ÇATALHÖYÜK 1999 ARCHIVE REPORT

Chipped Stone Report

İşlenmiş Taş Raporu

Tristan Carter

Abstract

Özeti

Çok sayıda obsidyen Güney alanında bulunmuştur. Bina 23’te in-sitü halinde obsidyen topluluğuna rastlanmıştır. Alt tabakalarda çok sayıda ve çeşitte çakmaktaşı, obsidyen, mikrolite ve Can Hasan ve Aşıklı Höyük ile paralellik gösteren malzemeye rastlanmıştır.

Introduction

This report details the chipped stone generated by the 1999 season in the South area of the East mound, the KOPAL trench and a few surface finds; the material from the BACH trench is described elsewhere in this volume [see Underbjerg this volume]. In total, this year produced 36,486 pieces of chipped stone from 724 excavated contexts (plus 4 surface pick-ups), with the South area producing 34,843 pieces of obsidian and 1,425 of flint and the KOPAL trench producing 199 pieces of obsidian and 15 of flint (Table 10). These totals include material collected by dry sieving and flotation.

Table 10: Quantity and raw material of chipped stone from 1999 season (not including BACH trench)

The excavations concentrated in the South area produced the vast majority of chipped stone in 1999, with 34,843 pieces of obsidian and 1,425 of flint, weighing c.13,108.09g and c.1,358.151g respectively (Table 11). Numerically, most of this material derived from flotation; by weight most came from dry sieving.

Table 11: Chipped stone from 1999 season, South area: Number, weight and mean weight by raw material.

Chronologically, the material from the 1999 excavations spanned Levels VIII to the base of the mound, referred to as pre-Level XII [see Farid and Cessford this volume]. The chipped stone will be presented by space within those levels. Alongside a summary of the assemblages’ technological and typological characteristics, a consideration will also be given to the material’s spatial distribution and relationship to a variety of features and activities.

Level VIII

The Level VIII material is represented by the assemblages associated with Building 6 (Spaces 163, 173), however, the largest data-set of this phase derived from a midden in Space 115. This midden is primarily comprised of units 4102 and 4121, producing 1244 and 29 pieces of obsidian and flint from the dry sieve. With regard to the obsidian, the mainstay industry of the phase was flake manufacture (Figure 39), The few cortical blanks indicates that the raw material was already decorticated when brought to this part of the site. A number of cores were recovered, commonly multipolar and almost always in a highly reduced state. The final act of working the nucleus was often opposed platform anvil reduction. Whether these pièces esquillées reflect a final stage of flake production within an intense reduction strategy, or the use of these cores as small wedging implements, is currently difficult to ascertain. Some of the blanks were recognised as thinning flakes, though it is unsure as to which implements’ manufacture these pieces related to.

Only c.5% of the non-cortical flakes had been deliberately modified, yet just over a third had traces of macroscopically visible use-wear. Furthermore, it was quite apparent that the majority of utilised blanks were the larger examples, whereby if one were to factor out pieces <1cm² (as a purely arbitrary division), then a far higher percentage of these flakes would be recorded as implements. The retouched non-cortical flakes included a backed piece, a burin and an end-scraper on a thinning flake.

Blade blanks represented a far smaller component (<10%) of the midden assemblage (Figure 39). Usually less than 3cm long, their relatively large platforms, non-parallel / irregular margins and dorsal ridges, suggest manufacture by a percussive technique. A number of other blanks could be associated with these blades’ production, albeit mainly from the later stages of manufacture, with rejuvenation pieces (core-tablets) and exhausted nuclei. No preparation pieces have currently been recognised, suggesting that if the blades were manufactured within the vicinity, then the initial stages of the reduction sequence occurred elsewhere.

As with the flake material, blade production seems to have been a particularly intensive strategy with regard to the exploitation of raw material, with just over a third of the blade-cores also being classified as pièces esquillées, and almost two-thirds of the end-products showing macroscopic traces of utilisation. A relatively high percentage of the blades had also been modified, though few ‘classic’ typological forms were represented, only a few backed pieces.

There are also a few individual pieces which indicate that further chaînes opératoires are represented within the Space 115 midden assemblage. One or two blades are of such regular form that one might be tempted to see them as pressure-flaked products, if not, derived from a highly skilled (?indirect) percussive industry, quite distinct to that described above. A fine, unused bifacially modified projectile point of elongated leaf form (4121.D9), was probably made on one of these blanks. A complete tanged point (4121.D8) may have also been manufactured on one of the finer and longer blades. Finally, there was the retouched distal tip of what seems to be a large blade from an opposed platform technology.

It is possible that the 4102 and 4121 contexts represent not only a place of discard, but also a locus of manufacture and consumption, as suggested by the detailed examination of the easterly section of this deposit excavated in the previous season (Conolly 1998; Underbjerg 1998). If this is the case, then one should note that with an almost 1:2 ratio between nuclei and blades (Figure 39), it suggests that many of the blades were consumed elsewhere.

Units 4102 and 4121 generated 29 pieces of flint, only 2.28% of the midden material. Comprising a variety of raw materials, this small assemblage was dominated by end-products, specifically non-cortical flakes and blade blanks (Figure 40), with no-indication that these implements had been produced within this locale. Just over half of the blade products displayed macroscopic traces of use and a third had been modified, with an awl on a backed end-scraper, other backed pieces, end-scrapers and denticulates. A fine denticulated prismatic blade of blue-grey flint (4121.D10) had macroscopic traces of well-developed ‘sickle-gloss’.

With reference to technology, typology and raw material, the Space 115 midden assemblage appeared to be quite representative of the Level VIII chipped stone as a whole. The remaining chipped stone which can be assigned to this phase is that from Building 6 (Spaces 163, 173). For example, the 133 pieces of obsidian from unit 4325 (dry sieve), one of the quadrant fill contexts in Space 163, were dominated by non-cortical flakes. The blanks were all quite scrappy and small, nothing larger than 4.4cm long and most <2cm² , as were the few cores recovered, which were also of an irregular form and in an exhausted state. Approximately 20% of the assemblage showed traces of use-wear, and just over half of the assemblage was broken; as this included both small, delicate pieces and larger blanks, it suggests that this material had been in circulation / discarded for a while prior to burial. Only a few small blades were recovered (<10%), of the same form and technology as those described from the Space 115 midden; some examples were modified.

