[Go to Parent Session] [Previous Page] [SEARCH] [DAILY OUTLINES]

Moving earth. Making place at Neolithic Çatalhöyük

Burcu Tung (İstanbul Technical University, UC Berkeley)

Abstract

In geoarchaeologically evaluating different types of building materials used at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, I explore how place-making may have taken place at the settlement. Place is an important aspect of my analysis, as it is created and re-created through mundane and ritual, everyday and cyclical practices of life. My aim is to consider how shared resources – material and immaterial – in the making of houses may have been integral in making place at Çatalhöyük, hence maintaining the continuity of the site. In the making of place, while I see houses as important loci where certain traditions were created and passed on, I also argue that the movement of people in the surrounding landscape brought into existence the archaeological settlement we see today. Hence, this paper aims to demonstrate how geoarchaeological techniques may aid us in critically evaluating practice not only inside, but also outside of houses.