed to the east of the alcove too but this did not survive’ (Eddisford 2011: 39). The surviving panel consisted of two larger asterisk designs divided by a ‘a rectangular panel with a zigzag design’ (Eddisford 2010: 39). The asterisk design was created by the division of a square panel into eight triangles by crossing lines. Each triangle contained a small spiral. Overall, the design looks like a stylised star, and the spirals in each triangular segment are suggestive of movement, as if a circular revolution is taking place.

Burial F.7857 (skeletons 21668, 21669, infill 21667, cut 21671): Burial F.7857 belonged to an adult possible female (21668) and a neonate (21669) interred together (online fig. S22.17). The body of the adult was placed in a flexed manner lying on its left with its head to the south and feet to the north. The cranium and mandible of the individual were removed before the burial, and the neonate was placed immediately on top of her mid body. The skeletal elements of the burial were not in good condition. No finds were associated with the burial. The burial was located centrally within the northern platform, placed towards the northern wall. Building 77 Subphase 3b. Burial F.7853 (skeletons 21657, 21629, 21653, 21656, 21654, infill 21655, cut 21650): Burial F.7853 represents a multiple burial in which one old adult male (21657) and four subadults

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Figure 22.21. Incised panel F.8133 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Such an effect may have been enhanced in the correct lighting conditions, with the movements of a flame. The meaning of the design is hard to ascertain. Mellaart notes the occurrence of incised rectangular panels divided by triangles as peculiar to levels VII and VIII (Mellaart 1967: pl. 30). However, the designs documented by Mellaart are different in nature from the incised panel discussed here, which remains unique. There were faint traces of red paint over the design. The feature was sealed over during the following occupation phase of the building.

Building 77 Phase 4: mid occupation (red hands phase) The beginning of Building 77 Phase 4 was marked not only by another change in the oven in the southern activity area, but also by the application of red handprints across the northern and eastern walls of the building (fig. 22.22). Further, the northern platform F.3617 was extended all the way to the northern partition wall for a short period before the construction of a northwestern platform. Both the northeastern and northern platforms continued to be used for different burial events. The southern and southwestern activity areas The entry platform F.6053, which had already been established, was re-plastered a number of times (19272). A series of ashy floor deposits (19522) and (19514), which represented ‘a mixture of ash rake-out from the fire installations and accumulated occupation debris’, was identified between the entry platform and fire installations (Eddisford 2011: 38). These deposits lipped up against oven F.3621, first identified in 2010 and labelled F.3609, but excavated in 2011 as F.3621. Oven F.3621 was cut into the southern wall (online fig. S.22.19); however, it was later truncated by the construction of F.7108, so that its entire extent was not clear. The superstructure of the oven was hardly preserved. The floors of F.3621 were renovated twice after the initial use of the earliest floor. No artefacts were found within the oven

Building 77 Subphase 3c. Burial F.7611 (skeleton 21606, fill 21605, cut 21613): F.7611 was a primary burial of a child aged 7 years (+/−2 years) in a flexed position lying on its left facing north. The skeleton was in poor condition and highly disturbed by post-depositional processes. While no burial goods were associated with the individual, the burial cut was lined with a fine orange material and imprints of 1cm-thick woven cord were recovered under its head, left ribcage and left arm. Burial F.7640 (skeleton 21639, 21637 infill, 21638 cut): Burial F.7640 was the primary burial of another infant (21639), buried in a flexed position placed on its right with its head to the south and feet to the north. Traces of orange organic material were also found within this burial.

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Figure 22.22. Building 77 Phase 4 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato). floors. The floors of the central hearth F.8138 must have been raked out, as what remained from the truncated central hearth area at this time was a degraded heataffected surface (19425). Several activities relating to food preparation were identified on southwestern platform F.6058. The brown make-up (19528) of the platform contained ‘obsidian flakes and 14 small, rounded stones as well as four bivalve shells that were found centrally’ (US 19528, DE). The make-up was covered by a series of floors (19515), which were in turn sealed by a thick plaster floor (19511). (19511) contained frequent shell fragments and obsidian flakes. A large quern stone (17547) was set right into the middle of it (online fig. S22.20). Black organic material (19509) was collected immediately beneath the quern stone; this may have been evidence for food preparation, or it may represent textile. A number of floors (at least seven eroded surfaces) that were recorded from the central floor segment as a single context (19502) were associated with this phase of use (online fig. S22.21).

western-third extent of the incised panel. The bin was square in plan, 0.35m across. It was constructed from a pisé-like material (19550) that was also moulded onto post F.6069, which defined its western boundary. The surviving height of its walls on the northern wall extend to least 0.70m, making it an unusual feature, although a similar bin was also found in B.49 (Eddisford 2011: 36). The construction (20921) consists of two separate materials laid [at] the same time. The innermost core was a greyish-brown silty clay, while the outer core was an orangey brown silty clay. It almost looked like the greyish brown core could have been a re-used brick, as it also had a very fine layer of plaster on its south-facing side. This plaster could also have been used as a binding agent... The construction was badly preserved on its northern, eastern and western sides (US 20921 BT, 09/07). The bin was ‘repeatedly plastered with white marl on the inside and outside’ (Eddisford 2011: 36). The bin contained about 0.1m of pure marl (19270). The function of the bin remains unclear, although it could have been a location to keep pure marl within the household secure and may further point to the symbolic importance of earthen building materials at Çatalhöyük. A polished

Northern platform F.3617 Bin F.3613 was constructed by the northwestern corner of platform F.3617, right in front of the incised panel (fig. 22.23). In fact, its construction most likely obscured the

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Chapter 22: Tung. Building 77 Northeastern platform F.6051 The platform underwent a substantial maintenance episode with the addition of another 0.1m of make-up to raise the floor level (20482). This make-up was sealed by at least two consecutive white plastering events, excavated in a single context as (19563). The red hand panel (F.8147) and other elaborations A number of different wall elaborations, mostly consisting of handprints, can be associated with this phase (fig. 22.24). Most prominent were a total of 14 red handprints: 11 on the northern wall and three on the eastern wall, aligned longitudinally parallel to the floor (see reconstruction fig. 22.25). An additional two handprints were located centrally on the eastern wall, aligned perpendicular to the floor (fig. 22.26). The extremely realistic prints, which belong to a right hand, suggest that they were indeed handprints that were subsequently finished with a brush (fig. 22.27). The prints give an effect of progression and then coming to an abrupt stop. In this sense, the prints ‘begin’ east of bin F.3613 and move east on the northern wall (fig. 22.28), and then onto the east wall, beyond the engaged pillar, where they end in the central portion of the eastern wall. While the prints on the northern wall are more or less equidistant, the three prints on the eastern wall are a little more haphazard (fig. 22.26). The vertical prints were unfortunately too poorly preserved to record. The prints likely belonged to the same individual. Some of the fingers had touch-ups executed with a lighter red colour. Niche F.6057 was covered in a red panel during the execution of the red hands (see fig. 22.24). Mellaart’s excavations revealed a number of handprints on different wall installations, which he discussed extensively. Most similar to the prints on B.77 were the handprints on Shrine VII.8, a building that also contained a number of other elaborations on its walls.

Figure 22.23. Bin F.3613. Notice how the construction of the bin seals the incised panel. The feature was later incorporated into F.6050 (photograph by Jason Quinlan). worked bone object, 20910.x1, was found by the northwest corner of the bin in pieces, although the object could have been associated with post F.6069 – a more common context for the placement of such objects – and moved due to animal burrowing. Once F.3613 was constructed, northern platform F.3617 was built up with the application of a thick make-up layer (19532), which sealed bins F.7603 and F.7606 to the west but abutted the construction of F.3613 (online fig. S22.22). A very large stone pendant was found within this make-up. A similar example was found within two layers of platform in B.80. This is significant, since both platforms are below wall paintings and the buildings were most likely contemporary with each other. For a short time, the northern platform was devoid of any features except for bin F.3613 and extended 2.85m across, all the way to the northern partition wall. A fine layer of white plaster floors (19530) sealed make-up (19532) centrally. These floors were highly eroded to the east and further truncated by the construction of platform F.3611 (see below).

Figure 22.24. The first two prints discovered in 2010. The prints are in fact much earlier than the bucranium, which remains out of phase in this photograph (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

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Figure 22.25. Reconstruction of the phases of painting in the northeast corner of Building 77 (illustration by Katy Killackey).

Figure 22.26. Perpendicular handprints on the eastern wall (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 22.27. Single red hand from the three hands found on the eastern wall in 2012 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Here, Mellaart (1967) recorded two tiers of handprints painted on the northern and eastern walls, connected to each other with what he called a ‘netting’ design. It is interesting to note that the geometric design that was painted on the eastern and northern walls of B.77 very much resembles this netting that he recorded (Mellaart 1967: 112, pl. 12, 36).

Building 77 Phase 5: mid occupation (the geometric phase) The fourth occupation phase of B.77 was again marked by a change in the oven location: after the demolition of the previous oven F.3621, a new smaller oven was constructed slightly west of its predecessor (fig. 22.29). A number of burials took place in the northern platform. The geometric

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Chapter 22: Tung. Building 77 design applied onto the eastern wall by the northeastern platform has been allocated to this mid occupation phase. Two subphases, B.77 Subphase 5a and B.77 Subphase 5b, have been recorded in the southwestern activity area defined by the transformation of basin F.3610 into a bench.

Oven wall (19421) was built with a mid reddish brown coarse clay 0.13m thick surviving to a height of only 0.06m, and was full of plant voids unlike the other oven superstructures in the sequence that were constructed using a fine clay, with no inclusions. The oven… also appears to have been quite long lived, with four resurfacing events (19098), (19419), (19418) and (19417). The surfaces were all plant tempered and well fired, all heavily truncated to the north and the east by later installations... When the oven went out of use it was levelled to the height of the southwest platform F.6058, backfilled and the whole platform was resurfaced (House 2010: 41–42).

The southern activity area Building 77 Subphase 5a. The oven of the building at this time shifted slightly west, with the construction of oven F.3608 (online fig. S22.23). Due to its later truncation by oven F.7108, only its western wall survived:

Figure 22.28. The red hand panel as discovered in 2011. It is clear from this image that the prints are contemporary with the red paint that covered niche F.6057 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

During the use of oven F.3608, the thick white plaster floor (19511) on the southwestern platform was cut (19274) in order to form a sub-rectangular plaster basin F.8136, measuring 0.2m by 0.5m (online fig. S22.24). The basin abutted oven F.3608. The cut was plastered (19275) and then filled in, presumably in preparation for the resurfacing of platform F.6058. The basin was devoid of artefacts that could denote its function. It was likely contemporary with the use of basin F.3610, located on the northwestern end of platform F.6058, abutting post F.7540:

Figure 22.29. Plan of Building 77 Phase 5 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons The deposits in the base of a heavily truncated feature F.3610 were burnt in the fire that destroyed the building. This gave them the appearance of hearth bases, however, the location of the feature suggests it is a bin rather than a fire installation. The base of the feature was repaired frequently; deposits (19505), (19504), (19503), (19299) and (19298) represent repairs and additions to the base of the feature. These deposits contained significant amounts of shell and obsidian flakes. The feature was filled by burnt mixed building debris, (19282), which probably represents the remains of superstructure of this feature (Eddisford 2011: 38). Building 77 Subphase 5b. B.77 subphase 5b was marked by the demolition of basin F.3610 and its transformation into a small bench. Bench F.6059 was plastered a number of times in conjunction with the southwestern platform. These fine ashy marl rich floors were excavated as a single context (19268).

Figure 22.30. Northwest-facing overview of the northwestern platform F.3611 at the end of phase B.77.5. Traces of red paint adorn the southern and eastern edges of the platform (photograph by Daniel Eddisford).

of the cranium and mandible are unclear because the skull was crushed… The neonate appears to have been buried sitting up or leaning against the side of the mat/burial cut, but gradually slumped into its current position as it decomposed. After more of the mat and the skeleton had been exposed, it was decided that the bones and mat should be consolidated and stored in situ for display, reference, and educational purposes (Knüsel et al. 2013: 120).

Northern platform F.3617 and northwestern platform F.3611 The beginning of B.77 Phase 5 was marked in the northern activity areas by the construction of platform F.3611. F.3611 was built with the application of a make-up layer (19524), which was a reddish-brown compact sediment. This core was sealed by white plaster floors (19523), which were patchy and poorly preserved. The platform was then further accentuated with another make-up layer (19519) (online fig. S22.25). In its final rendition, platform F.3611 was 1.1m wide and 1.5m long. Its eastern edge was aligned with the eastern edge of bin F.3613. Its southern edge curved further south where it met post F.7593. The southern and western edges of the platform were painted red in the final stage of its use life (fig. 22.30). Once platform F.3611 was constructed, platform F.6062 was plastered over numerous times; eight to nine layers of plaster and corresponding make-up were excavated as (19294) (online fig. S22.26). Two burials cut these floors: burial F.3642 at the northwestern corner of the platform and burial F.7136 at the northeastern corner of the platform.

Burial F.7136 (skeleton 30545, infill 20947, cut 30546): Burial F.7136 belonged to a child aged 8 years (+/−2 years) interred in the northeastern corner of the northern platform. The individual (30545) was buried in a flexed position on its right with its feet to the north and head to the south, facing north. The cranium of the individual contained carbonised brain tissue. Further, quite bit of orange residue was recovered surrounding the matrix of many of its bones. Northeastern platform F.6051 Floors (19563) that were laid in the previous subphase were sealed by another set of floors, better preserved at the northeastern corner of the platform (19539). No burials were interred into the platform at this time. Geometric design F.8148. A geometric design was executed on the eastern wall by the northeastern platform, as well as immediately above the northern end of the northeastern platform. The stratigraphic placement of the geometric design was based on it sealing the hand motifs from the previous phase (although not immediately, as there were about ten layers of white plaster in between). The geometric design was uncovered in different seasons, first in 2010 on the lower panel of the wall (fig. 22.31):

Burial F.3642 (skeleton 19494, infill 19471, cut 19495): Burial F.3642 cut floors (19530) at the northwestern corner of the northern platform F.6062. This was a burial of neonate (19494) placed on a mat. The entire burial was block lifted in 2012 to be excavated in the Human Remains laboratory; this was completed in 2013 (online fig. S22.27): The neonate was lying flexed on its left side with the thoracic region partially prone. The precise orientation

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Chapter 22: Tung. Building 77 [T]he painting consists of a repeated red and black geometric pattern, where the red is best preserved. The black pattern is highly fragmented, and the black is primarily visible as grey negative impressions. The painting was covered by between 10 [and] 15 layers of white/grey plaster, but some of the layers are so thin it is difficult to separate them properly. Because of the fragmented state of the wall, it is uncertain whether the painting extended beyond the exposed area, but it is certain that it did go a bit further down originally (US 19051). Due to the design’s fragmented nature, it was assumed at the time that it did not continue further up the wall. Further, the plaster was much thinner on the upper half of the eastern wall, suggesting that even if the design had continued, it had fallen off the wall during the occupation of the building. The fine-tuned excavations of the plaster layers on this part of the building revealed that, in fact, the plaster layers on the upper side of the wall had collapsed earlier in the building’s life history. The wall was repaired, resulting in the slight tilt towards the east halfway up. Hence, when the design was applied to the wall, the upper half of the eastern wall had significantly fewer layers of wall plaster. This section of the design was revealed in 2012 and recorded as (19469), unfortunately well after the lower half of the design had been excavated (fig. 22.32). James Mellaart called this type of design a ‘net motif’. The pattern consists of a repetition of three parallel vertical lines that are connected to each other with lines that go across at an angle. Slightly skewed triangles were formed right at the junctions of the parallel lines with the angular lines. Similar motifs have been found in Building 114, F.1024 (30031) and Building 96, F.4092 (20869).

Figure 22.31. Geometric design F.8148, as first uncovered in 2010 by the eastern platform on the lower half of the surviving wall (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 22.32. Upper part of the geometric design (19469), F.8148 on the eastern wall of B.77 (photograph by Jason Quinlan). (online fig. S22.29) were correlated in plan and relative heights. The oven was cross sectioned during excavation in 2012. By the end of the season, the southern wall of B.77 was excavated, as it was becoming a health and safety hazard. The excavation of the wall revealed the oven’s dome from the outside. Oven F.7108 was cut into the southern wall of B.77 (fig. 22.34). It was an oval oven, 0.74m wide at its widest point and about 1.00m long. The mouth of the oven protruded at least 0.35m in front of the southern wall. The depth of oven F.7108 went beyond the southern wall into Space 488. Once the oven outline was cut into the southern wall, a levelling layer was put down that contained different building materials, and the superstructure was built with a plant-tempered sandy clay. The first floor of the oven was then laid (19083/20478). This floor, along with another resurfacing event, (19082), were badly preserved. These floors were sealed by

Building 77 Phase 6: the construction of the horned pedestals Building 77 Phase 6 is marked by a number of different architectural modifications such as the construction of bin F.6050, as well as the addition of bucrania on the northeast platform and the construction of a large oven that cut through the southern wall (fig. 22.33). The southern activity area Originally thought to have been a blocked niche, oven F.7108 was ‘discovered’ at the end of the 2011 season (Eddisford 2011: 37) and was left for excavation in the following year (online fig. S22.28). Post-excavation analysis made it clear that oven F.7108 was in fact partially excavated in 2010 as F.3606 and F.3607. The floors that were partially excavated in the prior years

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Figure 22.33. Building 77 Phase 6 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato). another levelling (19075, 20477) followed by three other episodes of use (20469), (20466/19074), (20464/19072). All the floors sloped downward substantially from the back of the oven to the mouth. The re-surfacing events eventually raised the floor surface of the oven some 0.1m. The oven seemed to have been suddenly abandoned and blocked off: The last oven floor was in good condition, and it did not look scorched. Maybe the abandonment of the oven was not due to the need for a new floor (which perhaps would have made the oven too narrow), but rather for another reason, maybe a threatening collapse or for reasons which are not so practically founded. The oven was infilled and blocked in an interesting way. The varied material that was used for the blocking infill (20488) seems to represent the building material of a house: first a large chunk of floor plaster with make-up layers was put on top of the last oven floor, right in the back of the oven. Then a clayish material mixed with charcoal, a burnt piece of mudbrick and about three chunks of plaster layers were put into the oven together with pieces of oven wall (perhaps originating from a destroyed part of the oven) (FS 7108, SH).

