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ATAL NEWSTHE NEWSLETTER OF THE ATALHYK RESEARCH PROJECT

atal News 14 December 2007

The first of its kind found at atalhyk. An incised panel of mudplaster with spiral-

meander designs reminiscent of some earlier clay seal designs was uncovered on

three walls of a small structure in the Team Pozna Area.

Our newsletters aim to provide a brief outline of each seasons activities atatalhyk. Highlights of the seasons excavations and finds are described as well assummaries of research programmes and events that took place on site. More detailedinformation is available from our website at www.catalhoyuk.com underresearch/archive reports/2007.

The project works in Turkey with a permit provided by the Turkish Ministry ofCulture and Tourism, and under the auspices of the British Institute at Ankara. Ourmain supporters are Stanford University in the USA, the Institute of Archaeology -University College London, Selcuk University in Turkey and the University ofPozna and the Polish Heritage Council in Poland.

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Figure 1: The base of a probable bear relief in

the corner of a room in the 4040 Area.

Figure 2: Similar splayed reliefs had been found by

Mellaart, as in this case.

Figure 3: This clay stamp with a splayed

form, suggests the depiction of a bear.

2007 SEASON REVIEW / 2007SEZONU DEERLENDRMES Ian Hodder

Some intriguing new findsReturning to atalhyk towards the end ofthe season, after a trip to Ankara, I had beentold that the team had found something veryexciting during my absence. They wanted tosurprise, or rather test me, and so had not toldme what the find was. All the possibilitieswent through my head as I walked up the longflanks of the mound this 9000-year-oldNeolithic town in central Turkey, near umraand Konya. It could be a painting, of the typethat Mellaart had found in his excavations atthe site in the 1960s. It could be a figurine, butwe had found several of the better examples ofthose and so not so much fuss would have beenmade. Or maybe it was just a rich burial someone buried as usual beneath the floors ofthe houses but with rich artefacts associated.Or perhaps it was a leopard relief sculpture ona wall, as again had been found by Mellaart.

When I got into the trench at the top of themound I initially felt disappointed as I lookedat the rather messy and difficult to discernplaster mouldings in the corner of a room(Figure 1). There was certainly somethingthere but it was difficult to make anything outat all. But gradually, with a little coaxing, Isaw what the team wanted me to see what isalmost certainly the base of one of the so-

called splayed figures of which Mellaart hadfound several examples at the site. Thereremains some doubt about the identification ofthe relief sculpture, but I am more convincednow than I was then. These reliefs (eg Figure2) had originally been thought by Mellaart torepresent a splayed animal, but it was alwaysdifficult to see what they were as the heads andfeet had always been removed. Later Mellaartfavoured an interpretation as MotherGoddesses. But in recent years we had found aclay stamp of a splayed figure, which still hadits head, and some of its feet. This wascertainly an animal and probably a bear

(Figure 3).

So it seems most likely that the relief the teamhad found was the lower part of one of thesesplayed bear figures. It sits crammed into thesoutheast corner of a side room in a veryelaborate building, which had been re-plasteredvery many times. In the middle of thesurviving portion is a possible belly with tracesof the navel navels are key features of all the

splayed figures. I had to agree in the end, theteam had probably been right in theirinterpretation and in their excitement!

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Figure 4: Incised decoration on a wall in the TP Area

We had again a large team at atalhyk thissummer 150 researchers and students as wellas 30 local workforce. As well as the usualStanford-UK team, and the existing team fromPoland (led by Arek Marciniak and LechCzerniak), a team from Seluk University (ledby Ahmet Trpan and Asuman Baldran)

worked on the Byzantine and early Islamicburials on the West Mound.

Chalcolithic West Mound itself, there weretwo teams one from Cambridge and SUNYBuffalo (led by Peter Biehl) and the other fromthe University of Thrace at Edirne (led byBurin Erdou).

Indeed, it was one of these teams that madeanother intriguing and unusual discovery thisyear. In the TP Area excavated by the Polishteam from Ponan University, a remarkablefrieze was found (Front cover & Figure 4). In a

small room that was part of a large buildingcomplex, the walls were first plastered andthen, while the plaster was still wet, incisedwith spiral-meander designs. This is a newtype of decoration and symbolism found at thesite. It occurs in one of the very uppermostlevels at the site. So we can say that althoughpainting of walls may have decreased in theupper levels of the site, the symbolicelaboration of the house continued, in a newmedium.

Figure 5: Pot found in midden in the 4040 Area and

showing a human face. Bull horns and ears can be seen on

the side of the pot.

Another fascinating find occurred in the lab. asmuch as in the excavation trenches. Overseveral years we had found bits of aremarkable pot. This year and last, NurcanYalman and her team in the pottery lab siftedthrough all the material coming from the samevery large midden. They gradually found moreand more bits. At first the oval pot seemed justto have a human face at one end. Then ahuman face, identical to the first, was found atthe other end of the pot (Figure 5). Then, right

at the end of the season, they managed to findsome bits of the side of the pot. Looking at theside one suddenly saw something remarkable there was also the face of a bull! The ears andhorns were clear to see. So this is a veryunusual pot with two human, and probably twobull heads

shown. In my view, since the human faceshave no eyes in the same way that a plasteredhuman skull we found had no eyes, this potprobably represents human skulls and facesand bucrania (plastered bull skulls).

Another intriguing set of data came again fromfinds in the lab, and as a result of excavation inthe South shelter. In the eastern part of theshelter we had earlier excavated a series ofexactly repeating buildings, from Building 10at the top to Buildings 44 (Level IV), 56(Level V), and 65 (Level VIA). We wanted tosee if this building sequence continued fromearlier buildings. So in 2007 we excavated

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through Building 65 and found below it abreak in the sequence (Figure 6). BeneathBuilding 65 the area had been used for ovensand other open area activities. There weresmall buildings or sheds but no coherentbuilding plan, and much evidence of outdoorindustrial activity. We can see in section that

an earlier building existed before this break.

This earlier building is on much the samealignment as Building 65. It will be excavatednext year. We will in this way be able toexplore the extent to which memoriescontinued in buildings even across substantialbreaks in use.

Figure 6: A break in the sequence below Building 65 in the South Area shelter.

As a result of a seminar at the site, attended by

anthropologists, theologians, philosophers, andfunded by the Templeton Foundation, we havestarted to call the buildings which are rebuiltmany times, are elaborate architecturally, andhave very many burials beneath the floors,history houses. Through their lives, thesebuildings, replaced and replaced over 100s ofyears, seem to amass objects such as skulls andritual paraphernalia. The 10-44-56-65sequence is an example of one of these historyhouses and it was work in the lab, this timethe human remains lab, that gave us a newindication of how these buildings functioned.Baak Boz, a member of the human remainsteam, found teeth in a burial pit in one housethat had come from a jaw in a burial pit in thehouse beneath. We had already come tosuspect that human and animal skulls,sometimes plastered, were handed downwithin houses as heirlooms or objects ofimportance. The evidence found by Baak Bozseems to support this idea.

