Scott D. Haddow

Revisiting reflexive archaeology at Çatalhöyük : integrating digital and 3D technologies at the trowel’s edge

Abstract Excavations at Çatalhöyük have been ongoing for over 20 years and have involved multi-national teams, a diverse range of archaeological specialists and a vast archive of records. The task of marshalling this data so that it can be useful not only at the post-excavation stage, but also while making decisions in the field, is challenging. Here, members of the team reflect on the use of digital technology on-site to promote a reflexive engagement with the archaeology. They explore how digital data in a fieldwork context can break down communication barriers between specialists, foster an inclusive approach to the excavation process and facilitate reflexive engagement with recording and interpretation.

A Tale of Two Platforms: Commingled Remains and the Life-Course of Houses at Neolithic Çatalhöyük

The majority of burials at Neolithic Catalhoyuk (7100– 6000 calBC) consist of intramural subfloor primary interments, most often underneath the northern and eastern platforms of the central room. Loose, disarticulated skeletal remains such as crania and other elements are often recovered from the grave fills of these burials, but it is often difficult to determine whether they represent an intentional secondary redeposition or an unintended consequence of disturbances of earlier primary burials by later ones. As a result, the commingling of skeletal remains at Catalhoyuk is extremely common. In this chapter, we seek to build upon previous discussions of the formation of commingled deposits of human skeletal remains at the site by focusing on two very different assemblages recovered from adjacent platforms in Building 52, a house currently under excavation in the North Area of the site. These two skeletal assemblages exhibit various degrees of commingling and represent the outcome of divergent mortuary practices: one characterized by successive inhumations carried out over time and the other by an unusual single interment episode consisting of multiple individuals in various states of articulation. Our aim is to demonstrate the relationship between these two assemblages and the occupational history of Building 52. We argue that the life-course of houses and the individuals associated with them were deeply entangled. This shared biography was achieved through the periodic and episodic incorporation of bodies—whole or in part—within the fabric of the house.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis and dietary reconstruction through the life course at Neolithic Catalhoyuk, Turkey

Food has long served as a mechanism for identifying and reinforcing social structures, but while carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis has provided important identity-based evidence of past diets, the cyclical and stable/fluid nature of food consumption practices across the life course has been relatively neglected. In this paper, the large human assemblage at Çatalhöyük with all age groups present has enabled diet reconstruction of the rarely represented groups of older children and adolescents as well as for the young, middle and old adult age groups of both sexes. These data show how neonates reflect foods available to pregnant mothers, that infants were breastfed until around 18 months of age and weaned by three years of age, older children had a different diet compared to adolescents and young adults who, in turn, differed from middle and older adults. The absence of sex-related differences suggests changes in food consumed at Çatalhöyük accompanied the marking of transitions through the life course.