Figure 22.34. Oven (F.7108) superstructure and earliest floor. Note that wall F.3096 was excavated before the oven was revealed (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

The oven blocking was then lined with two different types of clay-rich sediment, before it was covered with a material that essentially imitated the mudbrick of the surrounding walls (see online fig. S22.28). Oven F.7108 provided an important stratigraphic relationship with the construction of B.108. The foundation of B.108 respected oven F.7108 (online fig. S22.30), showing that oven F.7108 may have been in use at the time.

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Chapter 22: Tung. Building 77 Oven F.7108 was contemporary with a central hearth F.3606. The superstructure of the hearth (19087) abutted oven F.7108. A small posthole-like feature F.8137 cut through the eastern end of the superstructure of hearth F.3606. Cut (19065) was 0.12m in diameter and 0.17m deep. The fill of the cut (19086) ‘was particularly noteworthy, consisting of a very soft, loose ash and charcoal, containing moderate quantities of burnt human bone; the material almost looked cremation like’ (House 2010: 42). The southwestern platform was plastered several times. Floors (19059) respected the still-functional quern stone set in the middle of the platform. These floors, as well as much of the superstructure of oven F.3608, were cut for the construction of a skinny and long basin-like feature F.3605 (online fig. S22.31). The truncation of the former oven suggests that the feature was constructed in tandem with oven F.7108. The bin/basin was 0.3m wide and abutted the entire length of the oven and the hearth superstructures. It was lined with clay twice and used until it was cut by another bin construction during the next phase of the building.

Figure 22.35. ‘Bin’ F.6050 at the end of the building’s life history (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

22.36). One pedestal was placed on the platform’s southern edge while the other was placed on its western edge, completely isolating the platform from the rest of the building. The horned pedestals were excavated in the 2010 field season, out of stratigraphic sequence, as they had begun to lose their integrity due to weathering (online fig. S22.33). Their excavation revealed a tremendous amount of information on their construction that would have been impossible to infer had they been block-lifted and preserved as whole:

Northwestern activity area Platform F.3611 was truncated and prepared for the construction of a massive bin-like structure F.6050 that took over the northwestern corner of the space. The construction of bin F.6050 incorporated bin F.3613 and post F.7593, extending 1.6m north–south and 1.3m east–west (fig. 22.35). Its walls were made from a wattle-like material and had survived up to 1.13m in height in places. Unfortunately, much of the structure’s walls collapsed soon after excavation (online fig. S22.32). The outside of the walls had been plastered extensively, at least 0.04m thick in places, suggesting that the structure had been used for a long time. However, given that it was constructed in this later phase of the building, it may be that the walls were intentionally plastered more than other areas of the building itself. This bin-like feature would be used until the end of the life history of B.77. The function of this bin-like compartment is not clear. During the abandonment of the building, the feature contained unworked red deer antler and an antler tool, as well as a left cattle mandible. It was most certainly accessed through northern platform F.6062, via a small rectangular opening that would have made access challenging.

The two pedestals were initially thought to be constructed using individual unattached horn cores set into a clay pillar, however, excavation revealed a different story. Both sets of horn cores were attached to the aurochs skullcaps, the skull cut from the upper neck to just above the eye sockets to fit the pedestal core. There was clear evidence that the horn sheaths were... attached originally [fig. 22.37]. The skull from the southern pedestal (17505/17550) appears to be from a mature aurochs, the skull measuring 0.28m between the two horn cores (Martin 2010, personal comment) the skull was supported or wedged between two thin timber posts (19092) and (19093) prior to the construction of the clay core, both timbers were completely carbonised. The posts were around 20mm in diameter and 0.2m in height (from the top of the platform). Both were slightly angled with the distance between them wider at the base than the top. The entire structure was then covered in a clay core (19094). The partially fired clay had a grain to it and was most likely applied in thick layers building up the core slowly but in a single event, with a final measurement of 0.4m (east–west) x 0.26m (north–south) x 0.24m high.

Northeastern platform F.6051 The beginning of this later occupation phase was also marked by the construction of horned pedestals F.8134 and F.8135 above the northeastern platform F.6051 (fig.

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons following phases. The horns stayed in place until the abandonment of the house itself. They likely acted as a medium for the commemoration of a specific form of knowledge or an event. Their presence on the platform was certainly something that the archaeologists felt strongly during their work within Building 77:

The construction technique employed for the second western pedestal was the same. The skull (17564/17565) was cut in the same way retaining the horns (sheath and core), but was from a younger aurochs (young adult). The timber supports were slightly thinner with a diameter of 15mm but were angled in the same way; like the southern pedestal they continue down into the platform and were not fully excavated so the total length is not known. The pedestal was then built up with a clay core (19095), in a rectangular form 0.4m x 0.22m x 0.29m. The low-lying curb around the outside of the platform on the southern and western edges appears to be contemporary with the core construction, both were constructed on an earlier platform surface and appear to represent a period of major elaboration (House 2010: 35–36).

I could hardly believe my luck when I got to excavate one of the pedestals, because I felt a kind of awe towards them after spending so much time on that platform… Because the horns are pointing inwards to the platform, you get the feeling that the bull is about to attack. So, in a way, I was able to face the enormous aurochs, and stare directly into its eyes, and perhaps feel a tiny fragment of the Neolithic people’s fear, respect and awe when hunting these magnificent animals (Diary, DN, 13 August 2010).

The construction of the horns made access to the northeastern platform cumbersome. But their presence did not interfere with the Neolithic settlers’ use of the platform for other burials and related activities in the

Once the pedestals were put in place, they and the entire platform were plastered over a number of times. These plastering events were poorly preserved and excavated as a single unit (19520). The events likely correlated with the plastering events of the northern and eastern walls that covered the handprints. Eventually, another design would be executed on the eastern wall. The placement of the small bucranium centrally above niche F.6067 coincides with this phase of use.

Figure 22.36. The horned pedestals soon after they were exposed in 2008 (photograph by Michael House).

Bucranium F.3093. The small bucranium that was located immediately above niche F.3093 was attached to the wall with a wooden peg (fig. 22.38). During the abandonment of the house, both of its horns were sheared off, most likely intentionally. The bucranium was made from a sheep’s skull that was covered in clay and given the shape of a small bull’s head. The skull was shafted onto the wooden peg and then covered in clay. Once the head had been shaped, it was plastered over with white plaster repeatedly. Unfortunately, the stratigraphic placement of the feature is arbitrary, as the only relationship it has is

Figure 22.37. The cores of the horned pedestals (photographs by Jason Quinlan).

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Chapter 22: Tung. Building 77 of an adolescent were found by the feet, skeleton (19048). This individual was likely an earlier burial in the platform that was disturbed first by F.3600 and then by F.3601. The long bones of the adult were found lying at the edge of the cut for burial F.3601 (see below). Burial F.3601 (skeleton 19022, infill 19021, cut 19023): Burial F.3601 was the primary burial of adolescent (19022), buried in a very tightly flexed position with its head to the west facing north (online fig. S22.35). The long bones of (19038) were carefully placed on the northern side of its cut. The burials discussed above cut floor (19433), which represented a number of plastering events that had sealed prior burials within the platform. Northern activity area The most significant activity at this time was the carving of niche F.6063, centrally in relation to the northern platform, into northern wall F.3094 (fig. 22.39). It was an impressive feature, about 0.8m in height and 0.5m in depth, with a concave ceiling. The stratigraphic placement of the feature has been a challenge. After its exposure, the feature needed to be sealed due to health and safety concerns. As the edges of the feature eroded, the links tying it to rest of the building disappeared. When first excavated, however, it was observed to have been a later feature within the building: ‘It appears to have developed very late in the building’s life cutting through most of the plaster phases. It is badly eroded at the edges but in places the plaster does appear to curve slightly into the cut’ (House 2014b: 489). It has therefore arbitrarily been placed to phase B.77.6. The back end of the niche was truncated by construction activities that took place in B.131, and later during the execution of B.131’s wide niche on its southern wall, niche F.4109.

Figure 22.38. Bucranium F.6063 on the northern wall of B.77 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

that it seals a red panel surrounding niche F.6057, which was contemporary with the red hands in B.77.4. Therefore, the construction of the feature had to be after B.77.4 but before B.77.7, the ‘red phase’ of the building. Eastern platform F.6052 The burial events of F.3600 and F.3601 have been arbitrarily placed to this phase of use, although, as mentioned above, these events may have taken place earlier in the life history of the building. They represent the burial of three individuals. Burial F.3600 (skeleton 19038, infill 19044, cut 19009): F.3600 represented the burial of a primary disturbed young adult female (19038) (online fig. S22.34). Only its cranium and feet remained in situ, while the remainder of body was displaced by the interment of skeleton (19022) for burial F.3601. The individual was placed in a large tear-shaped cut. The body would likely have been flexed, oriented east–west, placed on its right, with the head to the east facing north and feet to the west. No finds were associated with skeleton (19038). The displaced remains

Figure 22.39. Niche F.6063, carved into the northern wall of B.77, in 2008, immediately after its exposure (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Building 77 Phase 7: late occupation (the red phase) B.77 Phase 7 could be coined the red phase of the building (fig. 22.2). Its beginning is marked by the truncation and blocking of oven F.7108 for the construction of a much smaller oven immediately in front of it, which was rather short lived, as evidenced from its singular oven floor. The remaining features within the main room remained unchanged. The northeastern platform was marked by the burial F.3697 and the later burial of a singular cranium (F.3615). Southern activity area A new oven was constructed in the southern activity area, immediately in front of the closed oven F.7108 (online fig. S22.36). The oven, measuring 0.7 by 0.9m, was built above levelling layer (19084). This levelling was sealed with ‘a now fragmented but solid well fired plant tempered surface (19083), the oven was resurfaced later with another plant tempered surface (19082) before going out of use’ (House 2010: 41). Basin F.3605 from the previous occupation was filled with a firm ashy sediment (19062). ‘The southern end [of] the newly formed surface was relined with (19069) forming a new sunken basin F.3602 measuring 0.57 x 0.35 x 0.08, to the west of the oven’ (House 2010: 42) (fig. 22.40). A shallow scoop was cut into the northern end of former basin F.3605 and contained a single animal bone (19066). The ladder entry platform F.6053 was built up with a series of make-ups and corresponding plaster surfaces excavated as (17573). These likely corresponded to the maintenance episodes of the entry area throughout B77.5 and B77.6. They were sealed by (17572). A poorly preserved plastered floor (19041) above (17572) at the edge of the superstructure of oven F.3603 linked the entry platform to the oven. An interesting feature that was excavated with the excavation of (17573) was the plaster collapse related to the plaster structure associated with the ladder entry. It appeared that the ladder itself was attached to the southern wall by a clay-cored plaster structure with multiple layerings of plaster and make-up (19000) (see House 2014: 488, fig. 23.6) (online fig. S22.37):

Figure 22.40. Basin F.3605 (photograph by Michael House).

structure stood to a height of 1.4m and extended 0.3m from the southern wall. It partially covered the platform but most of the structure stood on the surface west of the platform (House 2010: 41). Northeastern activity area Once the bucrania were in place, the entire platform area was painted red with (19267). This was preserved only partially on the sides and occasionally on the top of the platform. Burial F.3687 truncated the red surface. This massive burial feature covered most of the floor surface of the platform, ‘despite the fact that the bucrania restricted access to the northeast platform… Great care must have been taken to ensure the installations were not damaged during the burial process’ (Eddisford 2011: 35). Burial F.3697 (skeletons 20683, 20683, 19451, 19554, 19535, infill 20686, cut 20922): Burial F.3697 represents an elaborate and complex burial, which contained the remains of one primary middle adult female, one secondary adult cranium with a missing mandible, and multiple secondary skeletal elements. The feature was excavated over two years in 2011 and 2013, with multiple feature numbers. The contexts have been unified in light of post-excavation observations and examples from other buildings, namely B.131 and B.52. Burial F.3697 was clearly executed for the burial of a middle adult female (20683) (fig. 22.41). Skeleton (20683) was laid on its back in a flexed position oriented east–west, with its hands on its chest, feet to the east and head to the northwest, facing southeast. The individual was buried with the cranium of another individual (20684) placed on its hips. The cranium was lying on its right side, head to the south and facing west, with no associated mandible or cervical vertebrae (online fig. S22.38). Further, it was ‘crushed by the weight of the

The fine laminations of plaster (19000) were well cemented, roughly 36 in total with some fractures seeming to imply that there were 5 distinct multilayered grouping events in the plastering of the ladder structure. Due to the termination by fire the colours ranged from an orangey brown on the outer layers to a white and black. It was angled between 65 and 70 degrees (1:3 or 1:4 slope) and the layers were applied to a clay core (19001). The entire ladder

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Figure 22.41. Female adult skeleton (20683) in burial F.3687 (photograph by Susan Hyden).

Figure 22.42. Carefully arranged skeleton (19541) and cranium (19544) to the east of the context within burial F.3697. Facing north (photograph by Jason Quinlan). Pit F.3615: An interesting feature, possibly contemporary with burial F.3697 or executed shortly afterwards, was pit F.3615: ‘This intriguing burial only contained the skull of an older adult (over 50 yrs old) female, (19500). The skull was blackened by the fire that destroyed the building and was resting directly on top of a small stone pallet with cinnabar on it [fig. 22.43]’ (Eddisford 2011: 36). The carbonised brain of the individual was preserved within the endocranium (fig. 22.44). After the sealing of all burial features, the lower 0.15 to 0.2m of the northern and eastern walls immediately above the northeastern platform was painted red. The red paint was very likely associated with the burial activities that took place within the platform. The red paint also covered the horned pedestals (online fig. S22.40).

grave fill, which might indicate it was already skeletonised when it was placed in the grave cut’ (US 20684 SDH, 15 July 2012). Several beads were found, particularly in the centre of the burial, made from different materials (malachite, stone, interlocking bone beads, red deer canine beads, and shell) and of different shapes. Twenty-six of them were recorded as x-finds. Further, several hundred stone disc beads were recovered in the heavy residue. The Nassarius shells may have come from the disturbance of burial F.7133. A small speleothem with a cavity in its middle was also placed with the (20683) individual. In fact, the speleothem and some beads may have even been within a leather pouch, as a fine brown silty material surrounded the cluster of artefacts. Further, the imprints of a wooden bowl were preserved immediately by the head of the individual. The skeleton rested upon orange-stained sediment, which has been interpreted as the remnants of burnt tissue. Similar residues have been found within a few of the other burnt buildings, such as B.131 and B.52. The skin and fat tissue of the individual would have melted and baked onto the sediment from the heat of the conflagration. Immediately north of skeleton (20683) were a number of disarticulated adult male bones, carefully placed at the edge of a cut (fig. 22.42). Recorded as skeleton (19541), this context was excavated in 2011 as F.3620. An additional skull, which seemed to belong to another individual – an adult possible male (19554) – was also recovered. To the east of skeleton (20683) was another collection of disarticulated human bones, belonging to an old adult possible female, recorded as skeleton (19535) (online fig. S22.39). Again, in 2011, the context was designated F.3619, but post-excavation analysis showed that the context was most likely part of burial F.3697. Burial F.3697 was the last formal burial (that is, primary burial of a complete skeleton) interred in the northeast platform F.6051.

Building 77 Phase 8: the white phase The final occupation phase of the building was likely the shortest occupation phase recorded in the building other than the abandonment phase (fig. 22.45). It is marked by the demolition of oven F.3603. In its place a platform F.6060 was constructed. Southern activity area Oven F.3603 was demolished and then levelled with compact clay (19042). The clay was then surfaced with plaster (19033), forming a small central southern platform that covered over all traces of prior oven activities in the same area (fig. 22.46): The final sequence saw the abandonment and levelling of the oven F3603 with compacted clay, most likely some of the demolished oven (19042). This was then cut at the northern end by (19046), a sub-square preparatory cut for a 0.62m x 0.58m hearth F.6064. The backfilled oven was then surfaced (19033) forming a new south-central platform F.6060 covering any

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons The southwestern platform was completely levelled and re-plastered, as if to eliminate all prior evidence for the use of various bins and basins in this area. Quern stone (17547) remained in its place until the abandonment of the building.

Figure 22.43. Stone palette found immediately beneath cranium (19500) (photograph by Dan Eddisford).

Figure 22.44. Carbonised brain tissue within cranium (19500) (photograph by Dan Eddisford). trace of the oven sequence below. This platform was resurfaced once with unit (19017/17558) before the building went out of use. The hearth was then clay lined (19045) to a thickness of up to 50mm. The hearth underwent a series of minor alterations and repairs (19040), (19025), (19019) and (17557), prior to the fire and subsequent closure of B.77 (House 2010: 42–43).

