ÇATALHÖYÜK 2004 ARCHIVE REPORT

CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MATERIALS REPORTS

Animal Bone Report

Nerissa Russell (1), Kamilla Pawlowska (2) and Katheryn Twiss (3) with a contribution by Emma Jenkins (4) & Rebecca Daly (5)

1. Cornell University. 2. Team Poznan. 3. Stony Brook University. 4. University College London. 5. Stanford University

Abstract

The zooarchaeology team concentrated on recording material from the 2003 and 2004 excavations in the TP, 4040, and South Areas. As a result, the sample of animal bones recorded from later prehistoric periods is beginning to grow. This larger sample confirms that sheep/goat form a larger part of these deposits than in earlier levels. This season has provided further evidence that the symbolic importance of animals continues in these later periods, with finds of special deposits of animal remains and dismantled installations. Some of these are familiar in type, including the first remains of a clay cattle head with horns from the new excavations, and some are new. Level VII yielded the first instance at the site of an animal buried with a human: a lamb in Building 50, Space 112 (see Düring above).

Özet

Zooarkeloji ekibi 2003-2004 kazı çalışmalarında TP, 4040 ve Güney Alanlarından çıkarılan zooarkeolojik malzemenin kaydı üzerine yoğunlaşmıştır. Bunun sonucu olarak, geç prehistorik dönemlere ait kayda geçmiş hayvan kemiği örneklerinin oranı artmaktadır. Bu oran artışı ile beraber görülmektedir ki; daha geç dönemlere ait tabakalardaki koyun/keçi kalıntısının oranı, daha erken dönemlerle karşılaştırıldığında çok daha fazladır. Bu sezonda, bulunan hayvan kemiği özel buluntu toplulukları ve yapı içinde yerleştirilmiş, bütün halinde bulunan hayvan kemiği parçaları geç dönemde de hayvanların sembolik anlamdaki önemlerinin daha geç dönemlerde de devam ettiğine işarettir. Bunlardan bazıları daha önceden örnekleri bildiğimiz türdendir, örneğin bulunan kilden yapılmış boynuzlu bir sığırın kalıntılarında olduğu gibi fakat bazıları ise tamamen yenidir. Seviye VII'de bunun ilk örneğine, Alan 112'deki insan gömüsünde bulunan kuzu ile beraber rastlanmıştır (bkz. During yukarıda).

2004 sezonunda, zooarkeoloji ekibi tam takım işe girişmiştir. Bu sezon, 64,752 örneği veritabanına kaydettik, toplam olarak kazıdan 650,179 örnek kayda geçirildi (56,951 örnek Batı Tepesine aittir). Bununla birlikte, çalışmalarımızın bir kısmı, Batı Tepesi ve BACH alanı ile ilgili çıkarılacak olan yayının hazırlanmasına ve TP, 4040 ve Güney Alanında gerçekleşen yeni kazılardan gelen malzeme üzerine yönelmiştir (ayrıca Batı Tepesi arşiv raporunda yayınlanmıştır).

Geçmişteki kazı dönemlerinden ve bu sezondaki kazılardan elde edilen 199 işlenmiş kemik Rebecca Daly tarafından çalışılmıştır. Bu toplam kaydedilmiş işlenmiş kemik sayısını 1241'e çıkarmıştır. Bulunan işlenmiş kemiklerin büyük bir çoğunluğu geçmiş sezonlarda bulunanlarla aynı tiptedir ancak yeni tipler de bulunmuştur; ‘kaval' ve farklı tarzda yapılmış bir iğne ve üst çene kemiğinden yapılmış bir iğne. Bızlar halen en çok bulunan işlenmiş kemik tipi olup şimdiye kadar 95 tane bulunmuştur (işlenmiş kemiklerin %48'ini oluştururlar), bunu boncuklar takip etmekte olup toplam 21 tane bulunmuştur(%11) ve son olarak bulunan iğnelerin sayısı toplam 18 tanedir (%9).

