Çatalhöyük 2001 Archive Report

ÇATALHÖYÜK 2001 ARCHIVE REPORT

West Mound Lithic Report

Batı Höyük Litik Raporu

Tiffany Raszick

Abstract

Preliminary analysis of the lithic assemblage offers a basic quantification. The material comprises 95% obsidian and 5% flint. Almost the full reduction sequence is present on the site, though few cortical flakes were found, which suggests core preparation took place elsewhere. Chips and shatter comprise 37% of the assemblage, while two types of blade (pressure and non-regular) represent 33%. Flakes represent 13% of the total, and there were smaller numbers (c. 1%) of cores, rejuvenation and preparation pieces. Among the retouched assemblages irregularly modified blades are most common.

Özet

Taş alet buluntularının bu ön incelemesi temel olarak nicel olmuştur. Malzemenin %95'i obsidiyen olup %5'i çakmaktaşındandır. Ele geçen örneklerin çoğu işlenmekte tamamlanmış olup, üretimin başka bir yerde yapıldığını akla getirmektedir. Yonga ve çentikler buluntuların %37'ini oluşturmakta, iki farklı tür keski (baskı ve düzensiz) buluntuların %33'ünü temsil etmektedir. Artıklar toplamda %13'ü temsil etmektedir. Çok az miktarda (c. %1) işlenmemiş ham madde, ikinci kere işlenmiş parçalar ve üretim parçaları ele geçmiştir. Yeniden işlenmiş parçalar arasında düzensiz olarak değiştirilen keskiler çoğunluktadır.

Introduction

This is a preliminary report on the Çatalhöyük West Mound lithic material. The study material derives from Early Chalcolithic levels and mixed Chalcolithic - Byzantine contexts. This years goals were to begin to understand the basic character of the Chalcolithic assemblage, and to begin to identify those characteristics that may be distinct from the Çatalhöyük Neolithic assemblages. Lithic material from 104 units was examined during the course of the 2001 season. This report covers material collected during both the 2000 and the 2001 seasons but is not inclusive of all available material.

Analyses employed for the West Mound lithic material was consistent with analyses used in previous years on other Çatalhöyük chipped stone assemblages. Firstly, the assemblages were sorted by material type (flint and obsidian) and the total numbers of pieces were counted. Secondly, the artefacts were divided into basic debitage categories including cores, blades, flakes, chip/ shatter and chunks, regular blades and non-regular blades, projectiles, preparation and rejuvenation pieces, pièce esquillèes, and indeterminate. In the time of the short 2001 season, the third level of analysis, which looks more closely at the individual character of each piece, was not completed and is one of the primary goals for next season.

Basic data summary

Obsidian, comprising 95% of the assemblage, comes in four varieties: milky grey/ green, black with brown inclusions, deep, opaque black, and translucent brown-black. Flint makes up the other 5% of the collection and has great variety in colours and morphology. A more detailed analysis of the distribution of material type over the range of artefact categories will be undertaken next season.

Study material from the 2000 season included 1,178 pieces from surface or unstratified units and 1,248 pieces from secure Chalcolithic units. 1,367 pieces collected during the 2001 season also were examined. This material comes solely from surface or unstratified contexts. The unstratified unit assemblages contain material from both the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic periods. It is unclear how much of the assemblage is reuse of Neolithic pieces, or if the assemblage includes a transitional Neolithic-Chalcolithic component, or how many new Chalcolithic styles and techniques are present. The stratified contexts, including room fill/collapse, fill between walls, building infill, and space infill, differ from the unstratified unit material in their lack of blade cores and retouched blades. Tool presence and analyses for these units have not as yet been completed.

Debitage characteristics

Cores and core fragments, less than 1% of the total assemblage, were examined. Both single and opposed platform obsidian and flint blade cores were identified. Chips and shatter make up the approximately 37% of the total assemblage. The second largest component of debitage pieces include pressure blades (p.t.d.d.) (13%) and non-regular blades (20%). The characteristic regular blade was made using a pressure removal technique and had parallel edges and ridges with a trapezoidal cross-section. The non-regular blades had irregular edges and ridges and displayed predominately a triangular cross-section. It was difficult in some cases to determine the p.t.d.d.s from the non-regular blades due to the fragmentary nature of the finds. There were few whole blades. Flakes make up approximately 13% of the assemblage. There were also a few rejuvenation and preparation pieces, just about 1% of the total assemblage. A small number of characteristic pièce esquillèes were also identified.

Retouched tool characteristics

The largest percentage of the retouched assemblage consists of irregularly modified blades. It was difficult in some cases to determine extent of modification because of heavy use and where the extent or presence of retouch is not clearly visible. The blades vary greatly in size, from small to very large, and were produced on obsidian and flint. Preliminary examination suggests that fewer (less than half) of all retouched blades were made on p.t.d.d.s when compared with retouch on the non-regular blades. This could be a case where the pressure technique produces a shaper cutting edge, thereby needing less retouch. Another scenario is that the heavily used and retouched and the non-retouched pieces were used for completely different tasks. The analyses are in the early stages yet but there is some indication that there was a choice of material used for production of the p.t.d.d.s but this requires further examination. Thus far, few retouched flakes (approximately 0.5% of the assemblage) have been identified. Projectiles comprised just under 1% of the total assemblage. These bifacially and unifacially flaked artefacts include transverse arrowheads (concave and isosceles triangles, and rectangles/ trapezoids) and small points.

Conclusion and further research

It appears that the full reduction sequence is represented, by the presence of preparation and rejuvenation pieces, implying at least on-site knapping. Few cortical flakes were located which may indicate that core preparation was taking place off-site, perhaps at the extraction source. The task for future research is to discern the characteristics particular to the Çatalhöyük West Mound Chalcolithic lithic assemblage and work back to clarify the presence of potential transitional material as the nature of the overall assemblage suggests some continuity with the late Neolithic. Contextual and spatial analyses are only in the beginning stages and currently make up one-third of the total lithic collection. A portion of the retouched pieces and the tools from these units has not yet been examined. Therefore, it was not possible, at this time, to determine the relationship between the material and its site context or relationship to other activities on site. Next season the nature and character of the production techniques will also be assessed in more detail.