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).