ÇATALHÖYÜK 2004 ARCHIVE REPORT

CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MATERIALS REPORTS

Micromorphology: investigation of Neolithic social and ecological strategies at seasonal, annual and life-cycle timescales

Wendy Matthews 1 , Lisa-Marie Shillito 1+2 and Matthew Almond 2

1. Department of Archaeology, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, The University of Reading
2. School of Chemistry, The University of Reading

Abstract

The aim in the new five-year phase of micromorphological research is to investigate seasonal, annual and longer-term cycles and changes in social and ecological strategies at Çatalhöyük, through analysis of the remarkably finely stratified sequences of sediments and biological and micro-artefactual remains in buildings and middens. This will contribute to the study of intra and inter-household relationships and specialisation in different ‘neighbourhoods' of a large early agricultural community during more than 1000 years of sustainable occupation from 7,400 BC to 6,200 BC. To these ends, in 2004, more than 50 micromorphological samples were collected from key oven and hearth areas and platforms within buildings, and one of the first streets and open areas at the site. Sequences in Middens were studied by Lisa-Marie Shillito in conjunction with phytolith analysis.

A new programme of microanalytical research in collaboration with the School of Chemistry, will enable high-precision analysis of the elemental and mineralogical composition of the fine plasters and and micro-residues, and study of their social and palaeocological significance. The change to use of more oxidised coarser sediments for many plasters and mud bricks in later levels, particularly from Level VII and V, raises significant questions about palaeoenvironmental and climatic change, with the possibility of periodic sudden and heavy droughts from 6,500-100 BC (Kuzucuoğlu 2002, 36), as well as access to specific materials and areas of the landscape by different sectors of the community and households. Access is likely to have been related to wider social and economic networks.

 

Özet

Önümüzdeki beş yılı kapsayacak olan miromorfoloji araştırma projesinin amacı; bina içlerinden ve çöplük dolgularından alınan ve biyolojik ve mikro malzemenin gözlemlendiği, ince tabakalar halinde dizilmiş toprak örneklerinin analizi yoluyla, Çatalhöyük'ün sosyal ve ekolojik stratejilerindeki   mevsimlik, yıllık ve uzun dönem devinimlerin ve değişimlerin araştırılmasıdır. Bu çalışma, yaklaşık bin yıllık bir süreç içinde (M.Ö. 7400 ile M.Ö. 6200 yılları arasında) ev içi ve evlerarası ilişkileri ve geniş erken tarım topluluklarındaki farklı ‘komşuluklar' arasındaki uzmanlaşmayı anlamamıza katkıda bulunacaktır. Bu amaca yönelik olarak 2004 yılında, 50'den fazla mikromorfoloji örneği ocak ve ateş yakılan alanlardan ve bina içlerindeki platformlardan, ve ilk sokak alanlarından birinden ve yerleşimdeki diğer açık alanlardan alınmıştır. Çöplük tabakaları, fitolit analizleri yoluyla Lisa-Marie Shilito tarafından çalışılmıştır.

 

Issues and aims

Çatalhöyük is remarkable not only for the complexity of its art and architecture, but also for the high-resolution history of individual households that is documented by the frequency with which buildings were re-plastered. Many floors were replastered more than 30-50 times, and walls more than 50-450 times during the 50-100 year life-time of the buildings at Çatalöyük. Micro-residues from activities and soot sealed between these layers have been separated into much finer resolutions of time than those preserved in buildings at many other sites, where there may be only c.1-3, and more rarely 20, layers of plasters on floors. The remarkable frequency of floors and lenses of activity residues is enabling study of continuity and change in social and ecological practices at c. monthly, seasonal, annual and longer-term cycles during the life-time of individual households (Matthews 1998; Matthews in press). It also enables comparative study of the changing specialisations within individual households and of relationships in the extensive ‘neighbourhoods' investigated in the new phase of excavations.

The first phase of excavations and palaeocological research from 1995-9 raised a series of questions relating to how individual households coped not only with the wide range of tasks in the summer months as the harvest of cereals and wild fruits and nuts ripened, but with the possibility of sudden and heavy droughts from 6,500 BC (Fairbairn (b) et al in press; Kuzucuoğlu 2002, 36). The nature and timing of precipitation and human scheduling and inter-relationships would have been critical in the Neolithic settlement of Çatalhöyük, as in many hunter-gatherer and agricultural and pastoral communities (Kuzuçuoğlu 2002 and following discussion).

One of the principal aims in the new phase of micromorphological investigations is to study the social and ecological strategies of individual households and neighbourhoods and the intersection of these strategies with ritual practice and cycles of burials, plastering and paintings and sculpture, in the high-resolution microstratigraphic sequences within buildings. The sequence of discard in adjacent middens and streets will also be studied, in particular by Lisa-Marie Shillito as part of her PhD at The University of Reading. Experimental and ethnoarchaeological research is also being conducted as part of these overall aims.

2004 Season

There were three objectives within this overall aim in the micromorphological investigations in 2004. In summary these were to analyse:

microstratigraphic sequences within the buildings in the extensive North Area 4040, adjacent to Buildings 1,3, and 5 already studied, to examine c. seasonal to annual and longer term variation in resources used for plaster, food, fuel, specialist craft activities and ritual, within individual households in a whole ‘neighbourhood' natural and human deposition in streets and open areas, as well as middens adjacent to these buildings to study discard patterns and to investigate seasonality and microenvironment the deep sequence of buildings and middens in the South Area to study long term sustainability and continuity and change in use of resources, social organisation and elaborate art and ritual in one of the largest Neolithic settlements in the world.

Micromorphological samples are also being analysed from the contemporary and earlier rockshelter site of Pinarbaşı and later Chalcolithic settlement on the West Mound at Çatalhöyük in the Konya Plain, and from the earlier large Aceramic-Ceramic Neolithic settlements at Aşıklı Hoyuk and Musular and the obsidian workshop site at Kaletepe 100km to the east in the foothills of Cappadocia, with the kind permission of the Project Directors. These samples are enabling investigation of local, regional and temporal variation in social and ecological strategies and ritual practice.

Methodology
Micromorphology
Many of the plasters and lenses of occupation residues at Çatalhöyük are less than 1-5 mm thick, and in some cases less than 0.012-0.2 mm thick. The sequence and composition of these layers are identifiable microscopically in large resin-impregnated thin-sections, 14 x 6.7 cm, 30 microns thick. The technique of micromorphology was first developed in Soil Science, and has been adapted to the study of archaeological sediments and soils since the late 1970's (Courty et al 1989). In 2004, more than 50 small blocks of sediment were cut from field sections. These will be impregnated with resin and cut, ground and polished into large thin-sections in the new Micromorphology Laboratory at The School of Human and Environmental Sciences, The University of Reading, using a new Brot fixed-diamond oil-cooled grinder-polisher. They will be analysed using a range of light and analytical microscopy techniques including infra-red microscopy, SEM EDX and Image Analysis, by a team which includes Matthew Almond (Chemistry), Karl Harrison (Archaeology; Harrison this web-site), Wendy Matthews (Archaeology), Lisa-Marie Shillito and Joanne Wiles (Chemistry and Archaeology).

Field analysis and sampling
This year, in 2004, microstratigraphic sequences were analysed and sampled using a range of strategies that were aligned with the new Project excavation strategies for variable intensity and speed in excavation, sampling and recording procedures. ‘Fast-track' strategies were applied to buildings or open areas that lie close to the surface of the mound or were partially excavated by Mellaart, for example. Intensive strategies were targeted at complete, well-preserved buildings.

Micromorphological sampling proved well-suited to ‘fast-track' excavation strategies. It was possible to extract rapidly samples from a range of exposed stratigraphic sequences, for targeted issues. The opportunities for rapid sampling included:major field-sections at the edge of the excavation area, including the open area and midden sequences in the western field section of Space 226, North Area 4040.

temporary section faces exposed routinely during the progress of ongoing excavation, including burnt room fill in Building 45, and building debris surrounding the horn cores in Space 100, North Area 4040.

field-sections at the edge of investigative soundings, as in Area TP microstratigraphic sequences exposed at the edge of Byzantine graves, as in the study of the floors in Building 45 and street deposits in North Area 4040 sequences of floors within buildings exposed prior to excavation at the edge of Neolithic graves, post-retrieval pits, and other features or truncations that had been cut during the dismantling or closure of buildings at the end of their life-cycle, as well as animal burrows, particularly in buildings close to the surface. There are a remarkable number of these ‘windows' in almost all buildings at Çatalhöyük, often at less than 1-2 metre intervals across the floors, within the major spatial areas and boundaries in buildings. Examples of this sampling in 2004 included Building 45 Space 228; Space 100 and Space 229.

All of these exposed sequences provide a wealth of detail on microstratigraphic histories and of opportunities for sampling. Considerable contextual knowledge is available at the time of sampling in the field, from the overall plan of the building and the location of ovens, platforms etc evident at these particular points in the excavation process. A considerable integrated field and microscopic digital databank and reference collection on types of floor and deposits is also available from the first five year's of excavation. This is currently being updated and upgraded.

In each of these areas, microstratigraphic sequences were quickly cleaned with a sharp artist's triangular palette ‘knife' to enhance the number of layers and details of components visible. The sequences were then digitally photographed, in a level plane where possible, and the sample three-dimensionally recorded. Major field sections were drawn as part of the excavation recording process, and sample locations marked onto these. Small blocks of sediment 14 x 7. x 8 cm were cut from these sections, for resin-impregnation and preparation of large-format thin-sections, as discussed above.

Immediate feedback to the excavators and other specialists was provided in the field and in discussion of digital photomicrographs from comparative sequences from the first two phases of the Çatalhöyük research Project. Preliminary microscopic analysis of sediments was conducted at magnifications of up to x80, using a large-field transmitted light adaptor on a Leica MZ8 stereo-binocular microscope. Higher magnification, however, is urgently needed for future seasons for analysis of sediments and biological and microartefactual remains in smears on glass slides in all future seasons, as in previous seasons. A transmitted light polarising microscope with magnifications of x 20, 40, 100, 200, 400, and 1000 would be of great benefit to a range of analysts including those studying conservation of materials, phytoliths, pollen, and rock, ceramic and soil thin-sections, as many of these are simply not visible at lower magnifications.

Social and ecological cycles in the ‘neighbourhood' of the North Area 4040.
Buildings
The extensive 40 x 40 metre area excavations of the larger-scale social geography of the settlement at Çatalhöyük in the North Area 4040 are enabling micromorphological analysis of the social and ecological strategies and ritual practice of individual households within this ‘neighbourhood', as well as comparative study with earlier and later households in the South Area.

The principal platforms, oven and hearth areas, and major divisions of space within three buildings were sampled for micromorphological analysis within the ‘fast-track' strategies outlined above; Building 45, Space 229 and Space 100. The central floors and a long oval fire-pit were also sampled from Space 237.

Microstratigraphic field observations of note are briefly summarised here, pending micromorphological analysis in large thin-sections.

A major change in activities from food cooking to cleaner and perhaps more ritual activities in the central western area of Space 229, is suggested by a pronounced change in the character of the floors and overlying residues in this area. The earliest half of this microstratigraphic sequence comprises a series of dark grey layers rich in charred plant remains and phytoliths, probably from oven and hearth rake-out. The last half of the sequence is characterised by very thin white silty clay plaster floors, that were kept very clean, and were probably overlain by floor coverings, such as a fine mat or dense material such as skin, or possibly felt. A perhaps similar change from more domestic to ritual activities was identified in the southern half of a building in a building exposed at the edge of Mellaart's excavations in Area A-E, Level VI/V in Field Section 3 where the south of the building changed from a domestic food preparation and cooking area, to a burial area (Matthews et al 1996, 319-20, Photo 15.1).

The floors in Space 229 are much thinner and finer than plaster floors in late levels of the South Area, in Building 44 and Building 42, in which the plastered skull and limestone figurine were found in Level V/IV (below). The mud brocks were sampled for micromorphological and mineralogical analysis by Burcu Tung.

