Papers by Marek Z Barański
Open Archaeology, Dec 31, 2022
Using case studies from Aşıklı Höyük, Çatalhöyük, Boncuklu Tarla, Göbekli Tepe (all Turkey), and ... more Using case studies from Aşıklı Höyük, Çatalhöyük, Boncuklu Tarla, Göbekli Tepe (all Turkey), and Monjukli Depe (southern Turkmenistan), this study presents a framework for in-depth research on prehistoric earthen architecture in southwestern and central Asia. It demonstrates the challenges and potential for innovative and comparative studies based on interdisciplinary approaches and the use of architectural, microstratigraphic, and microarchaeological analyses. Furthermore, it sheds new light on issues related to various aspects of building continuity which is commonly recognised as a very important phenomenon in the Neolithic but could have different facets. The study attempts to discuss the reasons behind the local decisions to use and recycle specified building materials. In addition, it evaluatesin relation to particular sitesthe usefulness of specific analyses for reconstruction of daily, seasonal, or annual practices. Advanced analyses of floors and fire installations, for instance, can contribute not only to the identification of indoor and outdoor surfaces but also to a better understanding of activity areas and the intensity of use within particular spaces. Variations and different combinations of mudbrick, mortar, and plaster recipes allow for insights into how earth and sediment material were used to mark collective and individual identity through the performance of a building. Recognising reused materials and features allows us to trace further the nature of prehistoric societies and local architectural dialects.
Central Anatolian Çatalhöyük (ca. 7100–5950 cal. BCE) is a rare example of a well-preserved Neoli... more Central Anatolian Çatalhöyük (ca. 7100–5950 cal. BCE) is a rare example of a well-preserved Neolithic settlement that is considered one of the key sites for understanding changes in prehistoric ways of life, from the domestication of cattle and the adoption of a settled way of living, to the invention of pottery and metallurgy, and the appearance of long-distance trade. It is also an optimal site for the study of mudbrick architecture because of its continual habitation sequence, as well as the extensive exposure of architectural remains. This deeply stratified sequence, with houses built one upon another, provides a unique opportunity to document temporal changes both within and between the houses through all the main occupational phases spanning in total over 1,100 years. This chapter is an attempt to investigate whether the changes in Çatalhöyük’s construction techniques of walls and foundations, as well as the changes in mudbrick dimensions, could have been associated with a cognitive shift, namely higher levels of consciousness and greater innovation. Consequently, it will discuss possible reasons for moving towards new strategies or systems. In addition, this chapter will consider when, if at all, higher levels of consciousness and creativity can be observed. As consciousness is clearly embedded in mudbrick manufacture and house building, I will consider whether it was of practical or discursive character. I intend to examine whether the inhabitants of Neolithic Çatalhöyük, who possessed certain building knowledge and skills, were able to give an account of relevant architectural activities and explicitly express them with the use of an abstract system. In this regard, mudbrick sizes and bonds are examined to identify general directions of change in architecture at Çatalhöyük. The analysis also provides insights into a standardization process that seems to have characterized at least the final phases of settlement occupation. Two directly succeeding buildings – B.74 and B.95 – from these Late Neolithic phases are examined in detail in order to identify whether standardized units of measurements were used in mudbrick manufacture
Open Archaeology, 2022
In the Editorial for the Special Issue What is New in the Neolithic? dedicated to Lech Czerniak i... more In the Editorial for the Special Issue What is New in the Neolithic? dedicated to Lech Czerniak in honour of his 70th birthday, we outline the articles in this collection.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2020
The opening of the final excavation area in Çatalhöyük and the zooarcheological research conducte... more The opening of the final excavation area in Çatalhöyük and the zooarcheological research conducted there have revealed an equid phalanx with incision marks shaped to resemble eyes. We argue that the choice of bone as raw material for the artifact (the first bone figurine from Çatalhöyük) is related to its anatomy and to availability. We show that the figurine and other modified equid first phalanges at Çatalhöyük were associated with food storage rooms, which exclusively represent the late phases of occupation. In these terms, they differ from the known practices of the Near East.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
