ÇATALHÖYÜK 2004 ARCHIVE REPORT

Excavations of the South Area

Building 50, Spaces 112 and 231

Bleda Düring

Excavators: Bleda Düring (University of Leiden), Konstantinos Koutsadelis (University of Cambridge) & Beliz Tercirli (University College London)

Abstract

This report deals with the excavation of the northern part of Space 112 and that of Space 231, the two rooms that make up Building 50 These spaces are part of a building first excavated by Mellaart as Shrine E.VII.9. This building consisted a large main room in the south and a smaller anteroom to the north. The southern 2/3 of the main room was excavated in 1997 as Space 112 (see Farid above). In this campaign the remaining northernmost part of Space 112 was excavated and the anteroom to the north, designated Space 231. In both spaces fragments of truncated floors and features were found, most of which could be matched with Mellaart's published plan of this building. In Space 112 a number of burials were found, that have been cut from the floor levels in this room. One of the individuals interred was buried together with a complete sheep. After completion of the excavation of the occupation deposits, the walls were recorded and excavated and the infill over the underlying Level VIII excavated to match the horizon reached in 1997.

Özet

Bu rapor Alan 112 ve Alan 231'in kuzey kısmı ve Bina 50 oluşturan iki odadaki kazılar ile ilgilidir. Bu alanlar daha önce Mellart tarafından kazılan ve Tapınak E.VII.9 diye adlandırılan binanın bir parçasıdır. Bu bina güneyde büyük bir oda ve kuzeyde diğer bir küçük antreden oluşmaktadır. Güney kısımdaki bu ana odanın 2/3'ü Alan 112 adı ile 1997'de kazılmıştır (bkz Farid ). Bu çalışmalarda, Alan 112'nin kuzey bölümünün büyük bir kısmı ile antre diye adlandırılan küçük odadanın kuzeyi kazılarak, Alan 231 denen yeni bir alan oluşturulmuştur. Her iki alanda da bulunan aşınmış taban parçaları ve bir takım mimari öğeler (features), Mellaart'ın bu bina ile igili yayınlanmış planlarında da görünmektedir. Alan 112a'da taban seviyesinin altında bir takım gömüler bulunmuştur. Gömülerden biri ise tüm bir koyun iskeleti ile birlikte bulunmuştur. Yerleşim alanı ile ilgili öğelerin kazısı tamamlandıktan sonra, duvarlar kayıt edilmiş ve alttaki Seviye VIII'in üzerindeki dolgu toprak atılmış ve 1997'deki düzlem seviyesine getirilmiştir.

Introduction

The Level VII building to which Spaces 112 and 231 belong was first excavated by Mellaart in 1963 (Mellaart 1964). The building presented in these documents has a large room to the south, designated Space 112 measuring about 2.5m by 4.2m and a narrow room, Space 231, measuring approximately 1.15m 2.2m, to the north (Fig. 55). The main room contained the following features. There were four posts in this space, two along the east wall, and two along the west wall. The two northernmost posts demarcated a large platform along the northern part of the room. The edge of this platform is also roughly the limit of the 1997 excavations of Space 112. To the south of this platform there were two more platforms, effectively partitioning Space 112 into four areas. In the southeastern part of the room a hearth was found. Mellaart reconstructed a large number of moulded animal heads with wavy plaster horns along both the east and the west walls of the building, and designated the building as a shrine on that basis.

Space 112 was separated by an internal wall from a narrow anteroom to the north. In Mellaart's reconstruction this room could be accessed through portholes both in the west and the east of this wall. In the northern anteroom a niche cut into the east wall was found, but no other features were documented.

In the 1997 season the southern 2/3 of Space 112 was excavated by the current project. A preliminary report is available in the 1997 Archive Report (Farid 1997), and a final publication will soon appear in print (Farid in press). The reader is referred to these sources for extensive treatment, but for the present purposes a short summary of the post excavation sequence of Space 112 will be given. In total five stratigraphical phase were distinguished in this area. In 112.1, the first phase, the outer walls were constructed (west F.267, south F.286, east F.259). Further a packing was deposited between the walls (units 2776/2735/2716/2305) and some activity related deposits were found (units 2096/2079/2086). 112.2, the next phase, represents an occupation horizon, with floors, a platform (F.86), burials (F.83, F.84, F.89, F.251, F.258, F.274, F.277, (2017), totalling 11 individuals), and a hearth (F.96) in the southwest of the room. Phase 112.3 represent a renovation of the space, during which a support wall was placed in front of the southern part of the east wall (F.253) and in front of the south wall (F.85). Also during this phase the two southern posts were removed (post retrieval pit F.275 in the west and post retrieval pit F.276 in the east), but it is possible that the posts were reinserted after the support walls had been constructed (Farid in press). Subsequent phase 112.4 represents another occupation phase with a number of flaky floors and occupation lenses (units 2035/ 2046/1882/2802/2781), dipping down along the east and west walls. Finally, phase 112.5 represents the post Neolithic back fill deposits of the 1960s excavations.

