Life between houses: A multiscalar interdisciplinary investigation into the creation and use of settlement open spaces by the first sedentary communities

Project Information

PATIOS

Grant agreement ID: 101031925

DOI

10.3030/101031925

Project closed

EC signature date 13 March 2021

Start date 1 March 2022

End date 28 February 2025

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 241 398,72

EU contribution

€ 241 398,72

Coordinated by

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PATIOS (Life between houses: A multiscalar interdisciplinary investigation into the creation and use of settlement open spaces by the first sedentary communities)

Reporting period: 2022-03-01 to 2025-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The main goal of PATIOS was to offer a new perspective on the socio-economic trajectory of early settled communities in the Near East by attempting a shift away from building-level analysis. The project was designed to answer two main questions: (1) How do settlement open areas inform us about continuity and change in the social dynamics and ecological strategies of the earliest sedentary communities? (2) Do Neolithic open areas display a rigid spatial distribution (akin to that of built environments) and is there any evidence for the creation and maintenance of discrete categories of open spaces?

This project aimed to reveal the daily activities performed in the open areas of early sedentary settlements by producing a novel body of work that would challenge current perspectives of community ethos and lead to a better understanding of sedentary practices. This research focused on two highly significant regions for the transition from mobile hunter-gatherer to sedentarising communities: the Levant and Anatolia. These areas constitute a biodiversity hotspot and a major regional hub for the transmission of economic, technological and cultural innovations across the Near East and into Europe between 8,700-6,000 cal BC.

The project conclusions include the identification of important changes in the use and development of open spaces during the Near Eastern Neolithic. At Kharaysin, fill deposits from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) point to incipient forms of refuse disposal practices. A more structured use of space emerged in the PPNB, with open sequences displaying discrete refuse areas and firing locations. At Boncuklu, while most open spaces display evidence of massive dumpings of unconsolidated materials, similarly to PPNA Kharaysin, some open spaces consist of finely laminated and compacted deposits of ash, charred and silicified plant fragments, bones, lithics, and faecal matter, suggesting the regular performance of group activities in these areas. At Çatalhöyük, open areas display a high proportion of re-deposited organic components derived from the recurrent dumping of domestic refuse. During the Ceramic Neolithic, pits, paved floors and round silos emerged, a phenomenon likely related to changes in social organisation driven by increasing household autonomy and the emergence of discernible differences between the household and the community spheres. The site of Pınarbaşı shows a significant contrast between its earliest open areas, displaying highly homogenised stratigraphic sequences and characterised by abundant bone fragments pointing to food processing activities, and the late open spaces, which show evidence of the seasonal use of the site for the herding of caprines. Overall, the diachronic comparison of the studied sites indicates a general increase in the intensity of use and spatial structuring of open areas through time, suggesting a shift towards a more logistic settlement system.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

An overview of the work performed during the whole project period and the main results achieved per work package are presented below.

WP1. Project administration: Meetings, documentation of achievements and challenges, training activities, acquisition of analytical instrumentation.
Main results: Professional development through training opportunities, acquisition of state-of-the-art instruments and equipment.

WP2. Skills acquisition: Study methods, attendance of courses for professional development, training in new analytical methods.
Main results: Development of scientific skills, training in phytolith and dung extraction protocols as well as in the identification and quantification of these microfossils, training in software processing and statistical treatment of GC/MS data.

WP3. Data collection: Data collection from databases and scientific literature, fieldwork and sampling in Türkiye and Jordan, creation of analytical databases.
Main results: Literature review, completion of three fieldwork seasons, sampling and documentation of key contexts, reports on preliminary data findings, creation of integrated databases.

WP4. Geoarchaeological analyses: Laboratory processing of block samples, micromorphological analyses of archaeological deposits, spatial analyses through Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Raman spectrometry and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analyses of pigments and plasters.
Main results: Multiscalar geo-spatial models integrating macroscopic and microstratigraphic data, reconstruction of the depositional history of open spaces at the study sites, identification of pigment sources.

WP5 Palaeoenvironmental analyses: Collection of subsamples from key sediment blocks and contexts, phytolith and dung spherulite analyses of selected deposits, fluorescence analyses of phytoliths and organic components, processing of sterol data from suspected faecal samples.
Main results: Identification of fuel sources and plant-related activities in open areas, determination of firing temperatures and other key aspects of Neolithic pyrotechnology, production of new data on defecating species, health and dietary patterns at the study sites.

WP6. Dissemination, communication and public outreach: Publication of project results, presentations at a number of international conferences, meetings and seminars, organisation of scientific meetings, engagement in science communication activities.
Main results: Co-organisation of 4 international conferences, 2 international workshops and 1 international seminar, delivery of 21 conference contributions and 7 invited lectures, publication of a book chapter and a journal article, research communication to interested parties through public lectures, workshops, and the Science is Wonderful! outreach fair.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The outcomes of this project have deepened our knowledge of Neolithic group activities and spatial boundaries, as well as of the often overlooked communal challenges of early settled life such as waste management, sanitation practices, and experimental animal control. In a first-of-its-kind-endeavour, building tops were included in this investigation of settlement open areas through the examination of collapsed roof fragments from Çatalhöyük. Since building tops constitute a special category of settlement area, showing characteristics of both conceptually private and public spaces, their analysis has been highly significant for the investigation of spatial boundaries due to the observation of residues from activities that were not detected on the ground floor of buildings or in open spaces, such as flint knapping.

The combination of macro-spatial, micro-contextual, and palaeoenvironmental approaches of this project constitutes a pioneering framework for studying early sedentary human behaviour in the open spaces of the earliest sedentary settlements providing, for the first time, a holistic model for the reconstruction of site formation processes in such environments, and the post-depositional alterations affecting their conservation. Through the study of sites spanning ca. 2500 years of prehistoric occupation, this project has opened up a much-needed comparative path for the exploration of variations in settlement layout and the constitution of corporate groupings, shedding light into the roles of the local environment and the evolving social structure of communities in the emergence and development of the household-community sphere dichotomy.

Field sections through stratigraphic sequences of settlement open spaces. Source: A. García-Suárez