We have considered a range of commensality in Neolithic Çatalhöyük using ceramics, animal bones, ... more We have considered a range of commensality in Neolithic Çatalhöyük using ceramics, animal bones, and architecture. Integrating the data allowed us to capture the change in commensal practices over the Final occupational phase (ca. 6300-5950 cal BC). The shift from community commensality to family commensality is marked by a decrease in the size of jars, accompanied by slight changes in the size of bowls. These types of vessels were used both for cooking, as shown by soot and lipid residue analysis, and for serving, as can be inferred from the more open form, apparent with the bowls. In the case of bowls, this result contrasts with previous findings suggesting that they had relevance for plant foods only. When we consider feasting events, the data on everyday commensal practice can be seen to contrast with this exceptional commensality. In both, the main role is played by cattle, which are the driver of change as the status of the taxon moves from wild to domestic. Changes in culinary and social practices are embedded in architectural changes in the form of growing number of open spaces which served as places where people could share a meal.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2023
We have considered a range of commensality in Neolithic Çatalhöyük using ceramics, animal bones, ... more We have considered a range of commensality in Neolithic Çatalhöyük using ceramics, animal bones, and architecture. Integrating the data allowed us to capture the change in commensal practices over the Final occupational phase (ca. 6300-5950 cal BC). The shift from community commensality to family commensality is marked by a decrease in the size of jars, accompanied by slight changes in the size of bowls. These types of vessels were used both for cooking, as shown by soot and lipid residue analysis, and for serving, as can be inferred from the more open form, apparent with the bowls. In the case of bowls, this result contrasts with previous findings suggesting that they had relevance for plant foods only. When we consider feasting events, the data on everyday commensal practice can be seen to contrast with this exceptional commensality. In both, the main role is played by cattle, which are the driver of change as the status of the taxon moves from wild to domestic. Changes in culinary and social practices are embedded in architectural changes in the form of growing number of open spaces which served as places where people could share a meal.
Open Archaeology
In the Editorial for the Special Issue What is New in the Neolithic? dedicated to Lech Czerniak i... more In the Editorial for the Special Issue What is New in the Neolithic? dedicated to Lech Czerniak in honour of his 70th birthday, we outline the articles in this collection.
Consciousness, Creativity, and Self at the Dawn of Settled Life
Central Anatolian Çatalhöyük (ca. 7100–5950 cal. BCE) is a rare example of a well-preserved Neoli... more Central Anatolian Çatalhöyük (ca. 7100–5950 cal. BCE) is a rare example of a well-preserved Neolithic settlement that is considered one of the key sites for understanding changes in prehistoric ways of life, from the domestication of cattle and the adoption of a settled way of living, to the invention of pottery and metallurgy, and the appearance of long-distance trade. It is also an optimal site for the study of mudbrick architecture because of its continual habitation sequence, as well as the extensive exposure of architectural remains. This deeply stratified sequence, with houses built one upon another, provides a unique opportunity to document temporal changes both within and between the houses through all the main occupational phases spanning in total over 1,100 years. This chapter is an attempt to investigate whether the changes in Çatalhöyük’s construction techniques of walls and foundations, as well as the changes in mudbrick dimensions, could have been associated with a cognitive shift, namely higher levels of consciousness and greater innovation. Consequently, it will discuss possible reasons for moving towards new strategies or systems. In addition, this chapter will consider when, if at all, higher levels of consciousness and creativity can be observed. As consciousness is clearly embedded in mudbrick manufacture and house building, I will consider whether it was of practical or discursive character. I intend to examine whether the inhabitants of Neolithic Çatalhöyük, who possessed certain building knowledge and skills, were able to give an account of relevant architectural activities and explicitly express them with the use of an abstract system. In this regard, mudbrick sizes and bonds are examined to identify general directions of change in architecture at Çatalhöyük. The analysis also provides insights into a standardization process that seems to have characterized at least the final phases of settlement occupation. Two directly succeeding buildings – B.74 and B.95 – from these Late Neolithic phases are examined in detail in order to identify whether standardized units of measurements were used in mudbrick manufacture
Nature
