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Fragmenting times: interpreting a Bayesian chronology for the Late Neolithic occupation of Çatalhöyük East, Turkey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2015

Arkadiusz Marciniak ,
Marek Z. Barański ,
Alex Bayliss ,
Lech Czerniak ,
Tomasz Goslar ,
John Southon  and
R.E. Taylor
Arkadiusz Marciniak
Affiliation:
Institute of Prehistory, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, św. Marcin 78, 61-809 Poznań, Poland
Marek Z. Barański
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University of Gdańsk, Bielańska 5, 80-851 Gdańsk, Poland
Alex Bayliss
Affiliation:
Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
Lech Czerniak
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University of Gdańsk, Bielańska 5, 80-851 Gdańsk, Poland
Tomasz Goslar
Affiliation:
Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory, Rubież 46, 61-612 Poznań, Poland
John Southon
Affiliation:
Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Facility, University of California, Irvine, B321 Croul Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-3100, USA
R.E. Taylor
Affiliation:
Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Facility, University of California, Irvine, B321 Croul Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-3100, USA
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Abstract

The repetitive and highly structured domestic architecture of Çatalhöyük is a distinctive feature of this important Neolithic settlement. At the very end of the sequence, however, excavations on the surface of the East Mound reveal changes in household construction and burial chambers. Bayesian analysis of 56 AMS radiocarbon dates from these layers allow the date and pace of these changes to be established in detail. Settlement activity on the East Mound ceased just after 6000 cal BC, and was followed by the cessation of Neolithic burial activity a few decades later.

Keywords

ÇatalhöyükLate NeolithicchronologyBayesian statisticspebble floorsburial chambershouseholds
Type
Method
Information
Antiquity , Volume 89 , Issue 343 , February 2015 , pp. 154 - 176
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd., 2015 

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