ÇATALHÖYÜK 2000 ARCHIVE REPORT

West Mound Pottery / Batı Höyük Seramikleri -

Jonathan Last

Abstract

Excavations on the West Mound in 2000 produced large quantities of pottery with significant implications for our understanding of the Chalcolithic ceramic tradition at Çatalhöyük West. A number of important clusters were found just below the ploughsoil and patterns of sherd joins were identified. The assemblages from these clusters were in many respects different from those in the underlying room fill deposits. Significant discoveries include some probable imported incised sherds, a virtually complete basket-handled jar of a type apparently not identified in the 1960’s excavations and a number of sherds decorated with animals in relief. Some sherds show evidence of the order in which the elements of the painted motifs were applied and a number of pieces showed signs of repair where a thin layer of clay has been applied over a crack or area of damage. A number of previously unknown or rare decorative forms were found as were some unusual vessel forms.

Özeti

2000 kazı mevsiminde Batı höyükte yapılan kazılar, Çatalhöyük’teki Kalkolitik seramik geleneğini anlamamız için oldukça önemli veriler açığa çıkarmıştır. Ekin toprağının hemen altında, bazı parçaların birleştiği anlaşılan bir dizi kırık çanak çömlek toplulukları ele geçmiştir. Bu topluluklardan ele geçen parçalar, hemen alttaki oda dolgularından ele geçen çanak çömlek buluntularından oldukça farklıdır. Önemli buluntular arasında muhtemelen ithal olan ensize mallar, neredeyse tam olan ve 1960’lardaki kazılarda tanımlanmamış bir sepet kulplu testi, ve hayvan şeklinde kabartma bezemeli bazı çanak parçalari vardır. Bazı parçalar, boyanın hangi sırayla çanağa sürüldüğünü gösterirken, bazı parçalar çanağı korumak amacıyla yıpranmış bölgenin veya çatlakların üzerine ince bir kil tabakasının sıvandığını göstermektedir. Bir dizi değişik kap formuyla birlikte daha öncelerden bilinmeyen bezeme çeşitleri ele geçmiştir.

Many features of the West Mound pottery are discussed in Mellaart’s (1965) publication and the 1998 archive report. In 2000 the most notable pottery assemblages were recovered early on during the season, with a number of artefact clusters found in the southern part of the trench just below the ploughsoil. The sherds in these clusters tended to be fresh and unabraded with a high proportion of decorated surfaces. They were often particularly fine examples in terms of the application of the paint, the quality of the burnish and the even-ness of the firing. These deposits seem special both in terms of the depositional processes and the quality of the pots represented. The freshness of the decoration also implied that the vessels had not been employed much, if at all. Our suggestion is that the various pot clusters formed a specific depositional assemblage - perhaps related to the closure and abandonment of the building (as mentioned above, their association with particular surfaces or walls is not clear). The lack of evidence of wear and tear suggests that these were newly-made vessels, perhaps manufactured for a particular occasion and ’ritually’ smashed when the building was infilled or closed.

Also significant is the large number of sherd joins noted within and between the different cluster units, which spread across the area of the southern and central rows of spaces (particularly over Spaces 190 and 192). They again suggest that the clusters can be regarded as a single depositional event. The main contexts linked by sherd joins are:

Other units with one or two links:

The distribution of these joins shows how the clusters link the base of the disturbed topsoil deposits above with the Phase 3 room fills beneath. They lie at approximately the same level as the ‘potstand’ deposit found in 1998, which also included large sherds of fine and unusual vessels. These new finds may indicate a much wider area of deliberate deposition than was initially suspected. On the other hand the special character of the 1998 group is clear, since only a single miniature horned ‘potstand’ (27 mm high) was found in 2000, and that was from an area of the trench close to the location of the 1998 deposit (topsoil unit 6503).

The general ceramic assemblages from the room fills can be contrasted with the clusters as follows:

A number of points can be made about the pottery assemblage in general. More detailed contextual and quantitative analyses will follow once post-excavation analysis is complete:

‘Imports’

In 1998 a small number of sherds with incised/grooved designs of various type were found (Figure 37). One form with an organic-tempered paste and decoration of multiple broad grooves in curvilinear patterns was comparable with material from Güzelyurt-Gelveri (Cappadocia). In 2000 this specific ware was not found (with one possible exception from unit 6530) but a larger number of incised sherds of various type were found. The clusters include large parts of two S-profile bowls (of typical West Mound form), decorated with incised dot-filled bands with white infill. Comparable examples are known from Can Hasan. Other incised sherds, usually small fragments, came from the following units:

Complete pot

A virtually complete basket-handled jar (Figure 38) came from contexts 6537 in Space 192 (upper part) and 6561 in 190/192 (lower), with a few sherds in 6559 (above 6561). The upper sherds were notably more fragile and abraded, suggesting different formation processes for these two deposits. Perhaps the top half of the vessel was knocked off when the building collapsed or was demolished.

The vessel has an ovoid, globular body with a maximum width of c 300 mm and is 240 mm high. It has a red painted neck and a body decorated with multiple overlapping chevrons. The mouth is also oval in plan, while the placement of the handle makes it hard to reach inside the vessel. This is an important find of a ceramic type not illustrated by Mellaart (1965).

Animals in relief

A number of fragments from one or more basket-handled jars showed paired animal figures (of uncertain type) in relief below each handle junction. The animals (none of which is complete) apparently have a long snout and tail. Fragments came from topsoil unit 3454, grave fill 6501, wall collapse 6515 and Space 192 fill deposits 3499, 6505, 6508 and 6525. Larger relief figures, apparently of cattle heads, came from 6523 (Space 190) and 6525, the first of which is also associated with a basket handle.

Manufacture

On some of the large well-preserved sherds from the clusters the order in which the elements of the painted motifs were applied can be observed. This analysis may provide insights into manufacturing techniques, conceptions of decorative space, or the handedness of potters.

Another significant feature is the presence of repaired pots, where a thin layer of clay has been applied over a crack or area of damage. Sometimes this also overlies the painted decoration, which in a few cases has been re-applied. Because the repairs appear quite solid it seems that they were applied after the pot was painted but before firing (i.e. sometime during the drying/leather-hard stage). They are particularly evident on some of the well-painted, presumably valuable pots represented in the clusters. It is also possible that some repainting of designs occurred: for instance an unusual raspberry-coloured slip on the interior of a vessel comprising joining sherds from cluster units 3454, 3457 and 3464 was apparently applied over orthodox painted motifs.

Joining parts of an extremely large barrel-shaped jar (>55 cm tall) with broad horizontal bands of paint came from several units among and around the clusters. Most notable was the way this pot had fractured along a series of coil junctions which showed a tongue-and-groove form.

Decorative features

Interesting decorative forms previously unknown or rare on the West Mound include:

Unusual forms

References

Mellaart, J. 1965. Çatal Hüyük West. Anatolian Studies 15: 135-56.

Figures

Figure 37: Incised ware bowl

Figure 38: Basket-handled jar from contextxs 6537, 6561, 6559