Çatalhöyük 1995 Archive Report

ÇATALHÖYÜK 1995 ARCHIVE REPORT

The excavation of Building 1

R.J. Matthews

Introduction

The excavation of Building 1 began about ten days into the season after the removal by mechanical shovel of excess spoil from previous seasons lying over the area to be excavated. Following this removal a shelter had to be constructed in order to protect any exposed features, especially wall plaster, from direct sunlight and heat. A prototype shelter, covering an area 30 by 9 m, proved unstable and was replaced by a much sturdier version, 15 by 8 m, which provided excellent cover throughout the excavation. The shelter comprised a wooden frame covered with thick canvas, with removable sides to let in air and light as required. At the close of the season the canvas was detached from the frame, laid over the excavated area and covered with earth. The frame remains standing ready for next season.

Building 1 was first revealed by surface scraping in 1993 and lies in the centre of an extensive area of Neolithic buildings at the N end of the mound which have now been exposed and planned over a total area of 1,900 sq m. Building 1 was selected for excavation for several reasons. Firstly, the plan of this building appeared to be almost complete, with very little in the way of later disturbance: only on its E side did there appear to be some later features cutting across the walls. Secondly, it was clear from the surface plan that Building l contained much in the way of well plastered walls, and one of our main objectives for the season was to provide ample extents of wall plaster for our conservation team to work on. Thirdly, from occurrences of floor plaster at the mound's surface in adjacent buildings we suspected that the walls of Building 1 would not stand very high: we would therefore have little material to remove before reaching valuable floor deposits.

Before excavation the whole of Building 1 was cleaned and planned at 1:20. The discrete spaces within the building had previously been given Individual numbers, Spaces 70-73. At this stage, the appearance of an oval fire installation in the SW corner of Space 70, the smaller W room, appeared to confirm our suspicion that a floor could not be at any great depth from the mound's current surface. There was also a faint suggestion, in the form of two or three aligned bricks with mortar, of an internal dividing wall running E-W across the middle of Space 70. There appeared to be a break in the N-S wall dividing Space 70 from Space 71, perhaps where an entrance had once existed, although a pit had been cut across this area.

Excavation of Space 70

Excavation began in Space 70, the narrow room at the W of the building (see fig 1). Firstly, deposits were removed from the pit at the S end of the room, This turned out to be a shallow scoop, and is the only post-occupation feature in Space 70 apart from the numerous rodent runs which intrude across all deposits. Other post-occupation cuts are visible on the surface in Spaces 71-73 to the E.

The discovery of the fire installation (Feature 11 - Fig 3) in the SW corner of Space 70, coupled with evidence that the wall plaster at the far N end of the room appeared to be ripping out into the room, suggested close proximity to the floor. At this point, therefore, we decided to excavate the entire room in a grid fashion, initially considering 0.5 m intervals, but subsequently opting for a I m grid as a workable balance between exiguity and practicality, Excavation at the N end of the room confirmed that the wall plaster did indeed lip out into the room, but also that it had been cut or destroyed in some fashion as no trace of a surface could be found either in plan or in the many working sections afforded by the grid. It was now clear that at some stage after the main occupation of the room, the floor in this area had been deliberately removed before the deposition of post-occupation fill, Burning of wall faces and adjacent deposits in the NE corner of the room suggested that another fire installation may originally have been located here. We can associate the destruction of this fire installation with the removal of the adjacent floor.

After initial excavation of some room deposits within the I m grid it became clear that a considerable depth of deposits existed above the floor in much of the room. In particular, the floor clearly sloped steeply down from N to S, so that although the floor was only a few cm below the surviving wall tops in the N of the room there was much more material to remove from above the floor in the S. At the same time we had begun excavation of the fire installation (Feature 11) in the SW corner of Space 70 and had decided to excavate this structure as a distinct feature, separately from the grid. The net result of these considerations was the abandonment of the 1 m grid as an excavation tactic. From then on we excavated by deposits and by features, leaving working sections as and where required. Our two main working sections ran through the centre of the fire installation, Feature 11, at right angles, one running N-S through the fire installation, its adjacent ash deposits, and room fill to the N. The second section ran E-W through the fire installation and burnt room deposits in the S part of the room, to the possible doorway or access between Spaces 70 and 71. Excavation of Space 70 then proceeded more swiftly. A 0.5 m grid was re-established once excavation neared the floor. By the end of the season all of Space 70 had been excavated, with the exception of the areas included in the two main sections just mentioned which will be excavated next season.

