Cigdem Atakuman | Middle East Technical University (original) (raw)
Papers by Cigdem Atakuman
Documenta Praehistorica
Through the agency of animals, we think about our identity, landscape and society, and therefore ... more Through the agency of animals, we think about our identity, landscape and society, and therefore animal imagery holds a special place in approaches to human thought. Through a study of the zoomorphic figurine assemblage recorded at the Early Bronze Age site of Koçumbeli-Ankara, we argue that the zoomorphic figurines of this time period were produced through a meaningful linking of particular images and raw materials to particular use contexts. For example, the ambiguously sexed zoomorphic figurines of clay are usually found within the settlement contexts, whereas the rest of the zoomorphic imagery, in the form of elaborately decorated and often male-sexed metal statues and standards, are found in ‘elite’ burials located in cemeteries. This occurs on the background of an emergent form of ritual control, which was negotiated through the separation of cemetery and settlement. In these contexts, the authority of the past was invoked via ancestral imagery through the careful employment o...
SummaryThe history of human inbreeding is controversial. The development of sedentary agricultura... more SummaryThe history of human inbreeding is controversial. The development of sedentary agricultural societies may have had opposite influences on inbreeding levels. On the one hand, agriculture and food surplus may have diminished inbreeding by increasing population sizes and lowering endogamy, i.e. inbreeding due to population isolation. On the other hand, increased sedentism, as well as the advent of private property may have promoted inbreeding through the emergence of consanguineous marriage customs or via ethnic and caste endogamy. The net impact is unknown, and to date, no systematic study on the temporal frequency of inbreeding in human societies has been conducted. Here we present a new approach for reliable estimation of runs of homozygosity (ROH) in genomes with ≥3x mean coverage across >1 million SNPs, and apply this to 440 ancient Eurasian genomes from the last 15,000 years. We show that the frequency of inbreeding, as measured by ROH, has decreased over time. The stro...
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2020
The renewed Mesolithic research in the Greek mainland and the islands has been providing new insi... more The renewed Mesolithic research in the Greek mainland and the islands has been providing new insights into the lively maritime activity within the region; however, the southwest coast of Turkey has been virtually devoid of related investigations until the commencement of the Bozburun Prehistoric Survey project in 2017. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the prehistoric sites discovered at the Bozburun Peninsula during the 2017-2019 field seasons. Preliminary results indicate that the area is rich in prehistoric activity. While Middle Paleolithic chipped stone industries were identified at the sites of Kayabaşı Cave, C¸akmak, and Sobalak, flake based microlithic chipped stone industries typical of the Aegean Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene were identified at the sites of Sarnıc¸, Hurma, Sobalak, Zeytinlik, and C¸akmak. A variety of artifacts, suggestive of the Neolithic, were also recorded at the sites of Hurma, Zeytinlik, and possibly at Sobalak and Sarnıç. In specific, the presence of carinated end-scrapers, burins and polyhedric cores at Sarnıç, as well as some geometric microliths at Hurma, demonstrates that Bozburun was frequented during the Upper Paleolithic and the Epipaleolithic. The presence of a few geometric microliths made on Melos obsidian at Hurma also demonstrates that the region was connected to the Aegean obsidian network routes at least by the beginning of the Holocene. If our relative dating is correct, this constitutes the earliest known use of Melos obsidian in the Anatolian mainland.
Documenta Praehistorica
Recent excavations at Sofular Höyük (Nevsehir, central Turkey) uncovered Aceramic Neolithic depos... more Recent excavations at Sofular Höyük (Nevsehir, central Turkey) uncovered Aceramic Neolithic deposits dating to the late 9th and early 8th millennium cal BC and a lithic industry almost entirely made of obsidian. This study focuses on the techno-typology of this lithic assemblage and provides a first look at the material procurement strategies through geochemical characterization. Our results show that Sofular Höyük shares many general techno-typological features with contemporary sites in Central Anatolia, placing the settlement within the locally rooted traditions of the region, while the pXRF analysis of a selection of obsidian artefacts indicates the presence of two Cappadocian sources, namely Göllüdağ and Acıgöl.
