Abstract
Abstract
Highlights
The Anatolian Neolithic tell settlement of Çatalhöyük was investigated by James Mellaart from 1961–1965, and by Ian Hodder and others from 1993–2017
Situated approximately 200m from the East Mound (Figure 1) across a former course of the Çarsamba River, Çatalhöyük West has traditionally been viewed as a separate Early Chalcolithic occupation, commencing in the early sixth millennium BC, after the abandonment of the East Mound
The East and West Mounds at Çatalhöyük had an appreciable overlap in occupation around 6000 BC, the exact duration remains undetermined
Summary
Thirty-three AMS dates on 32 short-life samples (S# from here on) from Çatalhöyük West are presented here, deriving from trenches 1, 2, 5 and 7 These relatively shallow excavations (except for trench 7), represent some of the latest occupation in their respective areas and lack the multiple building levels excavated on the East Mound (Figures 2 & 3). A core taken beneath this building indicates a further 4.9m of anthropogenic deposits below the limit of excavation (Gibson et al 2000) Treating these as a single phase (Figure 4) gives estimated start and end dates of 6010– 5935 BC and 5865–5780 BC respectively at 68.2% (6055–5900 BC and 5890–5720 BC at 95.4%)—confirming that the West Mound was occupied during the first quarter of the seventh millennium BC, possibly as far back as 6000 BC, even before unexcavated underlying deposits are taken into account. This is confirmed by direct comparison between the start boundary for our overall model and the end boundary for Çatalhöyük East, which, even without factoring in the potential age of the unexcavated deposits, gives an overlap in occupation of 20–100 years at 68.2% or between 150 years’ overlap and 10 years’ hiatus at 95.4% (Figure 9)
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