HUMAN REMAINS

Başak Boz, Jim Gosman, Lori D. Hager, Simon Hillson, Tomasz Kozlowski,
Clark S. Larsen, and Marin Pilloud

The 2005 field season proved to be another exciting time for the human remains team.  In addition to the returning team members, we were joined this year by graduate student Jim Gosman and, for a short time, Professor Christopher Ruff.  We primarily concentrated on the ongoing fieldwork and laboratory analysis of the new skeletons from the site.  In addition, we continued our research on the previously excavated skeletons and we made significant progress on the human remains database. 

Over forty-five new Neolithic skeletons were recovered this season from three areas of excavation: the 4040, Team Poznan, and the South.  The newest area of excavation in the south by the Istanbul University team yielded isolated remains of Neolithic people but no intact burials.

The majority of the individuals recovered this field season were children.  Many neonates were found within close proximity to one another from rooms and/or spaces in the 4040.  Some of these neonates were in multiple burial contexts.  The large number of neonates recovered this season adds significantly to our sample of juveniles.  Our research on these children should yield interesting information on the burial context of juveniles and on the potential vulnerability of children at Çatalhöyük during the Neolithic.

In the Team Poznan area, several individuals from Neolithic times were found.  In Space 248, for example, a number of individuals were found scattered throughout the eastern portion of the space at its upper level (see Figure 21).  The space had been significantly disturbed by the excavations of pits by Late Roman/Byzantine people in the same area.  All of the Neolithic individuals recovered from the space had been disturbed in some manner.  Adults and children were represented in the skeletal materials.  One adult had suffered a fracture to the leg that had healed with a prodigious bony callus.  The individual clearly survived a broken leg in the Neolithic. One adult, possibly a female, was found with the top of her head in direct association with a cattle skull (bucranium) in the northwest corner of the space.  It is not common to find human skeletons in direct association with cattle skulls at Çatalhöyük. 

Figure 29. At least ten individuals (11608) had been buried in platform F.1344 in Building 44, South Area. Most of these individuals were adults.

The South Area was particularly interesting for our team this year due to the use and re-use of the east platform of Building 44 for human burials (Figure 29). At least ten individuals had been buried in this platform.  Most of these individuals were adults.  The individuals who had been placed into the burial pit early in the sequence were often disturbed when individuals from later Neolithic times were interred in the same pit. Sometimes the bones of the earlier individuals were significantly moved around, and at other times, only a small portion of the body was displaced.  The last, nearly intact individual in the pit was an adult female.  This individual probably represents the earliest burial in the east platform.  

Figure 30. One juvenile from the east platform in Building 44 had a splendid string of beads and animal teeth wound around its ankles. Preliminary analysis of the animal teeth suggests they may be from a badger, possibly from a single individual. Figure 31. Late Roman/Byzantine burial from the 4040 Area. Skeleton (12381) in burial F.2169 was that of an adult which was placed slightly on the right side in a clay lined oval cut.

Grave goods and/or personal belongings directly associated with burials were few this season.  One juvenile from the east platform of Building 44 had a splendid string of beads and animal teeth wound around its ankles (Figure 30).  Preliminary analysis of the animal teeth suggests they may be from a badger, possibly from a single individual. In Space 248 of Team Poznan, a series of small, multicolored beads were found in a distinct line, suggesting the beautifully crafted beads had been on a string.  These beads were found near an infant but they were not directly associated with any specific individual.

Additionally, seventeen Late Roman/Byzantine skeletons were found this season from the 4040 and Team Poznan areas of excavation.  Distinct grave cuts were apparent in most instances (Figure 31).  Coffin wood and coffin nails were present in a few of these graves.  Nearly all of these individuals were placed in the typical position and orientation of this time period: the body was extended with the head to the west and the feet to the east. Many of these late burials were on their backs but this season we found an interesting cluster of individuals in the 4040 which had been placed on their right sides rather than on their backs. Grave goods were minimal this season for all the late burials.  One small glass vial was discovered near the left ear region of one young individual.  Stone beads were found in the neck region of one adult. 

The field season ended with the cleaning, processing, and initial laboratory analysis of these new individuals being completed.   As always, the human remains team is excited about returning next season to continue our research on the people from Çatalhöyük.