Çatalhöyük 2001 Archive Report

ÇATALHÖYÜK 2001 ARCHIVE REPORT

TP area Faunal remains

TP bölgesinin fauna buluntuları

Kamilla Pawlowska

Abstract

Excavations conducted by the Polish team in the TP area in 2001 led to discovery of 1544 animal bones. Only bones from pit and burial infills were studied while those from arbitrary layers were excluded from the analysis. The most numerous were sheep/goat bones followed by cattle, horse, dog, and lagomorpha. A proportion of particular species in different context varied. Studied bones revealed interesting marks of burning, gnawing, weathering, digestion, fragmentation as well as bone pathology.

Özet

Bu seneki kazılar sırasında TP bölgesinde çalışan Polonyalı ekip, toplam 1544 adet hayvan kemiği bulmuştur. Sadece mezar dolguları ve çukurlardan ele geçen kemikler analiz edilerek, kontekts dışından gelen örnekler incelenmemiştir. En çok koyun/keçi kemiği bulunmuştur. Koyun/keçiyi sığır, at, köpek ve lagomorpha takip etmektedir. Farklı kontektslerden farklı cinslere ait kemikler ele geçmiştir. İncelenen kemiklerde ilginç kemirme, yanma, aşınma ve öğütme izleri ile birlikte hastalık izleri de tespit edilmiştir.

Excavations conducted by the Polish Team in 2001 brought about numerous faunal material. Bones were analyzed in zooarchaeological laboratory at the site based on comparative reference collection available there.

Altogether animal bones from 78 units were analyzed. They comprised material from pit and burial infills. Number of bones in particular units varied considerably. Some units contained small number of bones (between 1 - 49) while in others its number was much larger (up to 255). Animal bones from 8 units (367 bone fragments in total) were not analyzed since they were recovered in arbitrary layers.

Altogether 1544 bone fragments were recorded in this season. 1312 of these bones have been attributed to species and more general taxonomic categories. List of these categories as well as number of bones represented in them is provided in Table 5. Interestingly, a large number of human bones (41 per cent) were discovered in these units. The most numerous were sheep/goat bones that comprised 11 per cent of the analyzed sample. This number is in fact larger since one has to add to this number 5 per cent of sheep and 1 per cent of goat bones. Thus, a total proportion of sheep and goat bones is 17 per cent. A ratio of sheep to goat is 6 to 1 (Table 6). Cattle was represented by smaller number of bones (7 per cent), followed by horse (2 per cent), dog (2 per cent) and lagomorpha (2 per cent).

A number of identified specimens from studied units is presented in Table 7. Figure 31 shows a relative proportion of taxa as recognized by diagnostic zones. A number and proportion of bones of small, medium and large mammals as well as birds are showed in Table 8. It is difficult to interpret taxonomic variability observed in particular units since not all animal bones from this years season have been examined. However, it is possible to compare relative proportion of taxons from different unit categories such as burial infills (Table 9), pit infills (Table 10), walls (Table 11), and floors (Table 12). A summary of faunal material from different unit categories is presented in Table 13. Figure 32, Figure 33 and Figure 34 show relative proportions of taxa as recognized by diagnostic zones in different contexts.

Studied bones revealed interesting marks of burning, gnawing, weathering, digestion, fragmentation as well as bone pathology.

It is worth stressing here a very interesting sheep skull found in unit 7016. Two small blades were stabbed symmetrically into the frontal part of this well-preserved skull. They were made either of bone or stone but an exact attribution of the material remains unknown at this stage of analysis.

Another interesting discovery is dog footmarks found in a mudbrick. The brick was part of marker construction of one of the Byzantine burials. There are two footmarks with five toes each and one is located on top of the other. These are certainly dog footmarks formed when the brick was newly formed and clay soft enough. This is very important, as it is the second discovery of this kind at Catalhöyük.

Fish and bird bones as well as eggshell and microfauna will be analyzed by other specialist at a later stage. This same applies to worked bones. Human bones from pit infills, walls, and floors, which were found during zooarchaeological analysis, were put into the database and will be analyzed by biological anthropologist later.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Lisa Yeomans and Sheelagh Frame for help during recording and for the discussion.

Tables

Table 5: Taxonomic categories of mammals, number of identified specimens (NISP) and diagnostic zones (DZ).