Obsidian was recovered from each of the fills associated with burials interred within Space 163. However, the material was essentially the same in form and quantity as that within the surrounding fill. It is thus concluded that obsidian became included in the burials, solely through the process of redepositing the fill back into the grave cut from whence it had originally derived.

Space 173 formed the other part of Building 6 and unlike Space 163, had not received prior archaeological investigation. The first group of material considered from this context was interesting in that it focused upon the fill deposits immediately above the floor. The base of the Level VIII fill (unit 4321), was arbitrarily defined at c.5cm above the Level VIII floor, split into three sections, representing the northern, central and southern parts of the room; units 4439, 4440 and 4441 respectively. When considering the material from flotation samples, the relative quantity of obsidian (number and weight per litre), was quite similar throughout this basal layer, from north to south. In contrast, when one turned to the material from dry sieving, nothing came from 4439, only 1 piece from 4440, yet the southern end of the room (4441) produced 22 pieces of obsidian and 2 of flint, including a number of implements, such as blades, a flint awl on a blade and an end-scraper.

Given that within the floor complex, immediately below unit 4441, was an oven, around which was a significant quantity of chipped stone around, one has to wonder if this basal layer of fill may in fact be in part incorporating material relating to the room’s final use. This is currently difficult to ascertain, as the upper fill was dug in a singular unit (4321), whereby it is not possible to compare and contrast the distribution of chipped stone above and below the 4439-4441 spit. It is worth noting that one could also note quite marked concentrations and low-points in the spread of chipped stone within the basal fill units excavated in Space 170, overlying the floor of Building 17 (see below). Some of these patterns were, in turn, replicated by the distribution of material on the floor itself, although, some were not. It is suggested that only by using a finer resolution in the examination of the overall fill deposits, can we start to fully understand what at the moment must remain as data anomalies.

Turning to the consumption of chipped stone within Space 173 proper (its floor and associated features), a quantity of material was recovered from the northern end of the room, from contexts associated with a series of bins; F488 in the NE corner and F518 in the NW corner. A variety of fills associated with these features were prioritised. It was concluded, however, that obsidian was only present as part of the backfilling process, as the material was essentially the same (form and quantity) as recovered from the fill deposits that sealed the bins (4439 and 4321).

Located in the middle of the southern end of Space 173 was a fire installation (F502). Associated with this feature were a series of ashy-rake outs and fire installation fills, the upper 4898, which sealed 4808, which in turn overlay 4904. Excavated entirely as flotation samples, these contexts generated a large amount of obsidian, particularly 4808, an oven rake-out / trample, much greater than that generated within and around the bins in the northern third of the room (Figure 39). Although the volume of the floated sample was quite small (4 litres), it is still believed that this reflects a far greater level of consumption in this part of the room. Unit 4808 also produced much higher quantities of obsidian than recovered from the unit 4441, the arbitrary 5cm spit excavated directly above it. This concentration of obsidian (and some flint) indicates a heightened amount of activity involving obsidian within the southern third of Space 173, though unit 4808 may represent a palimpsest of material collected over a much longer time than other rakeouts.

Level IX

The Level IX chipped stone is represented by the material from Building 2 (Spaces 116, 117), Building 16 (Space 164) and Building 17 (Spaces 170, 182). When fully studied, the Building 17 material should provide one of the most comprehensive insights into the 'domestic' consumption of chipped stone. Detailed sampling strategies allowed us to make an in depth spatial appraisal of the distribution of obsidian within the structure. The first level of analysis was to consider that material from the last 5cm of fill above the latest floor in Space 170. This produced an uneven spread of material, with a concentration of material in the SE and over the platform on the western side of the room. As with the case of the analysis of the basal fill in Building 6, Space 173, this data is anomalous, for these concentrations were not entirely born out by the distribution of obsidian from the floor immediately below, particularly with reference to the platform.

In general one can note a dense concentration of obsidian (and a fairly large amount of flint) from the SE corner of Space 170, the building's dirty area (5021), in association with a series of fire installations (F541, F542). From the quantity of the material and structure of the assemblage, it is quite apparent that obsidian was both worked and used in this part of the building. Indeed, the extremely small amounts of chipped stone recovered from the central and northern parts of the floor (5020), may suggest that obsidian was only consumed in this area. It is suggested that the low-level 'background noise' of >1mm and >2mm material from the central part of the room can quite easily be explained as shatter spraying outward from the SE corner, or material displaced by people moving around the building. I see no reason to believe that there were concentrations in this part of the building which were then swept back into the SE corner. The nature of the obsidian industry seems to relate to the manufacture of both flakes and small blades by percussive techniques.

The northern part of the building has produced a little more material, but until the earliest phases of the structure have been fully investigated, it is unsure as to what this material may represent. Once again, one can see that there was very little material in association with bins, either in this part of the room, or those to the south. We do know that in the first half of this building's life there was an oven in the northern area (F555). Given the strong association between the consumption of obsidian and fire-installations at Çatalhöyük, one might wonder if some of the obsidian from the northern part of Space 170 may relate to this feature, either in primary context, or as 'kick-ups'. However, the flotation sample (5192) produced far less material than those from comparable contexts in the SE corner. This may suggest that the correlation between obsidian and fire-installations should not be overemphasised and that in fact,. the major relationship is between obsidian and the 'dirty area' of the building (at a risk of a circular argument). Future work should seek to tease these relationships out further.

The excavation of Building 2 (Space 117) was continued in 1999 from previous seasons. The majority of the chipped stone from this year’s work derived from features from the structure’s ‘dirty’ area in the SW corner. The trample and rakeout deposits associated with the series of fire-installations in this area, were highly productive, clearly indicating the concentrated consumption of obsidian in this area. It was within this part of the building that three obsidian hoards (4138, 4209, 4210) and a smaller cluster (4134) were recovered in-situ.

The caches varied in size, with 4210 comprising only 8 X-finds and 4209 some 43 significant pieces. The latter was found in a small circular pit, with a suggestion that the material had been interred within an organic container of some kind, most likely a bag. In contrast to the hoard from Building 1 (Conolly 1996), these caches were not comprised of fine, large blades. Instead, they primarily consisted of large, thick, non-cortical flakes (a few of which were modified into side-scrapers) and a series of bifacially retouched projectile preforms. Unit 4210 also produced a flint blade, which seems to be a rare occurrence within the phenomenon of hoarding, for caches otherwise only contain obsidian, suggesting an interesting conceptual distinction in how the two (sic) resources should be treated / introduced into the domestic space.

Level X

The chipped stone from Building 18 (Spaces 171, 172) and Building 23 (Spaces 178, 179) constitute the Level X assemblage. The archaeology of the former structure was heavily truncated, as it had James Mellaart’s deep sounding cutting through the middle, leaving a strip to the south (Space 171) and another to the South (Space 172).

With regard to the chipped stone, the most interesting deposits from Space 171 were those associated with the ovens along the structure’s southern wall. Each of the various surfaces, rakeouts and tramples investigated were quite productive (4530, 4539, 4540, 4557, 4548), more so than the floors at the northern end of the building (4686), indicating that this area was a focus of production and consumption. These assemblages were dominated by non-cortical flake material, but appear to consist of two major components. The first relates to flake manufacture, the knappers working the obsidian by percussion, generating the end-products from small, multi-polar nuclei. The second industry was blade production, again using a percussive technique, reducing small cores, primarily from a single unprepared platform, though some bipolar reduction is attested. In both instances the reduction strategy was quite intensive, with examples of nuclei as pièces esquillées, though whether this relates to use, or a final stage of blank production, is unsure.

Much of this material was in a fresh condition, with quite a large percentage of blanks being complete, or near complete (approximately a third of the 4557 assemblage was recovered whole). A number of pieces also displayed traces of use wear, suggesting that most of this material had been manufactured and used in the immediate vicinity, and had not been in circulation for any great amount of time. In turn, the majority of pieces were relatively small (few over 2cm long), and there were few ‘true’ implements, suggesting that prior to the structure’s abandonment, they had probably been collected for re-use elsewhere.

Space 172, the northern strip of Building 18, produced far less chipped stone, though the flotation samples taken from the floor (4686), indicate that a certain amount of material was being used here. It was certainly not as clean as some floor surfaces examined this season from other spaces, as for example the central section of the floor in Building 17. The main contexts studied from this area related to the bins in the NE and NW corners. Very little obsidian was recovered from the fills and structural debris associated with these features (4664, 4669-4673), certainly much less than was recovered from the related floor 4686. Thus, it seems that the consumption of chipped stone was not a part of the activities centered on the bins. Only in one instance was it possible to suggest an intentional relationship between chipped stone and these features, with an ochre-stained, finely worked flint awl (made on a blade) coming from the NW bin.

Much of Building 23 (Spaces 178, 179) had been investigated in the 1960’s, whereby some of the floor surfaces had already been excavated, especially in the centre of Space 178. However, it was still possible to gain an insight as to the spatial distinction in the consumption of chipped stone, with by far the greatest quantity coming from the structure’s southern ‘dirty’ area, the SE corner in particular (units 4780 and 4783). These units, in proximity to a range of fire installations, produced a large quantity of obsidian. The form and structure of these assemblages, clearly indicated that obsidian was worked and used in this part of the building. Technologically and typologically, the material essentially replicated that seen in Building 18, albeit with a clearer emphasis upon the manufacture of small obsidian blades, using a percussive technique, with a relatively high incidence of opposed platform reduction. Once again, fragments of much finer obsidian prismatic blades were recovered, either manufactured by a much more skilled percussive technique, or pressure-flaking. We have no evidence for the production of such pieces at Çätalhöyuk during this period.

The northern spaces, either side of Building 23’s north-south partition wall, were also compared. Units 4504 and 4779 were compound floor layers, roughly contemporary and some of the last floor’s in this structure’s history. The former unit abutted the interior northern wall (Wall 482, dividing Spaces 178 and 179) and was truncated on its southern edge by the 1960’s excavations. It therefore did not extend all the way to the small ridge of compacted soil that divides this apparent ‘clean’ area, from the ‘dirty’ area to the south. Unit 4779 was also located in the northern part of Space 178, but to the west of the partition wall (unit 4504 is on the east). Both units were excavated as flotation samples, neither producing a great deal of chipped stone, suggesting that little obsidian was being worked, or used in this area. Unit 4779 was the cleanest of the two, with 4504 generating approximately twice as much obsidian in the >1mm and >2mm samples. The SE corner (including a bin complex), produced a little more obsidian than from the northern half of the structure, but generated significantly less that the SW corner. Once more, there is the suggestion that the use of chipped stone had little direct relationship with bins.

Probably the most significant find from Building 23, were two groups of obsidian from the SE corner. Units 4987, 4989 and 4990 were three concentrations of obsidian located around a small, shallow, circular hole (4996). From the position of this feature, parallels from other buildings and the association of the flaking debris, it is believed that this pit originally contained an obsidian hoard. The cache itself had obviously been retrieved, with a proportion of the material then knapped in the immediate vicinity. The obsidian itself included large fragments of thick, non-cortical flakes, of exactly the form recovered from other hoards. Of great interest, was that in two instances, these large blanks had been in the form of side-scrapers (with use-wear), which had then been subsequently treated as raw material and reduced.

Unit 4989 comprised 80 pieces of obsidian, most of which were individually plotted on a 1:1 plan and recorded as X-finds. This should enable us to attempt a full refitting programme, in order to elucidate how many preforms are represented by the knapping debris and how much of the hoard was consumed elsewhere. From the preliminary work undertaken on this assemblage this summer, it was possible to find 4 sets of conjoining flakes, including a small fine blade which was refitted to a core. It is thought most likely that many other pieces can eventually be conjoined. Furthermore, very few pieces showed any signs of use, or modification, clearly indicating that this assemblage represents an in-situ hoard retrieval and knapping deposit. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first time a knapping scatter has ever been found in a primary context at Çatalhöyük. In much the same place, but at a lower stratigraphic level, was another scatter of obsidian (unit 5005, 5096, 5103) in conjunction with a small, circular pit (5111). From the context and nature of the material, this appears to be an earlier episode of hoard retrieval and in-situ knapping.

