ARCH 0351 / AWAS 0800 Introduction to the Ancient Near East Brown University ~ Fall 2009

1. ARCH 0351 / AWAS 0800 Introduction to the Ancient Near East Brown University ~ Fall 2009 Socialization of the universe: The Neolithic in the Near East October 1 and 6, 2009

2. Anthony Giddens wrote that if the overall history of human existence on the face of the world is taken as a day, agriculture would have come at 11:56 pm and civilizations 11:57 pm. Early arrivals Palaeolithic 1,000,000 - 9600 BC

3. 11,000 BC Closing of the Glacial Period 10,800-9600 BC Younger Dryas – a cold and arid spell 9600-5000 BC Climatic optimum: winter days were mild, summer nights humid The Near Eastern Neolithic 9600-6000 BC 5600 BC: Black Sea joins the Mediterranean (Ryan and Pitman hypothesis)

4. 200 mm annual rainfall line and the distribution of barley and wheat in the Near East, with some Epipalaeolithic and Proto-Neolithic settlements.

6. The Neolithic: transformations of prehistoric societies (Pre-pottery Neolithic 9600-7000 BC Pottery Neolithic 7000-6000 BC) • New social relations in the context of the settled life: political contestation, family rivalry etc. Neolithicization as socialization. • New conceptions of the landscape: now partially cultivated, not entirely hostile environment • Beyond the hunt: Changing relationships between animals and humans. Domestication of sheep and goat, cattle... • Agricultural technologies: domestication of wheat and barley, legumes... • Pottery technologies: discovery of possibilities of clay, with the rising need of long term storage of footstuffs. • Architectural technologies: mudbrick building with extensive use of wood. Mud, mudbrick, pise. Cladding techniques such as plastering, white-washing, wall paintings. Three-dimesnional cult imagery incorporated into the architectonics of the house. Neolithic house as a space where most daily practices concentrate. • Textile production. • Figurines: stone, bone, clay. • Emergence of representationality through multiple media: textile patterns, pottery decoration, figurines, architectural sculpture, wall paintings... • New burial practices: intramural or in cemeteries. Deposition of grave goods. Differentiation of burials according to social status, age, gender, etc.

7. Obsidian a volcanic glass, mined and exchanged heavily across regions in the Neolithic period, adaptable to multiple uses, from acting as mirrors, projectile points, swords, ornaments, knives.

8. Neolithic in the Near East: early sites of socialization “neolithic revolution”: domestication of wheat, barley, sheep, goat: early settled communities (ca 10,000 to 6000 BC)

9. gobeklitepe site before archaeology

10. gobeklitepe landscape

12. “starting as a sacred spot...” Pre-pottery Neolithic 9600-8000 BC

13. gobeklitepe pre-agricultural social interaction and cult practice, feasting, visual/architectural culture

14. gobeklitepe archaeology of a ritual place

15. gobeklitepe archaeology of a ritual place

17. gobeklitepe pillars and animal iconography

22. Neolithic in the Near East: early sites of socialization

23. nevali cori settlement and architecture

24. nevali cori reconstruction of settlement with houses and cult building (8400-8100 BC)

25. nevali cori cult buildings

26. ARCH 0351 / AWAS 0800 Introduction to the Ancient Near East Brown University ~ Fall 2009 Socialization of the universe: The Neolithic in the Near East October 6, 2009

27. Neolithic in the Near East: early sites of socialization “neolithic revolution”: domestication of wheat, barley, sheep, goat: early settled communities (ca 10,000 to 6000 BC)

28. “starting as a sacred spot...”

29. gobeklitepe pre-agricultural social interaction and cult practice, feasting, visual/architectural culture

30. nevali cori reconstruction of settlement with houses and cult building (8400-8100 BC)

31. Central Anatolian Late Neolithic Neolithic in the Near East: early sites of socialization

33. 6850-6300 BC East Mound Late Neolithic 7000-6300 BC West Mound Chalcolithic 6000 BC Largest known Neolithic site in Turkey

34. catalhoyuk: neolithic-chalcolithic transition in Anatolia

35. Excavations by James Mellaart 1961-1963

36. New excavations: 1993 onwards Ian Hodder

38. Second Life Okapi Island – Remixing Catalhoyuk

41. Catalhoyuk, 2006 Season. Plan view of Building 56 in South Area 

44. body and architecture poetics of construction

49. restored head restored head clay figurine from Catalhoyuk, excavated by Mellaart in a grain bin, now in Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum

50. prehistoric figurines : an intimate world