Table 6: Ratio of sheep to goat bones as recognized by diagnostic zones.

Table 7: NISP and DZ for taxa from the TP area

Table 8: NISP and %NISP for small, medium, and large mammals and birds

Table 9: NISP and %NISP from burial infills

Table 10: NISP and %NISP from pit infills

Table 11: NISP and %NISP from walls

Table 12: NISP and %NISP from floors

Table 13: Summary of faunal material for different contexts

Figures

Figure 31: Relative proportions of taxa by DZ

Figure 32: Relative proportions of taxa as recognized by DZ in burial fills

Figure 33: Relative proportions of taxa as recognized by DZ in pit fills

Figure 34: Relative proportions of taxa as recognized by DZ in walls

Table 5: Taxonomic categories of mammals, number of identified specimens (NISP) and diagnostic zones (DZ).

Taxon	NISP	%NISP	DZ	%DZ
Hare-size	9	1
Sheep-size	379	29	1.2	2
Pig-size	5	0.4
Cow-size	149	11	1	2
Sheep/goat/roe deer (Ovis/Capra/Capreolus)	25	2
Sheep/goat (Ovis/Capra)	145	11	5.5	9
Sheep (Ovis)	9	1	3	5
Goat (Capra)	4	0.3	0.5	1
Cattle/ Bison (Bos/Bison)	28	2	3	5
Cattle (Bos taurus)	1	0.1
Small cervid	1	0.1
Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)	2	0.1
Pig (Sus scrofa)	13	1
Large equid	1	0.1	1	2
Horse (Equus caballus)	2	0.1
Equid (Equus sp.)	1	0.1
Dog (Canis familiaris)	1	0.1	1	2
Lagomorpha	1	0.1	1	2
Human (Homo sapiens)	536	41	45.4	72
Total	1312	100.5	62.6	102

Table 6: Ratio of sheep to goat bones as recognized by diagnostic zones.

Area	*Ovis:Capra*
TP	6:1

Table 7: NISP and DZ for taxa from the TP area

NISP/ DZ	*Ovis/Capra /Capreolus*	*Ovis/ Capra*	*Ovis*	*Capra*	*Bos/ Bison*	*Bos taurus*	*Small cervid*	*Capreolus capreolus*	*Sus scrofa*	*Small-medium equid*	*Large equid*	*Equus caballus*	*Equus sp.*	*Canis familiaris*	*Lago-morpha*	*Homo*
6706	1	5			1
6708	1	8	1	1					1
6710		3
6713		2
6718	1			1
6721	1	3
6730		1
6735		1
6741		2
6744		2			2				1
6745		1							2
6746		1			1											3
6748		1\1	1	1\0,5
6753		3
6763		1										1				20
6764	1	10			2\0,5				2							7\1
6765	2		1
6773					1
6781																8
6783		1														1
6785	2	2			1											226\24,8
6788		1
6800		1
6802									1							1
6806		4\0,5			1											63
6807	1				1\1
6811									1
6814		1
6819																1
6823		9\1	1\0,5		3\0,5											23\0,6
6829		2														2
6842	1	1			4											5
6850		1
6852		1														2
6857		1\0,5														3
6863																3
6867	1	2			1\0,5				1							4\0,2
6868																2\0,2
6878																1
6884	1												1
6888		1
6891		1
6899																8
6903		2
6915																7\1,2
6916		1
6917		2							1						1\1	1
6925																2\1
6930																36
6931			1\1		1\0,5
6932	2	11			1	1	1	2	2							2
6948	3	26\1	1		2				1		1\1	1		1\1		5\0,2
6965	1	1														46\8,8
6970	2															16\1
6985	2	11\0,5			1											8\1,8
6988		14	2\1,5		4											22\3,4
7004	1	2\1		1												6\1,2
7016	1	2	1		1											2
Total NISP	25	145	9	4	28	1	1	2	13	0	1	2	1	1	1	536
NISP %	3.2%	18.8%	1.2%	0.5%	3.6%	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%	1.7%	0.0%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	69.6%
Total DZ	0	5.5	3	0.5	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	45.4
DZ %	0.0%	9.1%	4.9%	0.8%	4.9%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	1.6%	0.0%	0.0%	1.6%	1.6%	75.1%