Methods to enrich and shotgun sequence ancient DNA have markedly accelerated archaeogenomics in t... more Methods to enrich and shotgun sequence ancient DNA have markedly accelerated archaeogenomics in the past years, shedding new light on human demographic history. A synthesis of recent results from our laboratory and published archaeogenomic data indicate that at the start of the Holocene (~12,000 BP), Central Anatolian and possibly Aegean populations were part of the same gene pool. These were initially small, relatively isolated hunter-gatherer populations, with limited genetic interactions with neighboring Levantine, Caucasian and West European groups. These populations eventually adopted sedentary lifestyle and developed agriculture: the Neolithic way of life. Through this transition period (~12,000-8,000 BP) Anatolian populations became genetically more diverse, a sign of interregional population admixture. In addition, Central Anatolian/Aegean populations were closely related to the migrant farmers who spread Neolithic cultures westward into Europe, starting by 9,000 BP. Throughout the following millennia, Anatolia received major gene flow from the Caucasus, and other regions as well. Studying the maternal lineage over time using mitochondrial DNA, we observe the same trend of increasing diversity, despite a general pattern of regional population continuity, devoid of sharp shifts in gene pool composition. Finally, studying Neandertal admixture in present-day Near Eastern populations, we find that Neandertal ancestry in the region is slightly lower, but markedly heterogeneous than in other Eurasians. Overall, these results highlight the persistent role of migration and admixture in Anatolian demographic history.
Proceedings. Biological sciences, Jan 29, 2017
The Neolithic transition in west Eurasia occurred in two main steps: the gradual development of s... more The Neolithic transition in west Eurasia occurred in two main steps: the gradual development of sedentism and plant cultivation in the Near East and the subsequent spread of Neolithic cultures into the Aegean and across Europe after 7000 cal BCE. Here, we use published ancient genomes to investigate gene flow events in west Eurasia during the Neolithic transition. We confirm that the Early Neolithic central Anatolians in the ninth millennium BCE were probably descendants of local hunter-gatherers, rather than immigrants from the Levant or Iran. We further study the emergence of post-7000 cal BCE north Aegean Neolithic communities. Although Aegean farmers have frequently been assumed to be colonists originating from either central Anatolia or from the Levant, our findings raise alternative possibilities: north Aegean Neolithic populations may have been the product of multiple westward migrations, including south Anatolian emigrants, or they may have been descendants of local Aegean M...
ARWA- Archaeology of the East Aegean and Anatolia Lecture Series 2022
ARWA- Archaeology of the East Aegean and Anatolia Lecture Series 2022. The International Associa... more ARWA- Archaeology of the East Aegean and Anatolia Lecture Series 2022.
The International Association for Archaeological Research in Western & Central Asia (ARWA) invites you to the East Aegean & Anatolia Lecture Series 2022, delivered by 12 distinguished scholars.
All are welcome to join....
Upper Mesopotamia played a key role in the Neolithic Transition in Southwest Asia through marked ... more Upper Mesopotamia played a key role in the Neolithic Transition in Southwest Asia through marked innovations in symbolism, technology, and foodways. We present thirteen ancient genomes (c.8500-7500 calBCE) from Pre-Pottery Neolithic Çayönü in the Tigris basin together with bioarchaeological and material culture data. Our findings reveal that Çayönü was a genetically diverse population, carrying a mixed ancestry from western and eastern Fertile Crescent, and that the community received immigrants. Our results further suggest that the community was organised along biological family lines. We document bodily interventions such as head-shaping and cauterization among the individuals examined, reflecting Çayönü's cultural ingenuity. Finally, we identify Upper Mesopotamia as the likely source of eastern gene flow into Neolithic Anatolia, in line with material culture evidence. We hypothesise that Upper Mesopotamia's cultural dynamism during the Neolithic Transition was the product...
