ÇATALHÖYÜK 1997 ARCHIVE REPORT
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BACH Area
Ruth Tringham
Berkeley Archaeologists at Çatal Höyük Team:
Area selection
An 11 x 7 m area was selected for excavation by the Berkeley project immediately to the east of the "North" area for various intellectual and practical reasons (fig 1 and fig 20). We wanted to link the excavated architecture in the BACH area with NORTH to be able to consider the question of life-histories of houses in a "neighborhood", the question of continuity and social formation of the East Mound (and "tells" in general). Spaces 85, 86 and 89 had been very productive of architecture and artifacts in the surface scrape of 1984. This was an important consideration in constructing what would be a permanent fixture (i.e. the shelter)over the excavated area. The shelter also required a relatively flat area for its foundations.
Surface scraping
Work commenced on 10 August, 1997. On the basis of surface scraping that had taken place in 1994, we also surface scraped with hoes once again across the whole of the interior of our 11 x 7 meter shelter. As we scraped we noted and later mapped features that we could see on the surface and compared these with features that had been mapped in 1994. For the most part both patterns of walls and fill were very similar.
As we studied the previous plans and our scraping, we defined the same 6 spaces within our area as had been defined in 1994: 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, and 95. We noted that space 86 is a distinct interior space separate from what seems to be an external space (space 85) that lies between the Bach area and the North area to its west. Space 86 seems at the surface to be a separate entity from the three smaller "cells" (spaces 87, 88, and 89) to its south. These three cells may be interconnected as a single socio-spatial unit. South of the three small "cells" in the Bach area is the northern edge of a large complex of rooms (spaces 95, 96, 99, 101). Of these space 95 is highly burned
During our 1997 season we focused on two of these spaces: the large room (space 86) and the small room with a bukranion on its surface (space 89) (fig. 21). The whole area was gridded according to the main Çatal Höyük Project grid and according to cardinal points. Within this grid we laid out a network of 2 x 2 meter cells.
Late Roman/Early Byzantine Burials
On the surface after scraping we were able to see three rectangular pits that we understood to be likely post-Neolithic burials cut into the Neolithic room fill of spaces 86 and 88. This is indeed what they turned out to contain. After the excavation of the first arbitrary level of room fill in space 86, two further grave pits were defined (fig. 21). Much of our effort in the first two weeks of excavation was taken up with the excavation of these five post-Neolithic burials.
The burials are all supine and extended and deposited in regular cube-shaped grave pits, oriented E-W. Four of the skeletons are adults and one is a child. Three of the skeletons were buried with grave-goods. Two (Features 151 and 152), one of which is the child's grave, are buried with identical small glass vials (unguentaria) next to their right ears. The glass vials are about 12 cm long and are complete and well preserved. The child's grave (Feature 152) in addition contained two copper beads and two broken bone needles lying alongside its left leg. A third burial (Feature 154) contained a 20 cm long complete ceramic unguentaria on top of its feet. This was also complete and in good condition. Below the ceramic vessel and next to the feet was found a small ceramic lamp. All of these finds point to a date of these burials as late Roman or early Byzantine (tentatively ca. 6th cent AD).
Feature 150 (units 2205/2206/2219)
Mature male skeleton, almost 2 m tall. Poorly preserved because of exposure to soil perturbation. The grave pit was excavated from the surface to a depth of 0.20m. The only possibly deliberate grave good was a 1.5 cm diameter disk of ?stone. The west end of the grave cut abutted the west wall of Space 86. It also cut through the small internal wall that may be part of the "curtain wall" separating off the west part of space 86 (see below).
Feature 151 (units 2211/2212/2231)
Adult female skeleton, ca. 1.6 m length. Rectangular grave pit, whose west end cuts into the west wall of space 88. The grave pit was excavated from the surface to a 0.30 m depth. A large rock ca. 30 x 30 cm was placed at the foot of the grave. A small glass vial (unguentarium) was placed by the right ear of the skeleton. A small (2 cm diam) round ?stone disk was found near its head. A compacted mud layer (possibly from water seepage into the coffin) lay below the skeleton.
