The 2003/2004 excavations produced 454 pieces of chipped stone from 90 of the 383 contexts investigated (Table 49). The reason for such a small assemblage is due to the adoption of the new fast track system, whereby dry sieving and flotation sampling were not applied. Unfortunately, this new sampling strategy prevents us from discussing the relative density/richness of individual contexts in Building 44, whereby this report only considers the typological and technological characteristics of the dry-sieved material from 1996, 1997, 2003 and the hand-picked material from the 2004 season.

Table 50: Number of units and total number of chipped stone from Building 44

The characteristics of the Building 44 material

The total number of chipped stone collected from Building 44 is 673 pieces of obsidian weighing c. 522.29g and 24 pieces of flint weighing c.32.5g (Table 50). This includes chipped stone assembled from flotation and dry-sieving in all previously mentioned seasons. Concerning the dry sieved material, 316 obsidian (482.34g), and 19 flint (30.24 g) artifacts were recorded.

Table 51: Quantity of raw material from building 44: number and weight of total and dry-sieved material

The total number of cores, all of obsidian, is seven (Fig. 91, e-g ), all in their final stages of reduction, five being categorized as blade-cores, the other two being used for the manufacture of blade-like-flakes (worked by percussion). The mean length of cores is 2.51 cm, width 1.6 cm and thickness 0.99 cm, figures which indicate an intensive reduction strategy. Most of them are in the form of exhausted bipolar blade-cores. This collection includes one core of slightly different, plano-convex form, with a large plain platform (Fig. 91, f [11295. A2]). We also have another type of core, based on the reduction of an existing end-product (Fig 91, g [2659. A1]); this small bipolar core, reduced in the manufacture of blade-like-flakes, was originally a projectile covered by bifacial invasive parallel retouch. The blade-like-flake cores were probably fashioned from large ‘quarry flakes' that were produced at Cappadocian obsidian workshops and brought as “raw material”. ‘Quarry flakes' have been found at Çatalhöyük in hoards, after which they were transformed into blade-like flake cores and points (Carter, Conolly and Spasojević, in press ; Conolly 2003). Building 44 produced five fragmentary ‘quarry flakes' (Fig. 91, a), one of them (11295. A9), the distal end of a large flake, possibly representing a projectile preform. In addition, the Building 44 obsidian includes a number of preparation (Fig. 91, b-d) and rejuvenation (Figure 91, j-o) pieces, including four core tablets (Fig. 91, h, i). One rejuvenation piece from the face of a blade core (10654. A7) has bipolar scars on its ventral side and is classified as a pièce esquillée (Fig. 91, j), the only example we have of this tool from the assemblage.

Retouched material

The assemblage included five projectiles, with an average width of 1.47cm and thickness of 0.72cm (Fig. 92), four of which were clearly made on prismatic blades, each of which had been modified with covering retouch on the dorsal surface, together with limited inverse retouch on the tip and tang (Fig. 92, c-e). Given that the average width/thickness of blades in the Building 44 assemblage is 1.13cm and 0.28cm respectively, it can be argued that the projectiles were manufactured on a different type of blank. In the case of the large biface (11439.A1 [Fig. 92, b]) it is conceivable that the original blank was a ‘quarry flake'; of relevance here are two possible point performs, the first being the aforementioned, distal section of a big ‘quarry flake' measuring 3.41cm long and 0.96cm thick (11295.A9), with invasive parallel retouch on its ventral side. The fact that the other points being made on larger-than-average blades is of some interest, suggesting that the projectiles are non-local, made on products of a tradition that is otherwise not represented at Çatalhöyük, or that perhaps they were manufactured from the wider/thicker primary series blades of the industry whose plein debitage products are recorded in Building 44. However, we rarely find such primary series prismatic blades at the site, suggesting that once again the projectiles were produced elsewhere and should not be considered alongside the locally made modified blade-tools, such as notched pieces, denticulates inter alia (see below). Another object of note (Fig. 92, a [11299. A2]) is a rejuvenation piece flaked from the face of a blade-core that represents a point preform. This is a regular thick bipolar blade (width 2.08cm; thickness 0.63cm) with invasive and covering parallel retouch on its ventral side. We also have a bifacial point that was later reused as a core (Fig. 91, g and 2, f [2659. A1]), originally modified by invasive and covering parallel retouch (width 1.76cm; thickness 0.66cm), reduced as a small opposed platform nucleus for blade-like-flake production.

Figure 91: Cores and core preparation

 

 

Figure 92: Projectile points

 

The projectile assemblage constitutes two complete points and three fragments. Biface 11439.A1 (Fig. 92, b) considering its size (6.63 _ 2.41 _ 074 cm), shape and retouch characteristics could be assigned to Conolly's Type 7 (Conolly 1999, 40); it is covered by invasive and covering parallel retouch, while one of its edges has been burinated. The second complete piece (Fig. 92, c [11452. A7]) measures 7.66 _ 1.58 _ 0.83cm; it is a tanged point with covering and invasive retouch on its dorsal surface, with a partly modified flat ventral surface (invasive retouch on the proximal and distal parts), classified as Conolly's Type 6. The remaining examples comprise the medial section of bifacial point, possible Type 8, a medial section with invasive retouch on dorsal surface and partly retouched flat ventral side (Fig. 92, d), plus the tang or point of another projectile with invasive retouch on a dorsal surface (Fig. 92, e).

Almost two-thirds of the end-products show traces of use-wear and modification. A wide range of retouched implements are represented in the assemblage, the most common types being those with simple linear/marginal retouch, while invasive and covering retouch are mainly restricted to projectiles. A few tool types, predominately made on blades, could be separated (Graph 2), including a significant number of backed and notched examples (Fig. 94), while end-scrapers are always found in combination with marginal retouch (Fig. 94, a-e). Interesting is the blade described as double end-scraper with triple notch and denticulate retouch (Fig. 94, a) which is the best indicator of wide variety of modification and intensive use of all debitage products. Within the tool types two more categories should be considered – one, a single burin on a blade (Fig. 94, k), plus a possible drill with marginal semi-abrupt retouch on both sides which had then been polished (Fig. 94, l); a similar piece was found in Space 226 in the 4040 Area.

 

Graph 2: Relative proportion of obsidian tool types

 

‘Flint'

The non-obsidian component totaled 19 pieces, 5.7% of the overall dry-sieved assemblage (Table 50), comprising various colored limno-quartzite. Typically for Çatalhöyük, this assemblage is characterized by the absence of cores and the dominance of blade products (Fig. 95, a, b), of which five had been modified, two of which being end-scrapers (Fig. 95, c, d).

 

The platform deposits of Building 44

While it has been stressed that this first report would focus on chipped stone technology and typology from Building 10, I wish to comment briefly on one particular group of material from the preceding structure Building 44, namely a series of deposits of obsidian recovered from around its east central platform. Most of the chipped stone from this structure (from 1996/97 and 2003/04) came from what are considered ‘clean' deposits. Roughly speaking, one third of the material came from a series of platforms and benches along the eastern wall (F.1312, F.1310, F.1320, F.1321), plus platforms situated to the north (F.1307/F.1324) and to the southwest (F.1314). In this last section the obsidian cluster - unit 11452 from platform F. 1320 will be considered in particular (Fig. 96). This cluster of material currently comprises 29 pieces of obsidian, but it is important to note that we have not completed the excavation of this deposit, with a number of other pieces already part-exposed, to be dug next year. The obsidian has recovered from around three of the platform's edges, apparently placed up against the face between platform and the surrounding bench (to south), wall (to east) and higher platform (to north). With the lack of associated microdebitage (due to an absence of flotation sampling) it is difficult to ascertain as to whether this material relates to a series of knapping episodes, with perhaps a few products swept up against the sides and ultimately forgotten. While we do not have the evidence to challenge or support this hypothesis, there are other interpretations that we feel are more likely, in particular that these 29 pieces of obsidian were deliberately placed in these interface / liminal zones during periods of reconstruction and re-plastering. It is important to stress that while we consider the location of these pieces of obsidian to be contextually and conceptually analogous, we believe that by the end of next season's digging, in combination with full post-excavation analysis, that we shall be able to demonstrate that the objects were placed around the platform's edge during a number of temporally distinct episodes of deposition. Study of the material from the 1995-99 excavations revealed many such instances where chipped stone, usually obsidian, were included in these horizons of change, as for example between layers of plastering on floors, or platforms, or between the destruction of one oven and the construction of its successor.