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2022
International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2017
Understanding the location and distribution of raw materials used in the production of prehistori... more Understanding the location and distribution of raw materials used in the production of prehistoric artefacts is a significant part of archaeological research that aims to understand the interregional interaction patterns in the past. The aim of this study is to explore the regional locations of the source rock utilized in the production of stone bowls, which were unearthed at the Neolithic (approximately 6500-5500 BC) site of Domuztepe (Kahramanmaraş-Turkey), via a combination of remote-sensing methods, petrographic and chemical analyses. To accomplish this task, the stone bowls were identified mineralogically, geochemically and spectrally, and then mapped with Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sensors. According to the defined mineralogical composition, which is iron-rich chlorite, the target areas were selected among geologically potential areas that would bear similar source rocks in near vicinity and the target spectral signature was searched within these target areas. In order to overcome the problem of spectral similarity of chlorite group to some other minerals such as carbonate or epidote group minerals, band ratioing (BR) and feature-oriented principal component analysis (FOPCA) were used with an integrated approach and then their results were filtered according to the outcomes of the relative absorption band-depth (RBD) images. The areas with highest potentials were vectorized and then field checked. Mineralogical investigations on the collected field samples reveal that there is a mineralogical match between the source and target material. One group of stone bowls samples have similar geochemical signatures as the field samples having ultramafic origins. However, there is another group of stone bowls samples which are geochemically dissimilar to the first group of field and bowls samples. The data regarding the geochemical signatures of these two groups indicate a genetic relation between the sample sets. Therefore, it is concluded that the source rock of a major portion of the stone bowls unearthed at Domuztepe most probably originated from the near vicinity of the site.
Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 2010
Following Bulgaria's and Romania's accession into the European Union, EU expansion has ... more Following Bulgaria's and Romania's accession into the European Union, EU expansion has reached its final frontier with the process of Turkey's prospective integration, through which both Europe's and Turkey's respective cultural identities have been under negotiation. From a ...
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2020
Please refer to the journal web site for the supplementary information.
Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 33.2, 2020
Although the ultimate aim of the dominant heritage discourse and practice is to preserve culture ... more Although the ultimate aim of the dominant heritage discourse and practice is to preserve culture in a way
that contributes to peace and human prosperity, its paradoxical outcome has been to erase the variety of
ways that people can relate to the past and to normalize ethnic and religious conflicts as well as globally
deepening inequalities of class, race and gender. In this context, searching for civilization in the past has
become an increasingly irrational activity, specifically in geopolitically important zones such as the Middle
East and Turkey, where millions of immigrants, along with numerous minorities and economically impoverished
populations, are currently denied access to the living standards of modern civilization. This paper
aims to highlight these paradoxes inherent in the dominant heritage discourse and practice through the
example of a recent heritage awareness-raising and capacity-building project, Safeguarding Archaeological
Assets of Turkey (SARAT). Furthermore, based on two ethnographic case studies of treasure hunting from
Turkey and Greece, it is also argued that the past is embodied in our questions of who we are and in our
difficulties of belonging in today’s social landscape. Heritage, therefore, will continue to be in conflict and
danger, unless people come to understand that they relate to the past in a variety of ways as regards the very
core of the thick history of world politics.
Peopling the Landscape of Çatalhöyük: Reports from the 2009–2017 Seasons. BIAA, 2021
Over multiple millennia, from the earliest traces of long-term occupation of camp sites (ca 20,00... more Over multiple millennia, from the earliest traces of long-term occupation of camp sites (ca 20,000 BC) to the development of full-scale farming (ca 8000–6000 BC), the Neolithic transition in southwest Asia gradually shaped human societies in dramatic ways (Nadel 2002; Maher et al. 2012; Asouti, Fuller 2013). Here, we present recent insights from ancient genomics studies into these societies while focusing on two questions: the
population processes driving cultural change in Neolithic Central Anatolia and genetic kinship among Çatalhöyük co-burials.
Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 2021
The site of Uğurlu on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros) is the earliest known Neolithic settlement ... more The site of Uğurlu on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros) is the earliest known Neolithic settlement within the Aegean Islands (c.6800–4500 cal. BC). In total, 37 pits, associated with a rich variety of artefacts as well as human and animal bones were excavated in the Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic levels of the site (c.5900–4500 BC). The pits belonging to the early sixth millennium BC levels of Uğurlu were small and located within the houses that seem to have gone through multiple episodes of house destruction and renovation rituals. During the late sixth millennium BC, this area became the focus of extensive pit-digging activity, when large pits involving rich variety of artefacts were set within the courtyard of a special building (Building 4). Among the pits, a collective human burial pit (P188) incorporating the remains of 11 individuals and another pit (P52) involving a partial human skeleton were also found. From a comparative point of view, the construction techniques of these pits, their spatio-temporal relations as well as their associated archaeological artefacts resemble the Anatolian and Near Eastern Neolithic practices of house destruction and renovation cycles, which are activities related to the ancestor cults of the region. We argue that all of these practices reflect public events during which social
relations were negotiated through the agency of place. The differences observed during the sixth millennium BC at Uğurlu reflect the changing concepts of place and society in the immediate aftermath of the Neolithic Process, when interactions with the Balkans as well as the Aegean intensified in this region.
