Çatalhöyük 1995 Archive Report

ÇATALHÖYÜK 1995 ARCHIVE REPORT

Konya basin Palaeoenvironment research (KOPAL) programme

Neil Roberts

Introduction

A successful geoarchaeological survey of the Cumra district took place between September 4 and 22 1995 under the auspices of the Turkish Ministry of Culture, and with the financial support of the National Geographical Society. We are indebted to both of these, to the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, to Loughborough and Ankara Universities, ad to our representative from Konya Museum, Necip Cay. The field season involved the following personnel:

- Dr C. Neil Roberts (Loughborough University)
- Dr Hakan Yigitbasioglu (Ankara University)
- Dr Romola ‘Chip' Parish (Sussex University)
- Dr David Twigg (Loughborough University)
- Mr Peter Boyer (Loughborough University)
- Mr John Tibby (Monash and Loughborough University)

Coring equipment was driven overland from the UK to Turkey in a Toyota Pickup belonging to Loughborough University. The KOPAL team was based at the Çatalhöyük dig house at Cumra, along with the Çatalhöyük excavation team directed by Dr Ian Hodder, and the archaeological survey team directed by Dr Douglas Baird. Our geoarchaeological fieldwork was carried out in close relation to the work of these archaeological teams. After fieldwork, sediment samples were stored in boxes in preparation for export to the UK.

Objective:

The prime object of the 1995 season was to undertake systematic geoarchaeological and geomorphological survey of the area North of Cumra(Konya villayet) in order to establish a three-dimensional lithostratigraphic sequence for the Carsamba alluvial fan. Holocene alluviation on the fan has partially or completely buried many archaeological sites, for example, coring at Çatalhöyük in 1994 indicated 2-3 metres of post-Neolithic alluvium.

Methods:

Geoarchaeological investigations were carried out at 12 archaeological sites, listed in appendix I. At each site the depth of post-occupation burial by alluvium was obtained by coring near the edge of the mound. The coring continued below cultural levels in order to establish the nature and thickness of the underlying ‘natural' alluvial and lacustrine deposits. Coring was carried out by Cobra vibro-corer with exchangeable open gouge and lines sample head from which were recovered samples for sedimentological and palaeoecological analyses, and dating by radiocarbon and luminescence. The periods of human occupation at ten of the mounds has been established by archaeological surveys undertaken by Dr Trevor Watkins a nd Dr Douglas Baird in 1993 and 1995; in addition, Çatalhöyük itself ids of course being excavated. Further stratigraphic information was obtained from irrigation ditch sections which were cleaned, recorded and sampled.

Topographic data were obtained by surveying using a high precision Leica system 200 GPS (Global Positioning System) and associated SKI and LISCAD software, operated by Dr David Twigg. This proved highly successful in providing horizontal and vertical data over a range of 10x20 km, with a precision of +/- 1 cm. It was also used to create a topographic map of the mound at Çatalhöyük West.

Results:

Altogether over 56 m o sediments were cored at, or adjacent to, archaeological sites; 22m being retained intact for export to, and analysis in , the UK; the remainder were sub-sampled into bags. In addition a one-day visit was made to the former Adabag marsh in Akgol, near Eregli. This site has been cored for pollen analysis in 1977 (620 cm covering the last >13,000 years). New cores were successfully obtained here in 1995 for further palaeoecological and palaeolimnological study. The main core here was 847 cm long, with a parallel core spanning the upper 420 cm.

The cores and sections for archeological sites indicated, in general, greater depth of alluvial burial for earlier sites and for sites in the southern part of the study area; that is, higher up the Carsamba fan. For example, at Dolay hoyuk near the northeastern edge of the alluvial fan, the combined depth of cultural and alluvial sediments was only 230 cm; whereas upstream at Torundede hu. they were 645 cm thick, including 320 cm of alluvium beneath the mound.

Two principal alluvial units of Holocene age seem to be present on the Carsamba fan north of Cumra; an older dark grey ‘backswamp' clay, locally apparently organic, and a younger red-brown clay-silt. The backswamp clay is cut into by a river palaeochannel which was sampled in 1994 and which has produced OSL dates between 7125 and 3324 years BP. Probable Early Chalcolithic pottery sherds from the lower part of a backswamp clay fill of another channel-like feature south of Çatalhöyük would appear to confirm that his lower alluvial unit is Holocene in age. The red-brown upper alluvium overlies both palaeochannels, and also appeared to seal a late Chalcolithic pit/ditch feature at Kuslu huyuk II; in other words, it is mid-to-late Holocene in age. The mound at Kuslu huyuk II was cut into by an irrigation section and the resulting stratigraphy was studied in conjunction with Dr Baird's survey team. This showed that, in this area at least, the underlying marl surface was irregular rather than sub-horizontal. Variations in thickness of alluvium may therefore occur at local as well as regional scales.

Cores were taken between the East and West mounds at Çatalhöyük in order to see if sediments of the Carsamba river are present, particularly for the period contemporary with the site occupation. Close to the East mound, probable in situ Neolithic layers were encountered beneath fluvial sands and gravels, at a depth of 226-318 cm below modern ground surface. At a second core site between the mounds, organic peat and silts (310-464 cm) accumulated in what may have been an abandoned river channel; this also contained cultural debris, probably discarded into the former channel.

Conclusions:

The sediment cores and samples obtained during the 1995 field season fulfilled our planned objectives and will provide the basis for reconstruction geomorphological changes on the Carsamba alluvial fan during the last 10,000 years. It is planned to complete data collection on the fan in 1996, mainly around Cumra itself, in conjunction with Dr Baird's archaeological survey team. When complete, they will help to explain the pattern of archaeological site distribution and in particular, biases due to site ‘loss' through alluvial burial. It is also intended to continue work at Çatalhöyük, focussing in the relationship between on-site mound-forming processes and off-site alluviation, and on evidence for cultural impact of ‘fields' in the immediate vicinity of the site.

Appendix I

Agadani hüyük (Roman); 429 cm core, plus 350 cm deep ditch section
Avrathani hüyük (Early Bronze Age, possibly later Chalcolithic); 401 cm core, plus
Çatalhöyük (Neolithic-Early Chalcolithic); cores 650 cm and 700 cm long, and section >500 cm and 362 cm deep.
Dolay hüyük (Iron Age); 300 cm core
Kizlar hüyük (mainly Early Bronze Age); 440 cm core plus >142 cm deep ditch section
Kizil hüyük I (mainly Early Bronze Age); 449 cm core plus >700 cm deep ditch section
Kizil hüyük II (Iron Age); 400 cm core
Kuslu hüyük (Iron Age-Hellenistic); 342 cm core, plus 202 cm deep ditch section
Kuslu hüyük II (Late Chalcolithic - Early Bronze Age); ditch sections up to 465 cm deep
Sircak hüyük (Roman-Byzantine); 200 cm core
Torundede hüyük (first millennium Bc/AD according for French, 1970 = Haciseyyidin Ciftlik); 663 cm core
Urumdu hüyük (Bronze Age and later); 627 cm core plus > 205 cm deep ditch section