Pottery is one of the most commonly recovered artefacts from archaeological sites. Despite more t... more Pottery is one of the most commonly recovered artefacts from archaeological sites. Despite more than a century of relative dating based on typology and seriation1, accurate dating of pottery using the radiocarbon dating method has proven extremely challenging owing to the limited survival of organic temper and unreliability of visible residues2–4. Here we report a method to directly date archaeological pottery based on accelerator mass spectrometry analysis of 14C in absorbed food residues using palmitic (C16:0) and stearic (C18:0) fatty acids purified by preparative gas chromatography5–8. We present accurate compound-specific radiocarbon determinations of lipids extracted from pottery vessels, which were rigorously evaluated by comparison with dendrochronological dates9,10 and inclusion in site and regional chronologies that contained previously determined radiocarbon dates on other materials11–15. Notably, the compound-specific dates from each of the C16:0 and C18:0 fatty acids in pottery vessels provide an internal quality control of the results6 and are entirely compatible with dates for other commonly dated materials. Accurate radiocarbon dating of pottery vessels can reveal: (1) the period of use of pottery; (2) the antiquity of organic residues, including when specific foodstuffs were exploited; (3) the chronology of sites in the absence of traditionally datable materials; and (4) direct verification of pottery typochronologies. Here we used the method to date the exploitation of dairy and carcass products in Neolithic vessels from Britain, Anatolia, central and western Europe, and Saharan Africa. Using lipid residues absorbed in potsherds, the ages of pottery from various archaeological sites are determined and validated using sites for which the dates are well known from other methods.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
The opening of the final excavation area in Çatalhöyük and the zooarcheological research conducte... more The opening of the final excavation area in Çatalhöyük and the zooarcheological research conducted there have revealed an equid phalanx with incision marks shaped to resemble eyes. We argue that the choice of bone as raw material for the artifact (the first bone figurine from Çatalhöyük) is related to its anatomy and to availability. We show that the figurine and other modified equid first phalanges at Çatalhöyük were associated with food storage rooms, which exclusively represent the late phases of occupation. In these terms, they differ from the known practices of the Near East.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
Abstract Over the last few decades a variety of geoarchaeological methods and ethnoarchaeological... more Abstract Over the last few decades a variety of geoarchaeological methods and ethnoarchaeological and experimental approaches have demonstrated the fundamental importance of animal dung deposits for reconstructing past human life-ways. Through simultaneous examination in micromorphological thin-section and integrated phytolith and faecal spherulite analyses, this study provides direct evidence for animal management and organisation of space at Neolithic Catalhoyuk by examining livestock penning deposits across the settlement. The identification of new extensive areas of penning distributed within the boundaries of the early occupation of the site suggests greater proximity to and management of herds immediately prior to a phase of settlement expansion, access to wider networks and resources, and increased exploitation of the wider landscape. Phytolith assemblages from in situ dung accumulations also provide new insights into foddering/grazing practices showing highly variable herbivorous regimes, including both dicotyledonous and grass-based diets with an important proportion of grasses used as fodder and/or grazing during the early occupation of Catalhoyuk. This study provides direct evidence of the proximity of humans and herds, continuity and change in animal management strategies and farming practices, and concepts of space at the site.
Umbau-, Umnutzungs- und Umwertungsprozesse in der antiken Architektur, 2020
Neolithische Architektur im Nahen Osten kann als Prozess kontinuierlicher Instandhaltungs-, Umbau... more Neolithische Architektur im Nahen Osten kann als Prozess kontinuierlicher Instandhaltungs-, Umbau- und Modifizierungspraktiken verstanden werden. Unabhängig von Region und Fundort weisen die meisten neolithischen Bauwerke Spuren dieser vielfältigen (Bau-)Aktivitäten auf. Diese lassen sich mit dem Konzept einer ortsbasierten Identität und einer baulichen Kontinuität am Ort zusammenfassen. Dies ist ein weitverbreitetes Phänomen der Jungsteinzeit. Die Kontinuität von Gebäuden kann dabei jedoch sehr unterschiedlich aufgefasst und verstanden werden. Anhand von Fallbeispielen aus Göbekli Tepe, Aşıklı und Çatalhöyük in der Türkei versuchen wir, verschiedene Baustrategien und -techniken zu vergleichen, die Einblicke in Lebenszyklen von Gebäuden geben und dabei komplexe soziale Welten widerspiegeln sowie sich verändernde Bedürfnisse der frühsesshaften Gemeinschaften. Ausgehend von dieser Studie möchten wir auf das Potential archäologischer Bauforschung und des Beitrags von Architekten und Bauarchäologen zur Rekonstruktion von Baugestalt, Konstruktion und Funktion sowie zur Interpretation der räumlichen und sozialen Organisation in der nahöstlichen Jungsteinzeit aufmerk- sam machen.
