Home, annex or pied-à-terre? Assessing the socioeconomic dimension of small-sized built environments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia

Built environments provide valuable information on domestic and group activities, the development of household identities, and the changing use of space. In the case of Neolithic communities in the Near East, interpretations have often been articulated around the concept of autonomous households as...

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Autor: García-Suárez, Aroa
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/393859
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/393859
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Neolithic, Çatalhöyük, House, Architecture, Plaster, Stratigraphy, Micromorphology
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spelling Home, annex or pied-à-terre? Assessing the socioeconomic dimension of small-sized built environments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central AnatoliaGarcía-Suárez, AroaNeolithic, Çatalhöyük, House, Architecture, Plaster, Stratigraphy, MicromorphologyBuilt environments provide valuable information on domestic and group activities, the development of household identities, and the changing use of space. In the case of Neolithic communities in the Near East, interpretations have often been articulated around the concept of autonomous households as the principal elements of social and economic organisation, each occupying discrete buildings that showed a high degree of spatial standardisation. However, a strong research focus on the architectural homogeneities of domestic buildings may have masked differentiations promoted by variable economic and social practices. This paper aims to draw attention to the multiple forms in which buildings occurred at the clustered settlement of Çatalhöyük (Türkiye) by focusing on the insufficiently studied small-sized built environments, those under ca. 10m in extension. Assumed to be socially and economically dependent on larger houses, the functional role that these small constructions played in the constitution of the large settled community at Çatalhöyük has been seldom explored. This study uses thin-section micromorphology to examine the stratigraphic sequence of a small built environment, Space 87, observed in the field to display a complex life-history spanning multiple phases of occupation and architectural renovation. Micro-contextual analyses have contributed to unravelling formation processes, transformations, and use and concepts of space in this structure. Results highlight the great degree of dynamism and symbolic evidence of Space 87, akin to that observed in larger buildings, as reflected by multiple burials, recurrent floor refurbishments and fire installation replacements. The micro-stratigraphic history of this small built environment points to the repeated restructuring of its living space as a means to balance the architectural standardisation traditionally displayed by Neolithic buildings at Çatalhöyük with the adaptations to changes in its socio-economic function and risks to its constructional integrity.Peer reviewedArts and Humanities Research Council (UK)University of ReadingKoç UniversityBritish Institute at AnkaraGerman Archaeological InstituteEuropean CommissionConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]2025202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501http://hdl.handle.net/10261/393859reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/101031925http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2025.100619Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/3938592026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Home, annex or pied-à-terre? Assessing the socioeconomic dimension of small-sized built environments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia
title Home, annex or pied-à-terre? Assessing the socioeconomic dimension of small-sized built environments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia
spellingShingle Home, annex or pied-à-terre? Assessing the socioeconomic dimension of small-sized built environments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia
García-Suárez, Aroa
Neolithic, Çatalhöyük, House, Architecture, Plaster, Stratigraphy, Micromorphology
title_short Home, annex or pied-à-terre? Assessing the socioeconomic dimension of small-sized built environments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia
title_full Home, annex or pied-à-terre? Assessing the socioeconomic dimension of small-sized built environments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia
title_fullStr Home, annex or pied-à-terre? Assessing the socioeconomic dimension of small-sized built environments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia
title_full_unstemmed Home, annex or pied-à-terre? Assessing the socioeconomic dimension of small-sized built environments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia
title_sort Home, annex or pied-à-terre? Assessing the socioeconomic dimension of small-sized built environments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv García-Suárez, Aroa
author García-Suárez, Aroa
author_facet García-Suárez, Aroa
author_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK)
University of Reading
Koç University
British Institute at Ankara
German Archaeological Institute
European Commission
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Neolithic, Çatalhöyük, House, Architecture, Plaster, Stratigraphy, Micromorphology
topic Neolithic, Çatalhöyük, House, Architecture, Plaster, Stratigraphy, Micromorphology
description Built environments provide valuable information on domestic and group activities, the development of household identities, and the changing use of space. In the case of Neolithic communities in the Near East, interpretations have often been articulated around the concept of autonomous households as the principal elements of social and economic organisation, each occupying discrete buildings that showed a high degree of spatial standardisation. However, a strong research focus on the architectural homogeneities of domestic buildings may have masked differentiations promoted by variable economic and social practices. This paper aims to draw attention to the multiple forms in which buildings occurred at the clustered settlement of Çatalhöyük (Türkiye) by focusing on the insufficiently studied small-sized built environments, those under ca. 10m in extension. Assumed to be socially and economically dependent on larger houses, the functional role that these small constructions played in the constitution of the large settled community at Çatalhöyük has been seldom explored. This study uses thin-section micromorphology to examine the stratigraphic sequence of a small built environment, Space 87, observed in the field to display a complex life-history spanning multiple phases of occupation and architectural renovation. Micro-contextual analyses have contributed to unravelling formation processes, transformations, and use and concepts of space in this structure. Results highlight the great degree of dynamism and symbolic evidence of Space 87, akin to that observed in larger buildings, as reflected by multiple burials, recurrent floor refurbishments and fire installation replacements. The micro-stratigraphic history of this small built environment points to the repeated restructuring of its living space as a means to balance the architectural standardisation traditionally displayed by Neolithic buildings at Çatalhöyük with the adaptations to changes in its socio-economic function and risks to its constructional integrity.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/393859
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/101031925
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2025.100619
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
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instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
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