| Entry: | It is 15 years ago that I, as an undergraduate student, for the first time heard about Catalhoyuk, and the pictures from this excavation has since then shaped my interest in archaeology. It was the animal symbolism that first caught my eye, especially the bull, and I was so fascinated about the fact that the people in the Neolithic chose this animal as an important symbol, the meaning behind we can only guess.
This summer, I was finally going to come here and excavate, and I was placed in Mikes (House) team, in area 4040, building 77. On the second day of excavation, Mike said that he wanted someone to clean the NE platform, that was adorned with two pedestals with bucrania, and I volunteered to do that. That turned out to be a good decision, because I ended up sitting on that platform the entire fieldseason. On the E wall, there were several layers of wallplaster, and underneath them, I discovered a wallpainting that consisted of a diamond/fishnet/geometric pattern in red and black (19051). Unfortunately, because of the fragmented state of the wall (caused by the fire, and the fact that this building has been exposed for two years), it was only possible to trace the painting in the middle part of the wall. I was perfectly content about this beautiful find, but to my great surprise, the NE platform were hiding more wonderful secrets behind many layers of plaster. On the N wall, there were also a rams head (19406) and a niche (19085), and when peeling off layers of white plaster, it turned out that both of them originally were painted red. The wall is leaning slightly forward, and is in a fragile state in several places. When I was peeling plaster at the top of the wall, all of a sudden a red line appeared, and I was very thrilled. After a few moments, it became clear that it was a painting of two red hands (19078), and that the top of the thumb was cut off on one of them when the wall collapsed. They are the size of a grown up, painted in bright red, and both had a circle in the palms. The hands are so well done, that it looks like someone with red paint on their hands made a mark on the wall, and that they painted around it afterwards. The fact that it matched the size of my hands perfectly, made it so much more intimate to excavate. I was overexcited about finding such wonderful things, that it felt like I had a direct insight into the Neolithic state of mind, because these paintings were probably not put there by random. It also felt like a momentary look into the life of building 77, a building that has given us as archaeologists so much information. Because its such a slow process to reveal the wallpaintings with a scalpel, it was not fully excavated this season, so the layer at which the hands were found will be further excavated next year.
The pedestals with the bucranias had to be excavated this season, because they were in such a fragile condition that conserving them would be difficult. Two of the horns had already been removed because we were afraid that they would fall off. This was actually for the best, for it made it much easier to climb in and out of the platform, and not worrying that I would accidentally break them. After removing the top layer of plaster on the pedestals, it became clear that they were painted red, as was the edges of the platform, and the lower part of the wall (17561). It must surely have been an impressive area of the house. After it had been revealed, the red plaster were falling off, and every morning when we came to site, there were more fragments of red on the floor. I could hardly believe my luck when I got to excavate one of the pedestals, because I felt a kind of awe towards them after spending so much time on that platform. Underneath the compact shaped clay core (19095), the horns were not single units as was first believed, but they were still attached to the skull (17564). Before the skulls were inserted in the clay core, the back of the skull were cut off at the upper neck, and in front it seems to have been cut off around the eye sockets. Because the horns are pointing inwards to the platform, you get the feeling that the bull is about to attack. So, in a way, I was able to face the enormous auroch, and stare direct into its eyes, and perhaps feel a tiny fragment of the Neolithic peoples fear, respect and awe when hunting these magnificent animals. |