The floor areas within Space 100 were constructed at a range of different heights, including platforms and a hearth area, and plastered with a range of plasters that mark spatial boundaries even within this comparatively small room, in these later levels. Micromorphological samples from these areas will contribute significantly to interpreting the nature of these spatially separate activities, through study of the types of floors, impact of activities on them, and the lenses of accumulated micro-residues.

The floors in Building 47, Space 237 were quite frequently coated in silty clay to silty loam plaster c. 5-10mm thick. The deposits in this area were heavily disturbed by root and insect activities as well as reprecipitation of salts.

End-life of Buildings
Two buildings with quite different end-lives were sampled.

Building 45 was at least partially destroyed by fire, the seat of which appears to have been in the Western half of the building. Samples were collected from a range of different burnt building materials in order to study temperature gradients and the origin and nature of the fire that had destroyed the western part of the building, in particular. Samples included burnt mud brick, plaster and several charred beams of coniferous wood, which were also sampled for dendrochronological dating.

In Space 100 large cattle horn cores had been dismantled/placed in debris close to the floor level. Micromorphological samples were collected to sample the building-fill surrounding these horn cores, which included aggregates of building material and plaster, as well as floors and a dark lens of occupation deposits form the latest use/closure of the building.

Fill within the space with unusual rounded-corners and plastered walls was also sampled, to contribute to interpretation of the end-life of this unusually shaped space, in the 4040 Area.

Natural and human agency in streets, open areas and middens in the Area 4040

Excavations in the extensive 4040 area are also enabling investigation of one of the few streets and open/courtyard areas currently known at Çatalhöyük. Preliminary micromorphology samples were collected from these areas, prior to more intensive sampling in Summer 2005 by Lisa-Marie-Shillito as part of her PhD research on integrated chemical and micromorphological analysis of organic remains and phytoliths in middens, at The University of Reading, in the Departments of Chemistry and Archaeology.

Street
The better-preserved lower sequences in this street were exposed in the edge of a large Byzantine grave, Feature F.1551, which had been cut through these sediments. These deposits have not yet been excavated and linked to walls in plan. The deposits include fine grey lenses of accumulated deposits with periodic discrete patches of burning and scorching. These particular thin lenses have not been heavily trampled and homogenised by reworking into underlying deposits in very wet-conditions, in contrast to some street deposits analysed in other sites in semi-arid regions, with thick trampled and reworked deposits (Matthews and Postgate 1994). Some thicker layers may prove in thin-section to be layers of dumped packing or more heavily trampled deposits. With the exception of these possible packing layers, few deliberately prepared surfaces appear (in the field) to have been laid in this area, in contrast to the multiple layers of clean pebble surfaces that were laid in a street at Asikli Hoyuk (Matthews 1998). The lenses and deposits slope downhill to the east at an angle of c. 7 degrees.

Open area
In the large irregular trapezoidal open area in Space 226, between two buildings, there is a marked spatial, and partly temporal, variation in deposits.

Deposits in the north-west area, are more sediment-rich, comprising compacted pale grey and pale brown silty clay layers, often with finely fragmented charred plant remains, that had been quite heavily trampled.

By contrast, deposits adjacent to the southern wall, as well as between two buildings in the western field-section, are very dark grey in colour and rich in well-preserved charred plant remains, phytoliths, ashes and bone that had not been compacted nor heavily trampled. These deposits are much more midden like in character. They accumulated periodically, and have banked up slightly against the wall faces of adjacent buildings.

Temporal variation in the South Area
The deep excavations in the South Area provide a remarkable opportunity for study of continuity and change in social and ecological strategies over more than one thousand years of sustainable occupation from 7,400-6,200 BC.

All of the micromorphological samples from buildings in the South Area were ‘fast-tracked' as they had been partially excavated by Mellaart, or were close to the surface of the mound. The buildings sampled include: Building 43 Space 236, Level VIII; Building 44; and Building 42, in which the plastered skull and limestone figurine were found, Level V/IV.