Both knapping deposits related to the manufacture of the small blades witnessed elsewhere in Building 23 and Level X generally, i.e. those produced by a percussive technique, from cores bearing minimal / no platform preparation, with relatively high incidences of opposed platform reduction. There was also a large biface preform (made from a thick non-cortical flake) amongst the lower assemblage, indicating that more than one type of product was being made in this part of Building 23.

Levels XI, XII and the sequence to the base of the mound (‘pre-Level XII)

Chipped stone dated to the earliest levels of the site was only produced within the deep sounding, Space 181. The sequence starts with a level X/XI interface represented by the infill / foundation for the Level X Building 18 and proceeds through Level XI, Level XII and a sequence of midden / dump deposits to the base of the mound and natural marl land surface, referred, at present, to ‘pre-Level XII’ [see Farid and Cessford this volume].

Level X (pre-building 18)

The uppermost layer of Space 181 is represented by a series of infill deposits, acting as a foundation for Building 18. These deposits were remarkably unproductive with regard to the quantity of obsidian recovered from the dry sieved soil. Units 4657, 4708 and 4849, produced 0, 4 and pieces of obsidian respectively, from 870L, 675L and 3285L of soil. The material was comprised of non-cortical blanks related to the manufacture of small obsidian blades by a percussive technique.

Level XI (stabling)

Sealed by the infill deposits / foundation layers for Building 18 and constituting Level XI in Space 181 was a series of layers interpreted as the residue from an open stabling area within the settlement: 4710, 4715 and 4716 (the western half under Building 23 was dug as a single unit, 4849). The majority of the chipped stone from these contexts derived from flotation (only 105L were dry sieved from 4716). The quantity of material from these units is, on average, slightly less than that from the above infill layer 4808. Of the 3 stabling layers themselves, the uppermost 4710 was the least productive, with the lowest generating the most. The relatively low density and scrappy nature of the assemblage would suggest that the consumption of obsidian did not strongly feature within this part of the site. It is quite possible that most of the chipped stone within the stabling deposits is in secondary context, representing material cleaned out of surrounding households.

Level XII (stabling and burial)

Units 4719, 4821, 4822 constitute a tripartite division in the second stabling deposit on the southern side of Space 181, Level XII. They are sealed by 4718, which in turn is sealed by the first stabling deposits of 4710, 4715 and 4716. The eastern extension of this deposit (under Building 23) was excavated as a single unit, 4850. None of these contexts generated a particularly large quantity of chipped stone, most of which was in the form of very small, scrappy flakes, nothing that one would call an implement. As with the first stabling deposit it seems that the stabling deposit assemblages primarily comprised of detritus cleaned out from the surrounding structures, though one might have expected a wider range of blanks. One piece may, however, have been found in-situ, a complete, finely denticulated flint blade over 6cm long, with ‘sickle-gloss’ along one margin, from unit 4719 (flot. #3). It may be tempting to see this piece as related to the fodder being used in the stable.

As one descends through the stabling deposits the quantity of material decreases (number and weight / litre), with 4822 producing the least of all. Compared to the deposits sealing this sequence, these units were not strikingly different, indeed 4719 often produced as much, if not more than the Level X infill / make-up 4808.

Between units 4719 and 4821 was a small hearth 4720, excavated entirely as a 1 litre flotation sample and producing only one tiny piece of obsidian from the >2mm mesh. Beneath the stabling deposits was a thin burnt layer, unit 4826. The excavator considered that the associated event might mark a break in the use of this external area, for it seals the uppermost layer of the long Pre-Level XII midden / dump sequence (see below). This charcoal dominant unit was excavated entirely as a 5 litre flotation sample and produced virtually no chipped stone. Sealed by the burning (and possibly related to the event) was a neo-nate burial (F525); the associated fill of this feature was akin to the surrounding burnt deposit in its unproductivity.

Pre-Level XII (middens and dumps)

The long sequence of deposits sealed beneath the Level XII stabling deposits are primarily comprised of midden and dumping layers, which continue to the basal levels of the mound where a mixed alluvial / cultural deposit rests upon the natural marl. This entire depth of anthropomorphic deposits is referred to as Pre-Level XII, albeit subdivided into layers A-E, where A is the uppermost and E is the natural marl.

Pre-Level XII (A)

The upper part of the Pre-Level XII sequence is represented by a series of midden / dump layers, within which were two burning horizons (4845 / 4868, 4848), a pit (4842-4843) and a possible landsurface (4847).

Unit 4824 is the uppermost of these midden layers, with chipped stone collected from the 810 litres put through the dry sieve and the 3 flotation samples of c.30 litres. The deposit was not particularly rich in material, only 39 pieces coming from the dry sieve, although it was notably more productive than the infill deposit 4708 at the top of the Space 181 sequence. The obsidian primarily related to the manufacture of small prismatic blades from unipolar cores (with prepared / flaked lips), initiated by a percussive technique (possibly indirect). The assemblage includes a number of nuclei, plus rejuvenation flakes removed from the face of the core. The state of the debitage indicates an intensive reduction strategy. Two of the blade nuclei can be described as pièces esquillées; it is currently uncertain as to whether the simultaneous bipolar flaking along their opposing margins is from use (as a small wedging tool), or the cores’ last stage of reduction.

The assemblage also included three fine prismatic blade fragments, possibly pressure-flaked, certainly technologically quite distinct to the aforementioned blades. The 4824 material included no debitage relating to the manufacture of these blades, suggesting they entered the locale ready-made. Two of these pieces had been modified, one was backed, the second (a medial section) was retouched into a trapeze (non-microlithic). Another trapeze-like implement was recovered, produced from the face of a blade-core and denticulated on its long margin, the ventral surface indicating that previously it had been used as a wedging tool (pièce esquillée).

Both 4836 and 4837 generated large quantities of dry sieved soil, which in turn produced 96 and 131 pieces of obsidian. Once more, these assemblages were dominated by the products relating to the manufacture of small obsidian blades by percussion. Unit 4836 included two blades from the initial run of production bearing remnant cortex, plus non-cortical end-products and exhausted cores (squeezed very flat / rod-like). Modified pieces from this industry included pièces esquillées, a backed blade and a percoir. Another percoir was made on the distal tip of a very regular obsidian blade, either manufactured by skilled percussion, or pressure-flaking.

These assemblages did include a small amount of debitage related to much finer blade material, which may have been pressure-flaked. Unit 4836 produced a very fine rejuvenation blade-like flake, entirely covered by very fine flakes (akin to the surface of a projectile). Such preparation work has been noted on the back of a core from 4824. Unit 4837 also included a rejuvenation flake and a fine, exhausted core. Possibly relating to a third industry are two fragmentary projectiles made on long prismatic blades, both having only been modified on the dorsal surface (covering, shallow retouch).

Midden / dump layer 4839 produced much the same material as that from 4824, 4826-4837, dominated by blanks relating to the manufacture of small blades, by percussion, with cores, a number of end-products and rejuvenation flakes. A fairly intensive reduction strategy, mainly unipolar, blanks removed from most of the circumference, with occasional bi-polar reduction, usually occurring at the end of the knapping sequence. The modified pieces included the usual pièces esquillées and a few retouched blades. The range and quantity of the debitage (in particular the shatter), suggests that knapping occurred in this locus, and that it is not simply secondary deposition of manufacturing debris from nearby structures. This unit produced a few of the finer ?pressure-flaked prismatic blades, but overall provided less evidence for this industry than the aforementioned deposits. No projectiles were recovered from unit 4839.

Unit 4845 is the first of the two burning events within the Pre-Level XII (A) sequence. Its chipped stone is much the same as that from the midden / dump deposits above it with regard to the dominant small, percussive blade industry with a number of blades and cores. It did also produce better evidence for the finer prismatic blade industry, with a number of nuclei and regular, slightly longer and finer blades, possibly pressure-flaked (or a skilled indirect percussion). However, this is not the same industry which produced the much rarer fine retouched products recovered from the upper levels, such as the trapeze from 4824. These pieces, in hindsight, now seem to have been imported ready-made.

Unit 4845 also produced four ‘X-finds’, including X1 and X2, complete, elongated obsidian projectile points, very finely worked, the dorsal surface covered with invasive, shallow pressure-flaked retouch - the ventral surface having only received covering retouch towards the tip and base (Figure 41, a-b). The burin spall off the tip of X1 suggests that it may have been used. They were made on fine prismatic blades, a type for which there is no evidence from the midden deposits that it was manufactured on-site. They were therefore either procured as ready-made projectiles, or only the modification of these blades occurred on-site. X3 - was a large flake off the face / body of a fine (?pressure-flaked) prismatic blade core, approximately twice the length of the nuclei associated with the dominant percussive blade industry. The core had been quite intensively worked, with bipolar reduction and then finally employed as a wedging tool (pièce esquillée). Finally, X4 was a flint prismatic blade, with fine retouch along its margins, producing a piercing implement / point.

Midden / dump layer 4846 produced an assemblage much the same as those described above, albeit with some larger ?pressure-flaked blade fragments, suggesting another (third) industry.

Pre-Level XII (B)

A series of burning and dumping levels are featured within this sub-division of the Pre-Level XII sequence, a number of which were prioritised for on-site discussion. Unit 4872, the uppermost deposit within Pre-Level XII (B), is allegedly associated with lime-burning, and seals 4871 a midden / dump layer. Unit 4881 was another of the purported burning events in association with lime burning (4880), with unit 4884 the fill of a shallow crescentic gully possibly associated with more of the alleged lime-burning activities. Other related contexts included 5272 and 5274. None of these contexts produced very much obsidian (certainly far less than the midden / dump layers), suggesting that the consumption of obsidian had little relationship to the purported lime-burning.

In contrast, unit 5277 a scorching event, was a far more productive context than those preceding it, thus comparable to the burning horizons 4845 and 4848 from Pre-Level XII (A). The chipped stone consisted of non-cortical debitage relating to the manufacture of small percussion produced blades, with a few exhausted cores, plus some utilised flakes. A backed medial section of a more regular prismatic blade probably relates to a different technological mode or mechanism. A third industry is represented by the tip of a fine, bifacially retouched (completely covering) projectile point, quite thick, probably made on an imported long blade, of the same form as those from unit 4845 (X1 and X2).

Unit 5290 was a substantial midden / dump deposit (2325L through the dry sieve), producing over 300 pieces of chipped stone, once again dominated by material relating to the manufacture of small percussive obsidian blades, with end-products, exhausted cores and rejuvenation flakes. Aside from the nuclei and blades, there was also one of the distinctive rejuvenation blade-like flakes from the ventral surface of a core, which seems to have been modified for use as a small projectile. From a preliminary study it is not entirely clear yet if the material represents in-situ knapping, as argued for some of the earlier deposits.

This context also generated an increased amount of larger obsidian blades, manufactured by a different percussive technique, producing wider, longer and more regular blanks. One example had been notched on two sides. With this industry we are lacking much of the production debris, cores in particular, so they were probably made elsewhere on the site, or perhaps even at another community or off-site locale.

Common to both these blade industries is that many of the pieces have been modified and used. The retouched pieces include backed blades, notched pieces, plus end- and side-scrapers, plus a few fragmentary projectile points of types seen in higher levels. Perhaps of greatest interest is the appearance of true microliths within the Pre-Level XII (B) sequence (Table 12). First recorded in unit 5290, they are present primarily in the form of asymmetric obsidian trapezes, produced through truncating and backing small prismatic blades. One of the most interesting finds from the 5290 assemblage, was a very fine micro-blade (prismatic) core made of green diabase (A. Baysal pers. comm.), worked around its entire circumference. A few microliths made of this material have been recovered from the lower levels of the mound, including units 5310 and 5311.

Unit 5291 was a band of clay containing burning lenses and coprolites, generating 840L for the dry sieve which in turn produced 59 pieces of chipped stone (46 obsidian, 13 flint). Perhaps surprisingly, the layer was relatively productive, its assemblage essentially a smaller version of that from 5290; it also included a sickle element with macroscopic gloss.