Rhiannon Mayon – White ise amfibi ve sürüngen kemiklerini incelemek üzere hayvan kemikleri uzman ekibine katılmıştır.

Introduction

During the 2004 season, the zooarchaeology team returned to full scale operations. This season we added 64,752 specimens to the database, for a total of 650,179 specimens so far recorded from the site (564,951 from the East Mound). While some of our efforts were directed toward upcoming publications of the West Mound (see West Mound this report) and BACH areas, for the most part we focused on current excavations in the TP, 4040 and South Areas.

Excavations in these areas are at present largely focused on the later Neolithic levels of the site (after Level VI). We are thus gradually adding to our sample of material from these levels, which were poorly represented in the first phase of excavation. Our work in these later periods is still at an early stage, but initial results support hints from last season that faunal changes occur during this time span. We offer some tentative description of this patterning, in the awareness that samples remain small and contextual variation is likely to affect the results.

TP Area

Analysis of animal bones from the TP Area of the East Mound continued in 2004. Work focused on Neolithic animal bones obtained during the 2003 and 2004 excavation seasons. We recorded 9825 bones from 18 units. Of 719 identified animal bones (see Table 7), most (86.4%) came from sheep/goat (Ovis/Capra), with a lesser number from cattle (10.4%). Equid, dog, fox, cervid, and pig remains were also identified in small numbers. On the basis of diagnostic zones, the ratio of sheep to goat bones was 2.6:1.

Table 7: Relative Proportions of Mammalian Taxa from the TP Area Recorded in 2004 by Number of Identified Specimens (NISP) and Diagnostic Zones (DZ)

 

Analysis of bone remains from Buildings 33 and 34, outdoor contexts, and middens started in 2003 and continued this season. 4146 animal bones from 12 units were recorded, of which 291 were identified as sheep/goat, cattle, dog, equid, cervid, and fox bones. The recorded material also contained a fragment of a human rib as well as bones from small-medium birds (2.3% of the analyzed material). The new data do not contradict the analyses of various deposits described in the previous year's report (Russell, Pawlowska, and Martin 2003).

During the 2004 season, a preliminary stratigraphic analysis of the main TP excavation area allowed for the definition of various deposit types in the material excavated this year. These were differentiated in excavation as horizontal, unit( 7880) and slanting ((8921), (7898), (7899), (8922)) layers. These units yielded 5679 bone specimens, and 493 of them were identified (482 non-human mammals; see Table 8). The most numerous were Ovis/Capra (Table 8) bones. Additionally, a few human bones accompanied the animal remains, appearing in the horizontal bricky layer. There were few bird bones.

Table 8: Relative Proportions of Mammalian Taxa from the Neolithic Deposits in the TP Area Recorded in 2004 According to Context

In general, the layers do not differ from each other in terms of patterning in the animal bones recovered from them. The slanting layers had a higher density of animal bone remains, but their composition was comparable to that of the horizontal layer, with a dominance of sheep/goat bones (horizontal layer – 88.3%; slanting – 75.3%) along with some cattle bones (8.5%; 12.1%) and equid bones (2.1%; 1.3%). One equid from the slanting layers, unit (8922) was of the Equus hemionus (Asiatic half-ass or Onager) type. Additionally, fox was present in the horizontal layer, and pig in the slanting layer. The ratio of sheep to goat bone (on the basis of diagnostic zones) is 3.7:1 in the horizontal layer, and 1.5:1 in the slanting layers. At this stage of analysis this difference may result from small sample size. The degree of fragmentation is high in both deposit types. Bone fragments from the horizontal layer averaged 2.4 cm long, whereas bone fragments from the slanting layer averaged 2.5 cm.

A concentration of animal bones (8982) was found within unit (7899). It includes several extremely large pieces of bone from large animals, but also an assortment of smaller fragments from smaller taxa. These were mainly sheep/goat bones and also cattle. The concentration contained cranial elements (skull and horn core fragments of sheep – a large, possibly wild individual; horn cores of goat and cattle) as well as the postcranial parts (a complete scapula of sheep - domestic size; long bone fragments). Material from this unit showed minimal burning (only one piece was burnt), moderate digestion and carnivore gnawing. Bone surfaces were slightly degraded, which is evidence that they were not buried extremely rapidly. The boundaries of the animal bone concentration were indistinct, so it was imperfectly separated from unit (7898). Given its lesser fragmentation, we interpret it as a pocket of possible feasting remains within the larger midden.

Midden layer (7898), which sloped down to the north, also contained a large number of animal bones. However, in relation to the layer's large soil volume (440 liters), the bone density is low. The material was moderately fragmented but includes several quite large bone fragments. The element distribution is interesting: there are many long bone shaft splinters and several sheep/goat mandibles, a complete cattle acetabulum, and articulating equid phalanges. Only a very few pieces are burnt, and there is moderately low digestion and gnawing. The bones show moderate weathering. This deposit looks like a not-too-rapidly buried midden deposit, perhaps including some butchery discard (mandibles, phalanges).

Our impression is that the middens in the TP Area, which represent the latest levels currently studied from the new excavations, are somewhat different from those of earlier periods. The density of animal bone is lower, and the surface condition of the bone suggests that it is perhaps somewhat more slowly accumulated. There appear to be more cut marks than earlier, perhaps indicating changes in butchering techniques. Further work should clarify these differences.

4040 Area

Most of our work on material from the 4040 Area this year was focused on the two areas considered to be possible streets (Spaces 226 and 232, mostly Space 226). While excavators have not reached the basal levels in either of these spaces, the animal bone so far does not support the use of these spaces as pathways. We would expect bone from streets to be fragmented and abraded from trampling, and perhaps weathered from exposure. Neither space produced assemblages that looked trampled.

The one unit so far examined from Space 232 resembles building fill. The surface condition of the bone is worn but not trampled, density of faunal material is low, and the bone redeposited there seems to derive from multiple sources.

The Space 226 sequence mainly consists of typical midden deposits that become less fragmented with greater depth. These rich deposits are particularly interesting because they are believed to date to Level V, from which we have limited data thus far. The upper portion of the midden sequence (8859) resembled middens in the TP Area and Space 181 in the South Area in that it seems to contain the remains of a narrow range of activities, primarily daily post-consumption discard, much of it processed for bone grease extraction. The range of taxa is quite narrow for such a large unit (22,483 specimens, 2646 of which were identified), with 95% of the diagnostic zones (Watson 1979) coming from caprines (sheep and goat). Deeper in the midden (not yet fully recorded), there is a wider range of taxa and activities, more like the on-site middens of the earlier levels in the South area. Since these units are arbitrary spits of the midden deposit, it is unlikely that this reflects a temporal change in subsistence. Rather, there may be a shift in the use of the space or in discard practices in that area of the tell toward the end of the filling of this outdoor space. In the northwest corner of this space there is a mound of packed deposits; we have analysed unit (8870) from this area. This also does not look trampled. The density of bone is much lower than in the midden units, but it does not look like redeposited fill. The surface condition is good, and it appears to be a small amount of gradually accumulated midden-like material.

Special Deposits

As in earlier levels at Çatalhöyük (Russell and Martin in press, Russell and Meece in press), animal parts appear as special deposits in the 4040 Area. These take a variety of forms: dismantled installations, feasting spreads, and other abandonment deposits; and commemorative deposits.

Building 45
Building 45 contained several such special deposits. A small pit in the northwest platform contained a commemorative deposit consisting of two articulated cattle ankles (distal tibia, astragalus, and calcaneus), both from the right side and hence belonging to two different animals. Despite being buried in the pit, the preservation of these bones was poor, much worse than the surrounding fill, and they were extremely crumbly. This suggests that they may have been exposed outdoors for some time prior to collection and burial. The better preserved astragalus is in the size range of male wild cattle (Russell and Martin in press). The other astragalus is too poorly preserved to measure, but is smaller and might be female.

