Archeologia pradziejowa wschodniego Śródziemnomorza na Uniwersytecie im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu

The paper aims at presenting research activities of prehistoric archaeologists from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań in the Eastern Mediterranean. In particular, it focuses on presenting objectives and results of ongoing works at the Neolithic settlement in Çatalhöyük in Central Anatolia. The Polish project, which is an intrinsic element of the Çatalhöyük Research Project, began in 2001 in cooperation with the Polish Academy of Sciences and later University of Gdańsk. It continues currently as the Adam Mickiewicz University project. The works involve excavating the uppermost levels of the settlement occupation dated back to the end of the seventh millennium cal. BC, which have not been investigated to date. The discovered architecture and material objects are unique in nature indicating remarkable transformations in all aspects of the long-lasted Neolithic tradition. The results have been published and presented in numerous national and international settings. They also led to establishing a close collaboration with numerous leading centres of the Anatolian and Near Eastern Neolithic studies. The project at Çatalhöyük comprises an active participation of students leading to completion of numerous Bachelor, Master and Doctorate dissertations

Animal penning and open area activity at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey

Over the last few decades a variety of geoarchaeological methods and ethnoarchaeological and experimental approaches have demonstrated the fundamental importance of animal dung deposits for reconstructing past human life-ways. Through simultaneous examination in micromorphological thin-section and integrated phytolith and faecal spherulite analyses, this study provides direct evidence for animal management and organisation of space at Neolithic Çatalhöyük by examining livestock penning deposits across the settlement. The identification of new extensive areas of penning distributed within the boundaries of the early occupation of the site suggests greater proximity to and management of herds immediately prior to a phase of settlement expansion, access to wider networks and resources, and increased exploitation of the wider landscape. Phytolith assemblages from in situ dung accumulations also provide new insights into foddering/grazing practices showing highly variable herbivorous regimes, including both dicotyledonous and grass-based diets with an important proportion of grasses used as fodder and/or grazing during the early occupation of Çatalhöyük. This study provides direct evidence of the proximity of humans and herds, continuity and change in animal management strategies and farming practices, and concepts of space at the site