Pre-Level XII (C)

Pre-Level XII (C) is comprised of a long sequence of relatively thin midden / dump deposits towards the bottom of the mound (5294, 5296-5313, 5315-5316, 5319-5323), interspersed with the occasional burning event (5314, 5317). A selection of these layers were discussed as priority units (5299, 5303, 5304, 5306, 5310, 5314, 5323).

Technologically, the Pre-Level XII (C) assemblage is comprised of products generated by more than one industry. As with the chipped stone from the upper levels of Space 181, the material is dominated by small obsidian blades manufactured by percussion, a few of which were subsequently modified. The associated cores show a high incidence of opposed platform reduction, although one can note that they were initially and primarily worked in one direction.

There is also a small quantity of much larger (wider, thicker, longer) and more regular prismatic blades produced from opposed platform cores. Most of these products had been retouched, with large projectiles and end-scrapers amongst others. Technologically and typologically, these modified naviform blades find exact parallels at the PPNB site of Aşıklı Höyük in Cappadocia (Balkan-Atli 19xx). Regarding the form and structure of the various assemblages, 5304 was a little different in that it was almost entirely comprised of blades (some bipolar), most of which had been used, and a few had been retouched. Unit 5306 produced the only classic microlith to have been recovered from the dry sieve, an elongated, asymmetric triangle similar to those from the EN Site A, Pinarbas i (Watkins 1996: 55). The flint examples include three made from the green diabase, referenced above.

A wide variety of raw materials was represented within the flint assemblage, but structurally the material was dominated by end-products, mainly prismatic blades, a high percentage of which had been modified and utilised. Striking, is the number of sickle-elements, predominantly in the form of retouched prismatic blades. Unit 5304 produced a sickle of lunate form, with further examples from 4709, 5306 and 5292. From 5310 came what appeared to be a retouched upsilon blade fragment, made from a fine yellow-brown flint. Another interesting find from 5310 was a fire-damaged, but also heavily patinated scraper made on a thick non-cortical flake. From the fresh state of the other flintwork, it seems likely that this piece comes from much earlier activity in the area, possibly redeposited by geomorphological activity (P. Boyer, pers. comm.), rather than a ‘kick-up’ from lower levels at the site. Another patinated scraper derived from 5309.

Pre-Level XII (D)

Some 7 units (representing 6 layers) were excavated in the final cultural deposit overlying the natural marl, 5324-5330. The matrix was considered to be natural alluvium mixed with dumped material, a fact reflected in the lower density of chipped stone from dry sieve and flotation samples alike.

Technologically and typologically much of the Pre-Level XII (D) chipped stone can be directly compared to that from the previous phase. As with the entire Space 181 sequence, there is a ‘background noise’ of small, irregular obsidian blades, produced by a percussive technique, with a relatively high incidence of opposed platform cores. There were also a smaller amount of much finer and longer prismatic blades, manufactured from opposed platform cores. A third blade industry is represented by much larger and wider blades, of naviform type. The latter two blade types were almost certainly imported to the site ready-made.

A great many of the blanks from these layers bear testimony to having been utilised and a relatively high percentage had been retouched, particularly those blades of non-local origin. The modified blanks included a number of points, end- / side-scrapers and backed prismatic blades akin to examples from Aşıklı Höyük, plus a denticulate made on a fine, wide and regular ?naviform blade. Microlithic trapezes were also found in some quantity (Table 12).

Once more, the variety of raw materials represented by the flint assemblage, was striking. Virtually all of the pieces were recognisable end-products made on prismatic blades, or non-cortical flakes. There is no evidence to suggest that any of these implements has been manufactured in this part of the site. The material included a burin and side-scraper made on a large prismatic blade, a double burin (initiated on the same margin but from opposite directions), both from unit 5325. Other tools included more scrapers, sickles and unmodified blades.

Pre-Level XII (E)

The last unit excavated in Space 181 was an arbitrary layer of natural marl to check that it was in fact a non-anthropomorphic deposit. The fact that no chipped stone was recovered from unit 5331 backs this interpretation.

Space 181 – Summary

Throughout the Space 181 deep sounding, the primary raw material of the chipped stone assemblage was obsidian. Flint was present in a relatively constant amount, usually between 2-5% of the assemblage. What is notable, however, is that as one descends through the sequence, there is a far greater variety of raw materials represented within the flint assemblage (5290 also has a notably higher amount, at 7.7%). This has significant ramifications for the nature of the early community with regard to the areas and people that they were interacting with, though we have little idea at present as to the origin of the majority of these raw materials.

Technologically, one can view important changes in the sequence, although an interesting constant is the complexity of the assemblages, for throughout the sequence one has evidence for at least three different modes of consuming obsidian operating in tandem. Within these phases, there is one industry which represents the primary mode of production. These are the small obsidian blades manufactured by a percussive technique, from cores with unprepared platforms, initially reduced in a single direction, but often terminating in opposed platform reduction. Indeed, this industry can be traced all the way through the mound from at least as early as Level VIII, though in the lower levels it represents the mainstay industry, whereas in Level VIII flake manufacture is dominant. With nuclei and rejuvenation debris in attendance, it is quite apparent that these blades were locally produced.

The locus of this blade manufacture is known to have occurred within the domestic arena, certainly in Level X, as represented by the in-situ knapping debris recovered from Building 23 (see above). However, the range and quantity of material from some of the midden layers in Space 181 (e.g. 4839), allows one to suggest that in certain instances, these blades were being produced outside, in what appears to be a space outside of the settlement proper.

Turning to the other obsidian industries, one can also note the occurrence of small amounts of fine percussion produced, or possibly pressure-flaked, prismatic blades in each of the Pre-Level XII phases. Many of these pieces have been modified and bear traces of use-wear. There is no manufacturing debris that one can associate with these pieces, leading one to believe that they are ready-made imports. Other non-local blade products are the long fine percussion produced pieces used for projectile points.

