The Old Becomes New: Material Culture and Architectural Continuity on an Anatolian Höyük (original) (raw)

2020, Current Approaches to Tells in the Prehistoric Old World

The Old Bec ome s New : Ma ter ial Cu ltur e and Arc hite ctu ral Con tinu ity on an An ato lian H6 yuk Sha ron R. Stea dma n and Jen nife r C. Ros s This paper will presen t severa l examp les of materi al culture contin uity at <;:adir Hoyiik-contin uity that does not seem ro be ground ed in ancest ry or cultura l perma nence, but that appear s based in the experi ence of this particu lar place, a small tell in a fertile valley of centra l Anato lia (Fig. 4.1). These examp les speak to a specifi c set of materi al culture practic es that were period ically revive d, and materi als and ideas that were, themse lves, reused , recycl ed, and occasi onally reconc eived. It is possib le to see these practic es in terms oflimi tations : a limited set of resour ces, or an interru ption in suppli es due to politic al and econom ic crises. But the tell, or in Anato lian parlan ce, the hoyilk , also provid ed opport unities and afford ances; as archae ologis ts, it is import ant for us to keep in mind that ancien t people s did not necess arily experience limitat ions and change s in terms of loss or absenc e. While archae ologis ts and others have recent ly written about the pheno menon of'plac e memo ry'. rooted in particular landsc apes, or in the creatio n of monum ental or structu ral markin gs that would evoke memo ry and imagin ation over genera tions (Bache lerd 1958; Heideg ger 1977; Hanna n~ah ~013; 2014), what we see at Cadtr Hoyilk is perhap s a more munda ne form of memo ry: a contin uity of techno logica l choice s that related to resour ces, socio-econom ic and polittcal circum stance s, and aesthe tic percep tions. The first two examp les consid er ceram ic traditio ns at the site, while the third draws on a long-li ved archite ctural pattern .