Aesthetic, Social, and Material Networks: A Perspective from the Flint Daggers at Çatalhöyük, Turkey

Abstract

The Neolithic period bore witness to the emergence of novel engagements between humans and the material world. In the Middle East, these interactions were important components of broader social and ritual developments which came about with the rise of sedentary communities. In this paper, we examine the significance of these processes as represented by elaborate flint daggers at the site of Çatalhöyük in Central Anatolia. Detailed analyses of the manufacture, use and deposition of these items indicate that they were central nodes in multiple social and material relations, and functioned as durable facets of Çatalhöyük's artisanal social fabric. Their presence at the apogee of Çatalhöyük's ritual florescence further identifies their importance to particular segments of the community. Studying the intentionality of dagger production and use, we conclude, allows us to comment on the particulars of material milieu in shaping the social networks necessary for the development of large-scale sedentary communities.