The 2004 sequence in Spaces 112 and 231

In the following discussion the stratigraphic sequence arrived at during the 2004 season will be presented and the related strata and features will be discussed. I will try to link the discussion as much as possible to the sequence in the southern part of Space 112 and with the Mellaart records. This exercise is hampered by a number of factors. First, most of the floors had been heavily truncated in the 1963 campaign, and only isolated badly weathered patches remained. This circumstance precluded establishing direct relationships between floor levels and sub-floor features. As we shall see this is of considerable consequence. Second, the available documentation of the 1963 excavation is rather limited. Third, I was not present in the excavation area during the first few days of excavation, during which most of the remaining floor remnants were removed. Given these consideration the sequence discussed below and summarized in Table 6, should be regarded as tentative and preliminary.

Table 6: outline of sequence discussed.

Phase A.
Infill of Level VIII building, Space 261 and undesignated space to the north. Excavated in 1997 as units (2897/3733; 2890/3361; 2876/3310). Although at first sight this seems a homogenous deposit in fact there are many small laminated layers (Graphics 04/915). Some are more ashy, others more silty. All these layers abut the Level VIII walls. My guess is that these deposits were accumulating over a considerable period after the abandonment of Space 162 of Level VIII – precursor to Space 112. These layers were not excavated in the 2004 seasons. At the upper interface of these deposits an internal division wall was found on the last excavation day. With some caution I can state that this wall runs east – west and is in more or less the same place as the Level VII internal division wall F.1701. Thus the internal organisation of the Level VIII building seems to have been exactly similar to that of the Level VII building.

Phase 112.1a.
Razing of Level VIII walls of Space 162 and construction of outer walls F.267, F.1700, and F.259 of Level VII. The Level VIII walls (west F.295; east F.298; north F.1707) were cut down unevenly, stepping up to the north and east. As a result they stand highest in the northeast, and slope down considerably to the west and south. We could posit that the aim was to cut these walls to a level where they were structurally sound, rather than to create a horizontal platform. One reason why this may have happened is because the goal was to raise the floor level substantially in this rebuilding episode, perhaps because the pressure from the neighbouring upslope building to the east had become too great. On top of the of the sloping Level VIII walls the Level VII wall were built; wall F.267 in the west; wall F.1700 in the north (removed as unit (10843); wall F.259 in the east (removed as unit (10841). These walls have identical bricks (compact orange greasy clay) and mortar (grey compact clay).

Phase 112.1b.
Infilling the space in between the Level VII walls. This was probably done to create a solid horizontal platform for the floors, and to level out the differences in the bottom elevation of the Level VII wall. The packing deposits, which were homegeneous and could be traced across the area, were thus most substantial in the southwest corner, and relatively minor in the northeast corner, where the floors were located directly above the base of the Level VII wall. These deposits were excavated in the 1997 campaign as units (3749); (2844); (3195); and (3114). In the 2004 excavations the extant section across Space 112 left by the 1997 excavations allowed us to distinguish three fill deposits. First, there is a clean yellowish beige compact silty clay (graphic 04/915). Next there is a layer of dark grey brick debris (graphic 04/915). Finally there is a substantial deposit that can be described as ‘construction fill', units (10818);.(10819); .(10821); (10824); (10847); (10848). This deposit consists of a loose silty brown clean clay. Directly below the floor of the northern room Space 231 there were large amounts of stones and clay balls in this matrix (they are not clustered in a specific area; and their reason for being there remains an enigma). Otherwise the matrix was remarkably clean.

The floors of Spaces 231 and 112 had been largely removed and truncated in the 1960s excavations, and have suffered from weathering since then. It was only along the walls that clear floors could be recognized, either because the walls curved backwards (east wall F.259 had an overhang) or because floors dipped downwards (especially along the eastern and western edge of Space 112). In the 1960s excavations the central part of the floor had been removed as the area was levelled and the building was left in that state. Thus there were isolated weathered patches of floors along the edges of Spaces 112 and 231, but in most areas the floors had already been removed.

This situation has the following consequences. First the area at this level was confusing. Second, cuts that may have been related to specific floor levels could no longer be related to them. After taking of the floor remnants and cleaning the area features burial F.1702, post retrieval pit F.1703 and post retrieval pit F.1705 became visible, but all three cannot be related to floor levels, although it is likely that they were cut through them.

This issue is of considerable importance because there are two floor sequences in Space 112. In the southern part of Space 112 these relate to an initial occupation phase (112.2) followed by the insertion of internal support walls and the removal of posts (112.3) and a secondary occupation phase (112.4) (Farid in press). In our part of Space 112 these two floor sequences were recognized in the east of the space, in the section below wall F.259, and in a plastered ridge (10815) connecting Space 112 and 231 running from the western edge of wall F.1701 to the east wall F.259. In this threshold ledge, which was a step up from Space 112 to Space 231 two floor sequences lipping up against it could be recognized.

By contrast in Space 231 only one floor sequence was present, which means that although Space 112 was renovated at some point, the same did not occur in Space 231.

For reasons outlined earlier, the two post-retrieval pits and burial F.1702 could not be related to either of the two floor sequences in Space 112. In the southern part of the room excavated in 1997 the posts were removed in between the two occupation phase (112.3), but there is mention of a possibility that the posts were removed twice.
The main feature picked up in the Space 112 (the area under consideration roughly coincides with the north platform on Mellaarts 1964 plan, bounded to the south by two posts) is feature F.1702. This consists of a very large cut (10811) with a remarkable double burial at its bottom.

There was an adult male (10840) oriented east – west (head in west) lying on its back with his legs flexed to the chest (Fig. 56). With the individual were found a large worked bird bone (10840.x1), ulna, on the chest, and a large flint tear-shaped object and a bone point (10842.x2 and 10842x3 behind the left scapula (Fig. 57). Along the upper vertebrae was a gold brown residue that was sampled, and on the lower chest there was a plaster like substance that was also sampled (10842). On the bones and the skull and the bird bone there was a red substance, possibly ochre or cinnabar.

The upper edge of the fill (10842) around this burial was demarcated by a brown interface with phytoliths, on which the matrix broke evenly. This surface slopes down towards the north of feature F.1702. On top of this interface we found a complete skeleton of a sheep (lamb, between 6-12 months of age,.(10828/10839), (Fig. 58). It was in an odd position, oriented east-west (head in east) with its head twisted north on the left side (right side facing up), lying on its back. The hind legs were extended and coming up at an angle, and the front legs were extended vertically upwards. Given this odd position it has been suggested that the front legs were held while feature F.1702 was infilled fills (10812), (10838). It should be stressed that a sheep buried with a human is a unique find both at Çatalhöyük in specific, and in the Near Eastern Neolithic in general, and throws a fascinating new light on human animal relations in this period.

At a later stage a series of other burials were placed in the south central part of Space 112, cutting through the southern part of F.1702. The northern part of F.1702 was unaffected, which is clearly demonstrated by the front legs of sheep.(10828/10839) that were in situ.

Figure 58: Articulated remains of a lamb buried with a human in Space 112 (10828/10839)

Burial F.1709, cut (10830), fill (10831), skeleton (10813), heavily disturbed earlier burial F.1711(Fig.59). When the area was opened up,cut.(10830) most of the long bones of (10814) were removed and placed on the side of the new burial cut. Given that these elements are still partially articulated it seems that the body of (10814) had not yet entirely decomposed, which indicates that the interval between the two burials may not have been a long one. The skull of (10814) was also removed (jaw and upper incisors remained in place), but was not placed in this burial F.1709. It was found elsewhere and will be discussed later.

The skeleton of burial F.1709, unit (10813), was again in the same location, and in the same body position - oriented east – west (head in west) lying on its back with his legs flexed to the chest - as the two burials below. The individual is a male adult. The following objects were found on him. On the left chest a large bone hook was found (10813.x1) and on the right chest we found a cluster of 5 flint tools and one antler point (10835.x1- x6 in cluster (10835), (Fig.60). Below the cluster and behind the spine there were soil discolorations and two samples were taken fill (10831). No real cut could be defined (arbitrary cut (10830).

The skull found in post retrieval pit F.1705 ( 10834) matched with the jaw and upper incisors of unit (10814), (burial F.1711, see above). This means that this skull, that must have been taken out at the time when burial F.1709 was put in, was later placed in F.1705. Whether this occured immediately or after some time cannot be told. But it is clear that F.1705 (and thus probably F.1703) postdates the latest burial F.1709.

