Abstract

CULTURAL DYNAMICS OF THE CENTRAL ANATOLIAN NEOLITHIC: THE EARLY CERAMIC NEOLITHIC - LATE CERAMIC NEOLITHIC TRANSITION

Bleda DÜRING
Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, The Netherlands
bduring@hotmail.com

In this paper the transition between the Early Ceramic Neolithic and Late Ceramic Neolithic (or in the terminology proposed by the CANeW group on the website, the Early Central Anatolian II - III transition) will be explored, because some major developments are thought to be related to that transition. The key site for the discussion of the transition is Çatalhöyük East. Although the transition may also be present at Suberde (no other sites with the transition exist to my knowledge in the area), this site has been explored very extensively only. In contrast to the Early Ceramic Neolithic - Late Ceramic Neolithic transition, the Late Ceramic Neolithic - Early Chalcolithic transition occurs at a number of sites, such as Kösk Höyük, Canhasan I, Pinarbasi B, Tepeçik-Çiftlik, and to the west, Hacilar.

At Çatalhöyük a number of shifts in material culture occur that are related to the Level VI - Level V transition at the site, which is here taken to represent the transition from Early Ceramic Neolithic to Late Ceramic Neolithic. These shifts in material culture have been pointed out for: (1) ceramics, (2) obsidian industries, (3) figurines, (4) wall paintings, and (5) architecture. The first four categories (ceramics, obsidian industries, figurines, and wall paintings) will be briefly discussed; subsequently the discussion will mainly focus on the architecture. Using three themes: (1) building continuity, (2) building accessibility, and (3) the notion of 'ritually elaborate buildings' and their accessibility, the demise of the agglutinative building pattern that characterizes the early levels at Çatalhöyük (VIII-VIA) in the later levels (V-II) will be demonstrated. Finally some thought will be given to the matter whether, and how, these changes might reflect changes in society at Çatalhöyük, and how these changes might have affected other sites founded in the Late Ceramic Neolithic.