In the 4040 Area, excavation continued onBuilding 59 (Figure 7). This building has

proved of great interest. It is extremely large

(one of the largest buildings yet found at thesite) and yet it was lived in for a fairly shortperiod of time (as seen in the small numbers ofplaster layers on the walls and floors). It hassome examples of symbolic and ritualelaboration such as pillars and platforms and ared painted wall. The building thus allows usto explore the relationships between ritual andsymbolic elaboration and size and status. Infact, the building has only one burial (in a sideroom) and was used over a short period oftime. There is no evidence that it had specialstatus. Special status, as seen in otherbuildings, seems mainly associated with largenumbers of burials and long-term use that iswith history houses. Such houses do not havemore storage, and they are not necessarily thelargest buildings. But they do seem to havebuilt up a long history of use, burial and ritualand symbolic elaboration.

As if to make the point still clearer, weexcavated parts of a new building this year thatmerits the history house designation. Thisbuilding appeared in the construction trench

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Figure 7: Building 59, 4040 Area, looking E.

for a new shelter that is to be erected over the4040 Area in 2007-8. It had at least two levelsof rebuild, including with red painted wallsand benches (Figure 8) and had over 30 burialsbeneath just the northeast and east platforms ofone phase of building. Since most buildingshave only 5-10 burials, and several have none,

this minimum number of 30 indicates use as aspecial burial building.

atalhykte Merak UyandranBuluntularGetiimiz kaz sezonunun sonunda,Ankaraya yapm olduum gezimindnnde, atalhyk te benimyokluumda ok nemli buluntularkt sylendi. Ekip yeleri beniartmak iin, belki de bir nevi testetmek iin buluntunun ne olduunusylemediler. Tepenin, bu 9000 senelikNeolitik ehrin, yamacndan yukarya

doru klan uzun yol boyuncaaklmdan btn olaslklar geti. Bu birduvar resmi olabilirdi-Mellaartn1960l yllarda yapt kazlardabulduu tarzda bir duvar resmi. Bu bir figrinolabilirdi-ancak daha nce birok deiikfigrin eidi bulmu idik dolaysyla yeni birtanesi bu kadar heyecan yaratmamalyd. Belkide daha nce bulduklarmza gre daha zenginmezar hediyeleri ile dolu, yine bir evintabannn altna gmlm bir gmt idi. Yada belki, Mellaartn bulduu trden leoparbetimli bir duvar kabartmas olabilirdi.

Hyn tepesindeki amaya ulatmda,odann kesinde dzensiz birekilde duran vezar zor farkedilen sva kabartmay grdmdehayal krklna uradm (Figr 1). Baktmkede bir ey olduu kesindi ama neolduunu anlamak zor grnyordu. Fakatbiraz daha konuunca ikna oldum ve ekibinbenim de grmemi istedii eyi farkettim- bu,Mellaart zamannda birok rneininbulunduu hayvan betimli bir duvarkabartmas idi. Bu kabartmanntanmlanmasnda bir takm pheler yaandancaku anda o zaman olduumdan daha eminyaklayorum. Bu kabartmalarn ( Figr 2),

Mellaart tarafndan hayvan betimini temsilettii dnlm fakat kabartmann ba veayak ksmlar karldndan tanmlanmalarher zaman zor olmutur. Daha sonra Mellaartbu kabartmalar iin Ana Tanra tanmnuygun grmtr. Fakat son yllar ierisindeyaplan kazlar srasnda, bu kabartmalarnbetimine benzerekilde yaplm bir kil mhr,ba ve ayaklar tm ekilde bulunmutur. Tmekliyle, bu mhrn bir hayvan ve

muhtemelen de bir ayy betimlediine kararverilmitir (Figr 3).

Dolaysyla ekibin bulduu bu kabartmamuhtemelen bir ay betiminin alt ksmna aittir.Olduka karmak bir yapya sahip ve duvarlardefalarca svanm olan bir binann gneydou

kesine s

k

t

r

lm

t

r. Bu tm kabartmadangeriye kalm blmde gbek delii dahabelirgin olup korunmutur-gbek delikleri bu

tip kabatmalarn en belirgin zelliklerindendir.

Gnn sonunda ekibin yorumlarnda veheyecanlarnda hakl olduklarna karar verdim!

Bu sene de atalhykte byk bir ekibimizvard 150 bilimsel aratrmac ve renci ile30 kiiden oluan yerel alanlarmz.Stanford-ngiltere ekibi, Polonyal ekip (ArekMarciniak ve Lech Czerniak bakanlnda),Seluk niversitesinden Bizans ve erkenslam dnemlerine ait Bat Hyktekigmtleri alan bir ekip (Ahmet Trpan veAsuman Baldran bakanlnda) bu sezonunekiplerini oluturdular. Bat Hykte iki ayrekip alt-birincisi Cambridgeden ve SUNYBuffalodan (Peter Biehl bakanlnda) ve birdieri de Edirnedeki Trakya niversitesindenbir ekip (Burin Erdodu bakanlnda).

Bu ekiplerden bir dieri de yine bu seneatalhykteki en heyecan vericibuluntulardan birini kefetmitir. TP Alanndaalan Pozna niversitesi ekibi, kayda deerbir friz bulmutur (Figr 4). Byk bir binakompleksinin bir paras olan bu kk odannduvar nce svanm, daha sonra, henz svaya iken zerine spiral bir motif kaznmtr.Bu, kaz alannda yeni rastlanlan bir tipsembolizm ve ssleme biimidir. Bu kazbezein bulunduu bina ve oda kaz alannnen st tabakalarna denk dmektedir. Bunabal olarak, her ne kadar st tabakalarda duvarresimlerinin betimlenmesi alt tabakalara oranla

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Figure 8: Red paneled wall in FT 2, 4040 Area

daha az olsa da evin sembolik olarakdeerlendirilmesi yeni bir dzeyde devametmektedir.

Bir dier ilgi ekici buluntu da laboratuardangelmitir. Son birka yl boyunca yaptmzkazlarda kayda deer bir mlein farkl

paralar

n

bulduk. Bu sene, geen senedeolduu gibi, Nurcan Yalman ve ekibi anakmleklerin incelendii laboratuarda, aynplk alanndan gelen malzemeyi incelemeyedevam etmilerdir. Bu inceleme devam ettikebu mlein farkl paralarn buldular. lkbulunduunda, bu oval kabn yanlzca birtarafnda insan yz betimlenmi olduudnlmekteydi. Daha sonra bu kabn birtarafnda bulunan bu insan yzl betim, kabndier tarafnda da ayn ekilde betimlenmiolarak bulunmutur (Figr 5). Daha sonra,kaznn sonunda bu kabn yan taraflarna aitolan paralar da bulmulardr. Kabn yan

taraflar

na bakarken birdenbire ok ilgin birey farkedildi-kabn yan taraftaki dieryznde de ayn zamanda bir boa babetimlenmiti! Kulaklar ve boynuz ok net birekilde seilebiliyordu. Benim grme gre,buradaki insan yz betimlerinin gzleri tpksval kafatasnda olduu gibi belirtilmediinegre, bu kilden yaplm kap insan kafataslarnve yzlerini ve svanm boa balarn temsiletmektedir.

Bu senenin bir dier bir ilgin buluntu grubuda Gney alannda yaplan kazlar sonucundaortaya kmtr. Daha nce bu alann douksmnda yaptmz kazlarda Bina 10danBina 44 (Tabaka IV), 56 (Tabaka V), ve65(Tabaka VIA)in en st noktasna kadar birbiriile benzerlik gsteren bir dizi binay kazmidik. Bu bina dizininin erken binalardanitibaren devam edip etmediini grmek istedik.Bylelikle 2007de Bina 65i ve altndakibinay kazmaya devam ettik vebu bina dizinin Bina 65inaltnda deitiini grdk (Figr6). Bu binalarda ayrntl birmimari plan gzlenmemektedirancak ev ii aktiviteleri asndanok eitlilik tayan kkboyutlu yaplar veya korunakalanlar eklinde yaplmlardr.Proflden grdmz zere bukesintiden nce erken bir binabulunmaktadr. Bu erken binannise aa yukar Bina 65 ile aynseviyede olduugzlemlenmitir. Bu binannseneye kazlmasplanlanmaktadr. Byleliklegzlemlenebilir kesintilere

ramen bu bina dizininde ortak hafzannnereye kadar devam ettiini ortayakarabiliriz.

Kaz alannda, eitli antropolog, teolog vefelsefecilerin katlm ile, Templeton Fonutarafndan fnanse edilen seminerler serisinde,

ayn

biimde birok kez ina edilmi, mimariolarak karmak ve tabanlarnn altnda birokgmt bulunan bu binalarn tarih evleriolarak nitelendirilmesine karar verilmitir.Yaam sreleri boyunca bu evlere yzlerce ylboyunca tekrar tekrar yerleilmi ve kafataslarve rituel niteliindeki kiisel eyalarbiriktirilmitir. 10-44-56-65 numaral binaserisi tarih evleri dizinine bir rnekolmaktadr ve insan kalntlar laboratuarndakiincelemeler bize bu binalarn nasl iledii ileilgili bilgileri vermektedir. nsan kalntlarlaboratuar alanlarndan Baak Boz, bir evderastlanan gm ukurundan kard dilerin

bir alt evredeki binaya ait gmtn enekemiinden gelen diler olduunu tespitetmitir. Bundan nce de insan ve hayvankafataslarnn, evden eve geen miras veyanemli eya statsnde nem grmolabileceini dnmekteydik. Baak Bozunbulduu bu kant dncemizidesteklemektedir.

Kuzey Alannda, Bina 59da kazlar devametmitir. Bu bina verdiimiz nemi haklkarmtr. Bina ok geni bir alankapsamakta olup (kaz alannda bulunan engeni binadr) ok ksa bir sre (duvar svakatmanlarnn azlndan anlamaktayz) iinkullanlmtr. Bununla beraber bina iindestunlar, platformlar ve krmz boyanmduvar gibi sembolik anlamlar tayan unsurlarbulunmaktadr. Binada yanlzca bir tane gmtbulunmu (bir yan odann iinde) bu da azzaman iin kullanldna dair kant tekil

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etmitir. zel bir stat tad ile ilgili hibirgsterge yoktur. Burada zel stat durumu,tarih evleri nde olduu gibi ok sayda gmtve uzun sure kullanm temsil eder (Figr 7).Bu tip evler daha fazla depo alanna sahipolmakla birlikte, yerleim iindeki en genievler deillerdir. Ancak, ok uzun bir tarih

kesidi iin igal edilmilerdir ve de gmtler,ritel ve sembolik eitlilik asndan zenginyaplardr.

Durumu daha ak bir hale getirmek asndanyle diyebiliriz; bu sene, tarih evlerihipotezimizi destekleyen yeni bir binann birksmn kazm bulunmaktayz. Bu bina 2007-

8 yllar arasnda 4040 amasna dikilecek olanyeni korunga rtsnn temellerinin alacayerlerde yaplan arkeolojik kazlar sonucundaortaya kmtr. ki seviyesi olan bu binadaok sayda krmz boyal duvar ve payandabulunmu ve yanlzca bir tabakann kuzeybatve bat platformlarnn altndan otuzun

zerinde gmt

km

t

r (Figr 8). Birokbinada en fazla 5-10 tane gmt bulunduu vebazlarnda hi olmad gz nne alnrsa 30gmtn birden bulunmas bize burasnngmtler iin zel ayrlm bir bina olduudndrtr.

Other Activities Ian Hodder & Shahina Farid

Figure 9: Boeing Sponsored Display Cabinet at Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilization

Office move to LondonBy mid April the project relocation from theUniversity of Cambridge to the Institute ofArchaeology, University College London wassuccessfully completed. This involved downsizing and relocating the office which had beenbased at the University of Cambridge since thecurrent project began in 1993, firstadministered by the Faculty of Archaeologyand Anthropology and since 2000, theMcDonald Institute for ArchaeologicalResearch coinciding with Ians move toStanford.

The logistics of moving proved to beinteresting as every aspect of the project wasscrutinised by both parties, Cambridge andUCL. On the practical side the project archive,computers and project servers had to bemoved. Downsizing meant that a lot of projectmaterial had to be sorted and archived betweenStanford and London. However, this was agood opportunity to discard years of redundanttrappings we had acquired over the past

decade, and finally our pared down records andcomputers were transported to London.

The project office is now based on the thirdfloor (with windows!) of the Institute ofArchaeology and we are very grateful toInstitute of Archaeology for housing us. Weare also very grateful to the many individualsfrom the University of Cambridge, theMcDonald Institute, University CollegeLondon and the Institute of Archaeology whohelped with the bureaucracy of transferring theproject and the logistics of our move.

Boeing Sponsored Display Cabinet atAnkara Museum of Anatolian CivilizationWith the support of the Ministry of Cultureand Tourism and the Konya Museum, and withthe sponsorship of Boeing, a new exhibit wasopened in the Ankara Museum of AnatolianCivilization. With the encouragement of theMuseum Director a new case was built andfilled with recent finds from the site (Figure 9).This temporary exhibit will be renewed on anannual basis and will allow the finds from the

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Figure 10: New shelter design by Atlye Mimarlk

site to be shown in the capital city beforereturning to Konya. A video about the site isalso on permanent loop near the display case.