Sheep was among the first domesticated animals, but its demographic history is little understood.... more Sheep was among the first domesticated animals, but its demographic history is little understood. Here we present combined analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear polymorphism data from ancient central and west Anatolian sheep dating to the Late Glacial and early Holocene. We observe loss of mitochondrial haplotype diversity around 7500 BCE during the early Neolithic, consistent with a domestication-related bottleneck. Post-7000 BCE, mitochondrial haplogroup diversity increases, compatible with admixture from other domestication centres and/or from wild populations. Analysing archaeogenomic data, we further find that Anatolian Neolithic sheep (ANS) are genetically closest to present-day European breeds, and especially those from central and north Europe. Our results indicate that Asian contribution to south European breeds in the post-Neolithic era, possibly during the Bronze Age, may explain this pattern.
Uğurlu Höyük'te Bulunan Neolitik ve Kalkolitik Dönem Figürinler, 2018
Documenta Praehistorica
Through the agency of animals, we think about our identity, landscape and society, and therefore ... more Through the agency of animals, we think about our identity, landscape and society, and therefore animal imagery holds a special place in approaches to human thought. Through a study of the zoomorphic figurine assemblage recorded at the Early Bronze Age site of Koçumbeli-Ankara, we argue that the zoomorphic figurines of this time period were produced through a meaningful linking of particular images and raw materials to particular use contexts. For example, the ambiguously sexed zoomorphic figurines of clay are usually found within the settlement contexts, whereas the rest of the zoomorphic imagery, in the form of elaborately decorated and often male-sexed metal statues and standards, are found in ‘elite’ burials located in cemeteries. This occurs on the background of an emergent form of ritual control, which was negotiated through the separation of cemetery and settlement. In these contexts, the authority of the past was invoked via ancestral imagery through the careful employment o...
SummaryThe history of human inbreeding is controversial. The development of sedentary agricultura... more SummaryThe history of human inbreeding is controversial. The development of sedentary agricultural societies may have had opposite influences on inbreeding levels. On the one hand, agriculture and food surplus may have diminished inbreeding by increasing population sizes and lowering endogamy, i.e. inbreeding due to population isolation. On the other hand, increased sedentism, as well as the advent of private property may have promoted inbreeding through the emergence of consanguineous marriage customs or via ethnic and caste endogamy. The net impact is unknown, and to date, no systematic study on the temporal frequency of inbreeding in human societies has been conducted. Here we present a new approach for reliable estimation of runs of homozygosity (ROH) in genomes with ≥3x mean coverage across >1 million SNPs, and apply this to 440 ancient Eurasian genomes from the last 15,000 years. We show that the frequency of inbreeding, as measured by ROH, has decreased over time. The stro...
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2020
The renewed Mesolithic research in the Greek mainland and the islands has been providing new insi... more The renewed Mesolithic research in the Greek mainland and the islands has been providing new insights into the lively maritime activity within the region; however, the southwest coast of Turkey has been virtually devoid of related investigations until the commencement of the Bozburun Prehistoric Survey project in 2017. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the prehistoric sites discovered at the Bozburun Peninsula during the 2017-2019 field seasons. Preliminary results indicate that the area is rich in prehistoric activity. While Middle Paleolithic chipped stone industries were identified at the sites of Kayabaşı Cave, C¸akmak, and Sobalak, flake based microlithic chipped stone industries typical of the Aegean Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene were identified at the sites of Sarnıc¸, Hurma, Sobalak, Zeytinlik, and C¸akmak. A variety of artifacts, suggestive of the Neolithic, were also recorded at the sites of Hurma, Zeytinlik, and possibly at Sobalak and Sarnıç. In specific, the presence of carinated end-scrapers, burins and polyhedric cores at Sarnıç, as well as some geometric microliths at Hurma, demonstrates that Bozburun was frequented during the Upper Paleolithic and the Epipaleolithic. The presence of a few geometric microliths made on Melos obsidian at Hurma also demonstrates that the region was connected to the Aegean obsidian network routes at least by the beginning of the Holocene. If our relative dating is correct, this constitutes the earliest known use of Melos obsidian in the Anatolian mainland.
