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Living with Clay PDF

289 Pages·2017·24.21 MB·English
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Living with Clay: materials, technology, resources and landscape at Çatalhöyük Chris Doherty School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leicester, 2017 Living With Clay: materials, technology, resources and landscape at Çatalhöyük Christopher Doherty Abstract The Central Anatolian Neolithic tell site of Çatalhöyük has been extensively stud- ied as an unusually well preserved example of an early agricultural settlement. Located on a vast clay plain and occupied continuously for almost 1200 years (7100-5950 cal BC), its large size and artistically rich clay-based material culture point to clay being a major contributor to the community’s subsistence and sym- bolic needs. However, the prevailing interpretation of the clay-rich landscape appears to contradict this view. Thick impermeable clay beds underlying the areas are thought to have impeded the drainage of seasonal floods, periodically isolating the community in extensive wetlands and forcing a reliance on twelve kilometre distant cereal growing. There is an unresolved tension between the material cul- ture and landscape view of what clay truly afforded Çatalhöyük. The aim of this thesis is to establish the full role of clay in Çatalhöyük’s suc- cess, and is first tasked with resolving this tension. The approach taken differs from the top-down single group artifact studies and from landscape models that offer a regional explanation but disregard local actualities. Recognising that clay material culture and clay landscape at Çatalhöyük were intimately linked, this study draws on existing data combined with simple field geology and petrographic analysis to drop down to the common denominator of both of these interacting spheres: clay. The result is a reconstructed landscape interpretation that is no longer at odds either with observed patterns of clay use or broader subsistence practice. The role of clay at Çatalhöyük is re-examined in this more appropriate landscape context to demonstrate a fuller and more complex picture than previ- ously thought. While changing clay use seems to directly reflect past decision making, complex and often hidden feedback between the tell and the immediate landscape was often the real driver for change. Acknowledgements This thesis, which evolved from an invitation to work with the Çatalhöyük Research Project to synthesise different aspects of the clay-based material culture, has only been possible because the generosity of many people. First and foremost I would like to say a huge thanks to Ian Hodder for inviting me onto the Project and for supporting this research as it morphed into something beyond the initial remit. Special thanks also goes to Shahina Farid whose understanding of all mat- ters Çatalhöyük made her the first target for my many questions and who, as project manager, made all my fieldwork run smoothly. My formative ideas for this research were further distilled from conversations with many people on the Project. In particular I would like to thank the excavation and survey team members that I overlapped with, whose keen observations filled my early notes. Many thanks especially to: Roddy Regan, Daniel Eddisford, Michael House, Lisa Yeomans, James Taylor, Numan Arslan, Dave Mackie and Cordelia Hall. Equally I would like to thank the many specialists and excavation team lead- ers for all their helpful advice and opinions. Thanks to: Serena Love, Mike Charles, Amy Bogaard, Peter Biehl, Arkadiusz Marciniak, Nerissa Russell, Kath- eryn Twiss, Liz Henton, Philippa Ryan, Lori Hager, Bas¸ak Boz, Scott Haddow, Tristan Carter, Burcu Tung, Nurcan Yalman, Hilal Gültekin, Duygu Tarkan, Lynn Meskell, Carolyn Nakamura, Sonya Atalay, Sheena Ketchum, Milena Vasic´, Slo- bodan Mitrovic´, Mira Stevanovic´, Eleni Asouti, Karen Wright, Marina Milic´, Roseleen Bains, Duygu Çamurcuog˘lu, Jason Quinlan, Alexandra Livarda, Muge Ergun, Sharmini Pitter, Wendy Matthews, Lisa-Marie Shillito, Daniella E. Bar- Yosef Mayer, Burçin A. Gümüs¸, Burçin Erdogu, Gülgün Gürcan, and Onur Özbek. Many thanks also to Neil Roberts and Douglas Baird, and more recently John Wainwright and Gianna Ayayla for their thoughts and comments on Catahoyuk’s environment, which have been pivotal to fine-tuning my views on the clayscape of the Southern Konya Plain. And thanks to the many other Çatalhöyük people for all LIVING WITH CLAY their help over the years in so many ways: Katy Killackey, Camilla Mazzucato, Banu Ayd, Sarah Jones, John Swogger, Mia Ridge, Gülay Sert, Danielle de Carle, Garrett Boyd, Levent Özer, Yildiz Dirmit, Mustafa Tokyag˘sun, Hasan Tokyag˘sun, Ibrahim Eken, Ismail Salmanc, Nevriye Sener, Gülsüm Eken, and Elmas Motuk. I reserve special thanks for my supervisors, Dr Ian Whitbread and Dr. Mark Gillings, for their tireless guidance and clear insight into how best to frame this work. I thank them both for being willing to take on my slightly chaotic research idea and help shape this into something more ordered. I hope the end result has been worth the exposure to my poor spelling. Last but not least, thanks to THEGD for getting this started and Flo and Co for keeping me at it. Chris Doherty June 2017 Contents Chapter 1: The research aims ...................................................................................... 1 1.1. Clay in the Neolithic - why study? ................................................................. 2 1.2. Situating Çatalhöyük ...................................................................................... 3 1.2.1. The regional context ................................................................................. 5 1.2.2. A familiarity with clay .............................................................................. 8 1.3. A clay paradox ............................................................................................. 11 1.4. A holistic clay materials-clay landscape approach ....................................... 14 1.5. Key themes ................................................................................................... 16 1.5.1. How was clay used at Çatalhöyük? ........................................................ 16 1.5.2. What were the clay resources and how did these change? ..................... 16 1.5.3. What was the nature of Çatalhöyük’s clay landscape? ............................ 18 1.5.3.1. What was the relationship between material culture and landscape? .. 18 1.5.4. Was Çatalhöyük’s success due to its clays? .............................................. 18 1.6. Clay defined ................................................................................................. 19 1.7. The sequence of chapters ............................................................................. 21 1.8. Summary ...................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 2: Clay-based material culture studies at Çatalhöyük: a review ................. 24 2.1. Clay in the Neolithic .................................................................................... 25 2.2. Clay-based materials at Çatalhöyük ............................................................. 29 2.2.1. Mudbrick ................................................................................................. 