Making Sense of Social Behavior from Disturbed and Commingled Skeletons: A Case Study from Çatalhöyük, Turkey

Boz, Başak; Hager, Lori D.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-7560-6_2

Cited by 16 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The need for greater depth of method and theory in the study of commingled remains has been robustly addressed in the past few years by a variety of edited volumes. Two books in particular (Osterholz, 2016c; Osterholtz et al, ) have directly responded by: exploring the promise of new high‐tech spatial analyses (Herrmann, Devlin, & Stanton, ) and more straightforward methods (Zejdlik, ); a focus on site‐specific (Boz & Hager, ) and regional comparisons (Osterholtz, ); and, detailing the importance of interdisciplinary input (Cook, ). The ability to then address issues of migration (Baker & Tsuda, 2015a; Osterholtz, ), marriage practices (Baustian & Anderson, ), violence (Osterholtz, ), mortuary context (Beck, ; Marklein & Fox, ), sex and gender (Bolger, 2008), and health patterns (Baustian & Anderson, ) showcased the nuance possible for commingled reconstructions.…”

Section: Commingling Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioarchaeology in the ancientNearEast: Challenges and future directions for the southern Levant

Sheridan

2017

American J Phys Anthropol

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The synthesis of biological anthropology, archaeology, and social theory provides a bioarchaeological model to reconstruct nuanced aspects of demography, diet, disease, death, daily activities, and biodistance, even in the absence of discrete burials. Numerous skeletal assemblages in the southern Levant are composed of mixed and fragmented bones resulting from generational use of cemeteries, mass burial, and additional communal burial practices. Others become commingled due to taphonomic processes such as flooding, geological events, or human mediated mechanisms like looting, improper excavation, and poor curation. Such collections require one to ask broader questions of human adaptability, exercise a holistic approach, use broad demographic categories, and remain cognizant of the limitations posed by fragmentation. Expanded research questions and ethical considerations, the use of centralized databases and understudied collections, as well as the application of social media, citizen science, and crowd sourcing provide new tools for bioarchaeological analyses of the many commingled ancient Near Eastern collections in the southern Levant.

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Section: Commingling Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioarchaeology in the ancientNearEast: Challenges and future directions for the southern Levant

Sheridan

2017

American J Phys Anthropol

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“…Although known extramural cemeteries are extremely rare, it is possible to surmise their presence from the almost total absence of burials within the settlement areas (Campbell 1995). On the other hand, Central Anatolian, is one of the few places where intramural burial customs continue up until the end of the 7 th millennium BC, as extensively documented at sites such as Çatalhöyük, Tepecik-Çiftlik and Kösk Höyük (Boz, Hager 2014;Bıçakçı et al 2012;Öztan 2012). Additionally, at Kösk Höyük, skull practices continue into the 6 th millennium BC (Özbek 2009).…”

Section: Burial Customsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and homogeneity among the early farming communities of Western Anatolia

Özdoğan

2016

Doc. praeh.

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Our knowledge of the Neolithisation of Western Anatolia has increased considerably in recent years. Being located beyond, but on the border of the formative zone of Neolithisation, the region has acted as a buffer in the dispersal of the Neolithic way of life farther to the west. Recent research in Western Anatolia has shown that Neolithic sites appeared in the second quarter of the 7th millennium BC and had become widespread by the second half of the same millennium. There is now adequate data available on both the distribution of sites and the material culture in some subregions. In this context, this article will focus not on the Neolithisation process, but on the characteristic features of the sub-regions and the interaction between them.

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“…Secondary burials account for 13% of the total number of burials, tertiary burials are for 23%, the primary undisturbed burials are 39% and primary disturbed burials are 25% of the interment observed at Çatalhöyük. Individuals are primarily buried within houses under platforms and floors but have been also interred within building foundations, infill, benches and middens (Boz & Hager, 2013, 2014). These intramural burials placed the living both physically and symbolically with the dead (Nakamura & Meskell, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpreting mortuary treatment from histological bone diagenesis: A case study from Neolithic Çatalhöyük

Goren

Beauchesne

2020

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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This study examines the evidence for differential mortuary practices at the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük, in Anatolia, Turkey, using the histological examination of bacterial microbioerosion in archaeological human bone. In order to analyse bacterial microbioerosion, thin sections were prepared from the midshaft of thoracic ribs 6–8, of n = 162 individuals (adults and juveniles) and analysed using qualitative analysis of microscopic focal destructive changes with polarized light microscopy. The extent of destructive change was assessed, and the degree of preservation was examined using the Oxford Histological Index. Individual, in situ interment was assessed using burial and skeletal data. Results show no differences in histological bacterial microbioerosion between male and female burials, but histological preservation was seen to differ between juveniles and adults, findings that are interpreted as the result of differential mortuary practices at the time of death. The challenges and potential of examining recurring taphonomic signatures in bone histology and their relationship to differential burial practices are discussed.

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Making Sense of Social Behavior from Disturbed and Commingled Skeletons: A Case Study from Çatalhöyük, Turkey

Cited by 16 publications

References 7 publications

Bioarchaeology in the ancientNearEast: Challenges and future directions for the southern Levant

Bioarchaeology in the ancientNearEast: Challenges and future directions for the southern Levant

Diversity and homogeneity among the early farming communities of Western Anatolia

Interpreting mortuary treatment from histological bone diagenesis: A case study from Neolithic Çatalhöyük

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