Aesthetic, Social, and Material Networks: A Perspective from the Flint Daggers at Çatalhöyük, Turkey

Abstract

The Neolithic period bore witness to the emergence of novel engagements between humans and the material world. In the Middle East, these interactions were important components of broader social and ritual developments which came about with the rise of sedentary communities. In this paper, we examine the significance of these processes as represented by elaborate flint daggers at the site of Çatalhöyük in Central Anatolia. Detailed analyses of the manufacture, use and deposition of these items indicate that they were central nodes in multiple social and material relations, and functioned as durable facets of Çatalhöyük's artisanal social fabric. Their presence at the apogee of Çatalhöyük's ritual florescence further identifies their importance to particular segments of the community. Studying the intentionality of dagger production and use, we conclude, allows us to comment on the particulars of material milieu in shaping the social networks necessary for the development of large-scale sedentary communities.

Unveiling Neolithic Economic Behavior: A Novel Approach to Chert Procurement at Çukuriçi Höyük, Western Anatolia

“…This is not to say that there was no exchange between groups and individuals to acquire speci c objects and ful l utilitarian needs; however, pro t making was not the guiding principle. After a long period of discord (including the so-called "formalist-substantivist debate"; e.g., Baron & Millhauser 2021, 2;Wilk & Cliggett 2018, 12), economic anthropologists largely agree that exchange and distribution of exogenous objects within early farming economies were initiated and maintained to satisfy two intertwined objectives: to establish and sustain social relations through networking and to obtain resources for utilitarian needs (e.g., Binder 2008;Nazaroff et al 2016;Pétrequin et al 2013, 78;Perlés 2001, 3). These aspects cannot be separated without misconstruing premodern economic concepts, which are therefore better referred to as socioeconomic.…”

Materiality, regimes of value, and the politics of craft production, exchange, and consumption: A case of lime plaster at Teotihuacan, Mexico

“…Within archaeology, the concept of aesthetic values in a broader sense (e.g., beauty) seems to have been applied rather uncritically (or in the sense of skills of artisans), and it has not played a major role in archaeological interpretation (but see Kalavrezou, 2012;Nazaroff et al, 2016;Porter, 2012). Recent archaeological exploration into the realm of senses, emotion, and affect (e.g., Skeates, 2010;Tarlow, 2012) may provide a methodological basis for understanding aesthetic values in the narrow sense.…”