A complete large equid scapula (probably horse) was placed on top of burnt and demolished bins, but was not itself burnt. This indicates that the placement was part of abandonment behavior following the burning. It recalls similar placements of scapulae (usually cattle) on hearths and floors at abandonment, as was seen in Buildings 1 and 3. A large (40 cm) segment of red deer antler in the fill immediately above the floor of the building may also have been placed when the building was abandoned. It is the crown portion of the antler, including the two uppermost tines, with no sign of working. It could, however, be waste from antler working, although it would seem that several artifacts could have been made from this portion if desired.

A bucranium, unit (10057) may once have sat as the top of a pillar with horns or may have been a modeled clay head with inset horns (see Fig 42). Whatever installation it had once been a part of was clearly dismantled prior to its deposition in Building 45. This bony part of this bucranium consisted of a set of cattle horns with connecting skull. Most of the horns as well as much of the clay object had been broken off prior to deposition. The front part of the skull seems to have been neatly chopped off just behind the orbits prior to encasing it in clay. Its clay covering originally extended over the bases of the horn cores, so closely in contact with them as to suggest that their sheaths were not included in the installation. There are no indications of deliberate horn sheath removal, however. Plaster on the horn cores may have been intended to mimic or replace the missing sheaths, although in its fragmentary state we cannot tell if this extended over the entire horns. The size and texture of the horn cores suggest that the animal was a mature female.

Next to the bucranium in Building 45 was another, more unusual dismantled installation: a modified boar skull (10058). It consists of the posterior cranium in articulation with the modified mandible (see Fig. 43). The skull was in poor condition, which may indicate that at one point it had been covered in plaster, although there are currently no traces of this. Only the back of the cranium was found, and we believe that the rostrum was missing prior to placement of the skull. The mandible was more complete, but its anterior cheek teeth had been deliberately removed, and it appears that the animal's upper canines had been removed from the maxilla and inserted into the empty mandibular canine sockets. In addition, a concentration of grass phytoliths was identified on top of and posterior to both third mandibular molars.

Space 226
Unit (8880) is a cluster of large fragments of a cattle skull and horns. These appear to be the prehistorically broken and somewhat weathered pieces of a single skull with horns, lying next to and extending under a wall adjacent to Building 45. The horns do not seem especially large and may be female. There is no indication that this is a ritual deposit. It may be butchery waste or a deposit of feasting remains.

Space 100
While we have not completely recorded this material, we note a dramatic spread of apparent feasting remains and dismantled installations on the floor and in the lower fill of Space 100. This includes seven cattle horn cores, numerous large pieces of various cattle body parts, and the back of an equid skull. Two of the horn cores are from immature animals and have no special treatment. The other five are from large, probably male, wild-size cattle (see Fig. 15). These horn cores all seem to be coated in plaster, as opposed to the bucrania found by Mellaart, which have a modeled plaster head and untreated horns, at least as reconstructed. However, as noted above, the only such object yet found in the new excavations also appears to have plastered horns. The clay heads with cattle horns from Mellaart's excavations all derived from Levels VI and VII (Mellaart 1962, Mellaart 1963, Mellaart 1964, Mellaart 1966, Mellaart 1967, Russell and Meece in press), whereas these horns may be from Level V and the bucranium in Building 45 is fairly surely Level V. Perhaps there was a change in bucranium manufacture between these levels. In 1996 a poorly preserved set of cattle horns with connecting skull from Building 1 also seemed to be coated with plaster, but it was not certain that the ‘plaster' in that case was not simply a postdepositional accumulation of salts. While we await further testing, the plaster on at least some of the horn cores in Space 100 was clearly not salt accumulations but had been applied deliberately. In one case the plaster coating extended beyond the broken end of the horn core. Since the plaster lies directly against the horn core, it seems that these horn cores were displayed without their sheaths, which the plaster may have been designed to replace.

Part of a deposit underlying the western end of Space 100 was excavated this season (units (7954) and (7957). Although it is incomplete and its contextual associations unclear, we report on it here since the plans for coming seasons mean that the rest is unlikely to be excavated in the near future. It is possible that this was a foundation deposit for Space 100, although interpretation is difficult at the moment. The animal bone assemblage does not fit the categories we have found elsewhere on the site. It is a rich deposit, but differs from both midden and feasting deposits. While sheep/goat predominates, there is a remarkably wide range of taxa for what is so far a fairly small assemblage. This includes the remains of at least three different species of birds, large amounts of eggshell and fish bone, as well as equid, pig, deer, and dog. Cattle bone is present but only in small quantities. There is also quite a bit of antler, some turtle shell, and a hedgehog bone. At least two and probably three juvenile sheep and at least one perinatal sheep/goat are represented. These caprine bones come mostly from the right sides of these animals, which might reflect patterned meat distribution. The body part representation is spread fairly evenly through the body. The surface condition of the bone is very fresh, indicating rapid deposition and burial. Fragmentation is less than usual for daily meals. This would seem to be the concentrated remains of a special meal or closely spaced series of special meals.

South Area

Since all excavations in the South/South Summit area were fast-track (no sieving or flotation) this season, we have recorded only tools and special deposits in this area. The special deposits come from Building 44 and Space 112.

Building 44
In Building. 44, a large piece of antler lay between an oven and a platform in the southeast corner of the building. This building was partially excavated in 1996 and 1997, then opened again last year. As a result of this, and perhaps also destruction as part of the abandonment process and rebuilding of the subsequent house a very short distance above this floor, both the platform and the area with the antler were rather disturbed. The antler itself had been exposed last summer and perhaps in 1997 as well, and had deteriorated considerably in the interim. So the nature of the antler piece itself and its precise relation to the oven and platform, and the whole or nearly whole pots nearby, are not entirely clear. It is a large segment of antler beam (21 cm long, probably the full original length). There is no definite evidence of working, but it could be raw material or waste from tool manufacture. Under the southwest platform in this building, the rest of the commemorative deposit partially excavated last year was recovered. Four more astragali and a bone spatula were added to the collection of astragali with a wolf paw found here last year. No pit was apparent, rather these items (and a rock crystal, mini-pot, and grindstone fragment) seem to have been placed in a pocket in the fill or make-up deposit below the platform, all of it disturbed by animal burrows.

Space 112
Two or perhaps three special deposits were recovered in and around Space 112 (Level VII). A goat frontlet (small stub of the left horn core, several centimeters of the right horn core and connecting skull) was found in a niche in the western wall of this room. It is likely to have been deliberately placed when the niche was carefully filled (see Düring this report), but since the niche was only 1-2 cm above the floor, it is possible that it was inadvertently kicked in around the time of abandonment. The animal was immature and we could not reconstruct the complete basal circumference, so while the horn is fairly large, the domestication status cannot be assessed. The back edge of the frontal bone has been broken off quite neatly, so it is possible this was displayed as a trophy or installation at an earlier time, but there is no other evidence for this.

A special deposit was recovered from a narrow (ca. 10 cm.) space between the north wall of Space 112 and the wall of the building to its north. This deposit consisted of two cattle scapulae, nearly complete, jammed side by side with the articular ends together. They would have to have been carefully placed and probably deliberately trimmed to fit in this space. The deposit also included a clay ball concentration but no other major bones. This would appear to be a commemorative deposit rather than the simple disposal of feasting remains. The two scapulae are nearly full length, but parts of the blades and the spine of one scapula has been carefully knocked off with multiple blows. One is from the right side, the other from the left, but they are not from the same animal as they differ in size. In fact, comparing the measurements to those of other cattle analyzed previously (Russell and Martin in press), they probably derive from a male and a female animal. Despite having been partially exposed on the surface for at least two years prior to excavation, they are very well preserved, and must have been deposited when quite fresh.

