Exploring the faunal distribution pattern in late neolithic Ulucak Höyük, İzmir, Turkey an investigation on the economic organization of domestic and non-domestic units


Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Yerleşim Arkeolojisi Anabilim Dalı, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2017

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: SAFOORA KAMJAN

Danışman: Evangelia Pişkin

Özet:

It has been suggested that a new social and economic unit that may be called as "the autonomous household" emerged during the later stages of Neolithization in the Near East. Although a stage wise development of households has been continuously observed in Central Anatolia and the North Levant, the same process has been difficult to observe in West Anatolia. Excavations at Ulucak Höyük in İzmir has provided one of the earliest and most continuous sequences of the Neolithic Process in West Anatolia. Through a study of the zooarchaeological remains among four units (2 residential houses, one workshop and an open area) at Phase IV (6000-5700 BC), this thesis aims to test the viability of the above stated hypothesis for the later phases of the Neolithic in West Anatolia. Evidence are drawn from the study of the (hand-collected) macrofaunal remains and supplemented with information deriving from artifacts and architectural details. Only the bones from the immediate floor surfaces and below the collapse of the roofs were considered.The resulting picture revealed that, the subsistence economy of these units was mainly based on domesticates (sheep, goat, cattle, and pig). The hunted game (wild goat, fallow deer, roe deer, hare, tortoise, birds, and mollusks) also played a noticeable role both in the diet and technological activities. Also, a different pattern of acquisition, production, and consumption has been attested within each architectural unit, particularly for hunted animals. The uneven distribution of other artefacts also indicates that each architectural unit specialized in different economic activities