 

Figure 93: Blade assemblage

 

Figure 94: Tool types

 

We have interpreted these depositions of obsidian as marking events of transformation, signaling and embodying liminal spaces and times between ‘what was' and ‘what would be', acts of commemoration and change (Carter, Conolly and Spasojević, in press ).

This assemblage is characterized by its lack of cores and preparation pieces, while three objects are described as rejuvenation pieces (Fig. 96, j-k). In fact, end-products and modified objects represent 80% of the assemblage, while most of them are blades plein debitage (counting 20). Some of these better preserved blades (Fig. 96, a-d) may suggest that they are produced by pressure-flake technique. Here should be mentioned a complete blade from unit (11458) which could be associated with cluster 11452 (Fig. 93, a); it is extremely rare to recover such complete pieces and lends further weight to the idea that these pieces of obsidian had been carefully deposited along the edges of the platforms and benches. The material also includes a variety of retouched implements including a projectile point (Fig. 96, i), end-scrapers (Fig. 96, f-h), plus retouched blades and flakes. The material from other units within F.1320 initially appears not dissimilar to that from the cluster and the rest of building assemblage, consisting as it does largely of blade material, though one acknowledges the concentration of fine examples from the plein débitage and the inclusion of the projectile.

 

Figure 95: Flint assemblage

 

Figure 96: Obsidian cluster (11452)

 

 

The 4040 Area

Building 45, Spaces 228 / 238

Building 45 had also suffered later disturbances in the form of post-Neolithic burials and surface erosion, however it still produced not inconsiderable quantities of well-stratified chipped stone. The fill of one Byzantine grave (10063) produced a complete obsidian projectile, of elongated leaf-shape made on prismatic blade with 90% covering bifacial retouch (10061.X1). One wonders if this is completely fortuitous, as the West Mound also produced a Byzantine grave with an obsidian projectile placed under the body (T. Raszick pers. comm.). At first glance, the assemblage from Building 45 is not entirely dissimilar to that from the nearby exterior Space 226, in that it is dominated by material relating to prismatic blade industries. Once again it is quite clear that a number of distinct pressure and percussion-based blade technologies are represented, with a notable variety in the size of the end-products, though once more we note the habit of lip removal and the dominance of unipolar products. There is also some evidence for the continuation of the in-house blade-like flake / flake tradition ( obsidian industry 1 ), along with some fragmentary ‘quarry' / hoard-like flakes ( obsidian industry 7 ) which represent the nuclei for this industry.

Much of the material recorded this year came from series of deposits used to infill the narrow N-S room (Space 228) in Building 45. For example, unit (10028), the general building infill in Space 228 produced a number of interesting finds from under a series of burnt timbers, laying directly above the structure's floor, including two chunks from hoard-like flakes (one a side-scraper), an unused long, fine projectile (8.64cm), with covering bifacial retouch and elongated tang (10028.X4), a long, near complete unipolar pressure-flaked prismatic blade (7.73cm) with removed lip and use-wear (10028.X8) plus a large, broken projectile / spearhead made on a large ?unipolar prismatic blade (10028.X9), with use-wear/impact damage in the form of a burin spall down the right side of the tip. It is considered likely that a number of these finds were deliberately placed/discarded on the floor during the process of abandoning the structure, as with the case of Level IX's Building 17. One is struck overall by the quantity of finely modified pieces from the infill deposits, points in particular, though it is difficult to appreciate how singular this practice was until we have excavated other contemporary buildings and viewed the nature of their infill assemblages. It remains, however, that Building 45 has thus far generated a sizeable number of obsidian projectiles, of varying quality and form; where it is possible to ascertain, all the points were made on long prismatic blades. These include a slightly battered and somewhat irregular / twisted point from the burnt pit of a fill with sheep bones (10015.X2); the piece had unifacial covering retouch, plus retouch on the ventral surface around the tip and tang and seems to be unfinished. In turn, three projectiles, one complete and two broken, came from a mixed ashy / burnt area (10011) in Space 228, while fill excavated from the northern part of this room (10061) included a very finely worked point, made on a thick prismatic blade (10061.X2). Amongst these, and other, points from Building 45, we have a number of tanged varieties, bifacially retouched versions and those with unifacial modification, including Conolly's Type 8 and 11 (Conolly 1999, 40).

 

Building 49 (Space 100)

With regard to the chipped stone Building 49 is currently one of the most interesting contexts being investigated in 4040, as it seemingly straddles the period of technological change at Çatalhöyük, from the blade-like flake / flake dominated assemblages of the ‘early' Early Neolithic sequence, to the prismatic blade dominated assemblages of the ‘later' half of the occupation (cf. Conolly 1999). The upper fill deposits of the structure produced quantities of pressure-flaked obsidian blades (with the distinctive lip removal), specifically the room fill unit (7913) and the upper baulk (7932). Unit (7913) also contained the less regular material that we associate with obsidian industry 1 (including two exhausted cores / pièces esquillées ), plus part of a large flake side-scraper (and two fragments of others), i.e. the type of hoard blank / quarry flake ( obsidian industry 7 ) that gets reduced as one of these obsidian industry 1 cores. The nature of the chipped stone changes notably, however, once one considers the lower room fills (which could suggest different depositional strategies, though at present one is tempted to see these distinctions as chronological), whereby the obsidian now lacks the fine prismatic blades and is dominated by the ad hoc material of obsidian industry 1 , with cores, end-products and the very occasional modified piece (e.g. notches). Building 49 has also produced a few cores in the form of much-reduced larger implements specifically ‘exotic' retouched pieces such as bifacially retouched points; this practice is well documented amongst the 1995-99 assemblages, from the earliest assemblages onward.

Concerning specific contexts, unit (7940) (the fill surrounding the huge horn-cores), produced the skull of a horse/ass that had been pierced by a long (4.57cm) blade-like flake with retouch on upper margins (7940.X7); the proximal section was missing, perhaps lodged in the skull. If this piece of obsidian was related in someway to the death of the animal (something that the bone team should be able to ascertain, i.e. whether the obsidian pierced the skull post de-fleshing), then its form is somewhat surprising, as it in no way looks like a projectile, certainly nothing like those previously recognized from the site – it has far too much longitudinal curvature and is wide and thin. We also had the opportunity to study in a little more detail some of the chipped stone from the fill and bins in Building 49's western end (Space 100), in light of a range of interesting objects (e.g. figurines) and concentrations of material (e.g. egg-shell and pottery) that had been noted by those excavating the deposits. With regard to the bin / fill deposits in the NW corner, specifically unit (7954 ) , there was little to distinguish the relative quantity and form of the chipped stone to that from analogous deposits elsewhere in the building, i.e. dominated by obsidian industry 1 debris and quite rich in terms of density, not dissimilar to that seen witnessed in the exterior middens of Space 226 (Graph 3). While the chipped stone component of unit (7954) appeared in no way remarkable (‘background noise'), it should be noted that other materials were present in anomalous quantities / forms (e.g. animal / bird bone), suggesting that this end of the structure had been infilled in an interesting and distinct manner. Conversely, when we looked at the chipped stone from the bin / fill in the SW corner of the structure where the figurine cache was recovered, the assemblage was markedly different to that from nearby (7954), being three to four times richer in terms of density (by number and weight per liter), a density comparable to that of the richest midden excavated in the 4040 Area this year (unit (8864) from Space 226). In terms of the actual objects, there was nothing particularly noteworthy, i.e. no significant pattern in terms of type of object, comprised mainly of our obsidian industry 1 material, with a few blade-like flakes etc. It is interesting that all the material seemed quite fresh and with little evidence for used objects; in turn the assemblage included a projectile perform, all of which serves to make this material directly analogous to that from the ashy rakeout contexts one associates with the productive ‘dirty areas' of a building, suggesting that the obsidian from this fill may have been collected from one particular type of context, as opposed to being a random collection of ‘rubbish' simply disposed of during the infilling of Building 49.

 

Graph 3: Comparing the relative quantity of obsidian (by number and weight / liter of soil) from a series of fills in Building 49, units (7954), (7957), (7916) & (7931) and middens from Space 226, units (8859),(8864), (8869).

These midden units were chosen rather arbitrarily to represent ‘generic' midden material to contrast with the Building 49 fill deposits; they are not contemporary

 

Space 226

Space 226 represented the major exterior space excavated in the 4040 Area in 2004, comprising a series of rich midden deposits and a possible surface/street, albeit cut by a number of post-Neolithic features, not least a series of Late Roman / Byzantine graves. From the undisturbed Neolithic contexts quantities of Level V ceramics have been recorded (see Yalman, this report), although there is also a suggestion of some later Neolithic material from Space 226, an issue to be resolved in future study seasons. Significant quantities of chipped stone have come from Space 226, though most of the middens represent assemblages are in secondary contexts, the material likely having been re-deposited from nearby buildings. The hand-picked and dry sieve samples from the middens and alleged street were dominated by prismatic blades. From a brief analysis of the material it is quite apparent that a number of industries existed in parallel, almost all represented by their end-products alone, aside from a small quantity of rejuvenation pieces, suggesting that cores were introduced ready-made and part-worked/initiated to the site at which point they would have been knapped, the products staying at Çatalhöyük.

Technologically it has been possible thus far to document clearly that both pressure-flaked and percussion based techniques were being employed in tandem to knap blades. Moreover, it should be possible in due course to demonstrate that more than one tradition existed using these modes of reduction, our interpretation being based on a variety of metrical and technical attributes. At the same time, however, one can note a number of shared traits amongst these distinct industries, namely that the vast majority of blades derived from unipolar cores and had their lips removed by flaking. Many of the blades have use-wear, while a lesser proportion are modified, with notched pieces, backed blades and those with simple linear retouch; there are also two examples of blades with polished margins (cf. Conolly 1999, 50), plus broken projectiles of varying forms. The midden debris also contains evidence for the continuity of the blade-like flake and flake tradition ( obsidian industry 1 ), albeit a minority component.

The single most noteworthy object from Space 226 unfortunately came from the fill of a Byzantine grave that had been cut into a Neolithic midden (8850), namely an obsidian mirror, the first to been discovered at Çatalhöyük since the 1960s (Fig. 97). The mirror is approximately 4cm in diameter and 2cm thick (thus making it one of the smallest examples discovered thus far),

 

  Figure 97: Obsidian ‘mirror'

 

with its reflective surface produced by a single flat flake scar. It does not appear to have been completed as the surface still retains some of the manufacturing striae from abrasion that ultimately would have been removed by finer-grained polishing (see Vedder, in press ). Perhaps more significantly, we have here a much clearer idea as to its production in terms of the overall reduction sequence, which provides a fascinating insight to the manufacture of this, and perhaps other, mirrors. It is quite apparent that the mirror had not been formed from a raw nodule of obsidian; instead it was made from what was originally a large opposed platform prismatic blade core, as most clearly evidenced by the bipolar blade-scars on the mirror's underside. Such blades are rare at Çatalhöyük, perhaps the best example we have comes from a Level VII-VI context, with six large opposed platform / Naviform blades coming from a hoard in Building 1 (1461) [Conolly 2003, fig. 5.7]); often such implements appear to be used as the blank upon which large projectiles are produced. It remains, however, that at present we have no evidence for the manufacture of such blades at Çatalhöyük, whereby the tradition is considered not only highly skilled, but also non-local. The production of this mirror, in itself one of the rarest obsidian ‘tools' from the site, thus drew upon the remnants of what was likely already a most valuable piece of material culture, one that embodied exotic and specialised savoir-faire , a highly significant chain of events in the context of the consumption of obsidian at the site. It seems that the manufacture of the mirror proper may have commenced with the removal of a thick rejuvenation flake from the face of the blade-core, with the flat ventral surface ultimately becoming the reflective surface. The thick blank then seems to have been truncated on its proximal and distal section, before being worked around its circumference (knapping from the dorsal surface) to shape the mirror into its circular form, before then being completed through a process of grinding and polishing using different sized grained abrasives.

 

Spaces 229, 230 & 233

Spaces 229, 230 and 233 were excavated as ‘fast track', producing quantities of hand-picked chipped stone from a variety of cleaning layers and room fill. Most of the obsidian relates to the local blade-like flake industry 1 , i.e. scrappy and largely unmodified blanks generated from a relatively ad hoc technology. Unit (10714), the room fill / midden of Space 229 produced some cortical debris which is noteworthy given the usual absence of raw material from the site. At present, the assemblage from this area has yet to produce any of the fine pressure-flaked prismatic blade material that one associates with the ‘later' levels, whereby one would be tempted to date the material pre-Level VIB (see separate chronological discussion).

Space 232 / 240

Given that Spaces 232 and 240 ultimately conjoined with 229, 230 and 233, it is not perhaps surprising that the various layer and fill deposits generated material that was technologically and typologically analogous to its neighbors, i.e. dominated by the obsidian industry 1 blade-like flake / flake material. The largest sample thus far excavated has come from the exterior space in Space 232, excavated as (11029)(upper spit) and (11035) (lower spit). Technologically and typologically the assemblage from these units was much the same as elsewhere in this space, i.e. a dominance of the obsidian industry 1 material - flakes and blade-like flakes, plus related manufacturing debris. However, these assemblages are quite distinct from other exterior deposits, such as midden (as represented by the nearby / later Space 226 contexts), comprising smaller relative quantities of material, and being notably fresher, with less incidences of breakage. These combined facts may be taken as evidence to support the interpretation of this space representing an exterior surface, or street.

 

Building 46 (Space 233) and Building 48 (Spaces 234 / 239)

Located at the north-eastern extent of the 4040 Area, these structures have yet to produce significant quantities of chipped stone, largely due to the fact that the excavators spent most of the season investigating interior features and living deposits (as opposed to the typically chipped stone-rich construction / fill contexts). Once again we lack here the ‘later' prismatic blade material, with the obsidian industry 1 blade-like flake / flake material dominant.