31 2.2.2. Plaster ...................................................................................................... 35 2.2.3. Pottery ..................................................................................................... 41 2.2.4. Clay Balls ............................................................................................... 44 2.2.5. Geometric clay objects ............................................................................. 47 2.2.6. Stamp seals .............................................................................................. 49 2.2.7. Figurines ................................................................................................. 50 2.3. Limitations of the existing studies ................................................................ 52 Chapter 3: The clay landscape of Çatalhöyük ......................................................... 54 3.1. The origins of the extensive wetland landscape model ................................ 54 3.2. New landscape thinking questions clay’s role ............................................. 61 3.2.1. Biogenic studies ...................................................................................... 61 3.2.2. Clay studies ............................................................................................. 65 i 3.3. Summary ...................................................................................................... 66 Chapter 4: Establishing the sequences of clay use ................................................... 68 4.1. Mapping the clay-based material culture ..................................................... 68 4.2. The clays ....................................................................................................... 72 4.2.1. Clay colour as an investigative approach................................................. 73 4.2.2. Clay colour explained ............................................................................. 75 4.3. The four fundamental clay groups of Neolithic Çatalhöyük ......................... 79 Chapter 5: Reinterpreting the Holocene alluvium: challenging Çatalhöyük’s clay foundation ....................................................................................... 82 5.1. Reconstructing the Holocene Landscape of Çatalhöyük .............................. 82 5.1.1. KOPAL’s wetland ................................................................................... 83 5.1.2. Physiographic constraints ....................................................................... 85 5.1.3. The wrong river....................................................................................... 88 5.1.4. Alluvial deposition - vertical not lateral accretion ................................... 89 5.1.5. Why these clays are dark ........................................................................ 93 5.1.6. The clay taskscape emerges .................................................................... 95 5.2. Summary ...................................................................................................... 99 Chapter 6: The Holocene alluvium - a clay for all purposes ................................. 102 6.1. What kind of clay is the Lower Alluvium? ................................................ 102 6.2. Performance ............................................................................................... 107 6.3. Landscape expression .................................................................................. 110 6.4. Non-architectural uses ................................................................................. 112 6.4.1. Clay ball and geometric clay objects (GCO’s) ..................................... 112 6.4.2. Mini-balls ............................................................................................... 114 6.4.3. Figurines ................................................................................................ 115 6.4.4. Pottery ................................................................................................... 116 6.5. Early mudbricks - building and consequences ............................................ 119 6.5.1. Châine Opératoire .................................................................................. 125 6.6. Alluvial clay abandoned - understanding the first major clay transition at Çatalhöyük ............................................................................................. 128 6.6.1. Possible causes ...................................................................................... 129 6.6.2. A likely story ......................................................................................... 131 6.6.3. Wider Consequences .............................................................................. 135 ii 6.7. Summary .................................................................................................... 138 Chapter 7: A common ground: the white marls and lake clays of the Konya Plain ....................................................................................................... 140 7.1. Pre-Çatalhöyük marl use ............................................................................. 141 7.2. The white marls at Çatalhöyük ................................................................... 141 7.2.1. Differentiating white marl and burnt lime plasters ............................... 143 7.2.2. The plaster sequence in detail ............................................................... 146 7.2.2.1. The burnt lime plaster up close........................................................ 147 7.2.2.2. Up in smoke: re-examining the evidence for burnt lime technology150 7.2.2.3. Implications ..................................................................................... 153 7.2.3. The multi-layer plasters ....................................................................... 155 7.2.3.1. True clay innovation ........................................................................ 158 7.2.4. Single layer white marl plaster ............................................................. 158 7.3. Beyond the pale - The non-white marls ...................................................... 163 7.3.1. The geomorphological setting................................................................ 163 7.3.1.1. Material culture expression .............................................................. 164 7.3.2. Landscape affordances .......................................................................... 166 7.3.2.1. From wetland to dryland .................................................................. 167 7.4. Summary .................................................................................................... 171 Chapter 8: Colluvium: the rise of a new clay ......................................................... 173 8.1. Colluvium and the ‘clay cycle’ at Çatalhöyük ........................................... 174 8.1.1. Composition ........................................................................................... 174 8.1.2. The processes and variables of colluvium formation ........................... 176 8.1.3. The main areas of colluvium formation ................................................ 