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The northern and eastern activity areas At this final phase, all of the platforms and correlating wall surfaces – the northern, northeastern and eastern – were resurfaced with white plaster, multiple times, recorded as (17561). These final fine floors on the northeastern platform were truncated by a small pit, which was empty. The re-surfacing of the floors and the replastering of the walls covered over all the earlier red paint (fig. 22.47). Building 77 Phase 9: abandonment Building 77 was abandoned with a great fire that engulfed the entirety of the building (online fig. S22.41). The abandonment of the building and the artefact groups found in association with this phase are discussed in detail by House (2014b). Previous interpretations on the abandonment of B.77 had been inconclusive as to whether the burning of the building was intentional or not. While the bins within Space 337 were empty during the building’s abandonment, a large number of different artefact groups were found directly on the surfaces of the building’s floors and platforms within both Space 337 and Space 336. For example, the central floor segment of the main room had two different clusters of artefacts associated with craft production: red deer antler, articulated sheep tail, cattle scapula, red sandstone mortars, small stone axes of serpentine, a bone pin (see House 2014b: 494–95). The eastern platform contained a small group of finds that included a scapula, cattle horn core, other smaller pieces of bone and a polished stone axe. The northeastern platform contained ‘a group of ground stones including a sandstone slab abrader and hammer stone’ (House 2014b: 494), as well as carbonised remains of two baskets. The northern platform contained a massive inventory of ground stone (17509) that included 101 small squared and rounded stones as well as a number of very large pieces not commonly found on site. The assemblage was originally interpreted as representing a cache of materials related to the production of slabs. Mixed with the assemblage were substantial amounts of animal bone, representing meat-bearing parts of the body. Bin F.6050 also contained unworked red deer antler and an antler tool, as well as a left cattle mandible. The southwestern platform F.6058 contained burnt animal bone, including a cattle horn core as well as an articulated bird claw, while 26 stone pieces were placed on top of the south-central platform. The south-

Chapter 22: Tung. Building 77

Figure 22.45. Plan of Building 77 Phase 8 (Camilla Mazzucato).

Figure 22.46. Overview of the southern activity area associated with platform F.6060 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 22.47. North-facing overview of northern and eastern activity areas in Sp.336 in the final phase of B.77 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

eastern corner of the main room also contained a large number of artefact assemblages, which included different animal parts (horn cores, a dog skull, cattle jaw), as well as a number of stone axes that had dull edges, as did almost all other axes found within the abandonment deposits. An unfinished piece of grinding slab found here ‘could be refitted with one from another artefact group on the north platform, indicating these stones were

broken up prior to the fire’ (House 2014b: 495). The southeastern corner also had a number of botanical remains of charred peas and barley and other remains likely associated with the abandonment. The floor of side room Space 336 also contained a number of different artefact assemblages. They consisted of unworked stones, polished stones, pestles, grinders, bird talons, different animal bones, a bifacial obsidian point and

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons botanical remains. Above these was another layer of artefacts that seemed to have collapsed onto the floor from a second storey or mezzanine. No grains were found within the bins to the north, but the central floor area in the side room did contain a spread of burnt glume wheat spikelets. Determining whether the fire was accidental by simply looking across the artefact assemblages remains challenging. Some assemblages have been interpreted as representing kits that may have been placed within pouches that could have been hanging from the roof. Their placement in the fire could be interpreted both as accidental or as intentional. Recent work by Tsoraki (2018) on the ground stone assemblage points to an intentional and unusual deposition of the ground stone, suggesting intentionality. Her analysis has shown that the ground stone assemblage in B.77 is the largest assemblage recorded since the beginning of the new excavations. The abundance of stone, worked and unworked, is not reflective of ground stone assemblages typically seen across the site. She believes that much of the ground stone was likely brought from elsewhere and intentionally broken in the process, as seen through various fits from pieces found across the building. The acts of assembling and breaking seem to be symbolic of the ending of a house and may even point to the material representation of the convergence of different groups (represented by the sheer volume of ground stone) not necessarily co-habiting B.77. It is also important to note that, overall, the preabandonment phases of the building contain a low number of ground stone tools. The variability of the tool types found during the occupation is also low in comparison to the ground stone found in the abandonment of the building, further suggesting that the ground stone was brought into the building for its abandonment. Further, the final ‘white’ phase of the building seems to point in the direction of an intentional abandonment, a similar practice having been observed in other burnt buildings in Level North G such as B.131 and B.52, as well as in unburnt buildings such as B.5 and B.119 in Level North F. All of these buildings had final phases in which all the red paintings on the walls and platforms were plastered over with a white wash.

cereal processing. The assemblage points to the consumption of multiple cereals (naked barley, bread wheat, emmer, new type wheat) and pulses (lentil, pea). The most dominant food preparation practice observed in the archaeobotanical assemblage is the dehusking of glume (hulled) wheats across the dirty floors (see Volume 8, Chapter 7 and Volume 13, Chapter 5). It appears that cereals were stored in spikelet form, given the concentrations of glume wheat spikelets found in Space 336 in the abandonment phase of the building and in the processing evidence through the occupation of the building. Building 77 is undoubtedly one of the most elaborate buildings that the current team has excavated. In a wider context, B.77 follows a large number of conformities seen on site and within buildings excavated in the North Shelter. For example, the configuration of the side space at the western end of the building is something commonly observed in the North Area of the mound, in buildings such as B.1, B.3, B.5, B.102, B.119, B.129 and B.131. While the level of elaboration within B.77 may have been more intense in comparison to those buildings, the overall configuration and size of the building were similar. Through the building’s life history at least 39 individuals were buried within it. Additional disarticulated human remains have been found within the demolition deposits in the building, something that is not entirely uncommon on site (for example, B.114). B.77 contained a large number of storage features. In its entire life history, the main space of the building saw at least eight re-builds of its oven. The number of basin and bin-like features changed over time, with an increase towards the mid-sequence of the building. However, all such features were dismantled in the final occupation phase of the building, together with its main oven, which was transformed into a platform. This could be interpreted as a reduction in domestic production and perhaps an increased focus on symbolic activity within the household. Yet during this last occupation phase, the red paint and ‘elaboration’ of all features across the walls and platforms were painted over with a white wash. A similar practice was observed in B.131. The end of the building was marked by a spectacular fire. An interesting aspect of B.77’s fire was its effect on neighbouring buildings. For example, the conflagration heavily marked, although perhaps did not heavily damage, the outer face of the western wall of B.114, which abutted B.77. More remarkable seems the fate of B.113, which may have accidentally burned as a result of a leap of the fire (see Chapter 25). Much of the archaeological evidence for the burning of B.77 points to a deliberate act. The clear evidence of deliberation has thrown light on other Middle period fires on the mound, such as in Buildings 131, 52 and 79.

Discussion The excavations in Building 77 have provided a wide range of interesting observations in relation to mid-Çatalhöyük Neolithic practices. The archaeobotanical assemblage from B.77 (phases B77.1–B77.8) is dominated by a mixture of food (cereal) processing and likely fuel residues (for example, sedge seeds often derived from animal dung fuel burned as fuel). Much of the data derived from the archaeobotanical analyses come from the dirty floors, which contain chaff-rich residues of

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Chapter 22: Tung. Building 77 Acknowledgements The excavation of Building 77 was initiated by Michael House. Dan Eddisford took over the work in 2011. Susan Hyden and Burcu Tung supervised the excavations in the

building in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The final remains of the building were excavated by Arek Klimowicz. Others involved in the excavation were Max Rosefigura, Lisa Yeomans, Renata Araujo and Duygu Ertemin.

Supplementary material For supplementary material related to this chapter, please visit https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12. It comprises figures S22.1–S22.42. The phased matrix for Building 77 can be found in fig. S22.42.

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23. Building 102 Burcu Tung

Building 102 (fig. 23.1) is located in the northeastern corner of the North Area, its boundaries extending beyond to the north and east. The full extent of the building remains unknown. It consisted of two spaces: side room Space 18 to the west and main room Space 17. The building was partially defined during the 1993–94 surface scrape (Hodder 1996). Its eastern end was excavated in 2007, during excavations conducted for the foundations of the North Shelter (Farid 2014c). Excavations within the western end of the building took place between 2012 and 2014. During the 1990s scrape, Space 17 was initially interpreted as an open area, although this was revised after the foundation trench excavations. The northern wall that defines the northern edge of Sp.17 (see Matthews 1996: 84, fig. 23.7.5), as defined during the 1990s scrape, is very likely the northern wall of B.102. If that is the case, it is

possible to presume that the building, slightly trapezoid in plan, extended about 7.5m north–south and 6.5m east– west at its widest points. The western wall of the building, F.3672, made a dogleg to the west before meeting with the southern wall F.3655. The turn of the southern wall F.3655 was uncovered in between FT3 and FT2 (shelter foundation trenches), as was a small portion of the eastern wall F.2824. The building was divided by a partition wall F.2774 which was uncovered in the northern beam slot (for the shelter foundation). On the same alignment with F.2774 is F.3658, dividing Space 17 from Space 18. It is most likely the continuation of the internal wall of the building, which was at some point cut. In this configuration, Space 17 would have had a liveable space of almost 25m2, while side room Space 18 would have been at least 8m2. In all, B.102 was a sizeable building.

Figure 23.1. Overview of B.102, facing north, during the 2013 excavations. To the left is side room Sp.18 and to the right, main room Sp.17. The western wall doglegs and abuts the northern end of the eastern wall of B.119. The square pit within Sp.18 is a small test sounding conducted in 2012 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons The configuration of the building followed the typical north–south division in the use of space, with the fire installations and dirty floors located to the south in the main room (fig. 23.2). As in many other buildings in the North Shelter, the side room was to the west. Unlike other buildings, which tend to have side rooms devoid of much occupation (save for what is left in them during the abandonment of the building, such as in B.77), Space 18 had substantial evidence that it was used intensely as a production area. In what were presumably the northeastern and eastern platforms of the building, located in FT1 and FT2, there were a large number of burials, many of them containing elaborate adornment elements. Farid phased B.102 to North ?G and its predecessor, Sp.455 to North ?F, even though noting that the chipped stone assemblage of Sp.455 pointed to North H. This assemblage was therefore interpreted as reflecting an early ‘locus for the introduction of a new technology’ (Carter, personal communication in Farid 2014c: 579). While the most recent excavations provide somewhat more data, the stratigraphic placement of B.102 remains slightly problematic. The building abuts B.112/B.119 and therefore was definitely constructed after the start of B.119. However, it is not entirely clear whether this took place in North G or North H. A test sounding conducted

in 2012 showed the existence of an earlier floor level ca 0.3m below the B.102 floors. These floors either (i) belong to an earlier phase of the building before a major modification, or (ii) belong to the floors of the predecessor of B.102. Excavations that took place in the foundation trenches reached Sp.455 beneath Sp.17, which was interpreted as an earlier building. It is therefore more likely that the floors identified in the test sounding correspond to this earlier building related to Sp.455, the predecessor of B.102. If the predecessor, Sp.455, also abutted B.119, it may have been constructed during either North G or North F. That would place B.102 to North G or H. In the end, the building’s stratigraphic placement has been left within Level North ?G. Summary of previous findings As noted above, the foundation trench excavations conducted in 2007 revealed the eastern end of the building. B.102 was constructed above Space 455. Its eastern wall followed the same alignment and shared the same location for an engaged post as Space 455’s eastern wall, although set about 0.1m further to the east. The eastern wall of Building 102 was plastered extensively, and the northern end of the wall from the engaged post onward was coated with multiple layers of red paint. A thick white plastered

Figure 23.2. Plan of B.102, Phase C (plan by Camilla Mazzucato) (shading is used to aid visual understanding of the different features in buildings; in general, darker shading indicates more upstanding features).

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Chapter 23: Tung. Building 102 floor sealed at least 22 burials, buried within two discrete areas that seemed to correlate with two separate platforms. The floors south of the engaged post were defined as fine dirty floors, typical of southern activity areas. The northern shelter foundation slot further contained a bin abutting the western wall of the building, which was in Space 18. In 2007, the burials excavated in the small area designated for the foundation trenches represented the second largest assemblage of human remains found throughout the work of the Çatalhöyük Research Project, after Building 1. As Farid describes, the burials were at the time the ‘richest’ assemblage in terms of items placed in the graves: ‘Most typical were beads from different materials and bone pins; other items include a pigment pouch and small spouted dish, as well as obsidian and flint tools… Overall the artistic beauty and quality of workmanship of these burials are exceptional’ (Farid 2014c: 591). Of particular interest was F.2910, the primary burial of skeleton (19524), an adult female that was found with an exceptional quantity of elaborate beads, as well as disarticulated and partially articulated human skeletal remains (Farid 2014c: 582–85). The sequence of interment for the individuals was established through the analysis of the placement of the skeletons, since too many of the features were intercutting. In this context, the sequence of interment for skeleton (19524) was not certain, but it is very likely that this burial could have been one of the latest interments in the building. As one of the latest interments containing a large number of personal adornments, it resembles burial F.3987 in Building 77 (see Chapter 22).

höyük with regards to the ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ areas of the building and the placement of fire installations and platforms. The southeastern activity area was dominated by a large oven accompanied by a hearth. The eastern activity area of the building was dominated by the platforms excavated in 2007. A bench, F.2825, divided the eastern platforms from the southeastern activity area, and the organization of space is very similar to B.119 and B.132, and to a degree, B.131. The southwestern activity area of the space contained pits, basins and other features related to different activities. The side room, Space 18, contained quite a few bins, which were constructed at different times, and many of them remain unexcavated. Division F.3688 was a unique feature, with an extraordinary amount of activity around it. Its western face had traces of red paint when first uncovered. Two post pads, F.7306 and F.7141 faced each other at the southern passageway between the spaces, one of them abutting the southern wall and the other, division F.3688. The northern passage was dominated by a large pit, which was part of the abandonment activities and likely represents the removal of a feature related to the division of the building. Four occupation sequences of the partially excavated building have been distinguished through the most recent excavations of B.102. These phases are outlined in table 23.1. The different phases of the building were distinguished with reference to the fire installations and, in particular, the oven located at the southeastern end of the building. The western and southwestern end of B.102 had an intense occupation sequence, with the placement of a large number of artefacts within bins, in between floor sequences and even in hearths. Unfortunately, due to the building’s proximity to the surface of the mound, the later occupational phases of the building were disturbed

Phasing and internal features B.102 is comprised of main room Sp.17 and side room Sp.18. The occupation of the main room, as mentioned above, reflected rules and regulations observed at ÇatalPhase

Description

B102 Phase D: construction

Construction phase of the building, defined by the layout of the walls. Largely unexcavated.

B102 Phase C: mid occupation

Currently exposed state of the building, all major features remain in situ.

B102 Phase B: last occupation

All features excavated, beginning of phase defined by major renovation of both fire installations, oven and hearth. -

B102 Phase A: closure

B102 Subphase B.1. Correlates with the earlier phase of use of hearth F.3692 and oven F.7101 B102 Subphase B.2. Correlates with the later phase of use of hearth F.3692 and oven F.7101

Closure of building, beginning defined by the placement of many objects on the floors and within many features, as well as a neonate skeleton.

Table 23.1. The phasing of Building 102.

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons by animal and insect burrowing and plant roots, as well as trampling that occurred during archaeological fieldwork conducted within the North Shelter. The floors excavated belonged primarily to the southern activity areas and were therefore – typically of such areas – fine and partial lenses that had accumulated through time. Following the floors of B.102 was particularly challenging, as all of the floor surfaces uncovered were fine packed clay floors rather than marl-based plaster: A floor is a floor is a floor is a floor. Or is it? In Çatalhöyük, more specifically B.102, a floor layer can be extremely hard to define (Diary, SM, 21 July 2013). This is likely because most of the areas exposed for excavation were the southern ‘activity’ areas. It is typical for such areas to have clay floors rather than marl-based plaster floors. Clay floors seem to be more fragile in nature than marl-based floors, although their wear may be exacerbated by the intense activities that took place above them. In any case, clay-based floors are always only partially preserved and pose a challenge to ‘follow’, as was the case in B.102.

correct the dip (see below). While the Çatalhöyük builders were experienced, such structural issues were common on site due to the differences in the load-bearing capacity of the anthropogenic sediments the buildings were built upon (for example, the issues of the B.65–44 sequence in the South Shelter). The tilt of the western wall and its proximity to the surface made it challenging for the excavation team to fully understand the nature of the dogleg during excavation. It was initially thought that the western wall was cut during the Neolithic to expand the building in this area only; however, post-excavation analyses made it clear that the doglegged section of the wall was simply truncated during excavation, causing confusion in interpretation. It is not entirely clear if the few features found associated with posts were structural and part of the initial construction of the building. A post-retrieval pit (F.2822), which would have belonged to a post abutting the eastern wall, was excavated in 2007. Another post, on the same east–west alignment as F.2822 would have abutted the western wall, as evidenced through post-retrieval pit F.8126, which remains only partially excavated. Two post pads flanked threshold F.7300, the southern passageway between Space 17 and Space 18. Both features have been only partially excavated, and therefore it is not entirely clear if the posts were structurally necessary or if they were a later addition to the building. Both features were likely established soon after the erection of the building’s walls and the placement of its roof. Post pad F.7141 flanked the southern wall. About 0.2m east–west and 0.14m north–south, it was outlined with a pisé-like structure and plaster, which remains in situ (online fig. S23.1). This clay-and-plaster mixture must have originally gone over the post that abutted the wall, its impression clearly visible. The excavations revealed at least two phases of use, implying that the post was at one point taken off the wall, and then placed back again. The earliest base of the post pad was filled with extremely clean light-brown clay (30124) and sealed by (30122), a compact grey clay with dark organic print. (30122) was in turn sealed by another light-brown clay (30107), which was also extremely compact. Post pad F.7306 abutted the southern end of wall F.3688 (online fig. S23.2). The base of this post pad (30162) was ca 0.1m above the final floor level and plastered with (20904), the same plaster as covered the northern face of partition F.3688. Within (20904) was a heavily used large obsidian flake from Nenezi Dağ.