 

Spaces 237 (Building 47) and 227 - Sarah Delerue

Translated from the original French by T. Carter

Introduction

The following report is based on a detailed study of over one hundred and fifty pieces of chipped stone using the team's newly implemented new system of recording and analysis. This material was excavated in 2004 from the 4040 Area, specifically from Space 227 and Building 47, Space 237 and is comprised primarily of obsidian, together with some limnoquartzite. This report represents a preliminary statement, as further work is required with regard to the function of the material and the relationship of the assemblage to material from earlier, later and contemporary contexts.

 

The chipped stone from Space 237, Building 47

One hundred pieces of chipped stone came from this rectangular building, measuring approximately 8m (N-S) by 4m (E-W), considered atypical in its form on the basis of its interior organization. The assemblage was dominated by blades from the plein débitage (n=44), mainly medial sections, generally prismatic in form, mainly with unipolar dorsal scars. It is necessary to stress, however, that in 11 cases it was not possible to establish the direction of the negatives and in one case a blade had bipolar scars. While these prismatic blades are relatively fine, their regularity (margins and ridges) is not marked, whereby they could be the product of either pressure flaking or indirect percussion. We are quite certain that these two technological modes co-exist within the assemblage, however it is not always possible to distinguish them, for while the technique of debitage was distinct, the end-products can appear much the same (based on our initial analysis). It remains to know whether these differences in form are a reflection of different techniques, or the intentional product of the knapper; in either case, they may have served different functions. We further highlight the presence of a large blade (2.93cm wide) that we associate with a distinct blade tradition/ savoir-faire . This type of large blade appears regularly in the Çatalhöyük material, always in small quantities, apparently relating to non-local chaînes opératoires , suggesting strongly that these blades are forms of imported ready-made exotica. Finally, it is noted that virtually all appear of the blades from the plein débitage appear to have been used, while half had been retouched. The latter material includes notched blades and one possible sickle-blade, though there are problems in the recognition and interpretation of such use-wear in the case of obsidian (even with recourse to microscopy). Of particular note is a ‘carving tool' (cf. Conolly 1999, 50), represented by a blade with accentuated striae and use-wear along the right margin, that we consider to be the result of having been used to work stone; use-wear analysis would be required to confirm this.

Also of note is a blade of light-brown limnoquartzite (from floor (10243)), so worn that it is impossible to define its technique of débitage . This non-local raw material was used to make specific implements, such as this end-scraper on a backed blade. Originally this piece might have been a sickle-blade that after it broke, was reworked as an end-scraper (T. Carter pers. comm.). It is interesting to note the re-use (curation) and accentuated wear on this piece, suggesting that it may have been in circulation for some not inconsiderable time. This was not the only example of limnoquartzite, with two blades from the plein débitage also represented. The first, again of light-brown colour (and same floor unit, (10243)) comprises a medial section of indeterminant technology, heavily used and retouched to produce a side-scraper. The second, a pink-grey limnoquartzite, is complete. This latter blade, from the east of the building (10253) had been modified into a tanged and shouldered point, with covering direct and inverse retouch, akin to Conolly's Type 11 in form (Conolly 1999, 40); it measured 5.61cm long, 1.67cm wide and 0.71cm thick. It is interesting to note/consider the relationship between raw material and tool type (e.g. the light-brown limnoquartzite's regular appearance in the form of scrapers on blades) and important to underline the frequency of a certain type of raw material and objects in the same building and the same context. It is curious to see the latter raw material (the pink-grey variant) in such a different and extremely uncommon form (we have made the point before, that projectiles in anything but obsidian are extremely rare at Çatalhöyük [Carter, Conolly and Spasojević, in press ]). With regard to the significance of these implements' curation/long-time circulation, one could argue that this is partly related to the value of the raw material and tool; use-wear analysis could provide us with further clarifying these tools' use through time (location, form and sequence). Given the change in these tools through time (via breakage and retouch) then one could argue that their significance did not lay in shape or aesthetics, but functional concerns (though these too changed). Perhaps this particular piece was related to one individual, a specialist within the settlement? Could the presence of the projectile also suggest a particular relationship between owner/inhabitants and certain activities, or their place within a certain exchange relationship beyond the site.

Another projectile was found in this building, unit (10259), albeit of obsidian, measuring 4.95 × 2.29 × 0.86cm; the piece was tanged and shouldered (Conolly Type 12 [Conolly 1999, 40]) with fine bifacial covering retouch, of a form typical for such objects. These points are largely distinguishable from other blade products, which are practically all unipolar, not very regular, used and sometimes quite worn, the majority not being retouched. It is possible to attest both indirect percussion and pressure-flaked products, with retouched categories including the points and scrapers noted above, plus backed notched and denticulated blades.

Blades with remnant cortex (n=1) or dulled natural surface (n=2) were also recorded in the obsidian assemblage. The cortical example was a product of indirect percussion with unipolar scars, irregular in form and retouched/denticulated; its macroscopic characteristics suggests that it might be a product of Nenezi Dağ obsidian. The two blades with part natural surface (50 and 25% respectively) also seemed to be products of a unipolar technique; the second blade was prismatic with retouched margins. One diagnostic preparatory piece was also noted from this assemblage, coming from the ventral surface of a core, less than 2cm long. In turn, there was only a single core (whose context needs to be verified as it might relate to the fill of an older structure). Exhausted and less than 3cm in size, it bears multidirectional scars and is classified as relating to Çatalhöyük's long-term, local blade-like flake tradition. It is unsure as to whether this core was fashioned from a ‘quarry flake'.

In the category of flakes, one notes the presence of a primary and secondary flake (90 and 45% cortical coverage respectively), the latter example having a distinctive silvery cortex. Eight other flakes were recorded, all non-cortical and mainly unmodified, the products of varied technologies. The small number of flakes from Space 237 is due to the absence of systematic dry sieving and the few flotation samples taken, the building having been dug by the ‘fast track' method. Similarly we only have four blade-like flakes, three of which were medial segments with unipolar scars (plus one multidirectional), all probably used. The final category of flake, that of the large ‘quarry flake', comprises one example with multidirectional scars, in the form of a large side-scraper.

The next important group of objects represented in the Building 47 obsidian assemblage is that of the rejuvenation pieces, of which we have distinguished 17. Four of thee pieces are a little uncertain, including a notched and backed blade interpreted as a carving tool used to work stone, due to its type and intensity of use-wear. The rejuvenation pieces most often came from the face of a blade core, were mainly complete/near-complete, measuring between 0.61 – 4.4cm long, 0.77 – 3.99cm wide and 0.34 – 1.45cm thick. Five had unipolar scars, two had bipolar, one was multidirectional and one was indeterminate. The variable dimensions and scars pattern suggests one that these rejuvenation pieces were removed from the face of cores towards the end of their reduction sequence and relate to a variety of different industries. A further three rejuvenation pieces came from the back of a core or object; with multidirectional scars and irregular forms, they have been used but not retouched. Finally, we have a single core-tablet (2.17 × 1.42 × 0.35) that came from the fill of the square clay box (10247)- that also contained dog bones); the recovery of such a distinctive piece in such a strange context is of interest. One has to wonder if this is some form of deliberate deposit – in which case why such an object and not a completed implement.

On the basis of this preliminary investigation of the assemblage it remains difficult to reconstruct precisely each of the chaînes opératoires represented in this assemblage and to relate each of the categories of material (such as preparation and rejuvenation material) to specific industries. In turn, while we think that a quantity of this material was probably produced within the space, with the exception of certain objects – namely the ‘quarry flakes' and large blades, the absence of dry sieved and flotation samples makes it extremely difficult to prove the point. Neither can we easily reconstruct the exact nature of these traditions, nor can we clearly elucidate which stages of the various reduction sequences are represented.   One does note, however, a seeming imbalance in the ratio of preparation to rejuvenation material (the latter outweighing the former). There are many questions remaining to answer, concerning issues of distribution and consumption, by type of object (e.g. projectiles) and raw materials (certain limnoquartiztes as well as specific obsidians). Much also has to be considered with regard to the procurement of such a range of raw materials and end-products and the consideration of such issues as aesthetics, curation and value.

