Memory and mortuary practice in Neolithic Anatolia

Summary

Social memory has been argued to be a key component in the formation of the large Neolithic village site of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. This assertion has focused on daily practice centered within the house (Hodder and Cessford 2004), and may have extended to more architecturally elaborate houses as a central repository for memory and symbolism (Hodder and Pels 2010). Surrounding this discussion of social memory, there has been less focus on human burials; particularly on the treatment of human remains for interment.

Recent research within Çatalhöyük has begun to focus more intensively on mortuary practice, particularly the processing of human remains before, during, and after interment. The peoples of Çatalhöyük had an intimate association with the deceased and employed practices which included skull retrieval, skull and limb removal, postmortem defleshing, and the creation of plastered skulls. Such practices would have played an important role in social memory; providing a corporeal means of connecting with the dead and incorporating these practices and remains physically within the home. We argue that the postmortem processing of remains in conjunction with other daily practices centered on the house all served to reinforce social structure and practice, and ultimately influenced the realization of Çatalhöyük.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• The Poetics of Processing: Memory formation, cosmology and the handling of the dead

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