Finally, the most dramatic special deposit in the South area is an intact lamb placed in a human burial in Space 112 (F.1702). An adult male human was covered with some material that left a brown layer with possible phytoliths; this brown covering ran under the lamb burial to the north of the human in the same pit. The animal's second molars have not yet erupted, and the first molars have just come into wear, making the lamb 6-12 months old at death, probably just over six months. It was fully articulated and completely intact: it was therefore buried intact and fully fleshed. It was placed in an odd position (see Fig. 58). It lay on its left side, but its legs were held up while the pit was filled, so that the front legs extended straight up, and the hind legs extended up and back at a roughly 45° angle. Had the legs not been held in place while the burial was filled, they would have fallen next to the lamb and perhaps touched or lain across the human body. The lamb was placed with its head at the opposite end of the burial from the human's head, and with its back against the north edge of the pit. Not only is this the first animal known to have been buried with a human at Çatalhöyük, it is the first true animal burial discovered at the site. There have been some complete skeletons of animals, but none of these have been buried in pits, and certainly none have been buried in pits in houses as humans were. There is an ambivalence reflected in this burial, as the lamb was carefully included with the human body (and the pit dug large enough to accommodate both), but also carefully separated by the covering and through holding its legs so they would not be in contact with the human body. Moreover, subsequent burials in this area carefully avoided the part of the pit containing the lamb.

Later Prehistoric Periods: Preliminary Summary

Last year we noted that there were hints of differences between the faunal assemblages of the later periods (Level V and above) and those of Levels VI and below. We can now take a first look at faunal patterning in these later levels, although we should stress that the amount of bone recorded is still relatively small and these results are subject to revision as work progresses. In addition, the range of context types and areas is limited, (some Level V material comes from the South Summit but most of it is from the 4040 Area; Level IV material is from the former Summit Area; and Levels III-I are from the TP Area) so we may in part be seeing contextual rather than temporal variation. However, we have recorded midden deposits from all these levels, and middens tend to have the broadest representation of dietary remains. One final caveat: particularly for Levels IV and up, there is some possibility of contamination from Hellenistic deposits, although we have limited our analysis to units believed to be secure Neolithic contexts.

For the moment, we limit ourselves to a consideration of proportions of identified taxa, based on diagnostic zones (Watson 1979). We have lumped Levels III-I, both because of small sample sizes and because it is difficult at this point to assign units to individual levels within this grouping, as the pottery is not diagnostic. In the combined Levels III-I we have more than 200 diagnostic zones from each of the stratigraphic entities discussed (see Table 9). Our impression last year that sheep/goat percentages are higher in these levels than in earlier ones has been borne out. (Caprine proportions are also high on the Chalcolithic West Mound.) Interestingly, at least with our current samples sheep/goat does not show a steady increase through time, but is actually highest in Level V. In all levels sheep/goat and cattle together account for over 90% of the identified mammals. In an aggregate of Levels VI and below, sheep/goat constitute 63% of diagnostic zones, and the proportion of sheep/goat is fairly constant through all levels with reasonable sample sizes. It thus appears that hunting decreases in importance in the later levels. Sheep/goat ratios based on diagnostic zones are 11:1 for Level V, 10:1 for Level IV, and 6:1 for Levels III-I. These are comparable to those for earlier levels, which vary from 5:1 to 11:1, so there is no obvious shift in this aspect of herding strategies.

Table 9: Identified Taxa from Later Levels by Diagnostic Zones

Conclusion

A full picture of the faunal patterning in the later prehistoric levels of Çatalhöyük must await the recording of larger samples and broader analyses. In the meantime, current results indicate that sheep and goat become proportionally more frequent from Level V on (or hunting becomes less important). Cattle are less frequent in these later levels, although Level IV is an exception.

Dismantled installations and special deposits of feasting remains continue at least through Level V, and commemorative deposits have been found in Levels IV and III-I. Level V has also yielded the first bucranium with plastered head and inset horns from the new excavations. In a new twist, both these horns and others that appear to be the remains of dismantled installations had the sheaths removed and the horn cores covered with plaster. Perhaps the horn sheaths were used in some other context. Animals and meat clearly continue to have strong symbolic value in the later levels. In the future, with larger samples, we can explore whether the nature of this symbolism shifts through time.