Permanent display of 4040 AreaMuch of this seasons excavation work on theEast mound was concentrated around theexcavation of foundation trenches for theconstruction of our second permanent shelter.

This shelter, which will be located on thenorthern eminence of the East Mound, hasbeen in planning for the last three years andwork finally began this summer. Similar to theshelter construction over the South Areaconstructed in 2003, the aim is to display alarge expanse of the current excavations on apermanent basis, a place where excavationscontinue in the summer seasons but which canbe visited and toured throughout the year.Whilst the South shelter affords display ofexcavations through time in depth, the Northshelter will display contemporaryneighbourhoods on the same horizon.

The new shelter has again been designed andconstructed by Atlye Mimarlk, our architectsfor the South Shelter. Their remit this time wasto design a shelter that would be aesthetic toand fitting with the shape of the mound (Figure10). The construction is therefore domed andemploys new techniques and materials.

The shelter covers an area 43m N-S x 26m E-W. A number of locations were discussedbefore the present position of the shelter wasdecided (see Figure 14). The deciding factorswere financial, long-term stability, access,

view of the buildings to be displayed and longterm aims of continued excavation. We alsowanted to incorporate Building 5 under the

new structure as the life-span of that shelter,which was constructed in 1999 was only 5years and had begun to show signs ofdisrepair.

26 foundation trenches with connecting beamslots were excavated around the footprint ofthe shelter. Each trench was 1.8m x 1.6m andvaried in depth according to formation horizonrelating to the contour of the mound. Overallthe depths varied from 0.12m to nearly 2mthrough differing soil types and stratigraphicsequences. The connecting beam slots were0.5m wide and the depths also variedaccording to the local topography. Thenorthern and southern foundations wereexcavated as continuous slot trenches, 0.6mwide with varying formation depths. Thesesides will form the access point of the shelter.

Handover to the architects was due on the 1stAugust but of course we overran due tocomplex stratigraphy and the number ofhuman burials we encountered. The usualfrustrations of keyhole excavation were facedbut overall a great sequence was excavatedwhich has given us a window to areas on themound, which we would not otherwise haveexcavated.

As the FTs were handed over to theconstruction team they were lined withgeotextile before construction of the

supporting steel framework was assembled(Figure 11).

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Figure 11: Lined and reinforced foundations for theShelter.

Final handover was 17th August and the firststage of concrete pouring took place on the

21st. Eight cement mixers and two pourers, onestationed at the base of the mound and theother half way up were synchronized for thepouring (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Staged concrete pourers

The second stage of concrete pouring tookplace on the 29th August and after an adequatedrying period the surrounds were contouredwith sandbags.

The final stage of roof construction will takeplace in the Spring of 2008.

Storage Depots

One of the problems of long-term excavationis planning for storage of the excavatedmaterial archive when no storage facility inmuseums is available. At atalhyk we havebeen long suffering from a lack of storagefacilities at the site. At the beginning and endof each season hundreds of crates of materialhave to be moved out of laboratories wherethey are securely stored in the off-season tomake room for teams to set up their workstations.

Finally after a few years of planning wereceived permission to construct four modularstorage depots. Funds permitting, the first willbe constructed by the Spring of 2008. Inpreparation for construction we spent a weekexcavating evaluation trenches over the

footprint of the depots to establish that nodeposits of archaeological significance wouldbe destroyed.

atalhyk Museum ProjectIt has long been a project objective to build amuseum on or near the site as part of thevisitor experience to atalhyk. In 2005 wereported that a design had been submitted byCengiz Bekta (see Archive Report 2005) thatfulfilled the ethos and practice of the projectvision. It is by no means a traditional museumdesign but rather a Neolithic experience ofreconstruction houses and interactive facilities,

not necessarily a primary place for originalobjects.

Whilst funds are being sought a location forthis new museum was under discussion thissummer between the project and a number oflocal interest groups.

Site Management Plan workshopAs a follow-on to the Site Management Planfor atalhyk that was written as part of theTEMPER project (see Archive reports 2002 2005), a workshop was held on site thisseason. The meeting, led by Aylin Orbali ofOxford Brookes University, which involvedmembers of the Chamber of Architects,delegates from the Ministry of Culture andTourism and local government representatives,was held to discuss how the management planworks and legislation concerning theimplementation of management plans inTurkey.

Templeton seminarThis was the second year of a 3 researchproject entitled Spirituality and religiousritual in the emergence of civilization.atalhyk as a case study, which involves agroup of eminent archaeologists,anthropologists, theologians and philosophersfrom around the world to help us interpret theancient, prehistoric symbolism at atalhyk.

The four questions being asked by theTempleton funded project are: (1) How canarchaeologists recognize the spiritual, religiousand transcendent in early time periods? (2) Arechanges in spiritual life and religious ritual anecessary prelude to the social and economic

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changes that lead to civilization? (3) Dohuman forms take on a central role in the spiritworld in the early Holocene, and does thiscentrality lead to new conceptions of humanagency that themselves provide the possibilityfor the domestication of plants and animals?(4) Do violence and death act as the foci of

transcendent religious experience during thetransitions of the early Holocene in the NearEast, and are such themes central to thecreation of social life in the first largeagglomerations of people?

BurialsAs a result of the analyses on a corpus of lateburials excavated from across the East andWest mounds a number of Islamic andpossible Islamic burials have been identifiedon the basis of position and grave typology. Asa result, a number of discussions took place on

site and it has been agreed by both the localcommunity and the General Directorate thatthe clearly Islamic burials will be reburied inthe village cemetery in 2008.

Dier Aktiviteler Ian Hodder & Shahina Farid

Projenin Londraya TanmasNisan ortasnda proje, Cambridgeniversitesinden, Londra niversitesindekiArkeoloji Enstitsne tanmtr. Bu, 1993ylndan beri Cambridge niversitesine bal

olan ve 2000 ylna kadar Arkeoloji veAntropoloji Fakltesinin altnda alp 2000ylndan itibaren de Mc Donald Enstitsnebal alan projenin hem kltlmesi hemde yer deitirmesi anlamna gelmitir.

Projenin tanma aamasndaki lojistik ksm,hem Cambridge hem UCL tarafndan ok inceelenip sk dokunmu ve bizim iin ok ilginbir deneyim tekil etmitir. Pratik ksmnabakldnda projeye ait hem arivin, hembilgisayarlarn hem de bilgisayar server larnntanmas sz konusu olmutur. Yukardabelirttiim kltme ileminden kast da,

projeye ait birok unsurun hem Londrada hemde Stanfordda dzenlenmesi anlamnagelmesidir. Bylelikle, yllarca birikmi olangereksiz ksmlardan kurtulunmu ve dedzenleme sonucu klen bilgisayar ve genelarivimiz Londra ya tanmtr.

u anda proje ofisi Arkeoloji Enstitsnn 3.katnda yer almaktadr (pencereli bir oda!).Arkeoloji Enstitsne bize yer salad iinteekr ediyoruz. Ayn zamanda Cambridgeniversitesine, McDonald Enstitsne,Londra niversitesine ve ArkeolojiEnstittsne projenin tanmas esnasnda

yapt

klar

brokratik ve lojistik yard

mlardandolay teekkrlerimizi sunmaktayz.