Pottery is one of the most commonly recovered artefacts from archaeological sites. Despite more t... more Pottery is one of the most commonly recovered artefacts from archaeological sites. Despite more than a century of relative dating based on typology and seriation, accurate dating of pottery using the radiocarbon dating method has proven extremely challenging owing to the limited survival of organic temper and unreliability of visible residues. Here we report a method to directly date archaeological pottery based on accelerator mass spectrometry analysis of 14C in absorbed food residues using palmitic (C16:0) and stearic (C18:0) fatty acids purified by preparative gas chromatography. We present accurate compound-specific radiocarbon determinations of lipids extracted from pottery vessels, which were rigorously evaluated by comparison with dendrochronological dates and inclusion in site and regional chronologies that contained previously determined radiocarbon dates on other materials. Notably, the compound-specific dates from each of the C16:0 and C18:0 fatty acids in pottery vessels provide an internal quality control of the results6 and are entirely compatible with dates for other commonly dated materials. Accurate radiocarbon dating of pottery vessels can reveal: (1) the period of use of pottery; (2) the antiquity of organic residues, including when specific foodstuffs were exploited; (3) the chronology of sites in the absence of traditionally datable materials; and (4) direct verification of pottery typochronologies. Here we used the method to date the exploitation of dairy and carcass products in Neolithic vessels from Britain, Anatolia, central and western Europe, and Saharan Africa.
https://rdcu.be/b3s6J (online pdf)
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 12(1), 2020
The opening of the final excavation area in Çatalhöyük and the zooarcheological research conducte... more The opening of the final excavation area in Çatalhöyük and the zooarcheological research conducted there have revealed an equid phalanx with incision marks shaped to resemble eyes. We argue that the choice of bone as raw material for the artifact (the first bone figurine from Çatalhöyük) is related to its anatomy and to availability. We show that the figurine and other modified equid first phalanges at Çatalhöyük were associated with food storage rooms, which exclusively represent the late phases of occupation. In these terms, they differ from the known practices of the Near East.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2019
Over the last few decades a variety of geoarchaeological methods and ethnoarchaeological and expe... more Over the last few decades a variety of geoarchaeological methods and ethnoarchaeological and experimental approaches have demonstrated the fundamental importance of animal dung deposits for reconstructing past human life-ways. Through simultaneous examination in micromorphological thin-section and integrated phytolith and faecal spherulite analyses, this study provides direct evidence for animal management and organisation of space at Neolithic Çatalhöyük by examining livestock penning deposits across the settlement. The identification of new extensive areas of penning distributed within the boundaries of the early occupation of the site suggests greater proximity to and management of herds immediately prior to a phase of settlement expansion, access to wider networks and resources, and increased exploitation of the wider landscape. Phytolith assemblages from in situ dung accumulations also provide new insights into foddering/grazing practices showing highly variable herbivorous regimes, including both dicotyledonous and grass-based diets with an important proportion of grasses used as fodder and/or grazing during the early occupation of Çatalhöyük. This study provides direct evidence of the proximity of humans and herds, continuity and change in animal management strategies and farming practices, and concepts of space at the site.
The Storytellers: Social Engagement in Protecting Cultural Heritage as a Part of the Revitalizati... more The Storytellers: Social Engagement in Protecting Cultural Heritage as a Part of the Revitalization Program of the Lower Town District in Gdańsk. „The Storytellers” is a journey through an intriguing history of people, places and buildings of the Lower Town – a historical district in Gdańsk, which currently undergoes a municipal revitalization programme. This journey takes various forms, including discussion meetings, guided walks, artistic events, archive inquiries, individual interviews and publishing activities. All these actions are initiated by a local community that challenges stereotypes, fights for civil consciousness, recreates local identity and promotes the unique, yet neglected, cultural heritage of the district. This paper argues that local communities, if skilfully stimulated and appreciated, can be creative and useful partners for public institutions with regard to regeneration
of degraded urban areas. The Storytellers – once a research project – has gradually become a valuable social movement, which integrates a variety of people from different social groups. As a medium of “living memory” the Lower Town residents turn out to be a key element in exploring spatial, social and cultural aspects of their place of residence, identifying its needs and setting up goals of successful revitalization programme. Most importantly local groups like the Storytellers
are capable of facing various challenges with regard to heritage protection. Consistent and long-range build-up of local identity is a process that mobilizes the local community to corporate work, thinking and acting in favour of improvement of living conditions and preservation of valuable elements of cultural landscape.