178 8.1.4. Early occupation - the beginnings of the clay cycle ............................. 179 8.1.5. Mid to late occupation - the full clay cycle established ......................... 179 8.2. Interpreting the use of colluvial clay ........................................................... 183 8.2.1. Çatalhöyük’s History Houses and colluvium ........................................ 187 8.2.1.1. Stable clay aggregates ...................................................................... 188 8.3. The consequences of colluvial clay use .................................................... 193 8.3.1. Social implications ................................................................................. 193 8.3.2. Local landscape consequences .............................................................. 194 8.4. Summary ..................................................................................................... 196 iii Chapter 9: Arrivals from a distant clayscape .......................................................... 201 9.1. Pottery at Çatalhöyük .................................................................................. 202 9.2. The fabric sequence .................................................................................... 204 9.1. Defining local ............................................................................................. 204 9.2. Questions: what, how, where, why and who? ............................................ 208 9.3. Procedure ................................................................................................... 210 9.3.1. Fabrics and sources ................................................................................ 210 9.4. Thin section analysis .................................................................................. 212 9.4.1. The expected local fabric ...................................................................... 212 9.4.1.1. The observed gritty ware fabrics ...................................................... 215 9.4.1.1.1. A non-local provenance confirmed ............................................ 216 9.4.1.1.2. Possible volcanic sources ........................................................... 217 9.4.1.1.3. Findings ...................................................................................... 219 9.4.1.2. Modelling a higher resolution provenance ...................................... 220 9.4.1.2.1. Closing in ................................................................................... 222 9.4.2. Gritty ware production and properties .................................................. 223 9.4.2.1. How? Comparative production sequences ....................................... 223 9.4.2.2. Why? ................................................................................................. 225 9.4.2.3. Who? ................................................................................................ 228 9.4.2.3.1. Locations .................................................................................... 229 9.4.2.3.2. Fabric variation ........................................................................... 230 9.4.2.3.3. Clay deposit type ....................................................................... 230 9.4.2.3.4. Performance ............................................................................... 232 9.4.2.3.5. Context ...................................................................................... 234 9.5. Summary ..................................................................................................... 234 Chapter 10: Conclusions ........................................................................................ 238 10.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 238 10.1.1. Research Aims .................................................................................... 238 10.1.2. A different approach .......................................................................... 239 10.1.3. Thesis design ....................................................................................... 240 10.2. Findings .................................................................................................... 241 10.2.1. Çatalhöyük’s four main clay groups ................................................... 241 10.2.2. The need to re-interpret Çatalhöyük’s clay landscape ...................... 241 iv 10.2.3. Lower Alluvium - both a versatile raw material and a soil resource .. 242 10.2.4. Changes in Lower Alluvium use explained ........................................ 243 10.2.5. White plasters - challenging held views and recognising innovation . 244 10.2.6. The non-white marls ........................................................................... 245 10.2.7. Colluvium and the clay cycle at Çatalhöyük ...................................... 246 10.2.8. Distant clays ......................................................................................... 247 10.3. Answering the question ............................................................................ 248 10.3.1. Another view ....................................................................................... 248 10.3.2. Final remarks ....................................................................................... 251 Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 254 v List of Tables Table 1.1 - The Mellaart and Hodder stratigraphies ................................................... 5 Table 2.1 - Analytical plaster studies at Çatalhöyük ................................................ 36 Table 2.2 - Developments in the pottery sequence at Çatalhöyük ............................ 41 Table 3.1 - Evolving landscape views at Çatalhöyük ............................................... 55 Table 3.2 - Recent research questions extensive wetlands at Neolithic Çatalhöyük 62 Table 5.1 - Losing streams vs gaining streams ......................................................... 89 Table 6.1 - Measured parameters for Çatalhöyük sediments .................................. 104 Table 6.2 - Characteristics of the Lower Alluvium ................................................ 108 Table 6.3 - Available mudbrick clays - four possibilities ....................................... 131 Table 7.1 - SEM-ED analysis of different floor platform plasters, Building 59..... 161 Table 8.1 - The raw materials for colluvium formation at Çatalhöyük .................. 176 Table 8.2 - Process variables in colluvium formation ............................................ 177 Table 9.1 - The twelve main East Mound pottery fabrics ....................................... 206 Table 9.2 - A pottery production for Çatalhöyük - stages and main questions ...... 209 Table 9.3 - Local inclusions observed in mudbrick thin section survey ................. 214 Table 9.4 - Key geological references for provenancing clay in the Southern Konya plain area. .................................................................................. 216 Table 9.5 - The four main gritty ware fabric groups ............................................... 217 Table 9.6- A comparison of local and gritty ware production sequences ............... 224 Table 10.1 - Main factors influencing the use of Çatalhöyük's four clay groups ... 249 vi

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