A regular micro-blade industry is represented in the lower levels, from unit 5290 onward, the basis of the microlith / trapeze production. No obsidian cores have been recovered relating to these pieces’ manufacture, though a single nucleus of green diabase came from 5290. Finally, there is an appearance of much broader and longer obsidian blades in Pre-Level XII (C) and downward, whose technology and mode of modification (they are usually retouched) have direct parallels from Asi kli Hö yü k (Balkan-Atli 19xx). Once again, it is suggested that these implements were imported.

The KOPAL Trench

From the 1999 KOPAL trench, some 214 pieces of chipped stone were recovered, 199 pieces of obsidian and 15 of flint, weighing c.133.43g and 181.43g respectively (Table 13). Considering the quantity of soil excavated and pout through the dry sieve and flotation, this is a low concentration of material. This material came from two distinct horizons (beneath the top soil), namely above and below the backswamp clay (‘Lower Alluvium’ Boyer 1999a).

Above the Backswamp Clay

Only two units relating to the upper cultural horizons produced chipped stone (6003 and 6020), totalling some 13 pieces, 11 coming from the dry sieve and all except one being obsidian (Table 14). The material is distinctive in that 5 of the pieces were fragments of pressure-flaked prismatic blades, with trapezoidal cross sections, parallel dorsal ridges and margins. One of the two proximal sections had had its lip removed by flaking. The single piece of fine-grained light grey flint was the medial section of a particularly wide (3.27cm) and regular prismatic blade, modified on both margins by continuous, semi-abrupt and invasive retouch. Not dissimilar pieces have been recovered from the BACH area (pers. obs.).

Previous studies have indicated that the dominance of a pressure-flaked blade industry at Çatalhöyük is a feature of the upper levels on the East Mound (Conolly 1996: 191), though it also continues as the technological / typological mainstay during the Chalcolithic (Conolly 1996: 177). From such a small assemblage, it would be inappropriate to try and attribute a more precise date to this material.

Below the Backswamp Clay

Most of the chipped stone from the KOPAL trench came from the lower cultural horizon, i.e. those units between the natural marl surface and the backswamp clay. A total of 202 pieces were recovered from 32 units, of which 188 were obsidian and 14 flint (Table 15).

The obsidian assemblage was dominated by non-cortical flakes and blade blanks (Figure 41), the latter produced by more than one technological mode and mechanism. A limited amount of on-site reduction is attested by the recovery of a few blade-cores, rejuvenation pieces and the amount of shatter recovered from flotation. The preliminary stages of nodule reduction and nucleus preparation are not represented within the lower KOPAL assemblage (the absence of cortical debris is, admittedly, typical for Çatalhöyük) and it would furthermore seem that a quantity, if not the majority of blanks recovered were introduced to this locale ready-made.

Technologically, the industry is dominated by small, obsidian blades manufactured by percussion from predominantly unipolar cores (Figure 41). In form the blades were usually prismatic but with irregular to sub-parallel margins and dorsal ridges. From unit 6032 came a wide, very regular distal section of a possible upsilon blade. It quite obviously derived from a much more skilled blade industry and no other blanks from the site could be associated with this piece or its manufacture. A fine prismatic blade from a unipolar core probably relating to a third mechanism of reduction came from 6048. The cores are not very regular and were very small, all under 3cm long and for the most part in a highly reduced state. Most of the cores display opposed platform reduction, though they all tended to have been worked in one direction and are reduced around the majority, if not all of their circumference.

A small quantity of the blanks were modified and include obsidian blades which have been backed, denticulated, notched and one example of a burin on a small opposed platform blade. A few pièces esquillées were recovered, usually in the form of square flakes. It is not possible from such a small sample to determine if they relate to an overall (intensive) knapping strategy, i.e. the final reduction of otherwise exhausted opposed platform blade / flake cores, or simply implements utilising preferred blanks.

The ‘flint’ assemblage was dominated by finished implements, primarily comprising both blade fragments and retouched non-cortical flakes, with a high incidence of use-wear. The lack of production debris, either from the dry sieve or flotation, indicates that these pieces were brought to the site ready-made. The retouched pieces included two side/end-scrapers, one made on a large non-cortical flake of composite andesite / limestone (A. Baysal pers. comm.). A small number of different flints are represented in the assemblage, most of which were also recognised from the South area assemblage.

An important issue relating to the KOPAL trench’s lowest material, is its functional and temporal relationship with the East mound. With regard to the activities represented, one can immediately note that only a small amount of material was consumed in this area compared to open spaces (such as midden / dump contexts) from the South area of the East mound. In turn, the lower KOPAL assemblage is dominated by what one can refer to as end-products, with the majority of blanks displaying traces of use-wear. Once more, this is in contrast to the make-up of assemblages from open spaces in the South area which tend to have more of the knapping sequence represented and a greater range of products.

Given the overall interpretation of the KOPAL trench as ‘off-site’ with regard to the EN settlement of Çatalhöyük, then the structure of the assemblage is perhaps what one might have expected, given that a great deal of stone tool production appears to have occurred within the domestic arena. As to how this material was being consumed, it is currently difficult to tell given the preliminary analysis of the material, particularly with regard to use-wear analysis.

Concerning the date of the assemblage, it would be unwise at this first stage of study to offer any definitive statement. Various arguments have been forwarded suggesting that the material from the lowest KOPAL layers is most closely related to that from the lower, ‘aceramic’, levels of Space 181 [see Boyer this volume; Suponcic this volume]. The chipped stone does not offer any conclusive evidence to relate particular levels, though it should be noted that the KOPAL trench lacks the microliths, naviform points and other Asi kli Hö yü k-like features associated with the lowest layers within Space 181 (i.e. those from c. unit 5290 downward). At the same time, one has to be slightly careful in trying to directly extrapolate across from KOPAL to the South area, as one is probably not comparing like-with-like with regard to activities represented, which may have major ramifications as to the form and structure of the chipped stone assemblage. Thus one has to wonder if the absence of flint sickle-elements which are quite conspicuous in Space 181 from c. Level XII (unit 4719) downward, may be a reflection of spatial :: functional considerations, rather than chronology.