Ankara Mzesi'nde bulunan, Boeing'insponsorluunu yapt, atalhykeserlerine ayrlan vitrin.Kltr ve Turizm Bakanlnn ve KonyaMzesinin katklar ile ve Boeinginsponsorluuyla, Ankara Mzesinde yeni birsergi alan almtr. Mze Mdrlnntevikleri ile yeni bir sergi vitrini dzenlenmi

ve kazdan kan son buluntularyerletirilmitir (Figr 9). Bu geici sergi yllkolarak yenilenecek ve buluntularn her senetekrar Konya Mzesine geri dnemeden ncebakentte sergiye sunulmalar

salanabilecektir. Kaz ile ilgili bir tantmvideosu da vitrinin yannda srekli olarakgsterilmektedir.

4040 Alannn SergilenmesiBu sezon kazlarnn byk bir ksm,yaplacak olan ikinci kalc korunga rtnninas srasnda alacak olan temellerdeyaplan arkeolojik kazlar zerine younlat.Dou Hykn kuzey ksmnda yer alacakolan bu rt son yl boyunca planlanan birproje olup, nihayet bu yaz almalarabalanmtr. Gney Alannda 2003 ylndayaplan korunga rtnn yapmna benzerlik

gsteren bu yeni yap, yaz aylar boyunca rtaltnda yaplacak kazlarn devamna imkansalad gibi, k aylarnda da gelenziyaretilere ak bir alan olarak kalacaktr.Gney Alanndaki rt, yaplan kazlarn dikeyolarak tabakalanmasnn sergilenmesine yolat gibi, Kuzey Alanndaki rt de aynekilde yatay alandaki birbirine komu evlerinbir arada sergilenmesini salayacaktr.

Yeni korunga rt, Gney Alanndaki rt deolduu gibi, Atlye Mimarlik tarafndantasarlanm ve ina edilmitir. Bu yeni tasarmiin gz nnde bulundurulan en nemli unsur,

korunga rtnn, tepenin ekli ile estetikolarak bir uyum gstermesidir (Figr 10). Buanlamda yap kubbe eklinde dizayn edilmi veyeni yapm teknikleri ve malzemelerikullanlmtr (baknz konservasyon raporu).

Korunga rt 43m kuzey-gney x 26m dou-bat byklnde bir alan kaplamaktadr.Korunga rtnn u andaki yerini belirlemedennce bir ka farkl yer olasl tartlmtr(Figr 14). Yerin karar verilmesinde etken olan

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unsurlar; finans, uzun vadeli dayankllk,ulam, kazlan binalarn ne ekildesergilenecei ve devam eden kazlarn uzunvadedeki amalar eklinde olmutur. Aynzamanda bu rtnn altna Bina 5in dahiledilmesi, Bina 5in zerine 1999da yaplan vemrn 5 sene olaca sylenen rtnn

y

pranma belirtileri gstermesi zerine, szkonusu olmutur.

Bu korunga rtnn ayaklarnn gelecei 26temel amas, bu amalarn aralarn birletirenince uzun amalarla birlikte kazlmtr. Herbirama 1.8m x 1.6m byklnde olup,hyn ekline gre belirlenen farklformasyon dzlemi hesaplamalarna gre farklderinliklerde kazlmtr. Genel olarak kazlanderinlikler 0.12m ile 2m arasnda farkl toprakeitleri ve tabakalanma dizinleri iledeimektedir. Aralar birletiren ince uzunamalar ise 0.5 m geniliinde olup derinlikler

de yerel topografiye gre deimektedir.Alann mimarlara devredilmesi 1 Austosubulmu olmasna ramen karmaktabakalanma ve ok sayda kan insaniskeletleri dolaysyla bizim mudahelemizdevam etmitir. Bu tip kk amalarda herzaman olduu gibi gerek tabakalanmayla ilgilibalantlarn aralarda kilitlenmesi gereksegenel resmi grmeye engel tekil etmesiasndan rahatszlklar yaratsa da ok geni biryelpazede farkl tabakalar kazlm ve farklkoullarda daha uzun dnem kazlmayacakolan bu tabakalara bir pencere almasnsalamtr.

Temel amalar inaat ekibine teslim edildiktensonra amalar, demir ubuklarladesteklenmeden nce jeotekstil ile rtlmtr(Figr 11).

En son devir 17 Auustosta olmu ve ilkbeton dkm ise 21inde gereklemitir(Figr 11). Sekiz har kartrma makinas veiki dkc, biri tepenin yamacnda ve dieritepenin ortasnda yer almak kaydylayerletirilmi ve birbirleri ile e deerlizamanlarda almlardr.

Har dkme ileminin ikinci aamas 29Austosta yer alm ve kurumas iin gereklizaman brakldktan sonra amalar kumtorbalar ile evrelenmilerdir.

rtnn atsnn yerletirilmesi ilemi de enson aama olarak 2008 ylnn baharndagerekleecektir.

DepolarUzun vadeli kaz plannn problemlerinden biride, mzede yeterli derecede depo alanolmadndan, kan malzemenin nerdesaklanaca sorunu olmutur. atalhykte birsreden beri kan malzemenin artmas ile yersorunu ile kar karyayz. Her kaz sezonunun

ba

nda, gelen ekiplere al

ma alan

salamakiin yzlerce sandk arkeolojik malzemelaboratuarlardan karlp, alan dnda gvenlibir yere tanmak durumunda kalmaktadr.

En sonunda yllar sren bir zaman dilimindensonra depolarmz ina etmek iim gerekliolan iznimizi alm bulunuyoruz. Alnacak fondorultusunda bu depolardan ilkini 2008ylnn baharnda ina etmeyi planlamaktayz.Bu yaplarn ina edilmesi srecinde depolarntemellerinin gelecei yerlerde, herhangi birarkeolojik malzemenin bu alanlara girmediinikesinletirmek iin deerlendirme kazlar

yap

lm

ve bu kaz

lar

n raporu yaz

lm

t

r.atalhyk Mzesi ProjesiProjenin uzun dnemli planlarndan bir dieride, atalhyk ziyaretileri iin kaz alannnyaknlarna bir mze ina edilmesi fikri idi.2005 ylnda Cengiz Bektan bu projeninamalar ve pratiine uygun bir tasarmyaptn raporumuzda bildirmitik. Bu, klasikanlamyla bir mzeden ok bir Neolitik evrekontrksiyonu balamnda bir yap vedeneyim olduu gibi etkileimli olanaklar olanve mutlak olarak, kan kaz malzemesininorijinallerini iermesi gerekmeyen birtasarmdr.