Another thing that seem to have happened at this stage is the infilling of wall niches F.1706, fill (10826) and F.1708 fill (10827). In feature F.1708 a horncore was placed before it was infilled (10827.x1). Given that both the east wall and west wall were in good condition in the norternmost stretch of the building it seems unlikely that the infilling was done because the walls had become unstable during the occupation of the building. On the other hand it is plausible that the infilling occured at the time the next building was put on top for structural reasons.

Phase 112.5b.
Excavations and infilling in the 1960s. The backfill of Mellaart was removed as unit (10800).

Relating the 3 excavation campaigns

Excavating in a building that has been subjected to archaeological excavations on two previous campaigns creates faultlines where results have to be linked. These are the result of different methods of excavation and documentation, weathering of the archaeological record, and finally the judgements and interpretations of the individual excavators.

The plan published by Mellaart for Shrine VII.9 corresponds closely to what we found at a general level. The shape and dimension of the outer walls, the internal division wall separating Spaces 112 and 231, the presence of a hearth in the southeast of Space 112, and the cupboard set into the east wall of Space 231, were all found in the 1997 / 2004 excavations. In the spots were Mellaart reconstructed wooden posts, presumably on the basis of scars in the wall plaster, we found four post retrieval pits.

However, there are also a number of difficulties in correlating with Mellaart's data. Mellaart reconstructs two portholes in the internal division wall F.1701, but we could only trace one entrance, in the east. Ofcourse this could simply be a matter of preservation; there might have been an entrance at the western side at a higher level. More serious is the absence of the plastered niche / cupboard F.1708 in the western part of Space 231, that was not discussed or represented in the publications, despite the fact that this feature was conspicuous even after the floors had been truncated.
Likewise correlating the sequence from the southern part of Space 112 investigated in 1997 with the remainder of the building excavated by us in 2004 was not unproblematic. The major problem was that the renovation phase 112.3 found in the south of Space 112, during which support wall F.253 was placed in front of east wall F.259 and support wall F.85 was placed in front of southern wall F.286, was hardly present in the northern part of the same room. No support walls were found in the northern part of Space 112. However, it was clear from the remaining floor remnants that there were two occupation sequences in the building, to be equated with 112.2 and 112.4 in the south of space 112. Unfortunately none of the features found in the northern part of Space 112 could be clearly related to either of these phases. Thus the burials in the central part of the north platform of Space 112 could have been cut in phase 112.2 or in phase 112.4 or in both phases. Likewise the post retrieval pits F.1706 and F.1708 could have been cut either in phase 112.3 or in 112.5a.

One element may allow us to date at least the final episodes in this part of the building. Skull (10834) was placed in post retrieval pit F.1705 after the post had been removed. Given that it is unlikely that the posts were permanently removed mid way through the occupation of the building (assuming they served some structural purpose), this means that the placement of the skull can be dated to the abandonment episode of the building phase 112.5a. Given that the skull was taken from burial F.1711, skeleton (10814) when burial F.1709 was placed, we can try to date burial F.1709. Unless skull (10834) was circulated for some decades this means that burial F.1709 was cut during the second occupation phase 112.4, or perhaps even during the subsequent phase 112.5a. Given that F.1709 disturbed F.1711 at a time when the body of that individual had not entirely decomposed; displaced parts of the skeleton were still in articulation, it seems that we can asign F.1711 to phase 112.4. This hypothesis does not allow us to date the earlier burials F.1702, and F.1710. It is possible that they were cut either in phase 112.2 or 112.4.

Conclusion

The 2004 excavations of Spaces 112 and 231 uncovered a series of truncated occupation remains that could for the most part be related to those found in the earlier 1963 and 1997 campaigns during which the same building was investigated. In the northern Space 231 an additional storage feature (F.1708) was found in the western part of the room. In Space 112 the northernmost part was exacavated, corresponding to the north platform on Mellaart's plan of this building. It was defined on the east and west by two post retrieval pits (F.1703 and F.1705). In the middle of the platform a total of four burials were found. The earliest burial F.1702 consisted of a double burial of an adult male (10840) accompanied by a number of finds, including a large worked bird bone (ulna), that was burried next to a complete sheep (10828/10839) lying on its back with the legs sticking upwards. Later burials F.1711, F.1710 and F.1709 were all single burials, and F.1711 and F.1709 had rich grave inventories. At the time burial F.1709 was cut the skull from earlier burial F.1711 was lifed to be placed later on in post retrieval pit F.1705. Finally, a series of packing deposits were excavated below the Level VII floors and the walls of the Level VII building were also removed.