Excavation of Space 70 established that there were two main phases to the occupation of this room. In accordance with the constructional history of the building we shall treat the lower phase first (Fig. 1). In Phase 1, as hitherto excavated, Space 70 consisted of a sub-rectangular room, 5 m long and varying in width from 1.9 m at the N end to 2.5 m at the S end. Access to the room was through a crawl-hole at the S end of the party wall between Spaces 70 and 71. Features within Space 70 phase 1 included a fire installation in the SW corner of the room, with clay walls surviving over 0.3 m high (Fig 3). This installation stood on a low clay platform with a fire-hardened surface. A low rectangular platform was located on the W face of the main party wall, and further N along this same wall face a thin wooden plank had been set and plastered into the floor, perhaps as part of a bin.

The plastered floor of phase I in Space 70 sloped steeply down from N to S with most of the slope occurring in the N part of the room, so that at the N end of the room the floor was only 0.11 m below the surviving top of the wall, while at the S end of the room the floor was 0.56 m below the wall top (Fig 2). This represents an average gradient of 1: 11 across the room. The reason for this slope is not yet established, but may relate to underlying features, which may be explored in future seasons. So far our glimpses under the phase 1 floor have been provided by cleaning of the many animal holes penetrating the floor. These indicate a more or less homogeneous spread of grey ashy material across the whole area of the room: an extremely tentative hypothesis may therefore be that Building 1 was constructed directly over rubbish or midden deposits, but more excavation is needed to test this idea.

The phase 1 floor was heavily burnt, as were portions of the adjacent wall faces. The burning across the floor appeared in places to form parallel stripes, possibly the result of intense burning of collapsed roof timbers. One large piece of carbonised wood lay on the floor next to a small cut in the floor between the fire installation and the low platform. This same cut through the floor showed that the replastering of the floor was irregular, with varying amounts of replasterings across different areas of the floor. Objects found on the floor were restricted to a few pieces of obsidian and bone fragments.

Intensive sampling was conducted on deposits from the phase 1 floor. Samples were collected using the 0.5 m grid employed to excavate directly onto the floor. Samples were taken for flotation, wet-sieving, chemical and physical analyses, while micromorphological blocks were taken from relevant points on sections. Any remaining earth was dry-sieved.

Phase 2 of Space 70 saw some major changes in the use of the room. Most obviously, the room was divided by the construction of a narrow wall or bench running E-W across the middle of Space 70. This bench had scant plaster on its N face and none at all on its S face. At its E end a stub of cattle horn, set into the N face of the wall, suggested that the bench may originally have been a more elaborate feature. Several large cattle bones were located on either side of the bench in adjacent room fill. Also in room fill a little way to the N a piece of antler with associated brick or plaster was all that remained of another possible feature. Patches of phase 2 floor existed in the part of Space 70 to the N of the new dividing wall. These upper floors levelled off the worst of the N-S slope so marked on the underlying phase 1 floor. Additional upper floors were not built over the S part of the room, where the slope was minimal. Thus, the floors to the S of the dividing wall/bench belong to both phases I and 2.

The fire installation in the SW corner of the room was rebuilt, its walls lying directly over those of the phase I structure, with a new plastered floor. Ash lenses sloped steeply down from the fire installation to abut against the S face of the dividing wall/bench. Most of this upper fire installation still sits on top of unexcavated deposits so that we are not yet certain of its final place in the stratigraphic history of the room, but there is a possibility of its being a post-destruction feature, indicating selective use of the room at some stage after its demolition but while the walls were still to some extent standing. It is also possible, however, that the upper fire installation belongs fully within phase 2 of this room, and that during the phase 2 occupation it stood proud on a pile of debris, including the filled-in phase 1 fire installation, in the SW corner of the room: this would explain the steep slope of the adjacent ash deposits as well as the fact of their abuttal against the phase 2 dividing wall/bench. Artefacts were again scarce from the phase 2 floor in Space 70. Once more a full range of sampling was conducted on a 0.5 m grid from deposits immediately overlying floors.

At some stage Space 70 was destroyed, its walls pushed in and much of the room went up in flames. This burning is extensively attested on the floors and adjacent wall faces, but also in the room fill itself, which consists of many lumps of burnt bricks, collapsed wall plaster and charcoal pieces. Some fragments of burnt clay have branch or reed impressions probably from roofing material. The burning is especially concentrated in the S part of the room.

In sum, the excavation of Space 70 has so far established the complexity of the constructional and habitational history of this small living space, with clear evidence for changes, and continuities, through time in the way in which the space was used and defined. This complexity, requiring from us as it did a concomitant complexity and flexibility of investigative approach, was the major reason for the amount of time consumed in the excavation of Space 70.

Excavation of Space 71

Space 71 is the larger room to the E of Space 70, and itself contains a small internal room or enclosure, Space 72, which was not excavated this season. Two areas of Space 71 were investigated in 1995.