Building 102 Phase D: construction None of the constructional elements of B.102 have been excavated in full except for eastern wall F.2824, which was built immediately above an earlier wall, set 0.1m further east. The standing walls of B.102 survived to a height of between 0.2 and 0.4 m. It is likely that the walls underwent substantial erosion due to their proximity to the surface of the mound. As noted above, the building was likely slightly trapezoidal in plan, with a western wall that doglegged further west to abut B.119 at its southern end. Doglegged walls at Neolithic Çatalhöyük are not uncommon, a strategy that may have been employed to increase the available space within a building. While it is not evident from the surface, it is possible that another building immediately north of B.119 jutted further east. The western wall of B.102 would have been built abutting this wall and then stepped inward to abut B.119. While B.119 and B.102 only have an abutting relationship, the buildings have been phased to different levels in the North Area. It is very likely that the building B.102 was built above also abutted B.119. The walls of B.102 were constructed from a brown loam sediment and grey mortar. The bricks were thicker than the common 0.30m-wide mudbrick at about 0.45– 0.5m, although their lengths were similar to other bricks on site at 0.8 to 0.9m. The western wall of the building leaned in at an angle, probably compromising the general stability of the building. In fact, the lean may have happened during the use of the building: for example, floors (30161) dipped westward and were filled in during the later part of the occupation with packing (30139) to

Building 102 Phase C: mid occupation Phase C (fig. 23.3) is the exposed and only partially excavated occupation phase of B.102, before its final occupation and subsequent abandonment.

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Figure 23.3. Overview of B.102, facing south, at the end of the 2014 excavation season (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Space 17 A large oven, F.7305 (online fig. S23.3), partially cut into the southern wall F.3655. The oven, which seems to have been circular in shape, was truncated by the construction of a later oven, F.7101. Its eastern end is beyond the limit of excavation, making it impossible to judge its true size. Regardless, rather substantial in size (albeit still much smaller than the later oven), it was at least 0.9m long and 0.7m wide. It is impossible to say where the mouth of the oven was located, although it may have been at its western end, similarly to the oven the followed it (and similarly to B.119’s oven). Hearth F.7135 was contemporary with oven F.7305 (online fig. S23.4). The circular hearth, about 0.7m in circumference, was located in the northwestern corner of the southeastern activity area. It abutted a slightly raised floor or platform F.7117 to the north, excavated as (30452). To its east was an activity area, very slightly raised above the southern dirty floors. The partially exposed platform or activity area F.7124 was likely established during this occupation phase. Its earliest exposed floor is a typical dirty floor. This was sealed by a light-brown make-up (20990) and subsequent dirty floor (20974). A small pit was cut into (20974) and then lined with a thick homogenous plaster (30573), forming what was possibly a pot placement F.7131 (fig. 23.4). The shape of the feature, with its concave base, suggests it may have been a pot placement rather than a post pad or work basin. The feature must have been short-lived, as it was sealed with a light-brown clay (30572). Immediately to its west was a small scoop, which remains in situ. Both the scoop and F.7131 were subsequently sealed by makeup (20973) and its corresponding dirty floor (20962). A 0.2m sequence of floors excavated in FT2 in 2007 as (15409) likely correlates with F.7124. F.7124 was also

Figure 23.4. (A) Cut for pot placement F.7131, facing east; (B) plaster lining, (30573), for pot placement F.7131 (photographs by Jędrzej Hordecki).

related to the use of the hearth in the later phase of the building. Similar platforms were constructed attached to the hearth in B.131, as well as in B.80. It may have represented a specialised activity area within the southeastern activity area. Burial F.7626. Burial F.7626, containing a neonate (21584), was excavated immediately west of oven F.7105, out of sequence, as its bones were popping out of its fill. The burial was actually sealed by floor (30169), which remains in situ elsewhere in Space 17. The skeleton of (21584) (online fig. S23.5) was interred in a small pit, 0.27 x 0.21m in size, laying on its right with its head to the south, arms flexed with hands beneath its cranium as if resting. While the left leg was flexed to the front the right was flexed backwards. F.7626 cut another fill (22133), probably of another burial, that remains in situ. Pit F.7628. Pit F.7628, right on the boundary between the southwestern and southeastern activity areas, cut floors (30169) and represented the latest depositional event to be excavated within B.102.C in Space 17. It was a small shallow oval pit (0.2m by 0.2m, 0.06m in depth) that contained three different fills. The earliest fill (21590)

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons was sealed by a pure plaster (21589), which contained some fragments of human bone deriving from a child. This was in turn sealed by fill (21581). The skeletal fragments may represent what was left over from a retrieval event. However, these bones may also represent the reburial of skeletal elements that came from a different location within the building, after a maintenance event. Engaged pillar F.7115, abutting the southern wall of Building 102 and located immediately east of the threshold between Spaces 17 and 18, was built above floors (30169) (fig. 23.5). It was rectangular in shape, about 0.85m wide and 0.4m long. Its pisé-like walls, made from a marl-rich sandy matrix, were relatively well preserved at 0.2 to 0.3m in height. The feature was initially interpreted as a bin. However, it was more likely to have been an engaged pillar, which may have been built to support the roof of the building as a response to the tilt of the western wall F.3653 and partition wall F.3688. A single obsidian blade was placed on its surface, embedded in (30560), which was likely the same surface as (30169), most probably as a foundation deposit. Chipped stones and other tools have been associated with posts in different contexts, such as in B.77 and B.76.

phytoliths, typical of ‘dirty’ floor activity areas at the site. The floor also contained a number of artefacts on its surface, which were collected as x-finds. A quern stone fragment 30161.x1 abutted bin F.3698 and was placed between two large animal bones. Bin F.3698 abutting the central partition wall and bin F.7116 abutting the southern wall 0.5m east of the dogleg, neither of which has been excavated in its entirety, were likely established during this phase of occupation. Bin F.7116 was a rectangular bin with rounded corners, about 0.4m wide and 0.5m deep. Its pisé-like walls (20955) remain in situ. The bin was expanded during its second phase of use in the final occupation phase of the building (see below). Bin F.3698, on the other hand, was a rectangular bin with angular corners that measured 0.55m in width and 0.44m in length. Its walls were preserved to about 0.1m in height. This bin was likely cut into floors (30161), which remain in situ in Space 18. Building 102 Phase B: last occupation The last occupation of B.102 was defined by the renewal of both the oven and the hearth in the southeastern activity area. Space 17 has been broadly divided into two sub-phases, B102.B.1 and B102.B.2, based on a maintenance episode that took place on the oven, hearth and platform F.7117. The correlation of this sub-phasing with the rest of the southwestern activity area remained uncertain, as direct stratigraphic links were lost to postdepositional processes. The sub-division could not be established at all within Space 18.

Space 18 None of the occupational surfaces that belong to B102.C were excavated in Sp.18. However, at the end of the excavation season in 2014, it was clear that a number of bins and other features were emerging as the later occupational deposits were excavated (fig. 23.6). The space was covered with a patchy floor surface (30161), which remains in situ and was likely contemporary with floor (30169) in Space 17. The unexcavated floor surface contained a number of inclusions and was abundant in

Figure 23.5. Engaged pillar F.7115, facing south (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 23.6. Overview of Sp.18 during B.102.C, facing east. Bin F.3698 abuts the central division. Abutting the bin wall are two large animal bones and quern stone fragment 30161.x1. Towards the right, abutting the southern wall is compound bin F.7116. Floor (30161) contains a relatively large number of stones, bone, a few pieces of pottery and other material culture embedded in its make-up (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

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Chapter 23: Tung. Building 102 The division of space and the placement of features in the last occupation phase of the building, B102.B, was fairly similar to B102.C (fig. 23.7). During this last phase of occupation, the locations of both primary fire installations remained the same, although they were completely re-built. The southwestern activity area had a number of features associated with it, including burials, basins and bins. The floors within both Space 17 and Space 18 were finely layered, patchy and often excavated in multiple layers.

with floors (30543) and (30544), located at the western end of Space 17. These were also poorly preserved floors, which consisted of fine packed orangey-brown clay surfaces that were difficult to follow and contained few artefacts. Oven F.7101 was constructed immediately above the previous oven F.7305, truncating its superstructure and possibly even its latest floor (online fig. S23.6). Oval in shape, the exposed extent of the superstructure was 1.1m at its maximum and about 0.7m deep. Throughout its use, oven F.7101 saw at least five floor renewals and possibly even more that were truncated by post-depositional processes. The dome of the oven was completely destroyed, either during abandonment or due to postdepositional processes. The northern limit of its superstructure (20612), which was built above make-up layer (20690), was preserved to a height of about 0.1m (fig. 23.8). The mouth of the oven was likely located to the west, but any evidence for it was truncated. During the earlier phase of the oven, which correlated with B102 Subphase B1, the first floor (20687) and its two consecutive major re-plastering events, make-up (20681) sealed by floor (20643) and make-up (20642) sealed by floor

B102 Subphase B.1 Space 17: The southeastern activity area. In the southeastern activity area, oven F.7101 and hearth F.3692 were established immediately above their predecessors, marking the beginning of the final occupation phase in Building 102. Hearth F.3692 was founded on floor (30542), excavated at the eastern and northern end of the space, immediately north of the oven sequences. Unfortunately, the boundary between the oven and this floor was truncated during the excavations in 2012. Even though (30542) was patchy and difficult to follow, upon its excavation it became clear that it was contemporary

Figure 23.7. Plan of B.102 Phase B (plan by Camilla Mazzucato).

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Figure 23.8. The earliest floor (20687) is partially exposed. The oven was excavated in cross-section. Superstructure (20612) contains all the floors of the oven (photograph by Jędrzej Hordecki).

Figure 23.9. Bone ring 21574.x1 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

(20637), abutted the southern wall F.3655. Make-up (20642) contained a ‘heavily used large section of prismatic blade from Nenezi Dağ’ (Diary, SD, 31 May 2016), which was clearly an intentional placement. All of the floors were scorched black, with large imprints of plant inclusions and ample evidence of use. Their corresponding make-ups consistently had a sandier matrix. Finds as well as any direct evidence of specific use were lacking on the evidently scoured-out floors. Squarish in plan with rounded corners, hearth F.3692 was about 0.8 x 0.8m in size and placed immediately above earlier hearth F.7135. The superstructure of the hearth (20979) was built abutting a make-up layer for platform F.7124 (online fig. S23.7). The southwestern end of this superstructure was truncated, likely during the first excavations in this space. The superstructure was made from a light-brown massive sandy loam, square in shape, about 0.1m in thickness, with a circular concave centre that would have been used as the hearth floor. The earlier phase of use of the hearth was represented by two major use surfaces (20993) and (20692), which were heavily tempered baked floors that had been scoured out.

was obsidian flake/blade 21569.x1, and along its northern cut edge lay bovid rib 21569.x2. Pits F.7621 and F.7625 were sealed by floor (30554). This was a greyish-brown ‘dirty floor’, which represents multiple fine plastering events. These floors were truncated by pit F.7624, which was similar in size and shape to the aforementioned pits. Unlike the other pits, F.7624 contained no finds. F.7624 was then cut by a much bigger oval pit, F.7140, oriented in the east–west direction, extending 0.9m: ‘The fill of pit F.7140 was quite homogenous and sterile… it seems to have been carefully cleaned out and the filled with “clean” soil. It is very difficult to say why it was made in the first place’ (FS, SM, 29 July 2013). B102 Subphase B.2 The southeastern activity area. During the final occupation sub-phase of Building 102, the size of oven F.7101 was slightly constricted in a major maintenance episode. First, a thin sandy make-up (20629), which sealed oven floor (20637), was laid across the oven. Then a narrow mudbrick-like sandy construction measuring at least 0.6m long, 0.1m wide and 0.1m thick (20632) was placed across the southern edge of the oven, abutting its southern wall (fig. 23.10). Surface (20626) was then applied, which corresponded to the thickest floor surface on the oven, clearly continuously maintained by multiple plastering episodes. (20626) was sealed by make-up (20613), by a slight repair on the northern wall of the oven (20902) and then subsequently by floor (19598). Make-up (20613) contained ‘a heavily used large section of prismatic blade from Nenezi Dağ… and only few other tiny chips’ (Diary, SD, 31 May 2016), suggesting that the blade was deposited within the make-up intentionally. Also embedded in (19598) was a worked stone 19598.x1 (online fig. S23.8), which was likely used as a shaft

Space 17: The southwestern activity area. Floor (30132), which consisted of at least two make-up and three plastering events, defined the southwestern corner of Space 17. The floor surface was poorly defined towards the east, but nonetheless seems to have been a contained activity area. Two larger pieces of pottery were found within its matrix. Two intercutting pits cut floor (30132). The cut for pit F.7625 was ‘vase-like’ in section. It was a small cut (0.25 x 0.2 x 0.1m), had an extremely ‘clean’ fill and contained a single complete bone ring 21574.x1 (fig. 23.9). The pit was cut immediately to the south by similarly sized pit F.7621. There were two x-finds in F.7621. In the middle

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Chapter 23: Tung. Building 102 straightener. (19598) was likely sealed by one or two further surfaces, but these were truncated due to their proximity to the surface. None of these later floor surfaces could be stratigraphically correlated with occupation floors in the southeastern activity area. Hearth F.3692 was also remodelled by the construction of shallow walls respecting its previous boundary, made from a greyish-brown make-up (20639), stabilised by the addition of fine packing (20641). The packing was then plastered (20640) and eventually repaired (20630) with a final plastered surface (20633). All of the surfaces of the hearth were thoroughly scorched. (20951), which represents badly preserved floor surface and make-up, due to its proximity to the surface of the mound, was the final maintenance episode on eastern platform F.7117. This maintenance episode abutted hearth F.3692. Platform F.7124 then saw a final plastering event, excavated as (20949). Both of these later plastered floors on these activity areas were very badly preserved due to their proximity to the surface of the mound, affected by intense animal burrowing and root activity.

fragment’ (Diary, SD, 31 May 2016), which has been interpreted as an intentional placement. The plaster wall was built from a massive thick pisé-like marl-rich deposit, typical of bin walls. The uppermost levelling layer was then sealed by white plaster surface (20957) (online fig. S23.9). Basin F.3699, the function of which remained unclear, extended 1.03m east–west and 0.97m north–south. It was truncated by burial F.7134 and pit F.7128 (see below). Pit F.7128 cut the basin towards its eastern end and contained a fill (20956) rich in stone artefacts: ‘The ground stones in the fill all derive from tools; most are quern fragments but two were fully functional polishing stones. One of them, 20956.x1, was for polishing plaster’ (FS, SM, 15 July 2013). Division wall F.3688 was thickly plastered on its western face, which was partially excavated as (20906). The plaster had evidence of red paint but was collapsing due to post-depositional processes. A heavily used large obsidian blade section from Göllü Dağ was found within the plaster, the only artefact within the excavated context, suggesting that it had been placed there intentionally. Burial F.7134. Burial F.7134 cut the basin at its southwestern corner. The burial contained the skeleton of a neonate (20998) which was placed in a small but relatively deep cut (0.4m) in a semi-seated position, leaning on its back facing the east (fig. 23.12). No finds were associated with the fill or the skeleton.

The southwestern activity area. Basin F.3699, which abutted post pad F.7306 and partition wall F.3688, was established during B102.B2, with the deposition of light-orangey-brown levelling layers (30588), (30579) and (20981) and the construction of a plaster wall (20958) (fig. 23.11). These constructional deposits took place above activity surfaces that have not been excavated, as well as pit F.7140. Among the deposits, (20981) contained ‘a heavily used large obsidian section from Nenezi Dağ… alongside a projectile

Space 18. As already mentioned above, the two subphases that were determined within Space 17 could not be related to the stratification of the archaeological deposits in Space 18. It is also important to underline that

Figure 23.10. Cross-sectioned oven F.7101, facing east. The visible fractured floor corresponds to (20637), which was sealed by a fine make-up layer. This layer was then sealed on its southern end by a pisé-like construction (20632), evident at the right end of the photo, abutting the oven’s internal wall (photograph by Jędrzej Hordecki).

Figure 23.11. Levelling (30579) and plaster wall (20958) of basin F.3699, facing west. The edge of the levelling where it meets the wall was truncated by animal burrowing. The oval deep cut by the partition wall was the cut for burial F.7134 while the shallow cut at the eastern edge of basin was for pit F.7128 (photograph by Stella Macheridis).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Bin F.7116 was expanded with the addition of another wall to its east, almost doubling its size, at 0.7m east– west (online fig S23.12). The earlier smaller bin was then built up with make-up (22119) to form a mini-basin, which was plastered over with (20954). This in turn was built up only at its southern end with (21599) and then plastered over with (21598) to construct a shelf-like division (fig. 23.13). Unfortunately, the bin was not excavated in its entirety, and questions remain as to the nature of its use. It may have been transformed from a feature used for containment to an activity feature such as a basin. Figure 23.12. Burial F.7134, facing north. Skeleton (20998) was placed in a semi-sitting position within cut (20997) (photograph by Scott Haddow).

Burial F.7138. The placement of burial F.7138 in the final occupation phase of the building remains somewhat conjectural. The burial was placed immediately west of the partition wall, north of bin F.3698, which it partially truncated. The burial belonged to neonate (30589) (online fig. S23.13). The individual was deposited head first into a cut, something not commonly seen on site. The fill of the burial was more like room fill than clean burial fills generally found within building burials. The burial could be associated with the abandonment of the building, although the poor preservation of its surrounding matrix makes this difficult to assess.

not all the contexts associated with this final phase of the building in Space 18 were actually excavated. In fact, a number of bins by the dogleg of the western wall remained untouched. The beginning of the final occupation phase B.102 Phase B is marked by the application of a brown makeup layer applied almost throughout Space 18. Make-up (30139) abutted the southern wall, bin F.7116, bin F.3698 and the western wall of the building. It was truncated to the north by post-depositional processes. The make-up contained significant amounts of clay and plaster inclusions, and, in comparison to the general ‘richness’ of the space in terms of the amount of finds it housed, it was rather devoid of artefacts. This unit was sealed towards the threshold between Spaces 17 and 18 by a phytolithrich partially eroded floor (30593). Threshold F.7300. The passage between Spaces 17 and 18 to the south, threshold F.7300, was clearly defined as a different activity area in this later phase of occupation. Here, along the southeastern end of Space 18, respecting bins F.3698 and F.7116 to the south as well as both post pads, F.7306 and F.7141, was a 0.05m-thick clay and stone packing (30587). This packing was sealed by a stone cluster again, set in a pure clay matrix (30586) (online fig. S23.10). A third layer of stone and packing (30582) represented the final occupational event in the threshold before its abandonment. The three different layers of packing may represent three different maintenance episodes within the building, although their extent has been difficult to correlate with the building’s fine truncated floors. Bin F.3698 was built abutting partition F.3688, with three separate walls repaired by (22103), a make-up that reinforced the bin (online fig. S23.11).

Phase A: abandonment B.102 was infilled as part of its abandonment, and like most infilled buildings, the departure was systematically conducted, with the removal of posts and the roof. A large number of artefacts were left or placed upon some of the floors, particularly by threshold F.7300, as well as within quite a few of the bins. The building was infilled by the knocking down and processing of the walls, evident by the bricky nature of the fill. The walls were

Figure 23.13. Bin F.7716 with the addition of make-up (22119) and plaster (20954) to form a lower basin, and make-up (21599) and plaster (21598) to form an upper shelf-like division (photograph by Stella Macheridis).

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Chapter 23: Tung. Building 102 often difficult to follow due to their heavily degraded nature: ‘The walls are fragile, (20481), the infill is compact and full of well-preserved bricks, and the difference between bricky infill, bricky walls and infilly walls is sometimes small’ (Diary, RE, 29 July 2012). In fact, the poor definition between the walls and the infill led to the truncation of the doglegged western wall in 2012. Farid also noted that ‘the infill … was close to the surface of the mound and therefore heavily disturbed by erosion’ (Farid 2014c: 588). Infill (20481) was excavated over two years. A number of different artefacts, including obsidian projectile points, horn cores and bone tools, were found within the fill and recorded as x-finds (see below).

probably threshold-associated, and not cut into something. In this sense a deliberate ‘burial’ without a cut is possible and could be connected with the closing of the house, given its connection to the later room fill (20481) (FS, SM, 2013). Several artefacts were placed on the final surface of the southwestern activity area. 20481.x7, an obsidian point, and 20481.x8, an obsidian flake, were placed at the meeting point of post pad F.7306 and division wall F.3688, by the western face of the wall. A worked bone, 20481.x3, was on top of basin F.3699, while a bone needle, 20481.x2, was on the floor surface of the threshold area within Space 17.

Space 17 Only one post-retrieval pit was completely excavated in B.102. F.2822 abutted the eastern wall of the building, associated with bench F.2825: ‘Three differentially deposited fills were identified… all three fills contained significant quantities of charcoal, animal bone and firecracked stone. There was however no evidence of in situ burning in the area investigated, suggesting that the material was redeposited’ (Farid 2014c: 588). Another retrieval pit, F.3696, which represented either the removal of a post or a division-related installation, was only partially excavated. Like the fill of postretrieval pit F.2822, its fill (20689) was made up of chunks of pure clay and contained ash, charcoal, some animal bone and some obsidian as inclusions. The northern end of the pit extended beyond the limit of excavation, making it impossible to assess the entire extent of the pit.

Space 18 Space 18 contained a larger number of finds in relation to the abandonment of the building. For example, near the threshold F.7300, stone cluster (30580) abutted bin F.3698 and sprawled towards the threshold (fig. 23.14). The stones consisted of used quern fragments, and one ground stone had traces of red paint on it. Bin F.3698 contained a large number of finds, many of them clearly intentionally placed (fig. 23.15): Three horn cores were placed on top of each other. The first two were cattle, and the final one was a wild sheep. There were ground stones and a stone bead. That the bones were part of the fill suggests that they were placed in there intentionally during abandonment (FS, SM, 03 August 2013).

Burial F.3691. Neonate burial F.3691 (online fig. S23.14) was found in the threshold area between post pads F.7141 and F.7306 and was tentatively assigned to the closure of the building:

A total of 11 x-finds were recorded from within the bin: four horn cores (20924.x1, x2, x4, x5), animal bone (20294.x3, x6, x7, x10), and two worked stones (20924.x8, 20924.x9) and one stone bead (20924.x11). In comparison, bin F.7116 only contained ground stone pieces, one of which was recorded as an x-find (20926.x1).

(F.3691) consists of one skeleton of an infant, (20609), and arbitrary layer (20608), which was the soil associated with the skeleton. No cut was discovered during excavation. The room fill was stratigraphically above (20609), and the soil surrounding the remains [was] similar to that, but looser and more homogeneous. The feature’s fill was assigned as an arbitrary layer, because no obvious fill was observed... Beneath the skeleton was an ashy layer containing a bovine horn core and human cranial fragments... The position and orientation of the baby skeleton were similar to a formal burial...the body was directly on the floor level with the ashy deposit, forming a deposition on the ground,

Figure 23.14. Stone cluster (30580) in Space 18, facing east (photograph by Jason Quinlan)..

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Figure 23.15. Bin F.3698 and some of its contents within fill (20294), facing south. The three horn cores are stacked in the photograph (photograph by Stella Macheridis).

Post-retrieval pit F.8126, abutting western wall F.3653, contained a fill, again with a number of different artefacts, one of which was unique. Unfortunately, at the time of excavation, the pit was not recognised as a postretrieval due to the lack of a post scar, which often aids the recognition of such features. Nevertheless, the context was partially excavated as two separate fills: (30118), which was sealed by (30567). (30118) was a rubble-rich fill that also contained a single diagnostic potsherd with a handle, 30118.x1. (30567), similar in nature to (30118), contained within it mini clay ball 30567.x1, a drilled human molar tooth 30567.x2 (online fig. S23.15), cattle mandible 30567.x3, placed parallel to the edge of the wall (online fig. S23.16) and ground stone piece 30567.x4. The human tooth (30567.x2) was drilled through the root and is one of only two intentionally modified human teeth found at Çatalhöyük; both were likely worn as pendants (Haddow et al. 2019). Such artefacts are extremely rare in the Neolithic Near East. Discussion The excavations of B.102 only scratched the surface of this building’s deep history. Nevertheless, they provided a wealth of information on the organisation and use of space. B.102, with its orangey-brown building materials

and packed floors, appeared slightly different from the rest of the buildings in the North Area. Its oven and hearth were some of the largest internal fire installations excavated, and the building itself, in its assumed dimensions, was one of the larger buildings uncovered by the Çatalhöyük Research Project over the years. Most of the features of the building contained intentionally deposited artefacts. And many of the burials excavated in FT1 and FT2 in 2007 contained elaborate personal adornment items as well as artefacts. Indeed, B.102 was, archaeologically, a ‘rich’ building. It is clear that throughout the use of the building, the western side room Sp.17 as well as the southwestern activity area in main room Sp.18 were production areas that saw intense modification and deposition throughout the life-history of the building. Threshold F.7300, which tied these two areas together, was an interesting context, with its layering of stone-rich packing and fine floors, containing medium-to-larger pieces of stone that seemed to have been discarded. The use of stone for packing is not entirely uncommon on site – platforms that tend to sink are often ‘stuffed’ with stones and subsequently packed with clay, as was the case in B.77. But large amounts of stone under floors is not that common. Was this packing a response to the subsidence and slight tilt of the western and central walls? Or are the artefacts a partial expression of the daily activities that took place within the building? Certainly, the individual obsidian pieces placed within oven F.7101 and post pad F.7306, and in other locations of the building during its use, were thoughtprovoking, as many seem to have been intentionally placed. The prevalence of pressure blades within the building, as well as the elaborate beads found within the burials, led most of the specialists to agree that B.102 was inhabited in the later Neolithic. And yet the high concentration of rich burials, the multiple redpainted panels and the large scale of intentional deposition are more reminiscent of the types of building and building abandonment found in Levels South N-O and North G. The continuity of the building with an underlying building suggests continuity across the division between the Middle and Late periods and underscores the difficulty of identifying sharp breaks in the Çatalhöyük sequence.

Supplementary material For supplementary material related to this chapter, please visit https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12. It comprises figures S23.1–S23.17. The phased matrix of Building 102 can be found in fig. S23.17.

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24. Building 108 Burcu Tung

Building 108, assigned to Level North G, was constructed immediately south of B.77 and north of the B.52 complex (fig. 24.1). Measuring 7.35m east–west and 4.20m north–south, the building was made up of two spaces, main room Sp.84 and western side room Sp.501. Both the orientation and the delineation of space, with two spaces including the side room to the west, conform with other neighbouring buildings in the North Area, such as B.1, B.5, B.77 and B.3. The building was defined by wall F.3626 to the north, wall F.3627 to the east, wall F.3624 to the south and wall F.3625 to the west. Partition wall F.3636 separated the main room Sp.84 from side room Sp.501. Unfortunately, B.108’s internal features were largely eroded due to its proximity to the surface (fig. 24.2). The building was partially excavated between 2008 and 2014. In 2008, two burial features were excavated in the northeastern corner of the building after they were exposed during cleaning efforts intended to define the outer boundaries of B.77. In 2012, the remaining burial features within the building were excavated, as was some of the building’s infill. During this time, it was decided that the remainder of the building would be cross sectioned and partially excavated. The southern half of the building’s remaining features, mainly the external walls, were excavated in 2013. In 2014, the northeastern corner of the building, covering an area of 4m by 1.3m, was also excavated in order to expose Space 518 in B.132. Only two phases of the building have been broadly identified: B.108 Phase 1, which corresponded to the building’s constructional phase, and B.108 Phase 2, which corresponded to a number of burials that were uncovered in the building’s fill. In total, 13 individuals were interred in B.108. No evidence remained from the abandonment phase of the building.

Figure 24.1. South-facing overview of B.108 in the North Shelter (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

of foundation trenches that outlined the building, cut into the midden sequences of Sp.490. The deepest trench was the eastern wall trench F.7106 (fig. 24.3), which was at least 1.4m deep and 1.3m wide. The trenches excavated for the northern and southern walls were only about 0.4m deep towards their western ends, increasing in depth towards their eastern ends, ultimately reaching 1.4m to connect with the eastern foundation trench. Once the trenches were executed, the construction of the walls began. All the corners of the building were bonded. These foundation walls were all constructed from re-used bricks, as evidenced by patches of plaster still attached to some individual bricks (online fig. S24.1). In general, all the bricks were made from an orangey-brown sandy loam; however, small differences in the colour and texture of different bricks were observed both within and amongst the walls, accentuating the fact that the bricks were all re-used. Further, the walls were not smooth, as different courses or even individual bricks formed irregularities, giving a false impression of different phases in construction. The construction of the northern wall F.3626 seemed

B.108 Phase 1: construction B.108 was built above the southern half of B.132, above a midden sequence that accumulated within B.132’s abandoned southern side room Sp.489 and external area Sp.488. The building was built during the occupation of B.77, very likely shortly after, or even possibly during, the construction of B.113. The construction of the building began with the execution

most complicated compared to the other walls…. Especially in terms of a number of building techniques applied... Due to lack of space that was restricted by already existing walls (from the south

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Figure 24.2. Composite phase map of B.108 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato) (shading is used to aid visual understanding of the different features in buildings; in general, darker shading indicates more upstanding features). Within the grey mortar towards the eastern end of the wall was an antler, 20679.x1, which seemed to be intentionally placed. Both partition wall F.3637 and buttress F.3635 were bonded to F.3626. The northern wall, along with the remaining walls, was about 0.25m in thickness, much smaller than the average 0.3m thickness of the walls of many Middle and Early period buildings on site. B.77’s oven F.7108 seemingly cut through the northern wall of the building (fig. 24.4). However, upon careful excavation of the wall, it became apparent that the wall was placed above the oven: Figure 24.3. South-facing view of southern and eastern foundation trench F.7106, cut (20439). Notice that the construction of the southern wall overlaps and is supported by a clay-rich deposit (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

F.3646, and from the north F.3096), the builders were forced to load re-used bricks, pasting them using mortar by probably directly pouring the mixture into the prepared foundation cut. This is evidenced by broken bricks of different textures placed in varied positions that were immersed in an irregular paste of mortar (FS 3626, AK, 13 July 2013).

Removing several layers of the wall exposed the relationship between F.3626 and the superstructure of the oven (F.7108) of B.77. Worth noticing is that, before erecting the wall (F.3626) the builders covered above the mentioned fire installation using only mortar, coating the dome of the structure. In other words, the construction F.3626 respects the oven, therefore the wall has later origins than the fire installation (FS 3626, AK, 13 July 2013). A small section of the northern wall was actually influenced by the conflagration that took place in B.77, further demonstrating that B.108 was constructed before B.77’s destruction (fig. 24.5).

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Chapter 24: Tung. Building 108

Figure 24.4. The backside of oven F.7108 through F.3626. The placement of the smaller bricks above the oven seems very deliberate, as if it was being protected (photograph by Arek Klimowicz).

The completely excavated eastern wall F.3627 was 1.6m deep, its foundation made up of 13 courses of mudbrick (20676) bound with mortar (20677). Most of the bricks from this wall were 85–91cm long, 31–32cm wide, and 5–9cm thick. The southern end of the wall also contained half-size bricks. The top six courses slumped slightly forward, creating an overhang 5–8cm wide. Southern wall F.3624 had an interesting crossover towards its eastern end, giving it an appearance of two separate walls. The excavation of the wall revealed that it must have been built independently from the eastern and southern ends and became slightly misaligned at the meeting point. Once the walls were constructed within the foundation trenches, the trenches were filled with a compact clean orangey-brown fill. A number of artefacts were placed on the basal boundary of the cut (22016) for the northern foundation trench: 19490.x1 was an equid scapula found towards the eastern end of the trench, while 22003.x3 was cattle horns placed at the westernmost end of the trench, right by the northwestern corner of the building (fig. 24.6). The fill of the southern wall’s trench was excavated as (21641), (20440) and (20441). Buttress F.3634, sitting above these fills abutting the southern wall, was largely eroded. Packing (30189) that sealed the foundation packings was distinctly different in colour. The 0.5m-thick grey sandy loam packing, likely made by mixing some of the midden material from Sp.490, covered the entire building. Two burials, F.7330 and F.7331, seemed to have been placed within the packing as it was laid out, as no cuts were associated with the skeletons. A heavily eroded cattle horn 30189.x1 was also within the packing, immediately south of burial F.7330.

Figure 24.5. Close-up of northern wall F.3626. Mudbrick (20678) clearly shows signs of rubification from its outer edge, the edge abutting B.77 (photograph by Arek Klimowicz).

Figure 24.6. Cattle horns 22003.x3 at the bottom of the northern foundation trench, abutting the foundational walls of B.108 (photograph by Arek Klimowicz). Burial F.7330: skeletons (30190) and (30191) Burial F.7330 was the primary burial of a child (30190) and an infant (30191) (fig. 24.7). The child was tightly flexed on its right side, head to the west and feet to the

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons including those painted red. This layer was truncated by multiple burial F.6065 and F.3622. Burial F.3644 was also likely interred in this platform, although where it would have cut the platform is completely eroded away. Two other burials, F.3088 and F.3089, were excavated in the eastern end of the building, under what would have been the eastern platform. In fact, the bench F.3638 may have flanked the southern boundary of this possible eastern platform, as observed in B.131 with its eastern platform F.7952 and bench F.7966 (see Chapter 30). Figure 24.7. Burial F.7330, skeletons (30190) and (30191) to the left and burial F.7331, skeleton (30194) to the right (orthophoto from 3D model produced by Scott Haddow).

east, right at the corner where partition wall F.3687 met F.3626. The cranium of a neonate was found above the left shoulder of the child. Textile impressions were found in the soil matrix around the neonate cranium (Haddow et al. 2014: 86), suggesting that it may have been wrapped. Burial F.7331: skeleton (30194) Burial F.7330 was the primary burial of a child (30194), located to the east of buttress F.3635. The child was laid on its right side, head to the west and feet to the east, just like skeleton (30190) in F.7330, although its lower limbs were missing due to a truncation that occurred during the excavation of the room fill in prior excavation seasons. No finds were associated with the burial. The burials were sealed with a composite heavily eroded infill (30189) that covered the entirety of the building.

Burial F.3622: skeleton (19437), cut (19438), fill (19436) Burial F.3622 was located near the northern wall, centrally within Sp.84 (online fig. S24.2). The burial contained a flexed child (19437) ‘placed with (its) head to the west and its back to the north. It seems to be laying on its right side… The bones of the lower legs were separated from the rest of the body, perhaps by some post-Neolithic disturbances’ (FS 3622, ÅB, 4 July 2012). Its fill (19436) contained animal bone and small obsidian pieces that came from the midden below, as it was cut immediately into it. The fill also contained a few skeletal elements of another subadult, although the context was too disturbed to infer whether there was also a secondary burial. Burial F.6065: skeletons (17533), (17536), (17545), (17546), (17548), (17549), cut (17534), fill (17532) Excavated in 2008, this burial has been discussed by Yeomans (2014) in the context of unstratified eroded Neolithic burials assigned to Space 1003. As the excavations in B.108 progressed, it became clear that these burials were also a part of B.108’s sequence. F.6065 actually represented ‘inter-cutting’ burials of six individuals, the final burial event belonging to an adult female whose cranium was missing. The sequence of burial was as follows:

B.108 Phase 2: occupational deposits As already noted, B.108 was heavily eroded. The southeastern corner of the building had the remnants of a compact grey silty clay deposit with crushed orangeybrown mudbrick inclusions (19458) about 1.6m east– west and 1.5m north–south, abutting the southern and eastern walls, which may have been the building’s entry platform. Buttress or bench F.3638 was constructed above the northern end of (19458), abutting the eastern wall. It was made from four courses of orangey-brown clay mudbricks bonded in a grey mortar, similar to the walls. At the northeastern corner of the building was (19482), extending about 1.80m east–west and 0.80m north–south, the remnants of what would have been the northeastern platform, abutting the northern wall. It was a grey silty clay composed of compacted rubble that contained quite a number of plastered surface pieces,

the remains of a neonate (17545) were overlain by a child (17546). A further neonate (17548) and an infant (17549) approximately nine months of age were buried. A later interment of an adult male (17533) overlay the remains of the previous four burials. This skeleton lay on its right side with the head to the west. The body was semi-flexed with the legs bent at the knees and placed under the torso in a kneeling position. A layer of red ochre was present under the cranium… The last burial in the area is that of an adult female (17536) which disturbed the remains of the earlier burials [see Yeomans 2014, 549, fig. 24.29.4]. This female was lying on her back in a semi-upright position with the legs drawn up to the chest. The skeleton may

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Chapter 24: Tung. Building 108 have been placed in a sitting position… The body was oriented east–west with the upper body to the west. The head was missing and its absence may be due to intentional removal during Neolithic times or, less likely, this may be the result of erosion. Both arms were on the abdomen and flexed at the elbow (Yeomans 2014: 549).

