A sixth-millennium BC burial pit at Uğurlu on the island of Gökçeada

Boz, Başak; Erdoğu, Burçin

doi:10.15184/aqy.2019.54

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…1 Different skeletal parts of the same individual were recorded under two separate skeleton numbers in the field. The pieces were matched in the lab therefore the total number of the skeletons within this pit is 11 rather than 12, as was indicated in the previous publication (Boz, Erdogu 2019). 2 Pit 187 was directly on top of pit 188 (F88) and has been interpreted as a different pit (Karamurat et al 2021).…”

Section: Fig 2 the Distribution Of The Pits Around The Communal Build...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Possible Case of ‘Accompanying Dead’ in the Second Half of the 6th Millennium cal BC at Uğurlu/Gökçeada, Turkey

Boz

2022

Doc. praeh.

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Eleven human skeletons were found in a 2m deep circular pit in an open area dating to 5389–5300 cal BC at Uğurlu/Gökçeada. The pit can be considered as a part of the pit tradition frequently seen in Thracian and Balkan prehistory. Its unique contents, however, are discussed in this paper in the scope of possible motivations. An ‘accompanied dead’ hypothesis is offered as the possible motivation of the case based on the contents and depositional details of bodies within the pit. This type of deposition was practiced throughout Europe starting from the early Neolithic through the Chalcolithic.

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Section: Fig 2 the Distribution Of The Pits Around The Communal Build...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Possible Case of ‘Accompanying Dead’ in the Second Half of the 6th Millennium cal BC at Uğurlu/Gökçeada, Turkey

Boz

2022

Doc. praeh.

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“…The human burial pit (P188) is a large pit lined with thick plaster. It includes 11 human burials of all ages and both sexes as well as five beads, one seashell object and a worked bone object (Boz and Erdoğu 2019). P187 was directly opened on top of P188.…”

Section: Stratigraphy and Chronology Of Pitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digging Pits and Making Places at Uğurlu During the Sixth Millennium Bc

Karamurat

Atakuman

Erdoğu³

2021

Oxford J Archaeology

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Summary The site of Uğurlu on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros) is the earliest known Neolithic settlement within the Aegean Islands (c.6800–4500 cal. BC). In total, 37 pits, associated with a rich variety of artefacts as well as human and animal bones were excavated in the Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic levels of the site (c.5900–4500 BC). The pits belonging to the early sixth millennium BC levels of Uğurlu were small and located within the houses that seem to have gone through multiple episodes of house destruction and renovation rituals. During the late sixth millennium BC, this area became the focus of extensive pit‐digging activity, when large pits involving rich variety of artefacts were set within the courtyard of a special building (Building 4). Among the pits, a collective human burial pit (P188) incorporating the remains of 11 individuals and another pit (P52) involving a partial human skeleton were also found. From a comparative point of view, the construction techniques of these pits, their spatio‐temporal relations as well as their associated archaeological artefacts resemble the Anatolian and Near Eastern Neolithic practices of house destruction and renovation cycles, which are activities related to the ancestor cults of the region. We argue that all of these practices reflect public events during which social relations were negotiated through the agency of place. The differences observed during the sixth millennium BC at Uğurlu reflect the changing concepts of place and society in the immediate aftermath of the Neolithic Process, when interactions with the Balkans as well as the Aegean intensified in this region.

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