 

Space 227

Fifty-five artifacts came from this space, with the assemblage once again dominated by blades, in particular those from the plein debitage (n=17). Usually represented by medial sections, they measured between 1.14 – 4.68cm. The majority related to a unipolar technology, usually prismatic in form with quite regular margins and dorsal ridges, often retouched and used. Once again one denotes the coexistence of at least two chaînes opératoires , pressure and indirect percussion, though it is difficult to always distinguish the two (the pressure-flaking tradition is not considered to be of the highest quality). As with before, it is further possible to distinguish a third industry, as represented by two large prismatic blades, unmodified and regular, which are likely products of an exotic chaîne opératoire dedicated to the manufacture of such large pieces. The various (expedient) functional interpretation accorded these various blade products does not seem to suggest that there were task-specific chaînes opératoires , nor does it suggest that the activities undertaken within this building were particularly specialized. The retouched blade-tools include a notched piece, a non-prismatic denticulate / possible sickle, a bec and a double side-scraper. The blades not considered part of the plein débitage numbered ten, including one piece of light-brown limnoquartzite. As usual, these objects were mainly represented by medial sections (plus two complete/near complete examples), usually unipolar, slightly irregular and retouched. This group also included two of the largest blades from the assemblage, at 7.24 and 8.37cm long. It should be noted that as with the preceding example, it is not always possible to either read the dorsal blade-scar-run, or distinguish the particular form of débitage , in particular where the face of the blade has been obscured by retouch, as for example with three pieces from the assemblage, namely part of a notched point unit (10260), a tanged point and a projectile of Type 8 (Conolly 1999, 40), or in the case of a blade whose margins have been deliberately polished, apparently the medial part of a perforator.

These latter three objects, the two points and the extremely interesting and rare polished tool, all came from the same unit (10264), along with a number of other notable finds, including: figurines, bones, beads, stone, objects of clay and greenstone, plus the aforementioned limnoquartzite blade that had been modified into a side/end-scraper with heavy use-wear. This rich and diverse concentration of interesting objects requires further comment, however the context's integrity has to be confirmed in post-excavation study. In turn, we also have to consider the significance of what appears to be a concentration of large and distinctive limnoquartzite objects from Space 227 and to consider their implications for chronology, preferential long-distance contacts, function and issues of aesthetics, and contrast the assemblage with those from preceding levels.

We also note the presence of a retouched part-cortical blade (c. 5% dorsal cover), and two blades with remnant natural surfaces (5-20% cover); the first was unmodified and bore a scar from the initiation of the blade run, while the second had the scar from an opposed platform and had been retouched into an end/side-scraper. This bipolar scar pattern was also noted on the only core recovered from this space, its exhausted state obscuring the last traces of regular blank removal; as such, it was categorized as a flake core (albeit referring to its final stage). Preparation pieces (n=4) are similarly difficult to locate within any specific chaîne opératoire . With the exception of a crested blade, these blanks are generally irregular in form, with multidirectional scars and varying dimensions.

The flakes were not particularly numerous, once again a reflection of the fact that this building was excavated by the ‘fast track' method; this is undeniably a significant loss of data. Of the ten flakes, one was a secondary series flake (70% cortex) that seems to have been notched in the middle of one margin, with all the others were tertiary/non-cortical products with multidirectional scars, only rarely receiving any form of modification. The blade-like flake class, so well represented in early deposits at the site, is only represented by one example here, a non-cortical piece with bipolar scars. Conversely, we have three ‘quarry flakes', one of which was in the form of a double side-scraper. Those blanks classified as relating to episodes of rejuvenation were relatively numerous in this assemblage, with six pieces. This included three complete core-tablets (4.62 × 3.87 × 0.86cm; 2.97 × 1.57 × 0.27cm; 2.80 × 2.40 × 0.35cm). The first of them came from a large blade core, and is considered to have been removed relatively early in the reduction sequence, as opposed to the end of the core's life. The width of the blade scars on this tablet is akin to that of most plein débitage blades from this assemblage. The other rejuvenation pieces came from the face of blade cores, the first was nearly complete with irregular unipolar scars (2.63 × 1.34 × 0.39cm), while the second was a medial section, with similarly irregular blade scars but from an opposed platform nucelus (2.01 × 0.72 × 0.29cm). These flakes appear to have been flaked from the end of the cores' life. A final complete and unmodified rejuvenation piece was recognized but remains unsure as to its exact position within the reduction sequence.

The Space 227 assemblage, like that from Space 237, seems to testify to a certain degree of in-house knapping. With the presence of a few cortical pieces, one might consider that at least one of the chaînes opératoires represented in this material is represented in its entirety, though one cannot rule out the circulation of part-cortical material as end-products in themselves. Defining exactly how many chaînes opératoires are represented in this assemblage and the relationship of all the various débitage classes and blanks remains difficult, a process hindered by the absence of dry and wet-sieve samples.

We are quite sure that both indirect percussion and pressure-flaked prismatic blade industries existed side-by-side, however the latter tradition did not produce particularly fine examples (when compared to East Anatolian / Near East products) whereby it is not always possible to assign individual blades to a particular tradition. Finally, one has the large non-local blades, which appear to have been imported ready-made as none of our preparation or rejuvenation material can be associated with these products. In turn, one has the blades employed for the manufacture for projectiles (for which we have a notable quantity from this space), which seem to be of a higher (more regular) quality than the other prismatic blades, suggesting that here we might have yet another blade tradition represented in the assemblage, once more entering the site as imports, or perhaps made somewhere else in the settlement as a specialized craft.

 

Conclusions

While it is problematic comparing such partial and biased assemblages of different date, one can note some similarities between the two sets of material. They are both dominated by prismatic blades, and have produced blade-like flakes, a few ‘quarry flakes' (including those in the form of side-scrapers), rejuvenation and preparation, plus small quantities of retouched material including finely modified projectiles. With the possible exception of the interesting group of objects from unit (10264) in Space 227 (together with the other finds from the fill of this container), most of the chipped stone from these structures might be interpreted – at this present time – as relating to everyday modes of consumption. At the same time, one notes the range of exotic objects, raw materials and savoir-faire represented in these assemblages. Many questions remain to be answered by further excavation and a subsequent full analysis of the chipped stone, particularly with regard to the function of these spaces, the status of their inhabitants, the modes of procurement and exchange represented by these raw materials and the existence, if any, for specialized activities within and beyond the settlement.

 

The 4040 chipped stone: initial thoughts on chronology – T. Carter

Most of the material from Building 49 (Space 100) can be characterized as the products and associated debris of our simple, in-house obsidian industry 1 (flakes and blade-like flakes), which should suggest that the structure dates to Level VIB or earlier based on what we (think we) know from the South Area. However, the very first units excavated in this space, i.e. the uppermost fill, unit (7913) produced quantities of pressure-flaked obsidian blades, i.e. material diagnostic of the upper levels at Çatalhöyük – a tantalizing suggestion that here we have an interface between the two traditions. The change appears to be rapid / radical.

