ÇATALHÖYÜK 2005 ARCHIVE REPORT

CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MATERIALS REPORTS

Microfauna

Rhian Mayon-White

University College London

Abstract

Microfauna offers a rare insight into the past, especially concerning how humans interacted with their environment.  When compared to the macrofauna, the microfauna of Çatalhöyük are not only more sensitive to any changes and variations within the environment (Evans and O’Connor 1999), but also have a greater chance of being over-looked by even the most industrious of pre-historic cleaners.  Their presence and distribution is, therefore, of particular interest to those trying to reconstruct the settlement and its people.

Microfaunal material was removed from the 1mm, 2mm and 4mm fractions of the heavy residue during the 2005 season at Çatalhöyük.  This microfaunal material encompasses amphibian, reptilian and micro-mammalian remains, which were subsequently exported to University College London for further study.  In total 254 bags were exported, each representing a separate unit.  Nearly half of these units were derived from the BACH excavation, some representing the 4mm fraction of microfaunal material exported in 2004.  The remaining units came from the excavation areas of South, West, 4040, and TP, and all represent priority units.

Özet

Küçük hayvan kalıntıları, insanların yaşadıkları çevreyle olan ilişkileri hakkında önemli bilgiler sunar. Büyük hayvanlar ile karşılaştırıldığında, Çatalhöyük’deki küçük hayvanlar hem yaşadıkları çevredeki değişiklerden çok fazla etkilenmişlerdir (Evans and O’Connor 1999) hem de prehistorik temizlikçiler tarafından görmemezlikten gelinmişlerdir. Bu sebeple küçük hayvanların dağılımları, Çatalhöyük’deki halkın ve yerleşmenin yapılanması ile ilgilenen kişilerin ilgisini çekmektedir.

Küçük hayvan malzemesi, 2005 sezonundaki kaba kalıntının 1mm, 2mm ve 4 mm’lik kesimlerinden alınmıştır. Bu malzeme, hem karada hem suda yaşayan hayvan, sürüngen ve küçük-memeli hayvan kalıntılarını içerir ve daha ayrıntılı bir çalışma için University College London’a getirilmiştir. 254 adet poşet halinde transfer edilen malzemenin her biri ayrı bir birimden gelmektedir. Yarısı BACH kazısından çıkarılan birimlerin bazıları, 2004 yılında toplanan küçük hayvan malzemesinin 4 mm’lik bir kesimini simgelemektedir. Diğer birimler ise Güney Alanı, Batı, 4040 ve TP’ den toplanmışlardır ve hepsi öncelikli birimlerdir.

Aims

The microfaunal material will provide invaluable information concerning the environment, the taphonomy of the site, and the perceptions and behaviours of the people.

Microfaunal bones are small, fragile and relatively light-weight, even during life, which makes them prone to modification.  The fragmentation and surface condition of the bones, in particular, are useful taphonomic indicators.  Such aspects can be used to differentiate between the taphonomic agencies, such as humans and water, as well as identify the potential predators and scavengers (Andrews 1990, Avery 2002).  This becomes more important when considering primary deposition, i.e. where the animal actually died and, therefore, where they lived, as opposed to secondary or tertiary deposition, i.e. where its remains ended-up by the time of excavation.  This may identify intrusive material, mainly caused by the burrowing action of many microfaunal animals, which could have a significant impact on the interpretation of the site.

Once the taphonomy and stratigraphy are clarified, the identication of the species present can provide a wealth of environmental information - even if the bones can only be identified down to family (Montuire 1999).  Changes in the number of species (Fleming 1973, Andrews and O’Brien 2000), their presence or absence (Davis 1987) and their relative population sizes (Montuire 1999, Montuire et al. 1997) will be used to determine and clarify the proposed environmental change from wet to arid conditions within the life-time of the settlement.  Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the microfauna within each time period will be investigated using GIS.  This information may be used to directly reflect the human use of space.  Concentrations, for example, may identify midden areas or abandonment, and may even reflect the tolerance that humans exhibited towards the different microfaunal populations.

Conclusion

Microfaunal research is still developing, and its potential has still to be fully realised.  In the case of Çatalhöyük, the information that will be gained by microfaunal investigations encompasses not only the environmental and structural aspects of the site, but may also delve into the very minds of the people who lived there.

Bibliography

Andrews, P. 1990. Owls, Caves and Fossils. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Andrews, P. and O’Brien, E. 2000. Climate, vegetation, and predictable gradients in mammal species richness in southern Africa, Journal of Zoology 251: 205-231.

Avery, D. M. 2001. The Plio-Pleistocene vegetation and climate of Sterkfonktein and Swartkrans, South Africa, based on micromammals, Journal of Human Evolution 41: 113-132.

Davis, S. J. M. 1987. The Archaeology of Animals. London: Routledge.

Evans, J. and O’Connor, T. 1999. Environmental Archaeology: Principles and Methods.  Phoenix Mill: Sutton Publishing Limited.

Flemming, T. H. 1973. Numbers of Mammal Species in North and Central American Forest Communities, Ecology 54: 555-563.

Montuire, S. 1999. Mammalian Faunas as Indicators of Environmental and Climatic Changes in Spain during the Pliocene-Quaternary Transition, Quaternary Research 52: 129-137.

Montuire, S., Michaux, J., Lengendre, S. and Aguilar, J. P. 1997. Rodents and climate. A model for estimating past temperatures using arvicolids (Mammalia: Rodentia),  Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 128: 187-206.