Finds 196
Main Information
| Finds ID | 196 |
| Site |
Körtik Tepe |
| Area |
ID 75 settlement |
| Research event | excavation: rescue Körtik Tepe Excavations 2000 - 2010 |
| Finds type | animal remains |
| Small finds category | None |
| Small finds type | |
| Botany species | |
| Animal remains species |
aurochs (Bos primigenius) bean goose (Anser fabalis) beaver (Castor fiber) donkey (None) fallow deer (Dama dama) graylag goose (Anser anser) great bustard (Otis tarda) hare (Lepus timidus) hare (Lepus europaeus) mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) partridge () red deer (Cervus elaphus) red fox (Vulpes vulpes) roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) tortoise () wild boar (Sus scrofa) wild goat (Capra aegagrus) wild sheep (Ovis orientalis) wildcat (Felis silvestris) wolf (Canis lupus) |
| Animal remains completeness | incomplete |
| Animal remains part |
extremity forelimb skull |
| Lithics technology | |
| Lithics industry | |
| Lithics cores and preparation | |
| Lithics retouched tools | |
| Lithics unretouched tools | |
| Lithics raw material | |
| Obsidian | None |
| Obsidian amount | None |
| Pottery form | |
| Pottery detail | |
| Pottery decoration | |
| Pottery type | None |
| Amount | |
| Material | |
| Confidence | 5 |
| Comment | Zooarchaeological work on large archaeofaunal samples from the site is still ongoing. A new and rigorous dating program is currently under way to examine the stratigraphy and reveal its exact nature. ln an attempt to minimize the vagaries of sampling and to have a better horizontal control, materials from 17 contexts across the site were analyzed. Every skeletal element including smallest bone splinters for the purpose of assemblage characterization was recorded. The degree of fragmentation is really high with high ratios of nonidentified splinters and long bone shaft fragments. The fragmentation pattern partly retlects exhaustive processing of carcasses by humans when bones were in a fresh state before they were buried and rapidly deposited. When examining the relative importance of large and small game, large game is defined as including all ungulate taxa, whereas small game includes only typical small food animals such as hare, tortoises, and birds. Carnivores and other animals are excluded because their status as food animal is not certain. 1t is clear that remains of large game are predominant in the assemblage as a general pattern. When one turns to principal taxa in general, and ungulates in particular, a clear pattern in which remains of wild sheep and red deer are overwhelmingly predominant in the assemblage is identifiable. Wild sheep outnumber wild goat with a sheep to goat ratio of 30 to 1. The underrepresentation of wild goat at Körtik has to do with the local paleoecology and topography retlecting friendlier wild sheep habitats with open grasslands and rolling hills. The abundance of red deer suggests open country and gallery forests, whereas the remains of !arge birds such as the goose and the great bustard retlect aquatic and open environments with grasslands and marshes along the banks of Tigris and Batman Rivers. The assemblage has a wide range of body part representations with head dominating, axial and limbs represented in varying proportions, and extremities underrepresented. The Körtik assemblage departs from the stereotypical head-and-foot pattern. Unlike ungulates, Körtik birds revealed a very clear pattem of body part distribution with wings overwhelmingly dominating the assemblage. To summarize and conclude, the inhabitants of PPNA Körtik Tepe had the technology and knowledge to exploit a wide array of animal taxa including large or small game, slow (tortoise) or quick game (hare and partridge). Intensive and primary wild sheep hunting was supplemented by secondary red deer hunting, and seasonal wildfowling was a major or significant minor resource. Zooarchaeological work on a large collection from Körtik is still ongoing. |
Bibliography
| Reference |
Özkaya, V., Körtik Tepe, None, None Arbuckle, B. S.; Özkaya, V., Animal Exploitation at Körtik Tepe: An Early Aceramic Neolithic Site in Southeastern Turkey, 2006, |
Interpretations related to these Finds
| Interpretation |
ID 44
|