Only small amounts of chipped stone have thus far been generated from Building 48 (Spaces 234 / 239), however it too appears to be lacking the ‘late' prismatic blade material, whereby I would here again argue that it should thus follow that the structure dates to Level VIB or earlier. Spaces 229, 230 and 233 have similarly failed to produce assemblages with prismatic blades; they are once more dominated by our ‘early' obsidian industry 1 material, whereby it again should follow that the structure dates to Level VIB or earlier. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Space 232 / 240 is producing much the same as that from Spaces 229, 230 and 233; these spaces ultimately joined and were in phase by the end of the season.

Building 47 (Space 237) and the adjacent earlier structure Space 227 generated significant quantities of fine, regular prismatic blades (with retouched versions, including projectiles etc.). This material is strikingly different to what has come from the aforementioned areas in 4040; as such, these assemblages should date the structure to anywhere from Level VIA onwards. The next-door open space and midden excavated as Space 226 similarly produced large quantities of these distinctive pressure-flaked blades, at first glance quite comparable to the material from Building 47 (Space 237) and Space 227. It should thus follow that Space 226 dates to Level VIA at the earliest and quite possibly later. At the southern most end of the 4040 Area is Building 45 (Spaces 228 / 238) whose chipped stone is once more dominated by the products of a number of   these allegedly ‘late' prismatic blade traditions.

To conclude, the areas being investigated to the northern end of the 4040 Area (Building 49 (Space 100), Building 48 (Spaces 234 / 239), Spaces 229, 230 and 233 and Spaces 232 / 240) i.e. closest to BACH's Building 3 and the North Area's Buildings 1/5, are producing obsidian assemblages that fit within the ‘earlier' tradition of Çatalhöyük, i.e. Level VIB and earlier (based on arguments by Conolly and Mellaart). Conversely, those structures and open spaces being excavated in the southern half of the 4040 Area, are producing obsidian assemblages that fit within the ‘later' tradition of Çatalhöyük, i.e. Level VIA and later (again, based on arguments by Conolly and Mellaart). We stress that these statements are preliminary impressions and invariably a gross simplification of the relative chronologies involved. Nor are we suggesting that the north-south distinctions just described indicate that we necessarily have two contemporary enclaves, though one might certainly countenance the idea that the northern end has suffered greater erosion, whereby earlier structures are being exposed in this part of the 4040 excavation. There is need for much caution here with regard to the dating of the 4040 lithic assemblages; these matters are discussed further below.

 

The South Area

Building 42 (Space 280)

Building 42 was another structure excavated in primarily ‘fast track' mode, comprising a variety of deposits, including floor surfaces, construction fill and burials. At the time of writing we have no information concerning the date of the structure on the basis of ceramic evidence, however, the overall impression we have from the chipped stone is that it fits within the ‘later' part of the Early Neolithic sequence, perhaps contemporary with the Level IV/V South Summit investigations (S. Farid, pers. comm.). The assemblage contained numerous examples of fine prismatic blades, virtually all of which have the distinctive lip removal by flaking. A preliminary study of this material has revealed a striking variability in the width, thickness and length of these blade products, indicating that a minimum of two distinct blade traditions are represented within the assemblage; ultimately it is hoped that a combination of multi-variate metrical analyses, in combination with a detailed technological appraisal of the blades will clarify this. What is also notable and somewhat typical of these ‘later' blade-dominated assemblages is that we lack, the associated manufacturing debris, with only the end-products and the occasional rejuvenation piece.

With regard to the specific contexts, there were a number of interesting modes of consumption represented within the structure involving chipped stone. A pit ,cut (10413) that cut hearth F.1507, had two defined fill, an upper (10415) and a lower (10418), the latter containing a large (9.46cm long) and almost complete obsidian projectile, made on a long, thick prismatic blade (with triangular cross-section), the entire surface covered by very fine invasive retouch. Given the location, it is quite feasible that the point is all that remains of a hoard, the remainder of the contents having been retrieved; unfortunately as this feature was dug using the ‘fast track' method there was no associated flotation material to contrast with known hoards. Two issues can be raised however to argue against this being a residual cache. The first concerns the fact that (10418) also produced part of a large tan limnoquartizte flake; the hoards at Çatalhöyük are almost exclusively comprised of obsidian. Secondly, while the projectile was missing its tip and butt, it had obviously been finished, yet the Çatalhöyük hoards are characterized by their containing preforms, NOT completed objects. The building also produced an example of what we have come to refer to as ‘transformative deposits', i.e. where interesting chipped stone implements appear to have been placed deliberately during periods of change during a structure's history – a phenomenon that was noted recurrently during our study of the archaeology excavated between 1995-99 (see Carter, Conolly and Spasojević, in press ). Unit ( 10461), a plaster surface spread over platform F.1502 contained a single retouched prismatic blade (5.57cm long), specifically a projectile perform, deposited during a period of renewal / change.

 

Figure 98: three large and distinctive implements (11315) that had been placed vertically to the right of an adult male's hip in the shape of a fan

Finally, and thus far the most significant set of finds from Building 42, came from a burial in Space 202, grave fill (11315) of F.1515), with three large and distinctive implements that had been placed vertically to the right of an adult male's hip in the shape of a fan (Figure 98). This quite remarkable burial assemblage comprised 11315.X6 – a long and complete obsidian prismatic blade (13.74 x 2.24 x 1.06cm) – from the initial stages of an opposed platform technique (with remnant cresting scars), most likely the product of a percussive technique and perhaps comparable to the large bipolar (Naviform-like) blades from the Building 1 cache excavated in 1998. The second piece, 11315.X7, was in the form of a large end-scraper made on a long blade of tan/pink limnoquartzite backed on both edges (10.55 x 3.16 x 0.71cm), another percussion product. It also has a small amount of sickle gloss on upper left margin and the central ridge of the blade also seems highly polished – indeed all the ridges seem to be, perhaps from having been kept in a leather sheath (cf. Grace 1990). The third implement, 11315.X8, was a large obsidian side-scraper made on a flat quarry flake (4.92 x 8.14 x 1.42cm), the type of object that one tends to associate with hoards at Çatalhöyük; the scraper was quite fresh but had been used . In terms of the assemblage's structure and its specific layout – the vertical fan shape – we have found nothing like this before at the site, though one is reminded of the large Byblos point placed vertically behind the plastered skull of a PPNB burial at Kfar HaHoresh in the southern Levant (N. Goring-Morris pers. comm.; Goring-Morris 1994, 432; Goring-Morris et al 1995, fig. 11,8). In turn one recalls the fact that Building 42 also produced its own plastered skull.

 

Building 43 (Space 235 / 236)

Building 43, assigned a Level VIII date, was a somewhat truncated structure excavated mainly in ‘fast track' mode. The structure has yet to generate significant quantities of material as most of the contexts investigated were floor deposits, or other typically obsidian-poor interior units. Of great significance, however, was the discovery of individual obsidian projectiles in two of the post-retrieval pits. Unit (10518), the fill of a post-retrieval pit on the eastern side of building, produced a tanged point with covering bifacial retouch, the original blank obscured but likely a blade; the piece had been used, its tip missing from impact. In turn, unit (10519), the fill of a post-retrieval pit on the building's western side, included a large broken projectile made on a large thick blade with covering retouch. The inclusion of these points is considered a deliberate and distinct act, as Çatalhöyük has now produced a number of such cases (examples have been documented in Level X's Building 18, Level IX's Buildings 2 and 17, Level VII/VI's Building 1.), the recurrent pattern being the burial of a used obsidian point in the post-retrieval pit in the middle of the long western wall. Building 43 is slightly anomalous, however, in that it produced used points from two of these post-retrieval pits.