Meanwhile, in the 2004 season at Çatalhöyük we have detected a new pattern in commemorative deposits. In two finds from Levels VII and V, paired elements from cattle of different sizes (possibly a male and a female) have been deposited together. This may reflect a particular type of ritual centered on paired animals. We have also identified a completely new type of special deposit, an intact animal in a human grave.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the other members of the East Mound zooarchaeology team for their hard and skillful work in 2004: Banu Aydinoglugil, Claire Christensen, Rebecca Daly, and Rhiannon Mayon White.

Microfauna Report – Emma Jenkins

The main development in the 2004 season was the welcome addition of Rhiannon Mayon-White to the bone team who will be analysing the amphibians and reptiles. Work was focused on selecting and sorting samples for export from both this season as well as from the 2002, and 2003 seasons. In addition, samples were chosen for export from the BACH area because, to date, few samples have been studied from this area. Priority units were scanned to give ‘on site' feed back to the excavators. The samples scanned did not represent any unusual accumulations, as has been seen in the past at Catalhoyuk, and appeared largely characteristic of natural death accumulations of the microfauna that lived in and around the site. Remains of house mice (Mus musculus), cricetids and fish were found in the samples analysed.

Worked Bone - Rebecca Daly

During the 2004 season I recorded 199 worked bone items, both from backlog and from current excavation. This brings the total of recorded worked bone items to 1241: these are broken down by type for both the current season and overall in Table 1. The worked bone found up to 1999 is discussed in the excavation volumes (Russell, in press), and that found up to 2003 is discussed in previous archive reports, so I will not go into great detail here, instead concentrating on new information. The usual faunal information was recorded for each of the tools (although modification often makes identification difficult by removing diagnostic characters). In addition to noting morphological data, the tools were examined for microwear under a binocular light microscope at magnifications 25-150X.

Tool Types

The worked bone items were mainly of types found in previous seasons, but some new types were found: a ‘flute' and a different type of needle, as well as a large premaxillary hook. Points continued to be the dominant type, accounting for 95 (or 48%) of the total worked bone items, followed in importance by beads at 21 (or 11%), and needles at 18 (or 9%). All types found at Çatalhöyük are listed in Table 10. Of those, only eight will be discussed below, as they provided new information. These are: Points, Needles, Collars, Ornaments, Preform/Waste, Hooks, Flute and Pressure Flakers.

Point
Points accounted for just under half (48%) of the assemblage analyzed this year, continuing the trend from previous years. Points made with heavily abraded distal metapodials were very common in secured contexts in the 4040 Area but also appeared elsewhere, indicating that they are indeed beginning to appear before the Chalcolithic period, as Russell speculated in the archive report for 2003. In addition to the previous use-wear patterns that have been reported, there was clear evidence for use as a perforator on suede on several of the points.

Needles
Three examples of a new type of needle were found. This needle type is more similar in appearance to the modern conception of a needle than to the classic Çatalhöyük wide flat needles (which were also found this season). These new needles were found in the 4040 Area in one of the possible (Level V?) road areas: there was a lot of evidence for animal burrows, and it is not impossible (indeed, it seems likely) that they are post-Neolithic in date.

Figure 70: Items 8864.F3 (above), long thin needle and 10801.F1 (below) typical Çatalhöyük style needle.

Ornament
Only one ornament (10818.X1) was found this season, but it was striking both in manufacture and in probable intent. It was found in an arbitrary layer of fill in Space 112, and had been made from a highly digested chip of proximal, medial, posterior metatarsal. The chip was bidirectionally perforated and had a shallow, curving cut made on both faces. It was then suspended by wrapping through the perforation and around a slightly narrower neck-like area. The entire item is very similar in appearance to a medium/large carnivore claw: this resemblance is probably the reason why a digested piece was worked at all.

Figure 71: Item 10818.X1, digested and worked ornament.

Preform/Waste
One of the perform/waste items (7468. F256) was unusual enough to mention. It showed grooving or cutting around the circumference of a long bone shaft that was not inconsistent with the use of a string saw. Unfortunately, the piece was sufficiently weathered to make a conclusive determination impossible.