Table 8: NISP and %NISP for small, medium, and large mammals and birds

Unit Number	Small mammals		Medium mammals				Large mammals		Bird
Unit Number	Hare-size		Sheep-size		Pig-size		Cow-size
	NISP	NISP%	NISP	NISP%	NISP	NISP%	NISP	NISP%	NISP
6706	1	2%	13	29%			30	68%
6708			13	72%			5	28%
6710			7	100%
6713			6	100%
6718			4	100%
6721			15	88%			2	12%
6722			7	87%			1	13%
6725
6728					1	100%
6730			1	50%			1	50%
6735					1	100%
6737			2	100%
6741			6	60%			4	40%
6744			5	100%
6745			3	60%	1	20%	1	20%
6746			2	67%			1	33%
6748			13	72%			5	28%
6753			4	80%			1	20%
6759			1	50%			1	50%
6760							1	100%
6763			3	75%			1	25%
6764			11	52%			10	48%
6765			7	100%
6771			3	75%			1	25%
6781			7	64%	1	9%	3	27%
6783			13	81%			3	19%
6785			11	65%			6	35%
6788			1	100%
6792			1	100%
6796			1	100%
6799			2	50%			2	50%
6800			1	50%			1	50%
6802			3	75%			1	25%
6806			1	25%					3	35%
6807							3	100%
6811			3	75%			1	25%
6814			10	91%			1	9%
6817			2	100%
6819			2	100%
6823	1	2%	36	84%			6	14%
6829			7	70%			3	30%
6842			6	37%			10	63%
6850			1	100%
6852			2	100%
6856							1	100%
6857					1	33%	2	67%
6863			3	100%
6866			2	67%			1	33%
6867			1	100%
6868							1	100%
6870			1	100%
6884			4	67%			2	33%
6888			1	100%
6891	2	100%
6904							1	100%
6917	1	14%	5	72%					1	14%
6925			6	75%			2	25%
6930	2	100%
6931	1	33%	1	33%			1	33%
6932			14	70%			5	25%	1	5%
6948			50	72%			17	25%	2	3%
6956			1	50%			1	50%
6965			2	50%			2	50%
6966			1	100%
6970			3	100%
6985			23	88%			3	12%
6988			10	67%			3	20%	2	13%
7004			3	100%
7016	1	7%	12	80%			2	13%
Total	9	2%	379	69%	5	1%	149	27%	9	2%

Table 9: NISP and %NISP from burial infills

NISP %NISP	*Ovis/Capra*	*Ovis/*	*Ovis*	*Capra*	*Bos/*	*Sus*
DZ %DZ	*/Capreolus*	*Capra*			*Bison*	*scrofa*
6706	1\2%	5\10%			1\2%

6708	1\3%	8\27%	1\3%	1\3%		1\3%

6710		3\30%

6713		2\25%

6718	1\17%			1\17%

6721	1\5%	3\14%

6730		1\33%

6735		1\50%

6741		2\17%

6744		2\20%			2\20%	1\10%

6745		1\12%				2\25%

6748		1\5%	1\5%	1\5%
		1\67%		0,5\33%
6753		3\37%

6765	2\20%		1\10%

6773					1\100%

6788		1\50%

6802						1\20%

6811						1\20%

6903		2\100%

6916		1\100%

Total NISP	6	36	3	3	4	6
% NISP	2%	15%	1%	1%	2%	2%
Total DZ	0	1	0	0.5	0	0
% DZ	0%	67%	0%	33%	0%	0%

Table 10: NISP and %NISP from pit infills

NISP %NISP	*Ovis/Capra*	*Ovis/*	*Ovis*	*Capra*	*Bos/*	*Sus*	*Large*	*Equus*	*Canis*	*Lagomorpha*	*Homo*
DZ %DZ	*/Capreolus*	*Capra*			*Bison*	*scrofa*	*equid*	*caballus*	*familiaris*
6746		1\20%			1\20%						3\60%

6763		1\4%						1\4%			20\91%

6764	1\4%	10\45%			2\9%	2\9%					7\32%
					0,5\33%						1\67%
6785	2\1%	2\1%			1\<1%						226\98%
											24\100%
6800		1\100%

6806		4\6%			1\1%						63\93%
		0,5\100%
6807	1\50%				1\50%
					1\100%
6814		1\100%

