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Clues of production for the Neolithic Çatalhöyük (central
Anatolia) pottery
Erhan Akça1, Selim Kapur2,
Serap Özdöl3, Ian Hodder4,
Jeroen Poblome5, Joselito Arocena6,
Gilbert Kelling7 and Çetin Bedestenci8
1Adiyaman
University, Department of Ceramics, 02040, Adiyaman Turkey.
2Çukurova University, Department of Archaeometry, 01330, Adana, Turkey
3University
of Ege, Vocational School of Çeşme, İzmir, Turkey.
4University
of Stanford, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology,
CA, USA.
5Katholieke University Leuven, Department of Archaeology, Leuven,
Belgium.
6University
of Northern British Columbia, College of Science and
Management, Canada.
7University
of Keele, School of Physical Sciences and Geography, Keele,
UK
8Çağ University, Depatment of Economics, Mersin, Turkey.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
erakca@gmail.com.
Tel.:+90 533 465 4630. Fax: +90 416 223 2129
Accepted
28 May, 2009. |
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Probable
source materials and production technologies of neolithic
pottery from Çatalhöyük were studied with micromorphological
and archaeometrical methods, seeking to shed light on the
established techniques and appropriate source material
mixtures used by the inhabitants of the epoch (7500 yr BP)
in contrast to the reputed idea of primitiveness of the
neolithic pottery. The results revealed the use of reed
chaff along with mud brick (sun-dried) fragments that may
have been derived from brick-making. The application of the
‘slip’ represents a novel observation and the intention of
the use of a dye that needs further confirmation. The
presence of gehlenite and aluminum diopside are considered
to be the evidence of reached temperatures of about 800°C
and not over with short durations manifested by the presence
of calcite. Stress phenomena along with the bent weed
fragments may also manifest the practice in shaping of
pottery, where the former may also reflect fluctuating
firing temperatures. Thus, analytical and micromorphological
data obtained herein can provide some guidelines on
designating prehistoric Anatolian pottery to the
archaeologist and potters working on the subject matter.
Key
words:
Neolithic, pottery, traditional knowledge, archaeometry,
micromorphology. |