It comprised reduced-sized bricks (0.73m by 0.20m by 0.8m), varied in type, that were set intentionally at the stage of the construction of the upper part of F.3627. They were used as kind of wedge… to maintain the (eastern wall’s) vertical face (US 20937, AK, 11 July 2013). Unit (20937) was sealed by (20920), which must have accumulated during the use of B.113 and B.108. ‘The most significant aspect of the unit [was] the wide spectrum and quantity of artefacts along with two horn cores 20920.x1 and 20920.x4, probably from the same bucranium, set directly on the surface of bricks (20937) as a kind of special deposit’ (US 20920, AK, 11 July 2013) (fig. 24.8). The inter-wall fill between B.108 and B.52 was excavated within the limit of excavation. (21648) was a massive mortar-like fill that supported the foundation of the southern wall of B.108 F.3624 and therefore must have been deposited during the construction of the building. Sealing this, (21464) was a looser fill that accumulated during the use of B.108. It was largely composed of fragmented building materials as well as midden-like refuse, more typical of inter-wall fills. Once the inter-wall fill was removed, it was observed that the outer face of the northern wall of B.52 F.2008 was ‘dirty’ as if it was abutted by charcoal-rich deposits. There was no inter-wall fill between B.108 and B.77, fitting with other evidence, discussed above, that B.108 abutted and therefore post-dated the construction of B.77.

Burial F.3644: skeleton (20452), cut (20451), fill (20453) Burial F.3644, containing a child (20452) aged 6 years (+/− 2 years), was located immediately south of F.3622. Although the burial seemed to cut into the constructional fill of the building, it was likely actually cut into the northern platform as defined. The primary burial was heavily disturbed due to its proximity to the surface (online fig. S24.3). ‘The body was laid on its left side in a flexed position with the head to the west and facing north. The right upper limb was flexed tightly at the elbow, with the forearm alongside the head. The left and right lower limbs, as well as the left upper limb, are missing’ (Knüsel et al. 2012: 141). Burials F.3088 and F.3089 Excavated in 2008, these burials were also discussed in Yeomans 2014 in the context of unstratified eroded Neolithic burials assigned to Space 1003: Burial F.3089 contained the remains of a child (16474) approximately four to six years in age. This juvenile skeleton was found in poor condition, buried on its left side in a tightly flexed position. This burial had been partially truncated by later interment F.3088, an adult female (16465) whose skeletal remains were in poor condition close to the surface. The body was on its left side in a tightly flexed position (Yeomans 2014: 547).

Discussion An element that interestingly seems to be missing from B.108 are post-retrieval pits. Even though the building was close to the surface and heavily eroded, the constructional packing of the building was at least 0.5m deep, and no cuts

Inter-wall fills and other archaeological deposits During the excavation of B.108, inter-wall fills with neighbouring buildings were also excavated. The interwall fill between B.108’s eastern wall F.3627 and B.113’s western wall F.3647 clearly accumulated during and after the construction of B.108’s eastern wall. Unit (20939) sealed a foundational deposit (30119) relating to the construction of B.113 (see Chapter 25). Unit (20939), a grey silty sandy deposit, has been interpreted as having accumulated during the construction of B.108. A number of worked stone fragments (20939.x1–5) were found within the fill. This was sealed by (20937), which represented a single horizontal course of bricks placed between the eastern wall of B.108 and the western wall of B.113.

Figure 24.8. West-facing view of 20920.x1 and 20920.x4 in between B.108 and B.113 (photograph by Arek Klimowicz).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons into the packing that may have been related to the retrieval of posts were observed. Another unique feature of the building were its small buttresses. In discussing the evolution of the architecture on site, Mellaart noted that by the latest levels of the mound (Mellaart Level II), internal buttresses took the place of wooden timbers, ‘forming the prototypes for Early Chalcolithic’ architecture seen in other parts of the Anatolian plateau (Mellaart 1967: 64). Could the buttresses of B.108, particularly the northern buttress F.3635, which was bonded to the northern wall, have extended partially or fully up the wall as a post? Or could these buttress-like features actually have been supports or, in other words, pedestals, for posts that would have flanked the walls? It is difficult to infer what these features were for, as the occupational faces of the walls were completely eroded away, with no traces of plaster or marks where the posts could have been. Another possible interpretation is that the northern and southern ‘buttresses’ were components of a division across the western side of the main room, as has been found in B.131 Phase 4 (see Chapter 30). Indeed, in the latter case there is post at the northern and southern end of the partition, very similar to the B.108 example. In addition, the ‘buttress’ that abutted the eastern wall in B.108 was most likely a bench rather than a buttress. Its location at the southern end of a probable platform is frequently found (for example, B.119, B.132, B.102 and B.80).

Another interesting feature of B.108 was its rather deep foundations. Worth noting is that B.113’s western wall that remained in situ, abutting the eastern wall of B.108, had an even deeper foundation trench. And like B.108, the foundation trench was not level across the building. Unlike B.108, however, the construction of B.113 did take place on a slope, as observed in excavation (see Chapter 26 for a longer discussion). The deeper foundations for both buildings strongly suggest that the builders understood that their walls needed additional stability, given that they were constructed on softer midden-like deposits (Barański et al. 2015a). Furthermore, the foundations of B.108 were deeper towards the eastern end of the building, as if the building was built on a slope. But the midden deposits that accumulated in Sp.489 and Sp.490 did not accumulate on a slope. We know, nonetheless, that the mound did slope eastward substantially in the same area, albeit at a much earlier phase, as evidenced by Sp.630, upon which B.132 was built (Chapter 31). It would appear that the Neolithic residents had transferred the knowledge of this earlier slope through multiple generations. In other words, it seems very likely that the intimate knowledge of the settlement was kept through time. Buildings were built and modified not just to address immediate needs but also to withstand legacy effects.

Supplementary material For supplementary material related to this chapter, please visit https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12. It comprises figures S24.1–S24.4. The phased matrix of Building 108 can be found in fig. S24.4.

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25. Building 113, Building 116, Space 532 and other related spaces Burcu Tung

Building 116 and Building 113 were neighbouring, although asynchronous, buildings located between Building 115 and Buildings 52 and 49, immediately east of Buildings 108 and 77 (fig. 25.1). Space 532 was an external area that abutted B.116. While the entirety of B.113 is defined, the eastern end of B.116 remains under the foundation of the North Shelter. None of the buildings and spaces discussed here have been entirely excavated. Building 113 and related contexts were partially excavated during the 2012 and 2014 seasons. Building 116 was defined during the 2014 excavation season, although parts of it were exposed in prior excavation campaigns. Space 214 beneath Space 89 was first defined in 2003 by the BACH team (Tringham, Stevanović 2012), and Sp.457 was partially defined during the excavations of the Foundation Trenches in 2007 (Farid 2014c: 579). The stratigraphic sequence of B.113, B.116, Sp.532 and other related spaces is shown in figure 25.2. Building 116 is assigned to Level North F based on its stratigraphic relationship to B.113 and external area Sp.532, as well as Sp.89 immediately to its north. This placement is consistent with Farid’s (2014a) placement of Sp.457 to Level North F. Building 116 was abandoned before the construction of Sp.89 and was contemporary with external area Sp.532. Building 113 is phased to Level North G based on its relationship to B.114 and B.108. It

was built after the construction of B.114 but most likely before the construction of B.108 and was destroyed by the conflagration that took place in B.77. Building 113 was constructed partially above Sp.532, which was an open area (see below), and at least partially in the place of Sp.608, a completely dismantled space that was connected to B.114 (see Chapter 26).

Figure 25.1. North-facing overview of the North Shelter, during a weekly site tour in 2014. The cross-sectioned B.113 is immediately north of the two northern platforms of B.52. To the east of B.113 are the walls of B.116 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 25.2. The stratigraphic relationships of the spaces discussed (illustration by Burcu Tung).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Building 116 Building 116 (fig. 25.3) has only been partially exposed, and therefore its limits are poorly defined. Insofar as it has been exposed, B.116 consists of three spaces: one expansive main room, Sp.534, and side rooms Sp.214 and Sp.457. The general limits of the main room of the building were defined in 2014. The building’s northeastern limits were exposed during the North Shelter Foundation Trench excavations in 2007, and Sp.214 was uncovered during the BACH excavations. Sp.214 was partially defined by wall F.3678 to the west and F.7105 (same as F.1021) to the north. The southern end of the space was still sealed by both midden deposits and retention walls (see Chapter 33). Nonetheless, it most likely extended to the east–west line defined by Buildings 49 and 48. Space 214 was also defined by wall F.3678 to the west, wall F.7105 to the south, F.1018 to the east and F.1006 to the north. Space 457 was poorly defined by walls F.2811, F.2182 and F.2773, forming the northeastern corner, eastern edge and southeastern corner of the space, excavated in 2007. Building 116 would have extended at least 11m north–south and 7.2m east–west, making it a massive building. The northern and western walls of main room Sp.534 were plastered, although little of the plaster remained on the walls themselves (online figs S25.1 and S25.2). The plaster was better defined towards the bottom edge of the walls, clearly continuing towards the floor and feature levels of the building. The plaster identified on the walls was in bad condition, most likely due to the fact that once the building was abandoned and its roof dismantled, the walls were simply left to stand as the building began to be used as an external area, Sp.99 and Sp.101. The floors and features within Sp.534 remain buried under quite a quantity (ca 0.3m) of external area deposits (see Spaces 99 and 101, Chapter 33). Wall F.3678 was partially excavated in 2014: ‘The wall consisted of at least 16 levels of brick and mortar. The bricks varied’ (FS 3678, SE, 30 July 2014). The description of the wall is consistent with the building’s eastern wall F.2841, exposed in 2007 within FT (Foundation Trench) 7:

wall, as no evidence of plastering was found on the wall. However, the lack of plaster, which is consistent with walls F.3678 and F.7105, is not due to the wall being an external wall, but because the plaster fell off during the Neolithic (see below). The southern face of wall F.7105 was also plastered in Sp.214. Much of the plaster has now eroded away due to exposure, although it clearly continued behind wall F.1018. Earlier images of F.7105 also clearly show the blocking of a crawl-hole between Spaces 534 and 214 (fig. 25.4). No features have been exposed in Sp.214. Its northern wall, F.1006 was partially excavated by the BACH team as part of an erroneous interpretation that the wall was the same construction as wall F.1026, the northern wall of B.114 (see Tringham, Stevanović 2012: 166). The eastern wall of Sp.214, F.1018, is a later feature than the construction of Building 114, as it clearly abutted wall F.7105. Space 457 was the most poorly defined space of B.116. The eastern end, having been defined during the FT excavations, sat under the foundations of the North Shelter. Only a sterile infill was removed during these excavations, with no evidence for any internal features (Farid 2014c: 579). The western half of the space, on the other hand, remained unexcavated. Space 534 may have been divided into two, with an east–west wall (F.7635) that was partially visible in the cut for post-Neolithic burial F.3684. The section in the side of the burial showed five bricks. Where the wall was noted was also associated with the division of Sp.99 and Sp.101. Therefore, wall F.7635 could also post-date the use of B.116, although the external area deposits could have accumulated in areas that were restricted by already existing walls. Needless to say, further excavations are required to understand the nature of F.7635. With a lack of further archaeological data, it is impossible to discern when the occupation of the building began or how long it lasted. Its stratigraphic relationship to Sp.532 suggests that B.116 was constructed during Level North F. Once abandoned, the main space of B.116, Sp.534, seems to have been left open for the slow accumulation of external area deposits defined as Space 99 and Sp.101 (see Chapter 33). The use of Sp.99 must coincide with the occupation of B.49, as a number of retention walls built above this space abutted the northern wall of B.49. There is unfortunately little more that can be said about B.116. As elaborated further below, two retention walls F.7701 and F.7700 abutted its western wall F.3678. It is very likely that external area Sp.532 was in use during the occupation of B.116.

North–south mudbrick wall in FT07. 7 courses visible, total width unknown, depth 0.8m and not fully exposed. Two types of mudbrick used in construction (15624) and (15632). Both bonded by clay mortar (15625), a very thick mortar – up to 70mm in thickness in most cases (FS 2841, SMC, 18 July 2007). At the time of excavation, F.2841 was thought to belong to a structure extending eastward, possibly a support

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Figure 25.3. Plan of the known extent of B.116 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato).

Space 532 Space 532 represented an open area that most likely existed between Sp.608 of B.114, the Building 52 complex and B.116 before the construction of B.113 (see fig. 25.3). It has only been partially exposed. The boundaries of the space were defined to the west by the extent of excavation, to the south by wall F.7104 and B.49, and to the east by support walls F.7701 and F.7700. The

northern boundary of the space was not determined, since further foundation deposits belonging to B.113 remained in situ (fig. 25.5). The earliest so far exposed unexcavated portion of Sp.532 (22131) shows characteristics of an external area, with its rich midden-like composition. That Sp.532 was an external area is also supported by the sheer number of retaining walls exposed in this small area.

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Figure 25.4. South-facing view of Sp.214 when first exposed in 2003. A blocked crawl-hole is visible through F.7105. Also visible is the abuttal of F.1018 to F.7105, clearly showing that it is a later phase of construction related to B.116 (photograph by Michael Ashley).

One of the earlier retention walls, which remained in situ, was F.7104. This S-shaped wall ran east–west, north of the Building 52 complex. It was constructed from standard-sized (ca 0.3 x 0.9m) brownish-grey sandy bricks, stood at least 0.8m tall and ran for 3.6m. While the nature of this wall remained unclear, it abutted walls F.2007, F.1577, F.1578 of the B.167/163/B52 sequence. Two other retention walls, F.7701 and F.7700, built next to each other, supported the western wall B.116 at its southern end (see fig. 25.5). These two walls stratigraphically linked B.116 to Sp.532. The poorly preserved walls gave the impression that they had been exposed to external elements before they were sealed by the construction of B.113. Overlying (22131) were midden-like deposits excavated as (22130). These deposits were rich in charcoal and contained fine orange lenses within them, extending over the partially exposed support wall F.7702. Sealing (22130) was (21545), similar midden-like deposits with orange lenses that extended towards the north. All of these deposits sloped, descending to the

Figure 25.5. West-facing post-excavation overview of B.113, built above Sp.532 to the south. The north–south cross section of B.113 shows how the southern end of the building contained a rather shallow wall (five courses of bricks), whereas the northern end of the building’s foundation wall was at least nine courses, with another five courses of wall sitting above the foundation bricks. Sp.532, which is partially exposed here towards the south, slopes descending towards the north (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

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Chapter 25: Tung. Building 113, Building 116, Space 532 and other related spaces north. Although the slope was difficult to discern in the field, it was clearly visible in the cross section produced in the excavation of B.113 (fig. 25.7). It is very likely that Space 532 was first truncated by the construction of Space 608 and then sealed by the construction of B.113. The existence of a slope explains the stepped construction of the foundation walls of. B.113.

partially constructed above Sp.532 and Sp.608 – the hypothetical space that was dismantled partially through the occupation of B.114 (see Chapter 26). The blocking of B.114’s crawl-hole (F.8145) suggested that B.113 may have been constructed during the final occupation phase of B.114. Phasing overview Three main phases have been identified for B.113: B.113 Phase C represents the construction of the building; B.113 Phase B represents the occupation; and B.113 Phase A represents the abandonment. A different space number, Space 527, has been allocated to the earliest construction phase of the building, B.113 Phase C.2.

Building 113 Building 113 was a north–south-oriented building located north of Building 52, east of Building 108 and south of Building 114 (fig. 25.6). It consisted of two spaces: main room Sp.96 and side room Sp.95. Trapezoidal in plan, it measured 7.75m in length, 4.40m in width at its southern end and 6.5m in width at its northern end. The surface scrape in the 1990s had roughly defined the outlines of the building, although the boundary between Sp.95 and Sp.96 remained unclear (Matthews 1996: 84). A geophysical survey conducted by Colin Shell produced high magnetic readings at the northeastern end, indicating evidence for burning (Shell 1996: 111). Due to its vicinity immediately east of B.77, it was initially thought that the burnt deposits within the area were secondary deposits associated with the burning of B.77. Excavations, however, have made it clear that the burning was in fact in situ, related to B.113. After the conflagration of the building, which clearly led to its abandonment, the building was truncated by a number of Late Roman/Early Byzantine burials: burial F.3622 cut the centre of the Sp.95 and burial F.3640 cut the northeastern corner of Sp.96. Burial F.3084, which was excavated in 2008, cut the northern end of western wall F.3647, within its boundaries in Sp.96. The eastern wall F.3677 was truncated in two sections: at its northern end in Sp.95 by burial F.3641 and at its southern end in Sp.96 by burial F.3631. Even though the building had the deepest foundations seen at Çatalhöyük, it was likely very short-lived, as evidenced by a shallow occupation sequence that did not reveal any burials. Yet it is important to note that, being immediately below the current surface of the mound, many of the features in Space 96 were heavily eroded. Due to time restraints and the sheer scale of the building, it was cross-sectioned lengthwise and only partially excavated after the occupational deposits were removed in Sp.95 and Sp.96. Despite all efforts, the eastern half of the building was not entirely excavated, as a few rows of the building’s foundation walls still remained in situ. Nevertheless, the excavations revealed an impressive effort in the construction of the building, as well as its relationship to other buildings and spaces within the North Shelter. Building 113 was most likely

Building 113 Phase C: construction Phase C.2: Space 527 and the foundation walls. Space 527 represents the foundation activities for B.113. These activities are primarily represented by the construction of the foundation walls and associated packing. Partial excavation of these deposits revealed that the building had been constructed on a slope, descending to the north. As such, the northern foundation wall F.7619, with nine courses of brick, was much deeper than the southern foundation wall F.7341, which only had three courses of brick. The eastern foundation wall F.7613 literally stepped up the slope, nine courses deep at its northern end and only two courses at its southern end. The northeastern corner of the building remains in situ (fig. 25.7), as the excavation of the building – even in the allocated excavation area – could not be completed due to the unexpected volume of deposits. The construction of B.113 must have started with the laying out of the northeastern corner of the building. As also seen in online figure S25.3, the northern foundation wall F.7619 was clearly bonded to the eastern foundation wall F.7613. Feature 7619 (fig. 25.8) was constructed from reused mudbricks (21579) and mortar (21580). The bricks were orangey-brown sandy clay bricks that were 0.85m long, 0.32m wide and 0.1m thick. Many of the bricks had traces of plaster, sometimes on their inner and sometimes on their outer edges, giving the impression that the builders were not necessarily invested in how these reused bricks were laid. The courses of the northern foundation wall were more aligned with each other than those of the eastern foundation wall. The eastern foundation wall F.7613 had at least two different types of reused bricks, recorded as (21515), as a few of them were sandier and more orange than the rest. Mortar (21516) was orangey dark grey, containing an abundance of charcoal and constructional debris. It was applied with variable thickness, ranging from 0.04 to 0.25m at each course. As noted above, the eastern

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Figure 25.6. Plan of B.113 (plan by Camilla Mazzucato) (shading is used to aid visual understanding of the different features in buildings; in general, darker shading indicates more upstanding features). foundation wall was constructed stepping upward towards the south, so much so that its southern end consisted of only two courses of brick. Further, the courses were not aligned with each other, moving ca 0.5m to the west each level, to the point that the eastern wall (F.3677) of B.113 was built 0.31m further east than the lowest foundation course.

The eastern foundation wall was clearly bonded to the southern foundation wall. Southern foundation wall F.7341 was constructed above packing (21547), which consisted of the same deposit used as the foundational make-up for the entire building (see below). The first row of the southern wall consisted of two individual bricks defining the southeastern corner of the building (online fig. S25.3).

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Chapter 25: Tung. Building 113, Building 116, Space 532 and other related spaces This was sealed by (21356), at 0.3m thickness, the same material used as the mortar of the wall. Then, another two courses of brick (21546) and mortar (21547) were used to make the southern foundation wall. One brick found on the southern foundation wall was plastered on both long edges, suggesting that it originated from an internal division wall. The building’s southern wall was offset further to the south by 0.05m. Although not excavated, the western wall of B.113 also had a relatively deep foundation, with probably at least seven courses of reused bricks. This suggests that the southern foundation wall stepped descending towards the west. The western foundation wall of B.113 was exposed through the excavation of B.108. Sealed by the inter-wall fill (20939) was a clay packing, within which a bone cluster (30119) of an aurochs left tibia and left humerus was found (fig. 25.9). After the foundation courses had been set, Sp.527 was gradually infilled with layer (21140), the same as infill layers (19567), (19583), (21107) and (21127). These grey loam deposits contained a lot of orangeybrown sandy clay specks and fine charcoal inclusions, as well as building materials. Larger pieces of constructional debris were found nearer the walls. It was clear that the infill, which was defined by the extent of excavation to the west, and the southern, eastern and northern foundation walls, was a very well-mixed deposit that was over 20m3 in mass where exposed. It contained occasional yellowish clay lenses, also noticeable in cross section, which may be related to the different days of construction. The fill contained few artefacts, and those with diagnostics were recorded as xfinds and may be intentional in their deposition. 21140.x5, was a worked stone deposited at the northeastern corner of the fill. Three worked stones (21140.x1–3) were placed centrally, underneath where the internal dividing wall would later be constructed.

Figure 25.7. Orthophoto of B.113 at the end of excavations in this building (orthophoto by Çatalhöyük Research Project).

Figure 25.8. Northern foundation wall F.7619 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

Figure 25.9. Cluster of bones in (30119), placed on the outer face of the western wall of B.113 (photograph by Arek Klimowicz).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Obsidian projectile point 21140.x4 was located near the eastern wall. One fire spot 21140.s4, located by the eastern wall F.3677, actually continued under it, sealing foundation wall F.7613. This must have been one of the final activities that defined this deposit. It is important to note that the composition of the mortars used in the construction of the foundation walls was almost identical to the composition of (21140). It very much seemed as if the builders of B.113 used the same deposits for the building’s general foundational make-up and the mortar in the foundation walls.

created. That there is a similar, albeit smaller, buttresslike feature supporting the western wall of B.113, as discussed above, further links the activities in foundation trench F.7338 to B.113.

Phase C.1: the outer walls of B.113. Once (21140) was laid, the building’s walls were erected above the foundation walls (although as mentioned above, not directly above them). Due to erosion, it was not possible to understand the relationship between the northern wall (F.1022) and eastern wall (F.3677). Feature 1022 was badly preserved, but its bricks (21513) and mortar (21514) were the same as eastern wall F.3677. F.3677 was constructed with orangeyyellow sandy clay loam bricks (21116), about 1.0m in length, 0.10m in height and 0.31m in width, bonded together with a grey ashy mortar with few charcoal flecks (21117), applied with variable thickness ranging from 0.04m to 0.10m. The building was divided into two spaces (Sp.95 and Sp.96), with the erection of the partition wall (F.3676) immediately above (21140). Only three courses of this wall survived. The bricks (21114) were an orangeybrown sandy loam, and the mortar (21115) was a lightgrey clay loam. Both were more affected than other walls by the conflagration that had taken place in the building. The partition wall ended about 0.70m before it reached the eastern wall, allowing for a passageway between Spaces 95 and 96. Foundation trench F.7338: Trench F.7338 was a rather large constructional feature running north–south along the inner edge of wall F.3678 (B.116), cutting Spaces 99 and 101. Cut (21142) was 7.2m long, 1.4m wide and 0.44m deep. The southern end of the trench was filled with (21143), which was in turn sealed by a buttress-like construction F.7109. The very bottom of the buttress had a thin ash layer (21145), which was sealed by a pure, light-yellowish-brown compacted sandy clay, excavated as (21104). The original extent of the buttress must have been at least 1m in length, 0.6m in width and 0.4m in height. However, it was truncated from all ends due to its proximity to the surface. The foundation trench F.7388 and buttress F.7109 must have been associated with constructional activities relating to B.113, although there is no direct stratigraphic link, due to the physical barrier the western wall of B.116

Space 96. Space 96 was a trapezoid-shaped space, internally measuring 4.75m in length, 3.75m in width at its southern end and 5m in width at its northern end. It was defined by wall F.3676 to the north, wall F.3677 to the east, wall F.7100 to the south, and wall F.3647 to the west. The remains of a kerb (20605) dividing the northwestern corner of the space from its southwestern corner, a possible fire installation at the southern end of the building, and the remains of a plastered lip in the eastern third of the space were some of the few features remaining (fig. 25.10). An interesting feature in the southwestern corner of the space, adjacent to an orangey-grey bricky infill (19584) and the western wall F.3647 was a large platform-like structure (20431), 1.54m in width and 1.27m in length, made from five blocks of bricks, each measuring 1.20m in length and 0.30m in width, placed next to each other (online fig. S25.4). The bricks were slightly lighter in colour than those used in the construction of the southern wall. This feature was excavated on its eastern end, where the cross section of the trench fell. The brick that fell to this side was 0.12m thick. Make-up layer (20463) (see also below) abutted this platform-like structure at this eastern end, showing that this feature was built earlier than the make-up.

Building 113 Phase B: occupation Even though the occupational deposits of B.113 were completely excavated throughout the building, not much can be said about the occupation of the building. Most of the building’s features were eroded away due to their proximity to the surface.

Figure 25.10. North-facing overview of Sp.95, B.113 (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

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Chapter 25: Tung. Building 113, Building 116, Space 532 and other related spaces Abutting the platform-like feature (20431) and western wall F.3647 was kerb (20605), forming a division between the northern and southern ends of the space. Extending only 1.5m into the space, it must have been a division used in an earlier phase of the building, as burnt surface (20429) was immediately above the kerb, slightly spilling over the northern end of (20431). Layer (20429) was an oval surface measuring 1m in length, 0.60m in width and 0.04m in thickness. The deposit consisted of multiple layers of floor surface make-up. It may represent the extremely eroded remains of a fire installation. Having excavated through the building’s eastern half, it was possible to say that Space 96 was most likely quite short-lived, as there was no evidence of thick plastering. Close to the surface, heavy bioturbation and post-Neolithic activities had heavily damaged much evidence of the nature of the fire that took place within this area of the building. In any case, the burning seems to have started in Sp.95 (see below) and quickly migrated towards the northeastern corner of Sp.96.

Building 113 Phase A: abandonment Space 96. Most of the abandonment-related deposits were excavated as composite units due to their poor preservation. The ashy infill/collapse deposit (20458) covered the northwestern and central part of the space, extending some 3m in length, 3m in width and 0.5m in depth. While the layer was clearly defined to the north and the west by walls, its boundary to the east was diffuse, having been cut through by two post-Neolithic burials. Within this layer, two clusters of charcoal were found (20458.s3 and 20458.s4), of which 20458.s3 appeared to be a carbonised single plank split from a tree 0.40–0.50m in diameter. Sitting in a bed of make-up, it is possible that these charcoal remains belonged to roof planks that collapsed during the intense burning of the house. Immediately above (20458), following the same plan, was layer (20447). Similar in composition and heavily burnt, (20447) may in fact have been same as (20458), containing heavily burnt but very patchy surfaces, with an abundance of charcoal, both large and small pieces. Layer (20417) sealed (20447) and made up the latest Neolithic deposit in this area. Extending 3.40m north–south and 2.90m east–west, this ashy, charcoal and rubble-rich deposit seemed to drop down into Sp.95. These layers that showed evidence of burning rested upon a silty-clay grey make-up layer (20463), which abutted the mudbrick platform-like structure (20431).

Space 95. Trapezoid in shape, Sp.95 measured about 5.40m x 2.0m internally. Defined by walls on all sides, it was very distinct from its surroundings, with its orange rubble marking heavy burning. The earliest deposit reached in the space was a brown sandy loam make-up that was part of the construction of the building. Above this make-up sat bin F.3649, which abutted the northern wall towards the western end of the space. This rectangular, shallow bin was about 0.75m wide and 0.60m long, its construction (19576) preserved only to a depth of 0.05m. Its fill (19571) ‘consisted of a homogenous brown clay silt [that] was layered at the bottom, where many phytoliths were found’ (FS, ÅB, 28 July 2012). A pointed wooden tool (19571.x1) made from pistachio, burnt in situ, was found in the northeastern corner of the bin, placed parallel to its eastern wall (online fig. S25.5). Bin F.3650, situated immediately west of bin F.3649, partially cut its western wall. F.3650 was a squarish bin with rounded corners, preserved up to 0.16m in height. Within the infill of the bin (20459) was a collection of wild mustard seeds that were burnt in situ, described as follows: ‘A large lump of charred mustard seeds was found at the north wall. The seeds were wrapped in something before burning, as the lump was flat and oval in shape, as if they were kept in a wrap… The lump was 26cm long, 9cm wide and 5cm thick’ (ÅB, 28 July 2012). Bin F.3650 was built upon floor (20491), which extended into the rest of the room and was rather badly preserved. This floor actually abutted F.3649. The layered floor was heavily damaged due to the burning.

Space 95. Above the badly preserved floor, overlying both bins and covering the entire space, was fill (19476), representing the burnt rubble within the space. The western end of the space had an accumulation of pinkish rubble that gave way towards the central area of the space to a more orange rubble. Beneath this pinkish and orangey rubble was an accumulation of a very friable ash-rich deposit that was excavated as the same unit. The rubble consisted of burnt plaster, some mudbrick, but mostly pisé-like/daub construction, similar to that found within B.52 (see Stevanović 2005: 234–35). The pisé-like/daub construction was in a variety of forms, from rectangular pieces to others that were irregular and resembled corner pieces. The regular rectangular pieces lay within the fill in a straight line and may have been part of the space division and passageway between Sp.96 and Sp.99. A horn core, 19476.x2, was found to the south of the greatest concentration of the rubble, near the possible passageway between the two spaces (online fig. S25.6). Three obsidian blades (19476.x1, 19476.x3, 19476.x4) and a ground stone (19476.x6) were found within the rubble. Inter-wall fills and other archaeological deposits During the excavation of B.113, inter-wall fills with neighbouring buildings were also excavated.

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons Inter-wall fill (21165) between southern wall F.7100 of B.113 and its neighbours to the south abutted S-shaped shoring wall F.7104 supporting the B.52 complex and B.49. The fill covered the rectangular space at the junction of the three buildings, as well as the gap between F.7100 and F.7104. Heterogeneous in nature, the deposit contained construction debris that included large pieces of oven floors, especially in the eastern part, where ashy spots were found. A large red deer antler 21165.x1 seemed to have been intentionally placed in this contained area. (21165) was sealed by (19590), which was likely the same fill but excavated arbitrarily in an earlier field season. (19590) contained a large amount of animal bone discard. The inter-wall fill between B.113’s eastern wall F.3677 and B.116’s western wall F.3678 was also excavated. (21118) had a very similar texture and matrix to the mortar used in the construction of the foundation trenches of B.113. Sealing (21118), deposit (21102) had a crumblier and drier texture; this may have been due to the deposit’s proximity to the surface. These fills, covering a rather narrow area, did not contain any remarkable finds. The inter-wall fill between B.113 and B.114, (22117), was a heterogeneous dark grey silty clay that sealed an earlier fill which was deposited during the constructional phase of B.113. These constructional deposits remain in situ, and were noted by Stevanović (2014), including the existence of a wall made from dark grey mudbricks. This wall, which remains in situ and can be seen in section (fig. 25.11) must have been an earlier

structure, quite possibly in an external area, as the bricks seemed too thin to have been supporting a heavy roof. The wall abutted the western wall of B.116. Discussion Buildings 116 and 113 spanned very different time scales and represent two very different buildings in the North Area. Little can be said about the largely unexcavated B.116. It was a rather impressive building, however, at least in size. Its stratigraphic links place it in an earlier phase of the North Area, most likely contemporary with B.132. Building 113, on the other hand, was an interesting building. Its sheer size and deep foundations rendered it unique. So very little was retrieved from the occupation surfaces and the infill of the building that it seemed like an ‘empty’ building. Needless to say, the building’s proximity to the surface affected the preservation condition of its internal features. The burnt deposits were heavily burrowed by the mound’s rodents. The floors and walls of the building had been truncated in the Late Roman period, and a number of burials were interred within its footprint. Surely these post-Neolithic activities contributed to the erosion of the building’s features. Nonetheless, the illfated building was likely short-lived. There was no evidence for burial cuts, and none of the wall plasters were thick. Unlike other burnt buildings (such as B.77), few artefacts were found in situ within the space. Given that the hottest point of the fire was in Sp.95, by the bins, it is possible that B.113 accidentally burnt down in the same fire that consumed B.77. Much of the fire within B.113 was confined to the western end of Sp.96 and the northwestern end of Sp.95, as if the fire originated from the direction of B.77. While again there is little evidence to prove this, due to the poor preservation of the building, it is possible that the pre-mediated conflagration of B.77 accidentally jumped into B.113. Botanical samples from B.113, including the mustard seeds, were utilised in the dating programme of the North Area (see Chapter 19). The dating evidence points to a very short-term occupation, and the overall dates fit well with end of B.77. In other words, the dates support the interpretation that the ends of B.113 and B.77 were part of the same event. This is rather interesting, as few buildings seem to have been burned accidentally, although B.79 and B.80 in the South Area may be considered as such.

Figure 25.11. South-facing view of the BACH trench at the end of excavations within Sp.89 and Sp.88 in 2003. To the left is wall F.7105, clearly bonded to wall F.3677. Immediately west of wall F.3677 is a wall made from grey bricks, which may be a shoring wall. To the west of this is the irregular foundation wall F.7619 (photograph by Michael Ashley).

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Supplementary material For supplementary material related to this chapter, please visit https://doi.org/10.18866/BIAA/e-12. It comprises figures S25.1–S25.7. The phased matrix for Buildings 113 and 116 can be found in fig. S25.7.

