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.