Documenta Praehistorica
Recent excavations at Sofular Höyük (Nevsehir, central Turkey) uncovered Aceramic Neolithic depos... more Recent excavations at Sofular Höyük (Nevsehir, central Turkey) uncovered Aceramic Neolithic deposits dating to the late 9th and early 8th millennium cal BC and a lithic industry almost entirely made of obsidian. This study focuses on the techno-typology of this lithic assemblage and provides a first look at the material procurement strategies through geochemical characterization. Our results show that Sofular Höyük shares many general techno-typological features with contemporary sites in Central Anatolia, placing the settlement within the locally rooted traditions of the region, while the pXRF analysis of a selection of obsidian artefacts indicates the presence of two Cappadocian sources, namely Göllüdağ and Acıgöl.
Methods to enrich and shotgun sequence ancient DNA have markedly accelerated archaeogenomics in t... more Methods to enrich and shotgun sequence ancient DNA have markedly accelerated archaeogenomics in the past years, shedding new light on human demographic history. A synthesis of recent results from our laboratory and published archaeogenomic data indicate that at the start of the Holocene (~12,000 BP), Central Anatolian and possibly Aegean populations were part of the same gene pool. These were initially small, relatively isolated hunter-gatherer populations, with limited genetic interactions with neighboring Levantine, Caucasian and West European groups. These populations eventually adopted sedentary lifestyle and developed agriculture: the Neolithic way of life. Through this transition period (~12,000-8,000 BP) Anatolian populations became genetically more diverse, a sign of interregional population admixture. In addition, Central Anatolian/Aegean populations were closely related to the migrant farmers who spread Neolithic cultures westward into Europe, starting by 9,000 BP. Throughout the following millennia, Anatolia received major gene flow from the Caucasus, and other regions as well. Studying the maternal lineage over time using mitochondrial DNA, we observe the same trend of increasing diversity, despite a general pattern of regional population continuity, devoid of sharp shifts in gene pool composition. Finally, studying Neandertal admixture in present-day Near Eastern populations, we find that Neandertal ancestry in the region is slightly lower, but markedly heterogeneous than in other Eurasians. Overall, these results highlight the persistent role of migration and admixture in Anatolian demographic history.
Proceedings. Biological sciences, Jan 29, 2017
The Neolithic transition in west Eurasia occurred in two main steps: the gradual development of s... more The Neolithic transition in west Eurasia occurred in two main steps: the gradual development of sedentism and plant cultivation in the Near East and the subsequent spread of Neolithic cultures into the Aegean and across Europe after 7000 cal BCE. Here, we use published ancient genomes to investigate gene flow events in west Eurasia during the Neolithic transition. We confirm that the Early Neolithic central Anatolians in the ninth millennium BCE were probably descendants of local hunter-gatherers, rather than immigrants from the Levant or Iran. We further study the emergence of post-7000 cal BCE north Aegean Neolithic communities. Although Aegean farmers have frequently been assumed to be colonists originating from either central Anatolia or from the Levant, our findings raise alternative possibilities: north Aegean Neolithic populations may have been the product of multiple westward migrations, including south Anatolian emigrants, or they may have been descendants of local Aegean M...
ARWA- Archaeology of the East Aegean and Anatolia Lecture Series 2022
ARWA- Archaeology of the East Aegean and Anatolia Lecture Series 2022. The International Associa... more ARWA- Archaeology of the East Aegean and Anatolia Lecture Series 2022.
The International Association for Archaeological Research in Western & Central Asia (ARWA) invites you to the East Aegean & Anatolia Lecture Series 2022, delivered by 12 distinguished scholars.
All are welcome to join....
Upper Mesopotamia played a key role in the Neolithic Transition in Southwest Asia through marked ... more Upper Mesopotamia played a key role in the Neolithic Transition in Southwest Asia through marked innovations in symbolism, technology, and foodways. We present thirteen ancient genomes (c.8500-7500 calBCE) from Pre-Pottery Neolithic Çayönü in the Tigris basin together with bioarchaeological and material culture data. Our findings reveal that Çayönü was a genetically diverse population, carrying a mixed ancestry from western and eastern Fertile Crescent, and that the community received immigrants. Our results further suggest that the community was organised along biological family lines. We document bodily interventions such as head-shaping and cauterization among the individuals examined, reflecting Çayönü's cultural ingenuity. Finally, we identify Upper Mesopotamia as the likely source of eastern gene flow into Neolithic Anatolia, in line with material culture evidence. We hypothesise that Upper Mesopotamia's cultural dynamism during the Neolithic Transition was the product...