The remainder of the Building 43 chipped stone assemblage appears, at present, to be dominated by obsidian relating to the local obsidian industry 1 , together with the occasional ‘exotic' blade blank. One large, complete side-scraper made on a ‘hoard like' quarry flake / ( obsidian industry 7 ) was also found with a non-local prismatic blade from unit (10500). A few pieces of limno-quarztite and radiolarite have also been recorded, including an occasional fine, retouched blade.

 

Building 100, Spaces 112 / 231 – Mellaart's Shrine 9

The most interesting chipped stone discovered from Spaces 112 (Level VII) and 231 (Level VIII) in 2004 were burial assemblages. In Space 112 burial F.1709, comprising cut (10811), fill (10812) and skeleton (10813) comprised a male adult laid on its back, oriented east-west with its knees drawn up on top of stomach. From the associated fill (10812) came six fragmentary pieces of obsidian that are thought to represent ‘background noise' (i.e. redeposited from the soil dug into by the grave), plus a complete barbed and tanged form point (10812.X1), quite short (4.2cm), with bifacial covering retouch, its original blank uncertain. One can almost certainly consider this a deliberate inclusion / grave good; Mellaart (1967, 208-09) mentions the inclusion of obsidian projectiles in (male) burials from his work in the 1960's. However, the most interesting material was found under the skeleton's left femur, sitting on top of the stomach, a cluster of five blades of limnoquartzite (10835.X1-X5) and a an antler tool interpreted as a pressure-flaker (10835.X6), that in turn were sitting upon a cluster of phytoliths, likely the remains of some form of container / pouch that was hanging off the person's belt (a bone belt hook was found on the center of the stomach).

These five limnoquartzite blades ranged in color from tan, light brown, brown to grey-brown; they were all found complete / near complete, measuring between 3.96–9.18cm long. The significant differences in length indicate that they are not a related set; nor do they conjoin, seeming to come from slightly different blade technologies (as indicated by the variability in their lips and platforms). There is a coherence in the group, however, in that four of the pieces were modified to be used as perforators; one had also been used as a blade and possibly a burin, while another was part-backed. We know, or we think we know that such modified tools were being made at Çatalhöyük, though we are less certain as to where the actual blanks/blades were being manufactured. Regarding the raw materials, these types of limnoquartzite essentially represent our mainstay non-obsidian component at the site after Level Pre-XII.B, however, with regard to blade manufacture, limnoquartizte cores are incredibly rare, throughout the Neolithic sequence (We do have an opposed platform prismatic blade-core of yellow limnoquartzite, much reduced and part-cortical (5240.X19) from Space 182, Building 17 (Level IX), measuring 3.56cm long). While the blades themselves may not have been produced on-site (or within the area thus far investigated), we do have evidence for the modification of these blades in buildings. In Building 6 (Level VIII), and Building 17 (Level IX) in particular, we have scatters of tiny regular limnoquartzite flakes in the ashy rake-outs, indicating that in these areas we have the retouch of these long blades, i.e. their transformation into perforators and sickles.

This group of five perforators / grave goods, would no doubt have been used for making beads, piercing leather, working wood etc; however, while typologically / functionally coherent, the individual pieces had enjoyed different lives. The large piece (10835.X2) had significant wear from handling (and/or modification to aid handling) on its platform, while other pieces, most notably 10835.X4 were much fresher and had obviously not been in circulation for as long. There is also a story to tell with regard to perforators. In Building 18 (Level X) we had good evidence for the manufacture of bone beads, one component of which comprised a number of whole and fragmentary ‘flint' perforators, mainly from the ‘dirty area' in the southern half of the building. In turn, when the building was abandoned, they placed a complete limnoquartzite perforator in the NW bin (4671.X1), covered it in ochre and backfilled the structure.

One other burial contained a grave good of chipped stone, that of F.1702, an adult male (10840) oriented east-west ( head in west) laying on its back with legs flexed to the chest, accompanied by a large worked bird bone on its chest, plus a large brown limnoquartzite blade behind the individual's left scapula (see Fig.60); the inhumation was also buried with a lamb (see Düring, this volume). The blade measured some 14.6cm long, 5.4cm wide and 1.46cm thick (10842.X3), knapped from a large unipolar core. The piece had been backed along the upper half of its left margin, with a sharp curved working edge below. Although the implement is relatively fresh and seems not to have been in circulation for any considerable amont of time, it did have clear traces of use-wear in the form of snap scars, indicative of a linear cutting motion – it would have been a perfect butchery tool.

The only group of material currently worthy of note from Space 231 is a cluster of three large pieces of obsidian from unit (10819), the construction fill immediately beneath floor (10810), comprising an elongated biface perform (with covering retouch), part of a side-scraper on a large flat-flake, plus a large and fragmentary, part reduced flake with percussive damage along one margin. The location and form of the group may suggest that this represents the remnants of a hoard, though no cut was noted at time of excavation.

The new sourcing program
Some 110 new samples of archaeological obsidian were selected this summer by Carter and Delerue for trace elemental analysis at the University of Bordeaux / CNRS, the analyses to be undertaken by Delerue under the continued supervision of Gérard Poupeau (Directeur du Centre de Recherche en Physique Appliquée a l'Archéologie (CRPAA), Maison de l'Archéologie, Université Bordeaux 3 and Directeur adjoint de l'Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux (IRAMAT) UMR CNRS 5060 (Belfort, Bordeaux, Orleans). The specific techniques / instrumentation to be employed has yet to be finalized given that a significant quantity of the material is to be analyzed non-destructively, however it is expected that ICP-MS and PIXE are likely to be employed. The new project directly evolves from our previous work with CNRS and furthermore addresses some of the criticisms we leveled at ourselves in the forthcoming publication of the 135 samples analyzed in 1999-2000 by Poupeau, Bressy and Pearce (Carter, Bressy and Poupeau 2001; Carter et al , in press ), namely the fact that it has not always been possible to assign individual samples to a specific industry (Carter, Conolly and Spasojević, in press ). The sampling strategy was thus dedicated to targeting blanks that were diagnostic of a particular industry, as defined during the 2000-2002 study seasons. It was also the intention of this study to select obsidian from those levels not sampled during the previous analyses (Table 51), in particular material from the earliest levels at the site excavated in 1999, i.e. the Pre-Level XII Aceramic Neolithic deposits, down to the base of the mound (Table 52). We also took the opportunity to select material from the new uppermost levels at Çatalhöyük, as represented by the deposits investigated in the 4040 trench, as well as taking a relatively large sample of obsidian from the South Summit excavations. As with previous sampling strategies, all pieces selected for analysis have already undergone a full ‘traditional' technological and typological analysis, as well as having been drawn.

Beyond the temporal focus of the sampling strategy, we once again targeted as wide a range of industries, contexts and variations in the obsidians present, the latter based on color, texture, inclusions and translucency. Based on visual inspection alone, our initial impression is that most of the samples are likely to have come from the south Cappadocian sources of Göllü Dağ-east and Nenezi Dağ , in accordance with our previous results and what we see at other Aceramic Neolithic sites in central Anatolia and Cyprus (Ataman 1988, 43-52; Chataigner 1998, 285-92, figs. 5a-b, 7a-b; Gratuze et al 1994).

Table 52: Temporal distribution of the 135 artifacts analyzed by CNRS and Aberystwyth University (Carter et al, in press).

 

Table 53: Temporal distribution of the 110 sampled for analysis at CNRS in 2004 [* - exact dates to be ascertained].

