DIGGING PITS AND MAKING PLACES AT UGURLU DURING THE SIXTH MILLENNIUM BC

Date

2021-01-01

Author

Karamurat, Cansu
Atakuman, Çiğdem
ERDOĞU, BURÇİN

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

305
views

0
downloads

The site of Ugurlu on the island of Gokceada (Imbros) is the earliest known Neolithic settlement within the Aegean Islands (c.6800-4500 cal. BC). In total, 37 pits, associated with a rich variety of artefacts as well as human and animal bones were excavated in the Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic levels of the site (c.5900-4500 BC). The pits belonging to the early sixth millennium BC levels of Ugurlu were small and located within the houses that seem to have gone through multiple episodes of house destruction and renovation rituals. During the late sixth millennium BC, this area became the focus of extensive pit-digging activity, when large pits involving rich variety of artefacts were set within the courtyard of a special building (Building 4). Among the pits, a collective human burial pit (P188) incorporating the remains of 11 individuals and another pit (P52) involving a partial human skeleton were also found. From a comparative point of view, the construction techniques of these pits, their spatio-temporal relations as well as their associated archaeological artefacts resemble the Anatolian and Near Eastern Neolithic practices of house destruction and renovation cycles, which are activities related to the ancestor cults of the region. We argue that all of these practices reflect public events during which social relations were negotiated through the agency of place. The differences observed during the sixth millennium BC at Ugurlu reflect the changing concepts of place and society in the immediate aftermath of the Neolithic Process, when interactions with the Balkans as well as the Aegean intensified in this region.

Subject Keywords

Archaeology, Geography, Planning and Development, Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/88653

Journal

OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1111/ojoa.12209

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Article

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

Cult buildings in aceramic neolithic Southeast Anatolia: a case study of Nevali Çori Şentek, Mina; Summers, Geoffrey; Department of Settlement Archaeology (2005) First settlements in Southeast Anatolia begun to appear as early as 10000 BC. Among all the unanswered questions about this early period, cult-related activities and cult buildings are widely studied due to their nature, which has strong connections with the social organization and early symbolism. During the last decade, Southeast Anatolia has provided new evidence for this early stage of development in human history. This study aims to examine cult buildings that have common characteristics; how they were...
Studies in architecture and reconstruction of udabno III-house D Yarma, Özgecan; Bertram, Jan Krzysztof; Department of Settlement Archaeology (2009) The Udabno Project is an archaeological fieldwork in Eastern Georgia which includes three settlements from ca. 11th \10th century BC (Udabno I, II and III). The project aims to provide information about the settlement of this period of time. Extensive surveys including geomagnetic prospection took place before the excavations and these are all reveal proto-urban settlement structures. In this project, one of the most important investigations is the pit dwellings, which are located in the middle of the settl...
The 19th century olive oil industry in Ayvalik and its impact on the settlement pattern Terzi, Esra; Erciyas, Deniz Burcu; Department of Settlement Archaeology (2007) Ayvalık which is located on the Aegean coast of the West Anatolia made its main breakthrough in the 19th century and owe this development to olive oil production which was the main economic input of the settlement since the establishment of Ayvalık. Ayvalık was within the hinterland of İzmir which was gained importance as a regional trade centre in the 19th century. Thus, Ayvalık found the way to improve its trade relations in an international level and eventually increase its olive oil production volume du...
The Hittite Stone and Sculpture Quarry at Karakiz Kasabasi and Hapis Bokazi in the District of Sorgun, Yozgat, Central Anatolia Summers, Geoffrey; Ozen, Erol (2012-07-01) An extensive stone quarry dating to the Hittite Empire period in the Late Bronze Age is located at Karakiz Kasabasi in the province ofYozgat, north-central Anatolia. In addition to numerous traces of stone quarrying, several exceptional unfinished pieces were found at the site, including two bases each sculpted from a single block and comprising a pedestal supported by a pair of lions a large drum, and a large basin. These unique pieces are described and illustrated, followed by a discussion of their probab...
Archaeological Investigations in the Harbours of Burgaz, Turkey: 2011-2015 field seasons Greene, Elizabeth S.; Leidwanger, Justin; Tuna, Numan (Wiley, 2019-03-01) Between 2011 and 2015 archaeological fieldwork was conducted in the Archaic through Late Antique harbours associated with Burgaz on the Datca Peninsula in south-west Turkey. This work focused on survey and documentation of built features associated with the four harbours, limited stratigraphic excavation, and identification of shipwrecks and seafaring activity outside the harbours. The results offer new insights into the growth, expansion, and eventual abandonment of the port complex, its development alongs...

Citation Formats

C. Karamurat, Ç. Atakuman, and B. ERDOĞU, “DIGGING PITS AND MAKING PLACES AT UGURLU DURING THE SIXTH MILLENNIUM BC,” OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, pp. 0–0, 2021, Accessed: 00, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/88653.