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2022
International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2017
Understanding the location and distribution of raw materials used in the production of prehistori... more Understanding the location and distribution of raw materials used in the production of prehistoric artefacts is a significant part of archaeological research that aims to understand the interregional interaction patterns in the past. The aim of this study is to explore the regional locations of the source rock utilized in the production of stone bowls, which were unearthed at the Neolithic (approximately 6500-5500 BC) site of Domuztepe (Kahramanmaraş-Turkey), via a combination of remote-sensing methods, petrographic and chemical analyses. To accomplish this task, the stone bowls were identified mineralogically, geochemically and spectrally, and then mapped with Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sensors. According to the defined mineralogical composition, which is iron-rich chlorite, the target areas were selected among geologically potential areas that would bear similar source rocks in near vicinity and the target spectral signature was searched within these target areas. In order to overcome the problem of spectral similarity of chlorite group to some other minerals such as carbonate or epidote group minerals, band ratioing (BR) and feature-oriented principal component analysis (FOPCA) were used with an integrated approach and then their results were filtered according to the outcomes of the relative absorption band-depth (RBD) images. The areas with highest potentials were vectorized and then field checked. Mineralogical investigations on the collected field samples reveal that there is a mineralogical match between the source and target material. One group of stone bowls samples have similar geochemical signatures as the field samples having ultramafic origins. However, there is another group of stone bowls samples which are geochemically dissimilar to the first group of field and bowls samples. The data regarding the geochemical signatures of these two groups indicate a genetic relation between the sample sets. Therefore, it is concluded that the source rock of a major portion of the stone bowls unearthed at Domuztepe most probably originated from the near vicinity of the site.
Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 2010
Following Bulgaria's and Romania's accession into the European Union, EU expansion has ... more Following Bulgaria's and Romania's accession into the European Union, EU expansion has reached its final frontier with the process of Turkey's prospective integration, through which both Europe's and Turkey's respective cultural identities have been under negotiation. From a ...
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2020
Please refer to the journal web site for the supplementary information.
Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 33.2, 2020
Although the ultimate aim of the dominant heritage discourse and practice is to preserve culture ... more Although the ultimate aim of the dominant heritage discourse and practice is to preserve culture in a way
that contributes to peace and human prosperity, its paradoxical outcome has been to erase the variety of
ways that people can relate to the past and to normalize ethnic and religious conflicts as well as globally
deepening inequalities of class, race and gender. In this context, searching for civilization in the past has
become an increasingly irrational activity, specifically in geopolitically important zones such as the Middle
East and Turkey, where millions of immigrants, along with numerous minorities and economically impoverished
populations, are currently denied access to the living standards of modern civilization. This paper
aims to highlight these paradoxes inherent in the dominant heritage discourse and practice through the
example of a recent heritage awareness-raising and capacity-building project, Safeguarding Archaeological
Assets of Turkey (SARAT). Furthermore, based on two ethnographic case studies of treasure hunting from
Turkey and Greece, it is also argued that the past is embodied in our questions of who we are and in our
difficulties of belonging in today’s social landscape. Heritage, therefore, will continue to be in conflict and
danger, unless people come to understand that they relate to the past in a variety of ways as regards the very
core of the thick history of world politics.
Peopling the Landscape of Çatalhöyük: Reports from the 2009–2017 Seasons. BIAA, 2021
Over multiple millennia, from the earliest traces of long-term occupation of camp sites (ca 20,00... more Over multiple millennia, from the earliest traces of long-term occupation of camp sites (ca 20,000 BC) to the development of full-scale farming (ca 8000–6000 BC), the Neolithic transition in southwest Asia gradually shaped human societies in dramatic ways (Nadel 2002; Maher et al. 2012; Asouti, Fuller 2013). Here, we present recent insights from ancient genomics studies into these societies while focusing on two questions: the
population processes driving cultural change in Neolithic Central Anatolia and genetic kinship among Çatalhöyük co-burials.
Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 2021
The site of Uğurlu on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros) is the earliest known Neolithic settlement ... more The site of Uğurlu on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros) is the earliest known Neolithic settlement within the Aegean Islands (c.6800–4500 cal. BC). In total, 37 pits, associated with a rich variety of artefacts as well as human and animal bones were excavated in the Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic levels of the site (c.5900–4500 BC). The pits belonging to the early sixth millennium BC levels of Uğurlu were small and located within the houses that seem to have gone through multiple episodes of house destruction and renovation rituals. During the late sixth millennium BC, this area became the focus of extensive pit-digging activity, when large pits involving rich variety of artefacts were set within the courtyard of a special building (Building 4). Among the pits, a collective human burial pit (P188) incorporating the remains of 11 individuals and another pit (P52) involving a partial human skeleton were also found. From a comparative point of view, the construction techniques of these pits, their spatio-temporal relations as well as their associated archaeological artefacts resemble the Anatolian and Near Eastern Neolithic practices of house destruction and renovation cycles, which are activities related to the ancestor cults of the region. We argue that all of these practices reflect public events during which social
relations were negotiated through the agency of place. The differences observed during the sixth millennium BC at Uğurlu reflect the changing concepts of place and society in the immediate aftermath of the Neolithic Process, when interactions with the Balkans as well as the Aegean intensified in this region.
Sheep was among the first domesticated animals, but its demographic history is little understood.... more Sheep was among the first domesticated animals, but its demographic history is little understood. Here we present combined analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear polymorphism data from ancient central and west Anatolian sheep dating to the Late Glacial and early Holocene. We observe loss of mitochondrial haplotype diversity around 7500 BCE during the early Neolithic, consistent with a domestication-related bottleneck. Post-7000 BCE, mitochondrial haplogroup diversity increases, compatible with admixture from other domestication centres and/or from wild populations. Analysing archaeogenomic data, we further find that Anatolian Neolithic sheep (ANS) are genetically closest to present-day European breeds, and especially those from central and north Europe. Our results indicate that Asian contribution to south European breeds in the post-Neolithic era, possibly during the Bronze Age, may explain this pattern.
Uğurlu Höyük'te Bulunan Neolitik ve Kalkolitik Dönem Figürinler, 2018
Dear Colleagues, The Call for papers for the 2023 EAA Annual Meeting in Belfast 2023 in Northern... more Dear Colleagues,
The Call for papers for the 2023 EAA Annual Meeting in Belfast 2023 in Northern Ireland on 30 August - 2 September 2023, is now open and we would like to invite you to our session:
#670 _ Neolithization of the Mediterranean: Integrated Approaches to Old Questions
Abstract: The spread of Neolithic lifeways, farming and herding, from the Middle East and Anatolia to the rest of the Mediterranean and Europe approximately 9 thousand years ago is a complex landmark event in the history of humankind that so far has been understood only in broad strokes.
Despite the extensive scholarship on the subject that includes studies of material culture, settlement, linguistic, archaeozoological, archaeobotanical, biogeochemistry and archaeogenetic data offering explanations about the processes involved, major questions remain concerning the specifics of demographic and cultural change, and chronology. Where population movement has been invoked to interpret change and cultural discontinuity, movements tend to have been simply identified as events, rather than further investigated as to the size, composition or organisation of the migrant groups, the motivation and consequences for all social groups involved, i.e. the people moving, the receiving communities as well as those staying behind.
This session therefore aims to shed new light on the Neolithic expansion through the Mediterranean in this context by studying population changes in detail and linking it to changes in material culture, language, lifeways and the socio-economic organisation of the populations involved, within a clear chronological framework. To this end we invite proposals for papers on this topic from a broad array of disciplines including archaeology, bioarchaeology, archaeogenetics, biogeochemistry, archaeodating, and linguistics.
Keywords: Neolithization, archaeology/bioarchaeology, archaeogenetics, biogeochemistry, archaeodating, linguistics
Organisers:
Argyro Nafplioti (argyro.nafplioti@googlemail.com)
Çiğdem Atakuman (cigdem.atakuman@gmail.com)
Mehmet Somel (somel.mehmet@googlemail.com)
Tristan Carter (stringy@mcmaster.ca)
We would be very happy to receive your abstract for an oral or poster presentation through the event website by the deadline on February 9th 2023, 23:59 CET. Please feel free to get in touch with us to discuss any questions you may have or ask for more information.
Thank you!
Submission instructions:
Proposals for oral or poster contributions should be submitted through the EAA website system
indicating Session #670 “Neolithization of the Mediterranean: Integrated Approaches to Old
Questions”. Abstracts should be between 150 and 300 words long and the title should be maximum 20 words.
Additional information can be found at the meeting’s website