 

Discussion

There are two themes that emerged from this year's work that are worthy of further comment. The first is that of burials containing chipped stone, of which we have our first three examples from the 2004 season. One came from Building 42 (Space 280) comprising a quite remarkable set of three large pieces (two obsidian and one limnoquartzite) that had been buried vertically, in the shape of a fan, next to the right hip of a male adult. The other two were from Space 112, both male inhumations, the first associated with a group of five limnoquartzite blades / perforators, the second a large butchery knife placed behind his left scapula (see below). Chipped stone implements are recorded from a number of the burials dug at Çatalhöyük in the 1960s, including “groups of arrowheads, single spearheads, a few sickle-blades, knife-blades of obsidian” and flint daggers (Mellaart 1967, 209), though no quantified data is offered as to how many of the 400 graves investigated contained such material. Moreover, Mellaart (1967, 208-09) claims that such material was associated with male burials, as were ours, though he does note a mother buried with a child in VIII.1, who was accompanied by an adze, a flint dagger with chalk pommel, a spoon, spatula and some fresh water mussels filled with red ochre ( ibid , 207). One final point of note concerning the burials with chipped stone, is the example from Space 237 (Building 47), with its highly distinctive vertical placement of three large implements. A not entirely dissimilar phenomenon has been recorded from Kfar HaHoresh, a PPNB settlement and cemetery in the southern Levant, where a large Naviform point had been buried – vertically - behind a plastered human skull (N. Goring-Morris pers. comm.; Goring-Morris 1994, 432; Goring-Morris et al 1995). There is of course a not inconsiderable difference in the time of these two deposits, along with the question of space and the exact specifics of the buried lithics. However, it might also be noteworthy that Space 237 (Building 47) was also the building where we found our own plastered skull.

The second theme worthy of brief consideration here concerns the question of chronology and the use of chipped stone technology and typology as temporal diagnostics. As noted at the start of this report, our team experienced a largely new type of assemblage this year, particularly with reference to the material generated by the 4040 excavations, much of which was comprised of prismatic blade products deriving from a series of parallel knapping traditions, or chaînes opératoires . The nature of this material is in marked distinction to what we dealt with in the South Area during 1998-99, for reasons that will be detailed below. The aim of this brief discussion is to try and clarify some of our recent thoughts concerning the relative chronology of the buildings / spaces in 4040 based on the nature of their associated chipped stone assemblages (with further considerations as to their relationship with assemblages from the South Area).

In very simple terms one can distinguish between ‘early' and ‘late' assemblages at Çatalhöyük on the basis of the dominant obsidian industry. In the ‘early' period(s), our obsidian assemblages are dominated by the products and debris from an un-standardized, somewhat ad hoc technology (our obsidian industry 1 in the forthcoming publication [Carter, Conolly and Spasojević, in press ]). The sequence of events of this industry / structure of the associated assemblage is as follows:

Thick part-cortical flakes, some of which have been retouched into large sidescrapers (cf. the example from the burial cluster in Building 42), are produced at the quarry / quarries in southern Cappadocia, specifically Göllü Dağ-east (Carter et al , in press ).

These ‘quarry flakes' (our obsidian industry 7 ) were then transported to the site upon which a proportion (all / most?) of them were buried in caches inside the buildings next to fire installations in the ‘dirty area' (Conolly 2003).

The ‘quarry flakes' are then (sometimes / often?) retrieved from their place of burial and knapped in the vicinity (For example in Building 23 (Level X South Area) we had two small empty hoard pits surrounded by knapping debris of our obsidian industry 1, including pieces that refitted, plus knapped fragments of these large flake-scrapers (Carter, Conolly and Spasojević, in press )).

The knapping sequence appears to be un-standardized producing what can best be described as a series of flakes and ‘blade-like' flakes – this is the mainstay knapping tradition represented at the site from its basal levels (Level Pre-XII.D) upwards, certainly up to and including Level VII (South Area). This state of affairs was essentially characterized by Conolly (1999a, 1999b) as the early ‘flake industry' of Çatalhöyük. It is not quite as simple as that as we now appreciate that in fact there are numerous distinct obsidian industries represented at any one time, however this somewhat ad hoc industry is dominant.

The late industries can be characterized as blade-based, i.e. a shift from the dominance of our flake / blade-like flake tradition ( obsidian industry 1 ) to assemblages where fine, regular straight-sided (prismatic) blades are the primary feature ( obsidian industries 4 and 5 ). If one looks at the early reports from the 1960's excavations then the obsidian blade-dominated assemblages are seen to be a characteristic of Levels VI-II (Bialor 1962; Mellaart 1963, 105-14). Conolly (1999b) argued that this major shift in technology could be viewed as one part of a series of major changes witnessed at the site after the conflagration that destroyed part of Çatalhöyük at the end of Level VIA (along with changes witnessed in ceramic and mud-brick technology etc). To summarize:

From the base of the mound up to (and including) Level VIA Çatalhöyük's obsidian assemblages seems to be dominated by a rather un-standardized flake / blade-like flake industry. These assemblages also include a few regular blades and objects from other industries, but these are in the minority and there is little if any evidence for the manufacture of such pieces on-site, i.e. they are probably imports, having been knapped by more skilled craftspeople elsewhere.

After the large fire at Çatalhöyük (that defines the break between Levels VIA-VIB) the fine, pressure-flaked prismatic blade industries becomes dominant (represented by at least one pressure-flaked and one indirect-percussion).

This simplistic divide between ‘early' and ‘late' is becoming increasingly problematic however, particularly with reference to the recent 14 C dates taken from Buildings 1 and 5 (Cessford et al , in press ). These new dates suggest that the latter structure should be contemporary with what are termed Level VIII buildings in the South Area, despite their significant differences in material culture, not least with regard to their chipped stone assemblages (Carter, Conolly and Spasojević, in press ). Nor need it follow as to whether the sequence defined by Mellaart in the South area necessarily corresponds to what we are digging in 4040, whereby it may not be appropriate to claim that the appearance of a prismatic blade dominated assemblages in our new areas should be taken as diagnostic of Level VIB. The distinctions in chipped stone assemblages witnessed amongst the buildings of 4040 might be reflecting distinctions in activity and / or social status, rather than date. One of the arguments concerning the break in chipped stone traditions before and after Level VI is that in the earlier part of the community's history we seem to have obsidian being worked on a household-by-household basis, whereas in the later sequence we may have evidence for an uneven distribution of production / consumption of (specialized) technical know-how, i.e. some form of craft-specialization where certain households were responsible for making blades for other households. Might it thus be argued that in fact all our 4040 structures could be roughly contemporary and what we see with the obsidian industries is in fact a reflection of inter-household distinctions in production and consumption? I would claim NOT, because in this instance one might expect a greater link between the assemblages in that the ‘disenfranchised' should at least be receiving some of the end-products (the blades) even if they were not actually making them – and there has never been a suggestion that we have such exclusive consumption of an industry. At present I think we are relatively happy to consider the notion that the structures being excavated at the northern end of 4040 seem earlier than those in the southern half; the material from the upper fill of Space 100 suggests that there should not be a huge difference in time between them, and that further excavation in the areas currently being investigated to the South may well be able to define more clearly this important interface period.

Next season's work will in part focus on this issue of chipped stone chronology, but with a definite eye on the possibility that the distinctions we witness between the assemblages of the North-BACH-4040 Area and those from the South area, may relate to spatial and social distinctions as much as/instead of/as well as, temporal distinctions. To conclude; for the foreseeable future we argue that a new suite of absolute dates provided by 14 C dating is the surest way forward. In the meantime the lithics team hope to contribute to this problem in two ways, firstly through a better understanding of the trends in chipped stone traditions (typology and technology) within each area's stratigraphic sequence and between the areas, together with the ongoing obsidian hydration dating program based at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee (using Secondary Ionisation Mass Spectrometry).