Oven and hearth areas
Microstratigraphic sequences in oven and hearth areas were prioritised for sampling and analysis, in order to examine seasonal, annual and longer-term continuities and changes in individual household strategies in:

food preparation and cooking fuel use, notably dung, tree (wood and leaf) and graminae (reeds and grasses) resources, which are preserved in thin-section as charred remains and phytoliths, ash or calcareous spherulites (derived from dung) craft production and specialisation, as micro-residues from these are most frequently found in lenses within oven and hearth rake-out within buildings, probably from floor sweepings

Plasters
Some floors and oven plasters in Building 44 had inclusions of fine rounded gravel, which are virtually absent in soft lime or ‘mud' plasters from earlier levels, and suggest a major change in selection of or access to source materials for plasters. Mellaart does note, however, that pebbles were laid as a base below fired-lime plaster floors in Levels XII-XI   (Mellaart 1966, 169 & Fig. 2), and in Shrine VIII.31 (Mellaart 1966, 181, pl. XLVI b) .

In the Level V/IV Building 42 where a plastered skull and a figurine were found, the floor plasters are c. 10 mm thick, and generally thicker than Level VI/V floors in the North Area. All edges and angles of platforms and benches were sharper, flatter and more even than buildings in the North Area, suggesting the plaster had been applied and smoothed using a different tool (s). Unfortunately no floors were sampled for micromorphology, as the building had been partially excavated by Mellaart, and was ‘fast-track'. A sample of white wall plaster was collected, in the hope that this may represent a more complete history of the building.

Wall plasters
Wall plaster was also sampled from Space 100. Wall plasters will be systematically sampled from each space and building, as they are a sensitive record of cycles of plastering, which are often linked to significant social and ritual events and also record cycles of indoor and outdoor cooking from the presence and absence of soot (Carsten and Hugh-Jones 1995, 38; Matthews 1998 and in press).

Area TP

The steeply sloping layers of grey silty clay-loam sediments and ash and charred rich lenses, on top of building debris were systematically sampled to determine the nature and rate of deposition. Some of the upper layers resembled collapsed roof deposits from Building 3, but the depth of the entire sequence resembles steeply sloping midden deposits. In thin-section we will examine whether there are any indicators of: wind and water-laid deposits in an unroofed area. The orientation and distribution of sediments within any in-situ water-laid crusts will indicate whether these layers originally formed on a flat horizontal roof, or in a steeply sloping midden.
plastered surfaces, as found on Building 3 roof
trampled surfaces and reworked deposits
discard patterns and seasonality in the phytoliths and other micro-residues

Midden areas
The purpose of midden sampling was twofold – firstly to investigate the pattern of discard and deposition activity and the possible seasonal signal this may record, and secondly to investigate the potential of combining phytolith analysis with thin section micromorphology to address a number of questions. The middens sampled in this season were chosen in order to gain an extensive temporal and spatial sequence in order to compare patterns in later levels with those already investigated in the early levels of the site. The samples collected from Area TP and 4040 will provide information on the latest occupation of the site, which will be contrasted with the information gained from the extensive lab study of the Deep Sounding and 1668 sections. These latter samples were studied at Reading (Shillito 2004 MSc Dissertation).

The results of this investigation revealed a number of deposit types within middens that can be attributed to different activities. For example ashy, phytolith rich deposits with higher percentages of charred plant remains can be attributed to hearth rake out and food processing remains, whereas deposits containing less than 5% charred plant remains and a higher frequency of plasters and minerals show an activity not directly related to domestic activities, perhaps building collapse debris. The cycle of activities and the frequency with which different activity types are represented in the midden can be related to everyday life at Çatalhöyük. Those types which occur more frequently show us what people were doing on a more daily basis, whereas less frequent deposits show less frequent activities which may have been more significant or had different meaning for the inhabitants.

Experimental research
A dung and grass fire was burned in the enclosed oven in the experimental house in order to determine patterns of smoke and soot deposition (Harrison this web-site) and study the charred, phytolith and ashed plant remains for comparative analysis of Neolithic oven and hearth fuel and rake-out.

