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Conceptualization of the Neolithic world in incised equid phalanges: anthropomorphic figurine from Çatalhöyük (GDN Area)

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences volume 12, Article number: 18 (2020) Cite this article

Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Arkadiusz Klimowicz, Katarzyna Regulska, Marta Saj, Heeli Schechter, and Jesse Wolfhagen for their technical assistance. We would also like to thank Virginia García-Díaz for her help in technological analysis. Special thanks go to Nerissa Russell for useful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript and to the reviewers for their suggestions. We are also grateful to Ian Hodder for the possibility of participating in the Çatalhöyük Research Project. The deposit from TPC Area was excavated by Marek Z. Barański and Kamilla Pawłowska in 2012. The TPC equid phalanx discussed here was examined by Kamilla Pawłowska in 2012.

Financial disclosure

The GDN research was funded by the National Science Centre of Poland (DEC-2013/11/N/HS3/04889) (MZB).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Institute of Geology, Ul. Krygowskiego 12, 61-680, Poznań, Poland

    Kamilla Pawłowska

  2. Academy of Fine Arts, Targ Węglowy 6, 80-836, Gdańsk, Poland

    Marek Z. Barański

Authors
  1. Kamilla Pawłowska
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  2. Marek Z. Barański
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Correspondence to Kamilla Pawłowska.

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Pawłowska, K., Barański, M.Z. Conceptualization of the Neolithic world in incised equid phalanges: anthropomorphic figurine from Çatalhöyük (GDN Area). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 12, 18 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-01006-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-01006-z

Keywords

  • Bone figurine
  • Equid phalanx
  • Idols
  • Neolithic
  • Çatalhöyük
  • Turkey