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Projectile Points, Hunting and Identity at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey
Lilian Dogiama
In this book Dr Lilian Dogiama considers the role of hunting at the Neolithic community of Çatalhöyük and its significance in shaping personal and communal identities by focusing on its stone projectile points. Wild faunal remains indicate that hunting remained in practice, even though domesticated animals and plants comprised the staple diet of the people of Çatalhöyük. Hunting and the ‘wild’ are venerated in the site's iconography, while obsidian projectile points -as the only surviving parts of hunting weapons- were ubiquitous in the site. The author uses a plethora of attributes that include depositional context, use wear, impact damage, fragmentation, raw material and various techno-morphological characteristics to analyse the projectile points from the site. Her findings indicate that the Çatalhöyük projectile point assemblage consisted of two groups that were used and treated in very distinct ways. The first group comprised projectile weapons that were used in hunting and exhibit clear signs of actual use, whereas the second group consisted of bifaces that were likely reserved for ceremonial purposes given their pristine condition and special mode of deposition. Drawing from her analysis and ethnographic examples Dogiama argues that hunting was not merely an alternate subsistence strategy but an arena where symbolic expression and social identities could be performed and negotiated.
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Front cover
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Title page
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Copyright page
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Of Related Interest
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Dedication
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Acknowledgements
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Contents
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List of figures and charts
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List of tables
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1. Introduction
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1.1 The Research Topic
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1.2 Theoretical Background
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1.3 Book Outline
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2. Çatalhöyük: Background to the Site
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2.1 Aims of the Chapter
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2.2 Location and Environment
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2.3 Çatalhöyük: History of Excavation
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2.3.1 1960s: James Mellaart’s Campaigns
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2.3.2 1990s to the Present: The Çatalhöyük Research Project
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2.4 ÇRP Excavation Areas
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2.5 Chronology and Stratigraphy
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2.5.1 Levels of the South Area
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2.5.2 Levels of the North Area
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2.6 A General Overview of Çatalhöyük
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2.7 Subsistence Economy: Animals and Plants
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2.8 Brief Overview of the Chipped Stone Assemblage
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2.9 Burials
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2.10 The Social World of Çatalhöyük
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2.10.1 Mellaart’s Çatalhöyük: Its Religion, Social Structure and Achievements
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2.10.2 Re-evaluations and Reinterpretations: The Current State of Affairs
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2.11 Change and Continuity
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2.12 Importance of the Site in the Wider Context of the Anatolian Neolithic
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3. The Interpretative Scope of Projectile Points in the Near East and Çatalhöyük
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3.1 Projectiles in Near Eastern Archaeology
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3.1.1 Projectiles as Chronological Markers
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3.1.2 Projectiles as Regional, Cultural and Ethnic Markers
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3.1.3 Projectiles as Indicators of Subsistence Practices and Inter-Personal Violence
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3.2 Previous Research on the Çatalhöyük Projectile Assemblage
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3.2.1 The Mellaart Excavations (1961–1965)
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3.2.2 1993 to Present
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4. Hunting in Agropastoralist Societies:
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4.1 The Nature of Hunting at Çatalhöyük
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4.2 The Significance of Hunting to Farming Societies
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4.2.1 Hunting as a Risk-Buffering Mechanism
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4.2.2 The Social Value of Wild Meat
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4.2.3 Animism and Human–Animal Relations
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4.2.4 Sex, Gender Identities and Hunting: The Battle of the Sexes over Meat
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4.3 To Hunt or Not to Hunt? Some Concluding Remarks
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5. Defining and Identifying Projectile Points
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5.1 A Note on Point Terminology Used at Çatalhöyük
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5.2 Terminology Used for Projectile Points and Weapons Associated
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5.3 Building a Case for Projectiles through Impact Fractures
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5.4 Introducing the Issue of Projectile Point Classification
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5.5 A Brief Review of the Various Methods Employed
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6. Methodology
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6.1 The Recording System
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6.2 The Çatalhöyük Excavation Methodology and Recording System
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6.3 The Variables
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6.3.1 Identifiers
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6.3.2 Contextual Information
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6.3.3 Lithic Raw Material
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6.3.4 Blank Form, Typology, Integrity, Cortex
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6.3.5 Metric Attributes
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6.3.6 Form
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6.3.7 Retouch
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6.3.8 Artefact Condition, Use-Wear Traces, Impact Damage
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6.3.9 Final Interpretation and Outcome of Analysis
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6.3.10 Miscellanea
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7. The Çatalhöyük Projectile Point Assemblage
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7.1 Different Resolutions of Time
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7.2 General Overview of the Material: Technological Categories Explained
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7.2.1 Technological Categories through Time
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7.3 Two Groups of Projectiles
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7.3.1 Group A Projectiles: Points
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7.3.1.1 Blank Preference
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7.3.1.2 Morphological and Typological Characteristics
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7.3.1.3 Raw Materials
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7.3.1.4 Impact Damage
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7.3.1.5 Use-Wear Traces
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7.3.1.6 Fragmentation and Condition
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7.3.1.7 Context of Deposition
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7.3.2 Group B: Bifaces
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7.3.2.1 Morphological and Typological Characteristics
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7.3.2.2 Blank Preference
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7.3.2.3 Raw Materials
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7.3.2.4 Use Wear and Impact Damage
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7.3.2.5 Fragmentation and Condition
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7.3.2.6 Context of Deposition
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7.4 Distinguishing between Arrowheads and Spearheads
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7.4.1 Group A Projectiles
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7.4.2 Group B Bifaces
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7.4.3 Use of Arrowheads and Spearheads through Time
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7.5 Comparison of Group A and Group B: Interpretations
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7.6 The North–South Divide
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8. Point Taken: Conclusions and Interpretations
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8.1 New Information on the Çatalhöyük Projectile Assemblage
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8.2 The Weapons of Çatalhöyük
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8.3 Group A Projectiles: The Actual Hunting Weapons
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8.4 Group B Bifaces: An Interpretation
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8.5 Appraisal of Initial Aims against Results
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Bibliography
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Appendix A. Additional Graphs and Tables
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A.1 Bifaces
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A.2 Biface Preforms
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A.3 Points
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A.4 Point Preforms
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A.5 Impact Byproducts
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A.6 Points with Secondary Use
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A.7 Byblos Points
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A.8 Amuq Points
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A.9 Jericho Points
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A.10 Nizzanim Points
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A.11 Abu Maadi Points
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A.12 Herziliya Points
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Back cover
![](/image-service/t722hc50v1676582794/full/full/0/default.png)
Citable Link
Published: 2023
Publisher: BAR Publishing
- 9781407358253 (ebook)
- 9781407358246 (paper)
BAR Number: S3116
- Prehistory (general titles only)
- Lithics / Stone Tools
- Ethnoarchaeology / Anthropology
- Ritual / Religion / Temples
- Hunter-Gatherers / Hunting
- Craft working (general titles, bone, glass, textiles, etc.)
- Mediterranean
- Levant / Near East
- Neolithic / Chalcolithic
- Identity / Gender / Childhood / Ethnicity / Romanization