Figured Lifeworlds and Depositional Practices at Çatalhöyük

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6043794
AutoresL Meskell (0000-0001-9087-3611, Stanford University, autor correspondente), Carolyn Nakamura (Stanford Medicine), Rachel King (0000-0002-0085-3498, Stanford Medicine), Shahina Farid (University College London)
Ano2008
Volume18
Fascículo2
Páginas139-161
Data de publicação2008-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s095977430800022x
OpenAlexW2148661175
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas32
Referências citadas11

The corpus of figurines from Çatalhöyük has attracted the attention of diverse audiences but there has been an overwhelming focus on a selection of female figurines, many of which lack exact provenience. Excavation from 1961 to 1965 yielded more mundane examples classifiable as anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and abbreviated forms. New work attempts to balance the picture through various methods and strategies. The research presented here collates the artefacts from these early seasons with those retrieved from 1993 to 2006 to gain a fuller understanding of figurine practice. The figurines almost exclusively represent secondary deposition. We can now assess the number and type of figurines deposited in buildings, middens, burials and elsewhere. Reassessment of the entire corpus has prompted interrogation of the category of ‘figurine’ and reconsideration of the taxonomies along with other artefacts and image production at Çatalhöyük. Depositional practices at the site suggest processes of mobility and circulation that have rarely been considered in studies of figurines. Typical ‘representational’ or aesthetic approaches imply that the figurines were a special category with particular values of religiosity and gender; but attention to the archaeological context can imply meaning from the material practices within which ‘figurines’ were enmeshed

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Epistemology · Sedimentary depositional environment · Sociology · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Anthropology · Archaeological Research and Protection · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Philosophy · Geology · Paleontology