Feature 152 (units 2225/2226/2232)
Juvenile skeleton, ca. 0.80 m length, missing its lower right arm and hand bones. Curving (banana-shaped)rectangular pit dug entirely within the south wall of space 86 and north wall of space 89. The grave was excavated from the surface to a depth of 0.35 m. A number of objects were put into this grave: a small glass vial (unguentarium) - identical in shape, size and material to that placed in Feature 151 - was placed close to the right ear of the skeleton; two copper beads were excavated near its neck; and two long sections of broken bone needles lay alongside its left leg. DNA sample taken. A compacted mud layer (possibly from water seepage into the coffin) lay below the skeleton.
Feature 153 (units 2234/2235/2245)
Adult probable male skeleton, ca. 1.6 m. length. Deep rectangular pit whose west end abutted the collapsed remains of the possible "curtain wall" of space 86(see below). This grave was excavated from 5 cm below the surface to a depth of 0.40 m. This grave contained no grave-goods, and was deeper and filled with much more compact soil than the other four graves.The skeleton lay deep at the base of the grave pit which was filled with a matrix that did not seem like fill, so that there was constant dilemna whether it was a grave at all, until the skeleton was found. DNA sample taken.
Feature 154 (units 2236/2237/2244)
Adult male skeleton, ca. 1.8 m. length. The rectangular pit of this grave is slightly ENE/WNW of the true E-W orientation of the others. Its west end cuts the small internal wall of space 86 that may be part of a "curtain wall" separating off the west part of the space (see below). This grave was excavated from ca. 5 cm. below the scraped surface to a depth of 0.40 m. The grave contained a ceramic bottle ca. 25 cm long lying on the feet of the skeleton. Below the bottle next to the right foot of the skeleton lay a small ceramic lamp.
It is not surprising that we have found graves of this period on top of the East Mound, considering that there was a large settlement of the period not far away, and the significance we can imagine the mound had as part of the cultural landscape of the occupants of that settlement. It seems an interesting direction for research to use the positioning of the graves as a means to understanding how much was known about the Neolithic architecture and how much was visible and in what way meaningful to the diggers of the Roman/Byzantine graves. In order for this report to be available on time, we have to defer this topic to a later time.
Excavation of Space 86 (Designated "CH Building 3")
Far from being a distraction from our perceived goal of excavation of the Neolithic architecture, we found the excavation of the Roman/Byzantine graves valuable as providing quick "windows" into the nature of the Neolithic fill in the profiles created by the emptied grave-pits.
Space 86 is preserved in its entirety in our excavation area. It is ca, 6 x 5.5 m in area. Its walls are covered on their internal surface by 4-5 cm thick layers of white plaster throughout, except for the SW corner. A network of 2 x 2 meter cells was laid out within the main grid which provided the basis for our excavation units as we excavated the room fill of space 86 by arbitrary levels. As we define specific features the strict 2 x 2 m net is changed to the excavation and recording of "natural" depositional units.
During 1997, we excavated the room fill of space 86 in three arbitrary levels to an average depth of 1.25m. below the surface. In most places in the building the floor is not yet visible. This does not disappoint us, since the focus of our excavation is to understand the sequence of collapse, abandonment and filling in of the architectural space in addition to the changing sequence of its construction, use, and meaning. The discussion in this report will focus on certain features that were defined by the end of the 1997 season: the midden in the SE part, the possible collapsed roof, and the possible collapsed "curtain wall" and the west edge of the space that was segregated by such a wall (fig.21). Space 86: midden We surmise that the latest event in the filling of space 86 was the thin layer of building material (unit 2228) overlying dark midden layers (unit 2229) that take up much of the southeastern part of space 86. The midden comprises a 20-30 cm thick layer of dark richly organic soil that includes many thin layers of ash, burned earth, charcoal etc. The midden has produced an interesting array of plant remains including tuber fragments, a pistachio, and wood and reed fragments. We are surmising that the midden filled up relatively slowly after the collapse and infilling of the space with constructional debris, and presumably belongs to a space in the neighbourhood of Building 3.
The midden layers slope steeply down towards north and west. By the end of the 1997 season, they had been almost completely excavated and were revealed as being deposited on a layer of white plaster-like material ca. 3 x 3 m in size which we are interpreting as possible fallen wall plaster, or - even more likely - the top of a platform that is sinking steeply down towards the NW. This awaits excavation in 1998. On the northern edge of the plaster and abutting the east wall of space 86 was found half of a displaced bukranion.
Space 86: Possible Collapsed Roof
The Northeast part of space 86 is dominated by the series of superimposed layers of plaster and building clay that we have interpreted as the collapsed roof of the building. Our first view of these layers was during the first arbitrary excavation level when parallel ridges appeared in the clay rubble of the northeast part of space 86. We then obtained a spectacular view of these in profile after the excavation of the grave Feature 154. The clay layers are strikingly varied in colour from red-burned, to black-charred, and yellow-brown soil zones. The layers are distinct from floors and wall surfaces in their composition which appears to be the same clay as used in brick and mortar-making, and in their thickness which is about 1+ cm thick. The layers slope steeply down towards the SW at an angle of 65+ degrees. The possible collapsed roof awaits full excavation in 1998, so that we cannot yet say how deeply they slope down into the building space, nor the sequence of events in their collapse. They appear to be lying on top of wall collapse at some points. There is also wall "tumble" (i.e. in situ wall collapse)(unit 2256) that lies on top of and abuts the roof layers and which is in turn overlain by the midden layers. Thus the southern part of the building, in those parts not filled with midden, is characerised by rapidly deposited building debris from the walls of this building and may include later debris from other buildings.
We feel that the possibility of roof collapse in Building 3 offers exciting data for the confirmation of Mellaart's hypothesis of flat roofs at Çatalhöyük as well as the entrance into the interior from the roof. We feel, however, that even more significant is the fact that the data of roof surfaces that are smudged and burned and discoloured draw attention to the use of the roof possibly as the main arena of domestic activities.
Space 86: Possible Collapsed "Curtain Wall"
At the base of the third arbitrary level of building fill along the western part of space 86, we noted the presence of large amounts of white plaster and powder in the fill. This area is bounded at its northern and southern ends by the small N-S walls that were visible on the surface. Between the two small walls at the surface was a roundish mass of white plaster that was later designated Feature 155, ca 1 m in diameter.
As we excavated deeper, in the area between the two small walls including Feature 155 there emerged a possible "curtain-" or "screen-wall" (described but not illustrated by James Mellaart).The complete feature comprises
(i) roundish shaped structure that may turn out to be the a possible large relief, whose top part is fallen and collapsed, and whose lower part is surviving in situ.
(ii) linear structure; possible curtain or screen wall or a wall molding whose upper part has also fallen.
The two are attached, that is, the roundish part seems to be located in the middle of the linear portion of the feature almost as though it was originally sitting on top and in the middle of the 'screen wall'. The two parts of feature 155 were made of the same materials but there are some differences between them. The linear-"screen wall" part seems to consist of 2 cm thick layer of mortar-like material with equally thick plaster that consists of many layers of replastering. Some of these layers of replastering seem to have paint on them, most of them, and especially the latest plaster layer on its western surface is blackish, possibly covered with soot. The linear part of the feature has also some parts to it that are curved and might be the result of the wall curving or could be fragments of collapsed parts of the feature that are not in situ.
This linear part of the feature could be a wall molding, such as the ones that went around the wood posts in Mellaart's excavations or it could be a screen wall. The argument against these being the remains of molding is that to be moldings they would have had to collapse from their vertical position in which case they stayed surprisingly complete and unbroken. If the feature represents a screen wall of some sort we should expect to follow it deeper down and find it attached to the house floor. Also, we should be able to find post holes for the wood structure that held the screen-wall in vertical position unless the screen-wall was rather short and did not need such a support.
The round part of feature 155 has edges that seem to comprise a large shallow disc which is facing downwards. Thus, the top part of it which we can see is actually the interior of the disc. It is made of very distinct white clay, that is otherwise used for plastering. The clay is in crumbly state and here-and-there fine layered fragments of plastered 'wall' can be noticed. This may indicate that the 'disc' was originally of a smaller size but that it was made bigger by adding the layers of plaster on top of each other.
A part of the feature are large bricks made of the same white clay which lie on the west side of the feature. The relationship between the bricks and the rest of the feature is not yet clear . Three large cattle scapulae were found associated with the feature. Interestingly all of them are located between the linear part of the feature and the West house wall, which is a relatively narrow area (ca. 30-40 cm). This fact alone would suggest that the scapulae were not part of domestic and/or manufacturing area of the house but were there for other reasons. The two scapulae are lying directly under the 'screen-wall' and the third one under the deposits between feature 155 and the West wall of the house.
North of feature 155 is feature 156. The two features seem to be related, if not directly connected. Feature 156 is still very unclear and not excavated. The only thing that could be discerned about it at his point is that it most likely is not lying in its original position but rather upside down. In that respect this feature would be in the same situation as the round, disc part of feature 155. The visible part of feature 156 is of brick size and shape. what makes it the most interesting is a thin line of white plaster that can bee seen along the edge of most of this feature. On one side the exposed part of the plaster shows that it surface was intensively painted in two nuances of red colour.
Feature 155 is surrounded by compacted remains of burned fill. it is difficult to say what the fill consists of because of it being so compacted. Most likely these are remains of burned brick and other similar material.
The possible screen-wall still remains - probably in situ - for the most part in its rubble matrix and will be excavated in 1998.
Excavation of Space 89
Space 89 is ca. 2.0 x 2.5 m in area measured from the outer edge of its walls. Within the walls, the matrix comprises a soft ashy burned soil. One large complete but fragmented bukranion had been visible on the surface since the surface scraping of 1994 (fig. 21). This was cleaned, consolidated and lifted. Two other fragments of horn cores were lifted from the northern part of space 89.
While excavating southwest of the large bukranion, another horn core fragment was found, and next to this was found (by Mirjana Stevanovic) a spectacular find of flint pressure-flaked dagger in a carved bone handle. The latter has already been reconstructed and appears to be carved in the shape of an animal (boar's?) head (fig. 19). It is very similar to one found by James Mellaart, now displayed in the Anatolian Museum in Ankara. That one, however, was from a burial, whereas this one does not seem to be in such a context (although fragments of human bone had been found nearby).
The main excavation of space 89 will be carried out in 1988.
To conclude
The main excavation of the BACH team - having started on August 10 - was finished on September 3rd 1997. After this, some minor consolidation and protection of exposed plaster surfaces was undertaken as well as lifting of the two exposed bukrania. No backfilling or other protective efforts were considered necessary in the sheltered conditions of the tent.
Illustrations:
Fig 20: Bach Area location on the mound and in relation to Building1
Fig 21: Plan of the principal fatures on the 1997 excavations in the Berkeley excavation area (BACH)
Fig 22: Flint dagger and bone handle 2210.X7/X8/X9 (Drawn by A.Chadwick)
Fig 23: Late Roman / Early Byzantine grave goods - glass ungentaria 2226.X1 and 2212.X1, ceramic ungentaria 2237.X1 and lamp 2237.X2, bone needles 2226.X3 (all drawn by A.Chadwick)
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© Çatalhöyük Research Project and individual authors, 1997