6819											1\100%

6823		9\25%	1\3%		3\8%						23\64%
		1\38%	0,5\19%		0,5\19%						0,6\23%
6829		2\50%									2\50%

6850		1\100%

6852		1\33%									2\67%

6863											3\100%

6878											1\100%

6888		1\100%

6899											8\100%

6915											7\100%
											1,2\100%
6917		2\40%				1\20%				1\20%	1\20%
										1\100%
6925											2\100%
											1\100%
6930											36\100%

6931			1\50%		1\50%
			1\67%		0,5\33%
6948	3\7%	26\63%	1\2%		2\5%	1\2%	1\2%	1\2%	1\2%		5\12%
		1\31%					1\31%		1\31%		0,2\6%
6965	1\2%	1\2%									46\96%
											8,8\100%
6970	2\11%										16\89%
											1\100%
6985	2\9%	11\50%			1\4%						8\36%
		0,5\22%									1,8\78%
6988		14\33%	2\5%		4\9%						22\52%
			1,5\31%								3,4\69%
7004	1\10%	2\20%		1\10%							6\60%
		1\45%									1,2\54%
7016	1\14%	2\29%	1\14%		1\14%						2\29%

Total NISP	14	92	6	1	18	4	1	2	1	1	510
% NISP	2%	14%	1%	<1%	3%	1%	<1%	<1%	<1%	<1%	78%
Total DZ	0	4	3	0	2.5	0	1	0	1	1	44.2
% DZ	0%	7%	5%	0%	4%	0%	2%	0%	2%	2%	78%

Table 11: NISP and %NISP from walls

NISP %NISP	*Ovis/Capra*	*Ovis/*	*Bos/*	*Sus*	*Homo*
DZ %DZ	*/Capreolus*	*Capra*	*Bison*	*scrofa*
6781					8\100%

6783		1\50%			1\50%

6857		1\25%			3\75%
		0,5\100%
6867	1\11%	2\22%	1\11%	1\11%	4\44%
			0,5\71%		0,2\29%
6868					2\100%
					0,2\100%
6891		1\100%

Total NISP	1	5	1	1	18
% NISP	4%	19%	4%	4%	69%
Total DZ	0	0.5	0.5	0	0.4
% DZ	0%	36%	36%	0%	29%

Table 12: NISP and %NISP from floors

NISP %NISP	*Ovis/Capra*	*Ovis/*	*Bos/*	*Equus*	*Homo*
DZ %DZ	*/Capreolus*	*Capra*	*Bison*	*sp.*
6842	1\9%	1\9%	4\36%		5\45%

6884	1\50%			1\50%

Total NISP	2	1	4	1	5
NISP %	15%	8%	31%	8%	38%

Table 13: Summary of faunal material for different contexts

NISP DZ

NISP % DZ %

Ovis/Capra /Capreolus

Ovis/ Capra

Ovis

Capra

Bos/ Bison

Sus scrofa

Large equid

Equus caballus

Equus sp.

Canis familiaris

Lagomorpha

Homo

Total NISP

Total DZ

burial fills

Infills

12\3%

48\11%

3\1%

4\1%

8\2%

6\1%

372\82%

453

2,5\8%

0,5\1%

1\3%

28,4\88%

32.4

Walls

1\10%

9\90%

pit fills

Infills

5\3%

68\37%

6\3%

13\7%

4\2%

1\<1%

2\1%

1\<1%

84\45%

185

2\14%

3\20%

1,5\10%

1\7%

5,2\35%

14.7

floors

2\15%

1\8%

4\31%

1\8%

5\38%

walls

1\6%

4\25%

1\6%

9\56%

0,5\36%

0,4\29%

1.4

burial fills:infills (6706, 6708, 6710, 6713, 6718, 6721, 6730, 6735, 6741, 6744, 6745, 6746, 6748, 6753, 6765, 6773, 6785, 6788, 6800, 6802, 6806, 6807, 6811, 6814, 6852, 6863, 6899, 6903, 6915, 6916, 6925, 6930, 7004)
burial fills:walls (6781, 6783)
pit fills:infills (6763, 6764, 6819, 6823, 6829, 6850, 6878, 6888, 6917, 6931, 6948, 6988, 7016)
floors (6842, 6884)
walls (6857, 6867, 6868, 6891)