The Menial Art of Cooking: Archaeological Studies of Cooking and Food Preparation

4. Cooking Meat and Bones at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey

87 Chapter 4 CookingMeatandBonesatNeolithicÇatalhöyük,Turkey NerissaRussell Cornell University LouiseMartin University College London In most societies meat is a highly valued food. In some cases, meat is rarely consumed except at feasts and sacrifices (e.g., Bloch 1985; Gibson 1985; Grantham 1995). In others, at least some meat is needed to make a “real meal” (Descola 1994; Douglas 1971). Either way, meat marks particular consumption events as more substantive than others. Moreover, many have noted that in addition to meat per se, fat, especially animal fat, is frequently much sought after and represents wealth and abundance (Abrams 1987; Bloch 1985; Fletcher 2003; Hayden 1990; Outram 2001; Speth and Spielmann 1983). Such highly valued food items are likely to be deployed in the construction and maintenance of social units and values. In this paper we use preparation and cooking techniques applied to meat and animal fat at the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük, Turkey, to examine the nature of meals in different social contexts. Çatalhöyük Çatalhöyük is a tell site in central Anatolia (see figure 4.1), dating to about 7300–6200 cal. BC (Cessford 2001). It was first excavated in the 1960s by James 88 NerissaRussellandLouiseMartin Mellaart (1967); renewed work under the direction of Ian Hodder (1999, 2004, 2006; Hodder and Matthews 1998) began in 1993. The site is known for its large size (13 ha), its well-preserved mudbrick houses, and its spectacular paintings and reliefs. Despite its size, with a population estimated at 3,500–8,000 (Cessford 2005), there is little evidence for centralization or hierarchical authority at the site. The new project has not supported Mellaart’s belief that it was organized into functionally distinct quarters and governed by priests and priestesses. While there must have been some institutions that integrated the community, production appears to have been largely at the household level, and there is no public architecture. This chapter is based primarily on the faunal remains from the new project excavated through 1999 and analyzed for a recent monograph (Russell and Martin 2005), with some reference to material excavated since but as yet less thoroughly analyzed. The first phase of the project, through 1999, concentrated on the earlier levels of the site. Mellaart defined twelve architectural levels at the site, with Level XII the earliest, and later subdivided Level VI into VIA and VIB. The new project has retained these levels for orientation and added five more (pre-XII.A–E below Level XII. The material we have so far studied in depth is mostly from Level VI and below. In recent years the project has begun to excavate the later levels, but at the moment our understanding of this material is largely impressionistic. During the period of time represented by Levels pre-XII.D–VI (about 900 years), there is little sign of change in the animals eaten or their preparation. Domestic sheep and goat (mostly sheep) form about 70 percent of the mammaFigure 4.1. Map of Anatolia with location of Çatalhöyük. 89 Cooking Meat and Bones at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey lian assemblage (see figure 4.2). Of the remainder, cattle account for about 15 percent , equids 7 percent, and dog 5 percent (Russell and Martin 2005). Contrary to claims made in the 1960s, we have shown that the cattle are wild (Russell, Martin, and Buitenhuis 2005), as are the equids (Martin and Russell 2006). Fish and bird remains are present, but in small quantities. Despite the marshy surroundings reconstructed for the site (Roberts, Boyer, and Merrick 2007; Roberts and Rosen 2009), which is located on an alluvial fan, the inhabitants seem to have made limited use of the aquatic animal resources. One exception is the remarkably abundant duck and goose eggshell at the site, possibly indicating a technological use such as egg tempera, but eggs were probably also part of the diet (Sidell and Scudder 2005). Since earlier settlements in the vicinity show much more extensive use of these wetland resources, it is possible that fish and birds were mildly tabooed or regarded as distasteful to distinguish the inhabitants of Çatalhöyük from their predecessors in the region (Russell 2010). At any rate, birds and fish do not seem to have been considered feasting foods, in contrast to large wild mammals. Herding would have created competing demands on labor, and fish and birds were apparently not valued...