The aforementioned small percussive obsidian blade industry and opposed platform cores certainly have parallels from Space 181, indeed they are the technological / typological mainstay throughout the sequence. One piece of flint is worthy of special mention due to having an almost identical parallel (with regard to raw material, technology and typology) from Space 181, unit 4878. The implement is a modified core-tablet, the blank removed across the top of a unipolar blade core removing the entire (plain) platform retaining the proximal sections of a number of prismatic blades along one long margin only, with the opposite edge being backed. Given the similarities between the two pieces and their overall rarity / distinctiveness with the overall Çatalhöyük chipped stone assemblage, then one might perhaps start to link the lower material from the KOPAL trench with the upper layers of the pre-Level XII sequence in Space 181.

‘Other’ Material

During the season 4 pieces of obsidian were collected as surface finds by the archaeological representatives. Two came from recently disturbed soil generated by the re-cutting of the irrigation ditch that runs between the East and West mounds, comprising a fine, conical obsidian pressure-flaked blade core and a single pressure-flaked blade. The remaining 2 pieces came from the surface of the East and West mounds, both obsidian blades, the latter another fine pressure-flaked example.

General Discussion

It remains to make a few general statements from the 1999 season’s work. Firstly, irrespective of space, or level, there is an absence of cortical debris. This suggests that for much of its life, the community of Çatalhöyük accessed obsidian either in the form of decorticated thick flakes (as with the hoard material), preformed blanks, or end-products, as in the case of the fine projectiles on blades, the pressure-flaked material and naviform points from Space 181.

For the most part, flint entered the site as ready-made objects. There is a limited amount of evidence for the reduction of a light tan / brown flint in some of the buildings, in the same ‘dirty’ area where obsidian was being reduced. Given that most of the flint debris in these instances comes from flotation samples, the absence of end-products in this material and the proximity of these scatters to fire installations, one wonders if in fact much of this shatter relates to striking a light, rather than tool production.

Where obsidian tool manufacture can be attested, it is either within the ‘dirty’, southern area of the buildings (often the SE corner, as with Building 17 and 23), or in certain instances, in external areas, such as the Space 115 midden and some of the Space 181 contexts. There has been some discussion as to the relationship between fire-installations and knapping, both symbolically and contextually. Whilst units associated with such features, particularly the rakeout and tramples, regularly produce large quantities of obsidian, the relative lack of material found with the oven complex in the northern part of Building 17, may suggest that this is not the primary correlation.

Conversely, one may point to certain negative relationships between chipped stone and features / activities. Storage bins seem to be a case in point, with little obsidian recovered from those investigated in 1999. In turn, the burials investigated this season included no chipped stone that appeared to have been deliberately interred. This may not be a diachronic constant, however, as obsidian points and mirrors form a component of the material culture included as grave goods in later levels (cf. Hamilton 1996).

The issue of hoards has this year been shown to be a slightly more complex than previously assumed, in that few fine end-products akin to those from Building 1 were recovered (Conolly 1996). It is still possible, however, to argue that these caches still represent carefully structured deposits, following an underlying concept of ‘how to do things’. Firstly, one can still note that contextually there is a pattern to these phenomenon, in that they are invariably located within the household, in the ‘dirty’ part of the structure, in close proximity to fire-installations. Secondly, the objects included in these caches are always transformed (of which their burial may have been an integral part) prior to their consumption. Whether the pieces are fine naviform / upsilon blades (as with the 1996 Building 1 material), or thick non-cortical flakes, large scrapers, or projectile performs, one never finds such blanks in any other context except the small circular pits the hoards were buried within. This indicates that all of this material, whatever its form, truly represents ‘raw’ material and would have been transformed soon, if not immediately, after its retrieval.

The biggest issue this season was to appraise the earliest deposits, particularly with reference to their cultural associations. This matter has yet to be fully resolved, indeed the study has only just begun, though it is possible to make a few preliminary comments. The first point to make is that the chipped stone from the basal layer (and it is not a huge sample) has no striking parallel from any other site.

Within the Space 181 material are a range of products, including points and modified blades, which have direct parallels with the Can Hassan III assemblage (Ataman 1989). As one descends into the Pre-Level XII (C) layers and below, then there is an increase in the material comparable to the Aşıklı Höyük chipped stone (Balkan-Atli 19xx). However, throughout the sequence, the basis of the industry is the production of small blades by percussion, which has a heritage that one can trace back up to Level VIII at least (though it becomes the dominant industry by Levels IX-X). Therefore, at this moment in time it would be most unwise to attribute any set cultural terminology to the assemblage, but simply refer it to as the Çatalhöyük ‘basal industries’.

Figures:

Figure 39: Space 115 Obsidian

Figure 40: Space 115 Flint

Figure 41: Technological categories represented in the obsidian assemblage from the lower horizon of the 1999 KOPAL trench (based on a sample of 53 / 79 pieces recovered from the dry sieve)

Bibliography

Ataman, K. (1989), The Chipped Stone Assemblage from Can Hassan III: A Study in Typology, Technology and Function. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Institute of Archaeology, University College London.

Boyer, P. (1999) A Geoarchaeological Approach to Late Quaternary Environmental Change in South Central Turkey Loughborough University: Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis.

Conolly, J. (1996) Çatalhöyük knapped-stone report. In I. Hodder (ed.) On the Surface: Çatalhöyük 1993-95. Cambridge, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara.

Conolly, J. (1998) Çatalhöyük 1998 Lithic Report. In Çatalhöyük 1998 Archive Report.

Hamilton, N. (1996) Figurines, clay balls, small finds and burials In I. Hodder (ed.) On the Surface: Çatalhöyük 1993-95. Cambridge, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara.

Newcomer, M. (1975), ‘"Punch technique" and Upper Palaeolithic blades’, in E. Swanson (ed), Lithic Technology: Making and Using Stone Tools. Mouton Publishers, The Hague and Paris: 97-102.

Underbjerg, H. (1998) Obsidian Microdebitage at Çatalhöyük. In Çatalhöyük 1998 Archive Report.

Watkins, T. (1996) Excavations at Pinarbaşı: the early stages Trevor Watkins In I. Hodder (ed.) On the Surface: Çatalhöyük 1993-95. Cambridge, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara.

© Çatalhöyük Research Project and individual authors, 1999