WM was able to join a joint botanical and geological day-tour of the Çarşamaba river-catchment on 24 July, 2004, to sample sediments in the region and to study the distribution of cereals, wild graminaeae and juniper and oak trees within the catchment.

Conclusions and Future research
Excavations in 2004 have enabled study of more than 12 contemporary buildings, and comparison of neighbourhoods in different areas of the mound. Microstratigraphic and micromorphological analysis is enabling study of both remarkable of continuity and change in socio-cultural and ecological practices at ultra high-resolution timescales in the order of monthly, seasonal, annual and life-cycle timescales, within individual buildings.

The aim in the new five-year phase of micromorphological research is to examine cycles of sediments and biological and micro-artefactual remains in buildings and middens to study seasonal and longer-term cycles and changes in activity. This will contribute to the study of larger-scale intra and inter-household relationships different ‘neighbourhoods' and areas of the site, as well as through more than 1000 years of sustainable occupation from 7,400 BC to 6,200 BC. To these ends, in Summer 2004, more than 50 micromorphological samples were collected from key oven and hearth areas and platforms within buildings, and one of the first streets and open areas at the site.

Sequences in middens were studied by Lisa-Marie Shillito in conjunction with phytolith analysis, and will be analysed using a range of microanalytical techniques, as part of a new PhD studentship funded by The University of Reading Research Endowment Trust Fund and industry: CEMAS, in the School of Chemistry, jointly with the Department of Archaeology. Combining phytolith and thin section analysis has proved difficult, but there is definite potential. The possibility of identifying the plant types that are present in a single depositional layer, perhaps only a few mm thick, can be realised through high-resolution spot sampling and analysis of phytoltihs, which gives information on uncharred as well as the charred remains that are more easily visible in thin section. There is future potential for looking for burning signals using the refractive indices of phytoliths, and it is hoped to be more specific with the phytolith extractions by taking them from coprolite samples – combined with organic residue analysis, this could give a broad dietary spectrum for omnivore species, revealing both the meat and plant aspects of the diet. So as well as looking at the precise depositional context of such deposits we can give an accurate analysis of the species and possibly diet.

The change to use of more oxidised coarser sediments for many plasters and mud bricks in later levels, particularly from Level VII and V, raises significant questions about palaeoenvironmental and climatic change with the possibility of sudden and heavy drought from 6,500-100 BC (Kuzucuoğlu 2002, 36), as well as access to specific materials and areas of the landscape by different sectors of the community and households. Access is likely to have been related to wider social and economic networks. Elemental and mineralogical differences in microstratigraphic sequences of plasters will be determined using a range of microanalytical techniques to enable scientific analysis of spatial and temporal variation in materials, and their social and palaeocological significance. This research will be conducted by Joanne Wiles, in new PhD research, funded by a University of Reading Studentship Award to Joanne, jointly supervised in Chemistry and Archaeology by Matthew Almond and Wendy Matthews, developing methods and techniques piloted in the study of four spot samples of red ochre from Çatalhöyük (Mortimore et al 2004). This analysis identified the ochre as haematite, mixed with a soft lime with calcite and silicate (clay) minerals (Mortimore et al 2004, 1179).

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the Turkish General Directorate of Museums and Heritage and the Konya Museum for permission to export the small blocks of soil for micromorphological analysis and study microstratigraphic sequences at Çatalhöyük. We wish to thank Serena Love, a doctoral student at Stanford University for kindly agreeing to collect micromorphological samples during the last 10 days of the excavation. A NERC student travel grant supported travel to the site by Lisa-Marie Shillito to conduct independent research for her MSc Geoarchaeology Dissertation. We are very grateful to the Project Director, Ian Hodder, Site Director Shahina Farid, and all team members for the kind support given to this research.

We are also very grateful the following Project Directors for kind permission to study microstratigraphic sequences at other sites: Dr Douglas Baird and Professor Trevor Watkins at Pınarbşı, Dr John Last and Dr Catriona Gibson on the West Mound at Çatalhöyük; Professor Ufuk Esin at Aşıklı Höyük, Dr Mihriban Özbaşaran at Musular, and Dr Nur Balkan Atlı and Dr Didier Binder at Kaletepe.