Surfaces and streets

Phytoliths, micromorphology and changing use of space at Neolithic Çatalhöyük (Turkey)

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3363379
AutoresLisa-Marie Shillito (0000-0002-6176-531X, University of Edinburgh), Philippa Ryan (0000-0001-6645-9744, British Museum)
Ano2013
Volume87
Fascículo337
Páginas684-700
Data de publicação2013-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAntiquity (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0003598x00049395
OpenAlexW2265306558
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas37
Referências citadas30

The site of Çatalhöyük occupies a key position within the development of larger settlements in south-west Asia, but the apparent absence of outdoor activity areas has challenged conceptions of social interaction within the site. Where did the inhabitants of this substantial settlement meet together if there were no public spaces? The identification of outdoor activity areas is difficult in such a densely patterned settlement, but micromorphology and phytolith analysis, when used together, can provide secure interpretations. The present study applies these methods to a stratigraphic sequence of deposits in the South Area, where a succession of open areas was located adjacent to a series of buildings. The analysis reveals that these open areas were gradually transformed from a place for the dumping or accumulation of midden material in the early phases, to an informal and then a formally laid surface in the later stages. This suggests that although streets or courtyards may have been rare or absent in the early centuries at Çatalhöyük, they were present in the later phases of the occupation

Archaeology · Geography · Human settlement · Midden · Phytolith · Settlement (finance) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Ecology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies