New insights on commemoration of the dead through mortuary and architectural use of pigments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey

Abstract

The cultural use of pigments in human societies is associated with ritual activities and the creation of social memory. Neolithic Çatalhöyük (Turkey, 7100–5950 cal BC) provides a unique case study for the exploration of links between pigments in burials, demographic data and colourants in contemporary architectural contexts. This study presents the first combined analysis of funerary and architectural evidence of pigment use in Neolithic Anatolia and discusses the possible social processes underlying the observed statistical patterns. Results reveal that pigments were either applied directly to the deceased or included in the grave as a burial association. The most commonly used pigment was red ochre. Cinnabar was mainly applied to males and blue/green pigment was associated with females. A correlation was found between the number of buried individuals and the number of painted layers in the buildings. Mortuary practices seem to have followed specific selection processes independent of sex and age-at-death of the deceased. This study offers new insights about the social factors involved in pigment use in this community, and contributes to the interpretation of funerary practices in Neolithic Anatolia. Specifically, it suggests that visual expression, ritual performance and symbolic associations were elements of shared long-term socio-cultural practices.

Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük

“…Among organic preservation differences within Çatalhöyük age groups, we noted non-significant trends for female children and adolescents to have lower endogenous DNA proportions than male peers ( Figure S18E ), which, if true, could suggest their treatment was more akin to those of adults. We further investigated possible sex differences involving another burial practice, the placement of artefacts such as beads, shells, pigments or stone tools in grave pits ( 58 , 59 ) ( Figure 6C). Previous work had found a slightly higher frequency of burial objects associated with adult female burials, but the difference was not statistically significant.…”

Re-Territorializing the Neolithic: Architecture and Rhythms in Early Sedentary Societies of the Near East

“…This, I contend, is the counterintuitive reasoning we need to follow to understand Neolithic architecture and, perhaps, the early Neolithic worldview in the Near East. In the case of Çatalhöyük's architecture, those self-reflexive scales resonate in tonal harmony at some particular moments: when occasional burials were the closing deposit of ritually destroyed buildings (Haddow et al 2016), when paintings are made synchronously with a burial event (Schotsmans et al 2022), and every time a painted scene was inexorably plastered over and, at the same time preserved. Just like rituals, these images were probably only visible for a short period of time and, maybe, only to a small group of people (see figure 5).…”

The Culture-Related Development of Architecture in the Neolithic Period

“…They all make an impression more of patterns than symbols; however, these patterns still present the settlement's inhabitants' particular social or economic status. In Neolithic Anatolia, the most commonly used pigment in architecture and funerary practices was red ochre; cinnabar used to be applied to represent male and blue or green -female figures (Schotsmans et al, 2022).…”