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Papers by Marek Z Barański
https://rdcu.be/b3s6J (online pdf)
of degraded urban areas. The Storytellers – once a research project – has gradually become a valuable social movement, which integrates a variety of people from different social groups. As a medium of “living memory” the Lower Town residents turn out to be a key element in exploring spatial, social and cultural aspects of their place of residence, identifying its needs and setting up goals of successful revitalization programme. Most importantly local groups like the Storytellers
are capable of facing various challenges with regard to heritage protection. Consistent and long-range build-up of local identity is a process that mobilizes the local community to corporate work, thinking and acting in favour of improvement of living conditions and preservation of valuable elements of cultural landscape.
https://rdcu.be/b3s6J (online pdf)
of degraded urban areas. The Storytellers – once a research project – has gradually become a valuable social movement, which integrates a variety of people from different social groups. As a medium of “living memory” the Lower Town residents turn out to be a key element in exploring spatial, social and cultural aspects of their place of residence, identifying its needs and setting up goals of successful revitalization programme. Most importantly local groups like the Storytellers
are capable of facing various challenges with regard to heritage protection. Consistent and long-range build-up of local identity is a process that mobilizes the local community to corporate work, thinking and acting in favour of improvement of living conditions and preservation of valuable elements of cultural landscape.
Their works at the site fully reflect important changes in archaeology (which occurred over the last several decades) in regard to perspectives, theories, and techniques. In fact, major discrepancies between the methodological and theoretical approaches of Mellaart and Hodder have made comparing the archives of both projects unusually challenging. Mellaart led rapid, large area excavations, employing teams of local workmen and a couple of field supervisors. This was a traditional excavation strategy that favoured discovery of remnants of many buildings, elaborate wall paintings, and large artefacts. Under Hodder, excavations were also extensive, but employed an international team of archaeologists as well as detailed recording techniques and scientific methods of modern archaeology. The main aim of this 25-year-long project was to situate the elaborate symbolic production at the site within its full environmental, economic and social context. However, over the years, the research focus has been switched from individual buildings to social geography of the settlement as a whole and larger community structure, including neighbourhoods and lineage groups. Consequently, more attention was paid to relationships between contemporary buildings and open spaces. An impulse for this switch in research was given by an advanced programme on chronology which combined substantial numbers of radiocarbon dates with the site stratigraphy using formal Bayesian statistical modelling.
Hodder excavations were published in detail in a series of monographs. Much discussion on the layout of the settlement and its organisation is, however, still based on the schematic ‘level’ plans published in the 1960s. The reexamination of the remnants of several contemporary structures within one of the 1960s trenches (former Mellaart A and B and present GDN Area) at Çatalhöyük East Mound provided an opportunity to bring archives of Mellaart and Hodder projects together a d to illustrate potential implications for uncritical use of archive data.
The GDN research incorporates results from Mellaart archive’s queries, as well as recent excavations, building archaeology research, and the laboratory analysis of various artefacts and materials found during the investigations. The intraprofessional collaboration and the integration of diversified data within their context allows to challenge some previous interpretations and shed new light on issues of cooperation, coresidence and standardization/specialization in regard to late and final phases of occupation. Additionally, the chapter addresses new research questions to be considered in further excavations at the site.
w wyrażeniu „architektura przestrzeni kulturowych” słowo „architektura” ustala metodę oraz formę podejmowanego działania, natomiast „przestrzenie kulturowe” zakreślają obszar, w którym do ingerencji
projektowej dochodzi. Wskazanie na „architekturę” jako na sposób postępowania odnosi się wprost do sztuki i umiejętności kształtowania przestrzeni, bez względu na to czy operujemy w skali miasta czy architektonicznego detalu. Natomiast „przestrzeń kulturowa” wyznacza na miejsce aktywności obszary przekształcone – w różny sposób i w różnym stopniu – poprzez działalność człowieka. Polem badawczym i podstawowym obszarem zainteresowań architektury przestrzeni
kulturowych jest krajobraz – fenomen pojmowany szeroko i wieloznacznie, lecz gdyby wskazać jedno jego ujęcie mogłoby to być określenie krajobrazu jako fizjonomii powierzchni Ziemi, będącej
połączeniem działalności przyrody oraz ludzi. Przestrzeń kulturowa może więc przybierać formy krajobrazu regionalnego, miejskiego, industrialnego czy wiejskiego. Wszystkie one są zapisem długiego
trwania przestrzeni w czasie, a architekci pracujący w tak złożonych kontekstach muszą umieć rozpoznać i wydobyć lokalne walory miejsca,
wpleść weń znak teraźniejszości oraz dobrze przygotować je na to, co nadchodzi.