Gerekli fonlarn salanmas planlar ile birliktebu mzenin lokasyonu ile ilgili tartmalarfarkl ilgili makamlarla tartlmtr.

Kaz Ynetimi Plan AtlyesiTEMPER Projesi tarafndan yazlanatalhyk Ynetim Plannn (baknz ArivRaporu 2002-2005) devam niteliinde busezonda bir atlye almas dzenlenmitir.Oxford Brookes niversitesinde bulunanAylin Orbal tarafndan ba ekilen butoplantda ayn zamanda Mimarlar Odas,Kltr ve Turizm Bakanlndan delegeler veyerel ynetim temsilcileri de katlmlar vekaz alan ynetim plannn nasl iledii veTrkiyedeki kaz ynetim plan ile ilgili yasave uygulamalar tartlmtr.

Templeton Fonu Aratrma ProjesiBu, Uygarln Douunda Spiritel veDinsel Ritelde atalhyk rnek incelemesi balkl 3 yl olarak planlanan aratrmaprojesinin ikinci yl idi. Bu almaya

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dnyann birok tarafndan sekin arkeolog,antropolog, teolog ve felsefeci,atalhykteki prehistorik sembolizmiincelemek zere katlmlardr.

Templeton tarafndan fonu salanan bu projededrt ana soru sorulmutur: (1) Arkeologlar,

gemi zamanlara ait sipiritel, dinsel vetransandal olgular ne ekildetanmlayabilirler? (2) Sipiritel ve dinselyaamda gzlemlenen deiimler, uygarlnortaya kmasna yol aan ekonomik ve sosyaldeiimlere bir zemin mi olmutur? (3) ErkenHolosendeki ruhsal dnyada insan formlarmerkezi bir rol m oynamtr ve bumerkeziyetilik insann bitki ve hayvanlarevcilletirme srecinde yeni kavramlara yolammdr? (4) iddet ve lm olgular,

Yakndouda, Holosene geite transandaldini deneyimlerin ana oda m olmutur ve butemalar, ilk byk insan ynlarnnoluturduu sosyal hayatn ortaya kmasndamerkezi bir rol m oynamtr?

Gmtler

Dou ve Bat

hyklerinden

kan ge dnemeait gmtler zerinde yaplan aratrmalarsonucunda, yat pozisyonlar ve mezartipolojileri de gz nnde bulundurulduunda,bu gmtlerin muhtemel slam mezarlklarolduklar ortaya karlmtr. Yerel halk veKltr Bakanl ile yaplan grmelersonucunda kesin olarakslam mezarl olarakbelirlenmi gmtlerin 2008 ylnda kymezarlna gmlmesi uygun grlmtr.

Post-SeasonWe had the pleasure of showing HRH Prince Charles around the site in November (Figure13).

Figure 13: HRH visits the South Area

The tour proved to be a great success withmany guests joining us including from theumra and Konya Municipalities and Securityand Army Offices, the Principal, VicePrincipals and guests from Seluk University,architect Cengiz Bekta, the headman andvisitors from the village of Kckky andmany others including the British Ambassadorto Turkey.

As well as a tour of the site and Visitor CentreThe Prince had the opportunity to see a groupof school children from umra and Kckkydoing the activities that they do in the summer

organized specially by Gulay Sert. We alsoinvited a local womens cooperative to presenttheir work in felt, using traditional methods tosuit a modern fashion, organized by Mehmetand Sylvia Giri.(www.thefeltmaker@.thefeltmaker.com).

Kaz Sezonu SonrasKasm ay ierisinde ngiltere Veliaht PrensiCharlesa atalhykteki almalar sunmaerefine nail olduk.

Bu ziyaret ok baar

l

olmu ve umradan veKonya Belediye Bakanlar, Ordu ve PolisKuvvetlerinden yksek rutbeli asker vememurlar, Seluk niversitesindenziyaretiler, mimar Sayn Cengiz Bekta,Kkky muhtar ve kyden dier ziyaretilerve Trkiyedeki ngiltere bykelisi deziyaretiler arasnda yer almtr.

Prens Charles Ziyareti Merkezinin yan sra,Glay Sertin organize ettii umra veKkkyden ocuklarn katld, yazsezonlarnda atalhykte (baknz YazOkulu raporu) okul ocuklar ile yaplan

aktvitelerin yap

ld

bu projeyi grme ans

elde etmitir. Ayrca bal bulunduklarkooperatif iinde geleneksel yntemlerle keesanatn devam ettiren yerel kadnlar, Mehmetve Sylvia Giriin organizasyonu ile kazalanna davet edilmi ve yaptklar ilersunulmutur.

(www.thefeltmaker@.thefeltmaker.com).

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TEAM 2007Project Director: Ian Hodder.Field Director &

Project Coordinator: Shahina Farid.Project Administration: Katerina Lee.Project Assistant: Banu Aydnolugil.Computing: Sarah Jones & Neil Davies

Database Development: Sarah Jones & Mia Ridge.4040 excavations: Dan Eddisford, Mike House, Simon McCann, Charlie Newman, Freya Sadarangani,

James Taylor, Lisa Yeomans.South Area excavations: Roddy Regan, Anies Hassan.TP excavations: Arkadiusz Marciniak, Arkadiusz Klimowicz, Adriana Badtke, Marek Baranski,

Agata Czeszewska, Patrycja Filipowicz, Andrzej Leszczewicz, Katarzyna Regulska,Klaudia Sibilska, Maja Marciniak, Zuzanna Marciniak.

West Mound, Buffalo/Cambridge Team: Peter Biehl, Eva Rosenstock, Tom Birch, Helen Lomas, Ingmar Franz, KathrynHall, Alex Pryor, Rosalind Wallduck, Ben Kamphaus, Raymond Whitlow, NaomiChristie, Frank Stremke, Maxime Brami, Genevieve Holdridge, Katie Kamphaus.

West Mound, Thrace Team Burin Erdou, Nejat Ycel, Glgn Grcan, Glay Ylankaya, Heval Bozbay,Sedef Polatcan, Melek Ku.

West Mound, SEL Team: Asuman Baldran, Zafer Korkmaz, Faris Demir, Osman Doanay, Zeliha Gider,Grkem Ilarslan, Utku Yaln, Ferda Zorlu.

Stanford Field Team: Rachel Becker, Eleri Cousins, Rachel Danford, Madeleine Douglas, Jun Jiang,Kristen Nado, Andrew Wicklund.

Student Field Teams: Kirsten Forseth, Angus Hodder, Marina Lizarralde, Colleen Morgan,Kelsey Traher.

Illustration: Katy Killackey.

Survey & Digitising: Dave Mackie, Cordelia Hall in consultation with Duncan Lees Plowman Craven).Finds:Heavy Residue: Slobodan Mitrovi & Milena Vasic.Conservation: Liz Pye, Duygu amurcuolu-Cleere, Philip Kevin, Casey Macksey, Nyssa

Mildwaters, Alaina Schmisseur.Image, Media &Webmaster: Jason Quinlan.Faunal Team: Louise Martin, Nerissa Russell, Katheryn Twiss, Sheelagh Frame, Kamilla

Pawlowska, David Orton, Claire Christensen, Arzu Demirergi, Liz Henton and Joe.Human Remains: Simon Hillson, Clark Larsen, Lori Hager, Baak Boz, Scot Haddow, Marin Pilloud,

Bonnie Glencross, Lesley Gregoricka, Patrick Beauchesne, Christopher Ruff,Tomasz Kozlowska, Michaela Binder.

Palaeoethnobotany: Glynis Jones, Amy Bogaard, Michael Charles, Fusun Ertu, Kim NG, EllenSimmons, Dragana Filipovic, Mge Ergun, Ryan Allen, Catherine Longford,Michael Wallace.

Phytoliths: Philippa Ryan.Starch: Karen Hardy Chase.Chipped Stone: Tristan Carter, Marina Mili.Ground Stone & bead technology: Karen Wright, Roseleen Bains, Jennifer Booth, Sarah Luddy, Bahram Ajorloo.

Ceramics: Nurcan Yalman, Hilal Gltekin, Duygu Tarkan, Joanna Pyzel, Jonathan Last,Shannon Stewart.

Figurines &Miniature Clay Objects: Lynn Meskell & Carolyn Nakamura.

Clay materiality & sourcing: Chris Doherty.Architectural Analysis: Serena Love.Summer School: Glay Sert, Nuray Kaygaz, Heval Bozbay, Lerzan Akkaplan,Translations: Dide Saglam.

Research Projects: Sharon Moses.Remediated Places: Ruth Tringham, Steve Mills.Artist in Residence: Eva Bosch.Camp Manager: Levent zer.

Site Custodians: Mustafa Tokyasun, Hasan Tokyasun, Ibrahim Eken.House Staff: smail Salmanc, Nevriye ener, Mavili Gemiz, Saliha Eken.Site Workers: Arif Arslan, Mevlut Sivas, Hlsi Yal, Hseyin Yal, Osman Yal, Mustafa

Yal, smail Bulu, Mustafa Zeytin, Ali Zeytin, Mustafa Sivas, Yusuf Tokyasun,Mehmet Ali Motuk, HasanYal, Metin Eken, Mevlut Ferakaya.

Residue Sorters: Saliha Sivas, Fadimana Yal, Fatima Yal, Rabia Yali, Elmas Motuk, Esra ener,

Emine Yal.

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AcknowledgementsThe project works under the auspices of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara with a permitfrom the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The project is grateful to the Director General ofMonuments and Museums, Orhan Dzgn and to our temsilci mer zden.

The main sponsors are Yap Kredi and Boeing. Our long-term sponsors are Shell and Merko, and othersponsor is Thames Water. We are also very grateful to our anonymous donor.

Support was gratefully received from the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara in Britain, the JohnTempleton Foundation, the Global Heritage Fund, the Kress Foundation and the Martha JoukowskyFoundation in America, and in Poland the University of Pozna, and the Polish Heritage Council.

Our main institutional partners and sponsors are Stanford University in the US, the Institute ofArchaeology, University College London in the UK and Selcuk University in Turkey.

Other institutional partners are Pozna University, Poland, Istanbul University and the University ofThrace at Edirne, Turkey and SUNY Buffalo in the US.

I also wish to thank Glay Sert for her running of the educational programmes at the site.

We are grateful as ever to Jimmy and Arlette Mellaart. Special thanks are extended to mer Ko for

his continued support of the project. And finally we were pleased to host the British Ambassador NickBaird and his wife Caroline.

TeekkrlerProje, Kltr ve Turizm Bakanlnn izniyle, Ankara ngiliz Arkeoloji Enstitsnn denetimindeyaplmaktadr. Projemiz, Antlar ve Mzeler Mdrl Bakan Sayn Orhan Dzgne ve Bakanlntemsilcisi Sayn mer zdene teekkr bor bilir.

Ana sponsorlarmz Yap Kredi ve Boeingdir. Uzun vadeli sponsorlarmz ise Shell ve Merko olup, birdier sponsorumuz da Thames Waterdr. Burada isminin belirtilmesini istemeyen kiiye de projemizeyapt katklarndan dolay teekkr ederiz.

Ankara ngiliz Arkeoloji Enstitsne, John Templeton Fonuna, Kresel Kltr Miras Fonuna, KressFonuna ve Amerikadaki Martha Joukowsky Fonuna ve Polonyadaki Pozna niversitesine ve

Polonya Milli Piyango Konseyine desteklerinden dolay teekkr ederiz.

Ana kurumsal ortaklarmz ve sponsorlarmz ise; Birlemi Milletlerden Stanford niversitesi,Birleik Krallktan Londra niversitesi, Arkeoloji Enstits ve Trkiyeden Seluk niversitesidir.

Projenin dier kurumsal ortaklar ise Pozna niversitesi, Polonya Milli Piyango Konseyi, stanbulniversitesi, Edirne Trakya niversitesi, Buffalodaki New York State niversitesi.

Her zamanki gibi Jimmy ve Arlette Mellart iftine minnettarlarmz sunarz. Projeye devam edenkatklarndan dolay Sayn mer Koa zel teekrlerimizi sunar ve son olarak da ngiliz KonsolosuSayn Nick Baird ve eleri Carolinenn bu kaz sezonunda bizlere yaptklar ziyaretten dolay erefduyduumuzu belirtmeyi bor biliriz.

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OVERVIEW OF THE EXCAVATIONS

Figure 14: Areas under excavation on the East and West mounds at atalhyk in 2007

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Areas Excavated in 2007Excavation took place in three areas on theEast mound, 4040, South and TP Areas andthree trenches on the West mound, Trenches 5,7 and 8 (Figure 14).

4040 Area /East Mound

The 4040 Area scraped in 2003 and integratedwith the area exposed by surface scraping in1993-5, revealed a large number of houses thatdefined groups of similarly aligned Neolithichouses possibly separated by streets oralleyways. An area 30x40m has beenexcavated since 2004 to the latest buildinglevels, recorded, conserved and backfilled.This area straddles a number of zones ofstructures separated by rubbish areas. It hasbeen established that these groups of buildingsrepresent different time periods.

Much of this seasons work concentrated

around the excavation of foundation trenchesfor the construction of our second permanentshelter on the East mound (see OtherActivities).

