The nature of the beast

Curating animals and ancestors at Çatalhöyük

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3918699
AutoresL Meskell (0000-0001-9087-3611, Stanford University, autor correspondente)
Ano2008
Volume40
Fascículo3
Páginas373-389
Data de publicação2008-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoWorld Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0043-8243 • E-ISSN: 1470-1375
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00438240802261416
OpenAlexW2047147872
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas30
Referências citadas26

Taking 'tradition' as the process of 'handing down', which encompasses the ideas of duration, continuity, practice and ritual, this paper examines the Neolithic lifeworld at Çatalhöyük with particular attention to the figurine corpus and plastered installations. Specifically, I focus on two material preoccupations that have intense signification across various media, are repeated in different scales and occur over many generations at Çatalhöyük. The first is termed headedness or a particular tension surrounding heads, head removal and circulation, and the post-cranial body, that applies both to humans and animals. The second is the desire for embedding and re-fleshing the remains of animals and ancestors. I argue that both themes are connected to desires about permanence, restoration and ultimately improving upon the fragilities of fleshed matter through a focused curation of the skeletal elements. Both of these material concerns had salience across domains from living bodies to aesthetic renderings, traversed both animal and human worlds, connected generations together, occurred at different scales and had resonance beyond the site to wider Neolithic traditions. Keywords: Neolithic Çatalhöyükfigurinesembeddingenfleshingheadednessanimalitymateriality Acknowledgements This paper owes most to Carolyn Nakamura with whom I have been fortunate enough to work since 2004. A very special thanks to Ian Hodder, Shahina Farid, Rachel King, Madeleine Douglas, Klaus Schmidt, Doug Baird, Mehmet Özdoğan, Serena Love, Jason Quinlan, Louise Martin, Nerissa Russell and the entire team at Çatalhöyük

Art · Art history · Epistemology · Lifeworld · Sociology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · History · Philosophy · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology