Type
Text
Type
Dissertation
Advisor
Hildebrand, Elisabeth | Twiss, Katheryn C | Stone, Elizabeth | Newman, Elizabeth | Baird, Douglas.
Date
2015-12-01
Keywords
Archaezoology, Food, Origins of agriculture, Prehistory, Southwest Asia, Zooarchaeology | Archaeology
Department
Department of Anthropology.
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/76848
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
All human societies share food. Investigation of food sharing in a society can provide great insights into social relations. Food sharing practices have been anthropologically explored in many cultures, especially in small scale societies such as hunter-gatherers and subsistence agriculturalists. According to the findings of these studies, it can be generalized that hunter gatherers tend to share food relatively widely and often beyond the kin level, while agriculturalists tend to share more restrictedly and often within the household. Although this general statement sheds light on how food is shared in different subsistence systems, it does not provide information on how food was shared during the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. Therefore, this thesis investigated the role of food sharing in early agricultural village Neolithic Çatalhöyük (7100 - 6000 cal. BC), in Central Anatolia. The research was primarily based on zooarchaeological analysis; but other lines of evidence were also discussed in relation to the main findings. The results suggested that quotidian food sharing at both interhousehold and household levels were practiced at Çatalhöyük and that interhousehold food sharing was a significant habitual social practice. It is probable that the most common wild and domestic animals were shared at a suprahousehold level, while plant foods were not shared as widely. The results also showed that there was not any significant differentiation in meat access between households, suggesting that food sharing practices ensured equal access to meat. In addition to quotidian food sharing, this thesis provided information on food sharing in feasts. The analysis of bone clusters suggested that most feasts were small-scale events, involving a few families, and that these events emphasized food sharing and integration at a suprahousehold level. Overall, evidence from Çatalhöyük suggested that interhousehold food sharing contributed greatly to the long lifespan of this community. Furthermore, the exploration of interhousehold food sharing, a practice typically associated with hunter-gatherers, in an agricultural society emphasized the similarities and continuities between hunting-gathering and agriculture in this transitional period. Hence, this thesis highlighted the gradual and slow-paced nature of transition to agriculture. | All human societies share food. Investigation of food sharing in a society can provide great insights into social relations. Food sharing practices have been anthropologically explored in many cultures, especially in small scale societies such as hunter-gatherers and subsistence agriculturalists. According to the findings of these studies, it can be generalized that hunter gatherers tend to share food relatively widely and often beyond the kin level, while agriculturalists tend to share more restrictedly and often within the household. Although this general statement sheds light on how food is shared in different subsistence systems, it does not provide information on how food was shared during the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. Therefore, this thesis investigated the role of food sharing in early agricultural village Neolithic Çatalhöyük (7100 - 6000 cal. BC), in Central Anatolia. The research was primarily based on zooarchaeological analysis; but other lines of evidence were also discussed in relation to the main findings. The results suggested that quotidian food sharing at both interhousehold and household levels were practiced at Çatalhöyük and that interhousehold food sharing was a significant habitual social practice. It is probable that the most common wild and domestic animals were shared at a suprahousehold level, while plant foods were not shared as widely. The results also showed that there was not any significant differentiation in meat access between households, suggesting that food sharing practices ensured equal access to meat. In addition to quotidian food sharing, this thesis provided information on food sharing in feasts. The analysis of bone clusters suggested that most feasts were small-scale events, involving a few families, and that these events emphasized food sharing and integration at a suprahousehold level. Overall, evidence from Çatalhöyük suggested that interhousehold food sharing contributed greatly to the long lifespan of this community. Furthermore, the exploration of interhousehold food sharing, a practice typically associated with hunter-gatherers, in an agricultural society emphasized the similarities and continuities between hunting-gathering and agriculture in this transitional period. Hence, this thesis highlighted the gradual and slow-paced nature of transition to agriculture. | 264 pages
Recommended Citation
Demirergi, G. Arzu, "Food Sharing during the Transition to Agriculture at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia | Food Sharing during the Transition to Agriculture at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia" (2015). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 2724.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/2724