Time of change: cattle in the social practices of Late Neolithic Çatalhöyük

• DOI: 10.1007/s12520-019-00961-x
• Publication Date: 2020-01-18T07:02:21Z
• Authors: Kamilla Pawłowska
• Keywords: Social life

Multiple lines of evidence indicate the occurrence of social changes in the Late Neolithic at Catalhoyuk; here, we particularly consider the cattle evidence. The social significance of cattle is discussed in an overview of special deposits, feasting events and burial practices, all in relation to architectural features. Evidence linking social and economic changes—especially in regards to the issue of domestication—is provided and is shown in relation to the transformation of everyday life. It seems that the emergence of morphologically domesticated cattle led to changes, not only in the subsidence strategy (in the form of decreased interest in aurochs), but also in the symbolic dimension of life. The social changes in the Late Neolithic at Catalhoyuk—especially seen in the case of a cattle bucranium with the juxtaposition of a human skull and the co-occurrence of elements of cattle and aurochs in a single deposit—coincide in time with the occurrence of morphologically domestic cattle. These changes are considered with respect to data from earlier levels of the occupational sequence at Catalhoyuk East.