Firstly, a 2 by 2 m trench was excavated in the NW corner of the room, directly adjacent to the N-E corner of Space 70. Surface cleaning here had revealed extensive spreads of plaster lumps in the room fill as well as thick multi-layered plaster on the nearby wall faces. As excavation commenced a large plastered feature was soon exposed in the NW corner of the room, set against the N and W walls of Space 71 (Fig. 1). This feature, measuring 1.42 by 1.5 m, was clearly a bench or platform. Its surface sloped steadily down from N to S, matching the slope of the phase I floor in the adjacent room, Space 70. It is likely that both of these slopes are caused by the same sub-floor cause, which has not yet been identified. Sampling across the surface of the platform retrieved quantities of pulses and small fish vertebra. Part of an associated plastered floor was exposed adjacent to the platform. At some stage after the construction of the platform a cut was made through its SW corner. The purpose of this cut is unclear but it is notable that it respects the E face of the adjacent N-S wall. This wall face was adorned with several applications of red-painted plaster, treatment of which was carried out by the conservation team.

Secondly, an area along the inside of the main S wall of the building was excavated (Fig. 1). Surface cleaning here revealed a series of plastered features moulded onto the heavily burnt wall face. Deposits from a post-occupation ditch were first removed, exposing the SW corner of Space 72. Layers of heavily burnt deposits were then excavated from the trench, revealing a complex series of features. The principal feature comprised two thin plaster walls, running N-S approximately at right angles to the main S wall. These plaster walls lay 1.3 m apart and were very thin and fragile. Between them, to the E of centre, a substantial moulded feature was located, consisting of a piece of brick plastered onto the wall face. This may well be the lowermost portion of a representative wall feature of some sort, common on buildings excavated at Çatalhöyük in the 1960s. In front of this moulded feature, lying within the burnt fill, a large and heavily burnt cattle jaw was located. It is hard not to view these elements as representing an elaborate shrine-like feature, similar to many examples from previous excavations at the site. To the W of the whole feature an area of heavily burnt floor was excavated. Lying over this floor was a curving length of bricks with traces of plaster facing. It is not yet clear whether these bricks have collapsed onto the floor from the superstructure of the building, such as the upper part of the nearby crawl-hole between Spaces 71 and 70, or whether they represent some in situ feature. The former explanation is the likelier because this brick feature would constitute a serious obstacle to access between the two main rooms if it were in use during the habitation of the building. Future excavation should clarify this point.

Conclusions

The excavation of Building 1 is proving a stimulating exercise both in terms of the recovery of substantive information and as regards methodological considerations. Substantively, we have now established beyond doubt that the N Area complex of buildings within which Building 1 is located does include structures with elements and features closely comparable to the building complexes excavated in the 1960s. These two areas are located at some distance from each other across the E Mound. In this respect excavation supports the evidence already generated by surface planning. The general, and in many regards specific, resemblances between buildings in the N Area of the mound and those to the SW, excavated in the 1960s, substantially reduce any inclination to see the 1960s buildings as special or unique within the context of Neolithic settlement at Çatalhöyük. On the contrary, the evidence now suggests that such buildings, with varying amounts of elaborate interior fittings, benches, platforms and wall paintings, are typical of the entire settlement. So far we have encountered no evidence for the existence of large-scale public buildings, such as temples, administrative buildings or communal store-houses. The evidence hitherto suggests that the settlement comprised only two elements, at the gross scale: houses, with varying extents of elaborate interior features, and open spaces, generally covered by spreads of rubbish. This simple settlement constitution, with scope for a restricted range of social functions, supports an interpretation of the site as an elaborate village rather than an urban or proto-urban settlement.

From the excavation of Building 1 we are also learning a great deal about the complexity of the architectural and habitational history of the site. Not surprisingly, given the workable nature of their mud-brick components, these buildings were frequently altered in a range of ways during their lifespan. It will be a major challenge and opportunity to relate the changes as we detect them in excavation - as alterations in spatial definitions or as apparent alterations in the use of space through time - to wider social or economic factors underlying and interacting with these physical manifestations.

In terms of methodology, the excavation of Building 1 has been most instructive. At all stages of the excavation we keenly felt the need to maintain a careful balance between, on the one hand, the requirements of a rigorous sampling programme of excavated deposits and, on the other, the desire to excavate at a reasonable pace in order to produce enough evidence at the gross scale to allow inter-phase, inter-house and inter-complex comparisons. Some of the struggles involved in aspiring to that balance are alluded to in the above report. Through the course of the 1995 season the pathway to this balance gradually became increasingly well signposted and defined so that future work can start from an established basis.