The foundation trenches afforded windowsinto the rich sequences in this area, highlights

Figure 15: Strand of interlocking bone and shell beads

from a burial 15924.X3

of which included a complex of up to 30burials in FT 1 & 2 which would have beenlocated under the NE platforms of a house. Anumber of burials were found with burialitems, one of the most spectacular of whichwas a strand of 124 bone beads from a singlenecklace in an adult female burial (15924)(Figure 15). These consist of interlocking orchain link beads and several shell pendants.

The necklace was not actually found aroundthe neck of the skeleton, but looped over thechest. Some of the beads are made onmetapodials of fox / small dog-size animals,others on cylinders of sheep-size long bonecortex. After shaping they were polished witha soft material such as leather or cloth (see

Worked Bone Report, Archive Report 2007).

Another notable sequence excavated waslocated in FTs 22 & 23 where the base of aprobable bear relief was found in the corner ofa room (see Figures 1 3). This was a house ofcomplex internal furnishings including apainted red panel on a niche, burial platforms,a spectacular oven and heavily undulatoryplastered walls (Figure 16).

Figure 16: Sequence excavated in FT 22

South Area, East MoundUnder a large protective shelter since 2002 theSouth Area is open to the public all year roundwith defined tour routes and informationpanels for visitors.

The long-term and two-fold excavation aim inthe South Area is to expand the area where wereached natural lake marl in 1999 in order tostudy the very earliest occupation sequence atatalhyk and to investigate temporalbuildings with repeated patterns (see Reviewabove & Figure 6).

TP AreaThe team from Poland headed by ProfessorsLech Czerniak and Arkadiusz Marciniak fromthe Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology,Polish Academy of Sciences and the Institute

of Prehistory, University of Pozna continuedexcavations at the crest of the east mound.This area was opened in the 2001 season tostudy the latest phases of tell occupation, datedto the end of the seventh millennium BC. Thetrench was located next to the 1961 trench inorder to integrate results to Mellaarts Levelsdefined as I III.

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The highlight of this seasons work was findingthe incised mudplaster freize (see Reviewabove & Figure 4)

West MoundOn the West Mound a 5-year plan developedfrom the 2006 season and involves a three-fold

research approach with three teams.

Trenches 5, 6 and 7Trenches 5, 6 and 7 are located to the SE of theWest Mound and under the leadership of PeterBiehl from SUNI Buffalo and CambridgeUniversity the aim is to excavate a series ofstep trenches to natural in order to reach theearliest levels of occupation on the WestChalcolithic mound. The results combinedwith those from the TP Area on the Eastmound will inform on the nature of transitionfrom Late Neolithic on the East Mound toEarly Chalcolithic on the West Mound or,

illustrate that the two sites may have beenoccupied concurrently.

This season a new Trench 7, was machine cutagainst the side of a ditch that runs along theeastern edge of the West Mound and whichwas located on the same alignment as Trs 5 &6 opened last season (Figure 17). Themachined trench afforded a quick view into thedepth and nature of the stratigraphy.

Figure 17: Vessel cluster found on a floor through the

Chalcolithic sequence in Tr. 7. Two vessels were partlyreconstructed and classified as storage vessels. The

smallest vessel (15118) is a so-called basket-handle vessel

and vessel (15116) is a typical EC I lugged jar. Two new

vessel-types were (15117) and (15119).

Excavations in Trench 5 took place on the E

part where substantial Early Chalcolithicarchitecture is under investigation in order tounderstand the spatial relationship of thearchitecture.

Trench 8Trench 8 is located to the SW of the mound.The team here led by Burin Erdogu,University of Thrace have targeted this area toinvestigate the EC II occupation at atalhyk

West, to explore how EC II occupationdeveloped after the end of EC I and how tocontextualize the transition from EC I (c.a.6000-5700 cal BC) to EC II (c.a. 5700-5500cal BC).

The excavations in 2007 revealed a large

building dubbed The Red Building becauseof traces of red plastered walls and, floor. Itincorporates large half circular buttresses.There are no comparable examples from anyother Chalcolithic sites in Central Anatolia.

A total of 3163 sherds were found in the fill ofthe Red Building, and 1708 of them havepainted decoration. The most frequent paintedwares are red-on-orange and red-on-cream.The most exciting were sherds with humanfigures with raised arms (Figure 18).

Figure 18: This figure with raised arms, a long neck and

open fingers is unique

SEL TeamThe third teamled by AhmetTrpan andAsumanBaldran from

SelukUniversity is

conductingexcavations ofthe lateractivity. It isknown that theWest Moundwas used as aburial groundin the historicperiods but so

Figure 19: Tile lined late burial F.2420far little by way of occupation or other activityhas been found. The Seluk University team isconcentrating on excavating late burials andany other late activity in Trenches 5, 6, 7 and8. This will enable the team to to view a muchwider and meaningful late burial assemblage ina holistic manner.

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ADDRESSESThe Friends of atalhyk and the atalhyk Research Project can be contactedat:

atalhyk Research Project

Institute of ArchaeologyUniversity College London31-34 Gordon SquareLondon WC1H OPYUK

Tel/Fax:0044 (0)20 7679 7515Email : catalhoyuk@ucl.ac.uk

OR atalhyk Research Project

Department of AnthropologyMain Quad, Building 50450 Serra MallStanford UniversityStanford,CA 94305-2034USA

The site address is:

atalhyk Kazi Ekibi,umra, KonyaTurkey

Tel/Fax: +90 (0) 332 452 5720e-mail: catalhoyuk@mail.koc.net

View of the Dig House

WEB SITE:atalhyk Project:www.catalhoyuk.com

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JOINING THE FRIENDS OF ATALHYK

The Friends of atalhyk was set up to promote the projects endeavours inexcavation, conservation and heritage management at the site; to promote publicinterest in the site, both local and international; to promote scientific research into theunderstanding of the site and its setting. Members receive Newsletters, which cover

recent activities of the project, and results of the excavations and which keep theminformed of lectures and events. If you are interested in joining please complete theform at the bottom of this page and return it to the address indicated. If you would likeany further details please contact the atalhyk Office.

View of the East Mound from the SE with the North and 4040 shelters to the right and the South shelter is to the left.

THE FRIENDS OF ATALHYK

Annual Membership minimum- 20 / $40 Students and Concessions - 10 / $20 I wish to make a donation for

Name : ..........................................................................................................................................Address : ......................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................

Telephone : Email :

Please make cheques payable toUniversity College London

Return to: The Friends of atalhyk,

atalhyk Research ProjectInstitute of ArchaeologyUniversity College London31-34 Gordon SquareLondon WC1H OPYUK

Please make $ cheques payable toStanford University

Return to: The Friends of atalhyk,Department of Anthropology

Main Quad, Building 50450Serra MallStanford UniversityStanfordCA 94305-2034USA

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