26. Building 114 Burcu Tung With contributions by Aroa Garcia-Suarez, and integrated specialist data from Scott D. Haddow, Christopher Knüsel, Marco Milella and Belinda Tibbets (Human Remains); Amy Bogaard, Michael Charles, Dorian Fuller, Dragana Filipović, Laura Green, Lara Gonzalez, Ceren Kabukcu and Liz Stroud (Archaeobotany); Kathryn Twiss, Jacqui Mulville and Jesse Wolfhagen (Zooarchaeology); Christina Tsoraki (Ground Stone); Sean Doyle (Chipped Stone); Lucy Bennison-Chapman (Clay Objects); Rena Veropoulidou (Shell); Milena Vasic (Ornaments); Duygu Tarkan (Ceramic); Ashley Lingle and Gesualdo Busacca (Conservation and Pigment)

Building 114 (fig. 26.1) is an east–west oriented building consisting of Spaces 87 and 88, located within the North Area between external area Space 85, Building 113 and Building 77. Space 87 was partially defined and partially excavated while Space 88 was being excavated during the BACH excavations between 1997 and 2002. Excavations resumed in Sp.87 between 2012 and 2015. In its current defined boundaries, B.114 was a small building, measuring, from the outer edges of its walls, about 7.2m east–west and 2.4m north–south. At its inception, however, the building was larger, with an additional Sp.608 to the south of Sp.87, accessed by a crawl-hole. Halfway through B.114’s life history, Sp.608 was completely dismantled, its bricks likely used as the foundations of B.113 (see Chapter 25). Therefore, it was impossible to tell what the entire extent of the building would have been at its inception. With its current known size, architectural elaboration, infilling process and burial content, B.114 constitutes an unusual building,

containing evidence for extensive symbolic activity throughout its life history. Building 114 is phased to Level North G based on the evidence that it was constructed above Sp.636. Excavation history Building 114 has been almost entirely excavated, although the foundational deposits of Space 87, as well its walls, remained in situ at the termination of excavations. The excavation history of B.114 is complex, the building having been excavated by several research teams over a period of several years (fig. 26.2). The first excavations in the building were conducted by the BACH team, who were primarily interested in the social history of B.3. Space 87 and Space 88 (alongside Space 89, which was a space associated with, again, a different building) were assumed to be contemporary with B.3, possibly even linked. Their excavation soon revealed that the construction of Spaces 87 and 88 was completely separate from the construction of B.3. In fact, Stevanović observed that:

Figure 26.1. Building 114, Space 87 within the North Shelter. Space 87 is on the centre-left edge of the photograph (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

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Spaces 87, 88, and 89 seemed to be more similar than they actually proved to be. They were similar in size, except that Space 87 was longer than the other two, but in function they differed considerably. Space 87 turned out to be a small room that housed the inventory of a large house; the room extended outside the BACH excavation area southward and westward. Its walls were intensely plastered, and painted. Of all three spaces, it had the most massive platform, which covered nearly the whole area of the room and contained numerous burials. Space 88, by contrast, was utilized as a production area; numerous grinding tools were unearthed there (Stevanović 2012b: 154–55).

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons

Figure 26.2. Orthophoto that demonstrates the different excavation phases of Space 87 in Building 114. Facing north. The eastern third of the space (containing bags) was excavated by the BACH team from 1997 to 2002; the western two-thirds were excavated from 2012 to 2015 (orthophoto derived from a 3D model produced by Jason Quinlan).

Contained within four walls, Sp.88 was entirely excavated, as were its surrounding walls except for the northern wall. The eastern-third end of Sp.87 was also excavated by the BACH team, although not in its entirety. The excavations hit the main platform of the space, which took a considerable amount of time to excavate due to the large number of individuals that were interred there. At the end of the 2002 season, two burials were partially recorded and left in situ alongside the platform for future completion. Space 87 was reopened for excavation in 2012, with the focus on the removal of the remaining infill across the space. In 2013, excavations focused on a 1m ‘slice’ of Sp.87, west of the BACH excavation area. This methodology was adapted for the PhD research of Aroa GarciaSuarez in order to sample micro-stratigraphic sequences of the space. In 2014, this methodology was abandoned, as it proved to be inadequate for the identification and recording of the multiple internal furnishings found in this small built environment. The remaining western end of the building was excavated in plan in order to reach all of the stratigraphic sequences. The final year of excavation within Sp.87 was 2015.

Summary of phasing and overview of features Internally, Space 87 measured ca 4.60m in length and 1.7m in width, while Sp.88 measured internally ca 1.7m by 1.6m. Needless to say, even with Sp.87 and Sp.88 combined, B.114 was smaller than many side rooms recorded in the North Area and on the site in general. However, as noted above, the building was originally larger, although to what extent is unknown. Spaces 87 and 88 were linked through a passageway that was originally interpreted as a niche (F.627) accessed from Sp.88 (Stevanović 2012b: 156). F.627, was however, most likely a passageway, as none of the photographs (e.g., Stevanović 2012b: 161, fig. 5.110) of this feature show a plaster rendering on its surface, which would be expected of a niche. It is very likely that the BACH team underexcavated the feature, which was blocked with an incredibly firm fill made up of large-sized mudbrick and mortar inclusions, typical of the infill of Spaces 87 and 88 and easily mistakable for a wall. Extremely intense bioturbation caused by rodent burrowing around the passageway further damaged the surrounding archaeological deposits, making it difficult to discern boundaries and relationships.

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Chapter 26: Tung. Building 114 Phase

Description

B.114.E

Construction of building. Includes the construction of Sp.608.

B.114.D

B.114.C

B.114.B

B.114.A

Main features in Space 87

B.114.D3 Early occupation phase of the building. Almost entirely excavated. B.114.D2 Defined by the establishment of oven F.7607. Central division of B.114.D1 space defined by F.8142.

Space 87 (BACH sequence) -

First use of oven, step F.8131 on eastern end of space.

-

Establishment of platform F.638, first burial, F.8100.

-

Burial F.1014/F.3629 in F.638. Burials F.7614 & F.7615 in F.8146.

BACH Sp.87.1

Demolition of Sp. 608 and major Addition of support wall F.3681 and entry F.7567. renovation in Sp. 87, including Extension of F.638. shifting central division 0.25m west. B.114.B3 Defined by the use of fire installation Burials F.1013 & F.1012. B.114.B2 F.7345. Increase in elaboration within Burial F.1007 in platform. B.114.B1 building. Establishment of new central platform F.7114. Burials F.1002 & F.1005. Abandonment of building.

Post-retrieval pit F.7113.

BACH Sp.87.2 BACH Sp.87.3

Table 26.1. Phasing of B.114.

Space 87 contained a full range of features associated with the main room of typical Çatalhöyük buildings, although their spatial arrangement was inverted (fig. 26.3). The small space contained three distinct activity areas: the northwestern activity area with the fire installations and ‘dirty’ floors, southwestern platform F.8186 with ‘clean’ floors, and the eastern activity area dominated by raised platform F.638. Space 87 had a post midway along the southern wall, defined by post-retrieval pit F.7113. A central division F.8142 originally abutted this post, distinguishing the northwestern and southwestern activity areas from the eastern end of the building. During the main renovation phase of the building, this division shifted westward approximately 0.25m. West of post F.7113 was niche F.8143, which was oblong in shape and painted red during the final occupation phase of the building. This area used to connect Sp.608 to Sp.87. Southwestern platform F.8146 abutted the southern and western walls of the building, as well as central kerb F.8142. To the north of the platform was a lower ‘dirty’ floor area, defined by the use of a large fire installation (F.7607) cut into the northern wall. The eastern end of the building was dominated by platform F.638, which abutted the southern and eastern walls. At a later phase, the platform was extended to the northern wall and separated from the western half of the space by a kerb. In the final occupation phase of Sp.87, a support wall was constructed to abut the northern wall, albeit partially, substantially decreasing the space

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available for use. Another new oven was placed centrally on top of the older oven’s remains, abutted to the west by a unique pedestal-like feature, step F.7567, which was semi-circular in plan (fig. 26.4). The surviving lower part of the pedestal had grooves carved into it that were painted red. Another interesting elaboration in the space was two grooves carved onto the southern wall above platform F.8146. Slightly angled, they met at a circular indent, which – like the grooves themselves – was painted red (fig. 26.5). The phasing of B.114 has been conducted on the basis of the excavations that took place in Sp.87. The main phases of the building were delineated based on the use of the building’s fire installations, as well as a major remodelling episode that entailed the demolition of Sp.608. Subphases were established based on the burial sequences that took place at the eastern end of the building. These sequences were then correlated with the remaining sectors of B.87 based on stratigraphic relationships between different floors and alterations made to certain features. The allocation of individual floors within the two different fire installations to different sub-phases is conjectural. Summary of previous research Space 87 The BACH team partially excavated the eastern end of the space, uncovering an area of 1.45m x 1.60m, defined by the northern, eastern and southern walls of Sp.87 and

Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons

Figure 26.3. Isometric reconstruction of B.114 during Phase B.1 (illustration by Katy Killackey).

Figure 26.4. Step F.7567 in context (photograph by Aroa Garcia-Suarez).

Figure 26.5. Grooves on southern wall (photograph by Jason Quinlan).

the limit of excavation to the west. The eastern platform of Sp.87, F.638, was constructed within the limits of this area. Seven individuals buried in different burial events were excavated by the BACH team. The earliest of these was the burial of adult female (8584) within burial F.1012, lying in a north–south direction with her head to the south and feet to the north. Immediately next to and ‘at the same level as skeleton (8584)’ (Stevanović 2012b: 159) was the burial of neonate (8587), F.1013. Neither burial contained

artefacts associated with the skeletons. While the BACH team interpreted these two burials as separate burial events, both individuals could have also been interred at the same time. Three other adults, associated with burials F.1014 and F.8100 within eastern platform F.638 and burial F.7615 were buried either with an infant or with a neonate. Given the pattern within the building as a whole, F.1012 and F.1013 could in fact represent the same burial event. These burial events have been placed within B114.B3.

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Chapter 26: Tung. Building 114 Burials F.1012 and F.1013 were sealed by a plastering episode described as Floor 2 (Stevanović 2012b: 157). At this point, infant (8494) of burial F.1007 must have been interred into the platform. This individual was disturbed by the burial of an adolescent (8490), also of burial F.1007. Hager and Boz (2012: 312) note that some time must have passed between the internments of (8494) and (8490), as the infant’s skeleton was disarticulated. Skeleton (8409), which belonged to another adolescent within burial F.1002, was likely interred at a similar time, immediately north of skeleton (8490). This individual was ‘pushed to the north edge’ (Hager, Boz 2012: 318) for the burial of adult (8410), one of the final burial events in the building. Skeleton (8409) was tightly flexed. A polished animal-bone hook which was found in the burial fill has been associated with this individual. These three burial events have been placed within Phase B2. The final burial events that took place in platform F.638 were the burial of adult (8410) within F.1002 and child (8423) within burial F.1005. The interment of child (8423) disturbed the earlier burial of adolescent (8490). The interment of adult (8410) was interpreted as the final burial event in Sp.87 (Hager, Boz 2012: 319). These two final burial events have been placed within B.114 Phase B.1. The final plastering episode of the platform was sealed by B.114’s infill, which contained a rich assemblage of different kinds of materials including human bone:

Figure 26.6. South-facing view of Space 88 during the BACH excavations (photograph by Michael Ashley).

of an orange clay bin in the southwestern corner of the space which was later severely truncated. The second occupation phase of the space, 88.2, saw the establishment of a northeastern platform abutted by a bin/basin-like feature. Further, a niche was carved into the northern end of the western wall. This niche F.627 was likely the passageway between Spaces 88 and 87. A ‘special deposit’ was associated with this phase, which was a cluster of objects that included processed large animal bone (as if the bones were used in cooking) alongside 37 marine shells that seemed to have originally been strung on some kind of string, four ground stones and an obsidian flake, as well as seemingly random bird remains (a spoonbill beak and the wing of a little bittern). The objects were buried and sealed by clean soil, which was then used to place a ground stone onto the floor in the following Phase 88.3. It seems quite possible that the special deposit was actually associated with the large grinding stone. In Phase 88.4, the platform was extended. The final phase of the space, 88.5, was its abandonment. The infill related to the abandonment of the space was similar in its content to the infill found within Space 87: ‘Large patches of different coloured soils were mixed in with wall plaster and other construction materials’ (Stevanović 2012b: 162). Further, the lower floor space at the western end of the room contained a large number of complete and fragmented ground stones, a large scapula, a cattle skull, antler and phytolith remains of giant reeds. The nature of the infill deposit seems both deliberate and unique to B.114 (see further discussion below).

Abundant artefacts were unearthed in the infill of Space 87: a bone point, a flint blade, a pottery fragment, and a bead, along with burned bone and stone, and a human tooth (3549); a nearly complete bone point, a carved bone tool, a bone polisher for ceramics, polished stones, a clay ball, an obsidian tool, and sheep/goat and cattle horn cores (3560); numerous animal bones, including a grey heron bone and fragmented scapula (6145); human bones and a wolf bone (6178); and sheep/goat bones and part of a crow’s wing (6172) (Stevanović 2012b: 156–57). Stevanović (2012b: 156) also noted redeposited fire installation remains found along with a human mandible and a long bone that was affected by fire. Similar deposits were also found in the remaining parts of the building’s infill, which is further discussed below. Space 88 The BACH team reported on five main occupational phases within Space 88, which despite its small size managed to contain a number of architectural features (fig. 26.6). The earliest occupation phase reported by Stevanović (2012) was 88.1, which saw the establishment

Building 114 Phase E: construction Not all the foundational deposits and internal features of B.114 have been excavated. All the internal features as well as the southern, eastern and western walls of Sp.88,

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons however, were excavated by the BACH team. Building 114 was constructed within an external area. The walls of Spaces 88 and 89 cut into Space 636 at the same level as the construction of B.3. The outer face of the northern wall F.1026 was observed to be eroded, indicating that it must have been exposed for some time in the Neolithic. It was later abutted by external area deposits within Spaces 610 and 85. The outer walls that defined Spaces 87 and 88 were 0.35 to 0.40m in thickness, built with a brown sandy mudbrick and dark-grey mortar. The bricks excavated by the BACH team from Sp.87 were about 0.86m in length. No structural posts were discussed in the context of Sp.88. There was one post in Sp.87 that abutted the southern wall centrally. The post would likely have been unnecessary structurally, due to the narrow width of the space. It may have been used to assist in the division of space, or for other functions. The question of access and egress in B.114 during its early use is not entirely resolved. The most plausible location for access into the building is by oven F.8101, which was carved into the northern wall of Sp.87. Unfortunately, there are no evident marks of an entry near oven F.8101, although this may simply be due to the fact that

any evidence for the entryway would have been truncated by the renovations that took place in Sp.87 during B114 Phase C. Another possibility is that the entryway into Sp.87 was from the southeastern corner of the space, onto platform (30035). Both macroscopic and microscopic observations (see below) of the sections of the burial cuts in this area revealed a scorched floor, typical of fire installations. If a fire installation was indeed placed here by the southern wall, then the function of (30035) as an entry step is more likely. There is also a possibility, albeit smaller, that access into the building was through Sp.608. Space 87 would have been accessed through a crawl-hole which was later blocked and transformed into niche F.8144. Building 114 Phase D: early occupation While most of the early occupation deposits of the building were excavated, the levelling deposits as well as the walls of Sp.87 remained in situ at the end of excavations (fig. 26.7). The excavated portion of the early occupation phase of the building has been divided into three sub-phases, based on major architectural modifications and burial events, which have been loosely correlated with the three different oven floors.

Figure 26.7. Orthophoto of Space 87 at the end of excavations. North to top (orthophoto by Jason Quinlan).

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Chapter 26: Tung. Building 114 Garcia-Suarez’s microscopic observations (see also Volume 13, Chapter 14) of the micromorphological samples taken from the burial and post-retrieval cuts revealed some information on the remaining archaeological deposits in Sp.87. The earliest layer identified in this space was levelling deposit (30034), observed in three micromorphological samples collected from the eastern, central and western areas of Sp.87 and partially exposed at the northwestern and eastern end of the space, probably originally covering the entire space. This thick layer (>0.04m) was very heterogeneous in nature, displaying multiple aggregates of calcareous and oxidised alluvial sediments, reminiscent of beaten earth floors, in addition to approximately 25% charred plant fragments that possibly acted as a stabilising inclusion. In the south-central part of Space 87, microscopic observations identified the presence of four in situ baked floors, of which the last displayed substantial heat impact from high burning temperatures (online fig. S26.1). Attempts at renovating these baked floors were evident in the multiple washes applied to the surfaces of these units, some of which were tempered with herbivore dung. Thin layers of accumulated charred materials pointed to the preferential use of woods as fuel, a pattern also observed in the later phases of this building. Another micromorphological sample collected

from unexcavated sequences of the southwestern activity area of the space, platform F.8146, consisted of 17 mostly thin (ca 2–4mm) mud floors made of orangey-brown silty clay loam sediments. The lack of substantial accumulations of living residues on these layers and the presence of matting imprints in their upper boundaries pointed to the performance of strict cleaning and maintenance practices by the occupants of this space. These floors, identified as (21572), must have been maintained throughout Phase B.114 D, as the next activities associated with this space took place during Phase B.114 B. The occurrence of fire-installation-related deposits abutting the southern wall showed that, at least during its very early occupation, Sp.87 may have conformed to Çatalhöyük standards in the organisation of space. Or perhaps Sp.87 was a side production space at this time, during the use of Sp.608. B114.D3 During this early occupation phase (fig. 26.8), oven F.7607 was established by the northern wall in the northwestern activity area. The entire space was divided by kerb F.8142, and platform F.636 was established at the southeastern end of Space 87. No burials have been associated with this phase.

Figure 26.8. Plan of B.114 Phase D (plan by Camilla Mazzucato) (shading is used to aid visual understanding of the different features in buildings; in general, darker shading indicates more upstanding features).

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Çatalhöyük Excavations: The 2009–2017 Seasons The northwestern activity area. Oven F.7607 was established above levelling (30034). But before its construction, an irregular area, approximately 0.55m by 0.55m in size, was used as a temporary fire installation, evidenced by scorched surface excavated as (30000). Unit (30000) ‘contained abundant plant imprints (phytoliths) in random orientation, possibly fuel remains, as inferred from their grassy appearance. This deposit shows a marked rubefaction gradient, with the sediment becoming lighter (less scorched) towards the base. This, again, is evidence for in situ burning, although likely involving low, charring temperatures (