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A true gift of mother earth: the use and significance of obsidian at Çatalhöyük

A true gift of mother earth: the use and significance of obsidian at Çatalhöyük AbstractThis paper reviews 50 years of obsidian studies at Neolithic Çatalhöyük in the Konya plain, central Anatolia. A number of key issues are addressed: (1) the source of the site's raw materials, the means and forms by which the obsidian was introduced to the site and the role of Çatalhöyük in the supra-regional dissemination of these raw materials; (2) the alleged gender associations of certain obsidian goods in the burial record and beyond; (3) a more general consideration of the social significance of the circulation and consumption of obsidian at the site, including the phenomena of hoarding and gifting, plus the important role of projectiles in the creation of social identities and various forms of ritual behaviour, not least the termination of the life of a building/individual; (4) the technotypological and raw material variability through time; (5) the use of obsidian in daily practice and craft-working. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Anatolian Studies Cambridge University Press

A true gift of mother earth: the use and significance of obsidian at Çatalhöyük

Anatolian Studies , Volume 61: 19 – Sep 3, 2012

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References (119)

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute at Ankara 2011
ISSN
2048-0849
eISSN
0066-1546
DOI
10.1017/S0066154600008759
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reviews 50 years of obsidian studies at Neolithic Çatalhöyük in the Konya plain, central Anatolia. A number of key issues are addressed: (1) the source of the site's raw materials, the means and forms by which the obsidian was introduced to the site and the role of Çatalhöyük in the supra-regional dissemination of these raw materials; (2) the alleged gender associations of certain obsidian goods in the burial record and beyond; (3) a more general consideration of the social significance of the circulation and consumption of obsidian at the site, including the phenomena of hoarding and gifting, plus the important role of projectiles in the creation of social identities and various forms of ritual behaviour, not least the termination of the life of a building/individual; (4) the technotypological and raw material variability through time; (5) the use of obsidian in daily practice and craft-working.

Journal

Anatolian StudiesCambridge University Press

Published: Sep 3, 2012

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