Figure 72. Item 7468.F256, preform with cutmarks not inconsistent with string saw use

Collar
Only one collar had been found by the new excavations until this year, when parts of five were discovered (10829.F1, 10829.F2, 10829.X1, 10829.X2, 10829.X3). Three of these (10829.F1, 10829.X1, and 10829.X2) were nearly or totally complete, and the other two fragmentary: all five came from a single burial (skeleton (10829), cut (10832), fill (10833), F.1710) in Space 112, at Mellaart's Level VII. These collars were made of boar's tusk which had been extensively shaped and polished before being perforated at both ends and decoratively incised on the front. The wear indicates that they could have been sewed onto clothing as well as /instead of suspended, but is not conclusive ether way. They were mixed in with the ribs of the adult female skeleton (which was fairly well articulated), and thus appear to have been worn on the chest.

Figure 73: Items 10829.X1 (left) and 10829.F1 (right).

Hook
A burial feature F.1709 (skeleton (10813), cut (10830), fill (10831), also in Space 112, produced a large and unusual item that is being described as a belt hook(see Fig. 59), although no eye was found with it (10813.X1). This was made by shaping and perforating (through bidirectional cutting and not drilling) the caudal end of an otherwise unmodified left aurochs premaxilla. It is strikingly similar to the item described by Mellaart (1962) as being “carved in the form of a stork's head” (plate VI). It was located near the waist region of the adult male skeleton, which was articulated.

Figure 74: Item 10813.X1: Hook made from relatively unmodified premaxilla.

Figure 75: Mellaart 1962 Plate VI. Premaxilla perforated and shaped on the caudal end similar to
10813.X1.

Pressure Flaker
Two antler items were described as pressure flakers. The first (10835.X6) was found in the same burial that produced the premaxilla hook (F.1709), as part of a cluster (10835) of five flint pieces that was apparently encased in a phytolith, as though the entire cluster had been in a bag (see Fig 60). The juxtaposition of the antler tool with this apparent flint toolkit combined with its shape suggest that it was intended for use as a pressure flaker even though no traces of use as such were visible. The second (11315.X10) was also found in a burial (10499), fill (11315), and also in conjunction with a cluster of obsidian and flint that may have been a toolkit. This item too showed no signs of use as a pressure flaker but did show signs of contact with organic material. Interestingly, both items appear to have been deliberately worked roughly, leaving the original surface texture and clear tool marks as though the appearance of being made from antler was important.

Flute
Item 10840.X1, a worked large bird ulna (most likely heron), was found on the chest of the skeleton of an adult (10840), fill (10842) in Space 112 (see Fig 57. The burial was sprinkled heavily with ochre, and included not only the individual but also an articulated lamb, both of which had been wrapped in a fibrous material. Both articular ends were removed from the ulna and the remaining shaft was highly polished both along the length and on the new ends. These new ends were especially polished, but there was no sign of wear within the shaft, and the polish was clearly not the result of suspension. The hollow shaft was therefore not suspended. It is possible that the high polish on the ends and the slightly higher polish on the shaft where a hand might grasp it if holding it to the face indicate that it was used as some sort of musical instrument, a basic flute-type, but experimentation should be done to determine if noise can be produced in that way from a heron ulna. The item is currently classed as indeterminate, but hopefully can be assigned to its own

Discussion

While many of the tools found during the 2004 season are types previously recorded, more types continue to appear. These new types came from unusual contexts, either from graves (as with the flute and premaxillary hook) or from slightly problematic near surface deposits (thin needles). Continued excavation and the exploration of more graves with grave goods should help to determine more about the former types, including their unique/common status and their date ranges. The near surface needles are more problematic. These came from units in the 4040 Area where there were indications of both later activity (especially burials) and animal burrows, and may be post-Neolithic instead of genuine Neolithic types. Continued excavation should help clarify whether these needles are Neolithic or later in date, and if they are Neolithic, whether they are limited in time and/or location.

Table 10: Type representation for both 2004 items and all worked bone items