The meronomic model of cognitive change, and its application to Neolithic Çatalhöyük

The attempt to relate changes in human cognition to changes in human behaviour can be fruitful for cognitive science and archaeology alike. The process has the potential to enrich both our understanding of cognition, and interpretations of the archaeological evidence. A practical difficulty is the lack of clarity as to what cognitive change refers to. Characterisations vary considerably, even in regard to locus. Use of broad-brush terminology (e.g., `higher levels of consciousness') can add to the uncertainty. The present chapter argues that an effective way to understand cognitive change is in terms of conceptual structure, and the meronomic processes that apply. Building on the ontological distinction between meronomy and taxonomy, this approach allows cognitive change (by conceptual innovation) to be modeled precisely, while opening the way for quantification of conceptual creativity. This chapter shows how the model is derived, and explores some of the ways it might be connected with data from Çatalhöyük

A tale of two tells : dating the Çatalhöyük West Mound

The Anatolian Neolithic tell settlement of Çatalhöyük was investigated by James Mellaart in 1961–65, and by Ian Hodder and others from 1993 to 2017. Located on the Konya Plain, central Turkey, Çatalhöyük is famed for the densely-packed houses, under-floor burials, and rich symbolic tradition observed over much of the c.1200-year sequence on the intensively studied East Mound. Much less well known is Çatalhöyük’s West Mound, subject to smaller-scale excavations by Mellaart and more recently (1998–2013) by various teams. Situated c.200m from the East Mound (Figure 1), across a former course of the Çarşamba river, Çatalhöyük West has traditionally been viewed as a separate, Early Chalcolithic site with an occupation commencing in the early sixth millennium BC, after the abandonment of the East Mound—with or without an intervening hiatus. Here, we present 33 AMS dates that conclusively demonstrate overlap in occupation on the two mounds. We argue that Çatalhöyük East and West should be seen as a single settlement whose focus of occupation shifted gradually, probably over one or two centuries around the turn of the seventh to sixth millennia BC. The implications of this argument go beyond Çatalhöyük: firstly shedding new light on supra-regional models linking late seventh-millennium settlement disruption to rapid climate change; secondly unsettling the idea of prehistoric tell settlements as discrete, bounded entities

Dental Microwear From Natufian Hunter-Gatherers and Early Neolithic Farmers: Comparisons Within and Between Samples

Microwear patterns from Natufian hunter-gatherers (12,500–10,250 bp) and early Neolithic (10,250–7,500 bp) farmers from northern Israel are correlated with location on facet nine and related to an archaeologically suggested change in food preparation. Casts of permanent second mandibular molars are examined with a scanning electron microscope at a magnification of 500×. Digitized micrographs are taken from the upper and lower part of facet nine. Microwear patterns are recorded with an image-analysis computer program and compared within and between samples, using univariate and multivariate analyses. Comparisons within samples reveal a greater frequency of pits on the lower part of the facet among the farmers, compared to the upper part. Microwear does not vary over the facet among the hunter-gatherers. Comparisons between samples reveal larger dental pits (length and width) and wider scratches among the farmers at the bottom of the facet, compared to the hunter-gatherers. Microwear does not vary between samples at the top of the facet. The microwear patterns suggest that the Natufian to early Neolithic development led to a harder diet, and this is related to an archaeologically suggested change in food processing. The harder diet of the early farmers may have required higher bite forces that were exerted at the bottom of facet nine, in the basin of the tooth

Lateral enamel growth in human incisors from Çatalhöyük in Turkey

Whereas the differences in lateral enamel growth between fossil and modern populations have been well documented in recent years, few studies report on the variability in perikymata counts and distribution between modern human populations. There is a need for information on modern human populations from a wide range of geographical regions and archaeological populations to determine whether existing patterns are representative. The aim of this paper is to document enamel surface microstructures in human teeth from a previously unknown region and time period comprehensively

Estimating population size, density and dynamics of Pre-Pottery Neolithic villages in the central and southern Levant: an analysis of Beidha, southern Jordan

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) of the central and southern Levant played an integral role in the Neolithic Demographic Transition (NDT) from mobile hunter-gatherer to village-based, agro-pastoralist societies. An understanding of population dynamics is essential for reconstructing the trajectories of these early village societies. However, few investigations have produced absolute estimates of population parameters for these villages and those which have base estimates on a limited methodological framework. This research examines the methodological and theoretical basis for existing estimates, and explores a range of methodologies in order to derive more empirically-robust demographic data. Results reveal that commonly utilized methodologies and population density coefficients employed for estimating PPN village populations require re-evaluation. This article presents the application of methodologies to the PPNB site of Beidha in southern Jordan