Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük Eren Yüncü, Ayça Küçükakdağ Doğu, Damla Kaptan, Muhammed Sıddık Kılıç, Camilla Mazzucato, Merve N. Güler, Elifnaz Eker, Büşra Katırcıoğlu, Maciej Chyleński, Kıvılcım Başak Vural, Ekin Sağlıcan, Gözde Atağ, Defne Bozkurt, Jessica Pearson, Arda Sevkar, N. Ezgi Altınışık, Marco Milella, Cansu Karamurat, Şevval Aktürk, Emre Deniz Yurttaş, Nisan Yıldız, Dilek Koptekin, Sevgi Yorulmaz, Duygu Deniz Kazancı, Ayça Aydoğan, Kanat Gürün, Eline M.J. Schotsmans, Jana Anvari, Eva Rosenstock, Jennifer Byrnes, Peter F. Biehl, David Orton, Vendela Kempe Lagerholm, Hasan Can Gemici, Milena Vasic, Arkadiusz Marciniak, Çiğdem Atakuman, Yılmaz Selim Erdal, Emrah Kırdök, Marin Pilloud, Clark Spencer Larsen, Scott D. Haddow, Anders Götherström, Christopher J. Knüsel, Füsun Özer, Ian Hodder, Mehmet Somel Science, 2025 Combining 131 paleogenomes with bioarchaeological and archaeological data, we studied social organization and gendered practices in Çatalhöyük East Mound (7100 to 5950 BCE), a major Neolithic settlement in Central Anatolia. In early Çatalhöyük, burials in the same building were frequently close genetic relatives, suggesting that houses were used by biological family members. In later periods, however, individuals buried in the same building were often genetically unrelated, despite sharing similar diets. We found no indication of sex-biased mobility into Çatalhöyük. Meanwhile, in all periods, within-building genetic connections were predominantly maternal rather than paternal. Burials of female subadults also received a higher frequency of gifts than male subadults. Our results reveal how kinship practices changed while specific practices prioritizing female lines persisted for 1000 years at Neolithic Çatalhöyük.
Human-bird interactions in the Levant during the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene: Multi-scalar analysis of avifaunal remains Lisa Yeomans, Camilla Mazzucato Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2024 This paper describes analyses of avifauna from Levantine Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites at contrasting scales. We present avian osteological data at Shubayqa, in northeast Jordan, illustrating human-bird-environment interactions over 4000 years offering interpretation of environmental change on avifaunal communities and reorientation in the nature of multi-species relationships at a wetland environment. Comparisons to published avifaunal assemblages investigates bird-human relationships across a broader temporal and geographical span. During the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, some of our species gradually transitioned to agriculture. People hunted birds for subsistence but extensive evidence for the symbolic importance of birds suggests complex relationships between species. Avifaunal evidence, therefore, presents insights into two commonly suggested primary causes for the shift from hunter-foragers to agriculturalists – resource pressure and symbolic expression. In this paper, we investigate and try to clarify the relationship between humans and birds at this transitional period in human history, furthering discussions of the shift towards agriculture. We argue humans gradually modified the landscape but this was not a reactionary response to resource stress. Nevertheless, this resulted in the productivity of the landscape increasing and allowed further intensification. Feathers and talons of birds were used for millennia preceding the shift to agriculture and the increase in bird hunting towards the end of the Pleistocene cannot be explained by the increased role of birds in the symbolic realm. The evidence from the avifauna adds weight to the idea of ecological niche construction activities, as people invested in specific locations, increasing productivity of habitats, thus encouraging further investment within some environments.
Waterfowl Eggshell Refines Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction and Supports Multi-species Niche Construction at the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition in the Levant Lisa Yeomans, Maria C. Codlin, Camilla Mazzucato, Federica Dal Bello, Beatrice Demarchi Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2024 Utilising multiple lines of evidence for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction improves our understanding of the past landscapes in which human populations interacted with other species. Illuminating such processes is key for a nuanced understanding of fundamental transitions in human history, such as the shift from hunting and gathering to farming, and allows us to move beyond simple deterministic interpretations of climate-driven innovation. Avifaunal remains provide detailed indications of complex multi-species interactions at the local scale. They allow us to infer relationships between human and non-human animals, but also to reconstruct their niche, because many bird species are sensitive to specific ecological conditions and will often relocate and change their breeding patterns. In this paper, we illustrate how novel evidence that waterfowl reproduced at Levantine wetlands, which we obtained through biomolecular archaeology, together with modern ornithological data reveals conditions of wetlands that are conducive for breeding waterfowl. By understanding the interplay between wetland productivity cycles and waterfowl ecology, we argue that human modifications to the environment could have promoted wetland productivity inviting waterfowl to remain year-round. Within this landscape of “mutual ecologies”, the feedback resulting from the agency of all species is involved in the construction of the human niche.
“But some were more equal than others:” Exploring inequality at Neolithic Çatalhöyük Katheryn C. Twiss, Amy Bogaard, Scott Haddow, Marco Milella, James S. Taylor, Rena Veropoulidou, Kevin Kay, Christopher J. Knüsel, Christina Tsoraki, Milena Vasić, Jessica Pearson, Gesualdo Busacca, Camilla Mazzucato, Sharon Pochron Plos One, 2024 We explore the ways in which residents of Neolithic Çatalhöyük in Anatolia differentiated themselves as well as the ways in which they did not. We integrate numerous data sets in order to assess patterns of inequality (A) across buildings with contemporaneous occupations, (B) between buildings that did or did not burn at abandonment, and (C) through time. We use Gini coefficients so as to maximize comparability with other studies of inequality in the ancient and modern worlds, discussing the underlying data and our results to clarify and enhance the value of the quantitative analyses. We evaluate whether or not trajectories of inequality align across data sets in order to determine how far success in one realm correlated with success in another. Our results indicate no unified trajectory of inequality through time. We perceive broadly similar access to staple foods, but not to goods less directly related to survival; relatively elevated income inequality during the middle portion of the site’s occupation, plausibly deliberately tamped down; and no evidence for institutionalized or lasting economic or social inequality. These findings shed light on Neolithic social dynamics and also contribute to broader discussions of inequality and the social ramifications of early agropastoralism.
On the wing: Morphological variation in the osteology of Mediterranean, Near Eastern, and European Anatidae (excluding Anserinae) Ashleigh Haruda, Camilla Mazzucato, Lisa Yeomans Journal of Morphology, 2024 Accurate identification of waterfowl bones in archaeological and fossil assemblages has potential to unlock new methods of past environmental reconstruction, as species have differing habitat preferences and migration patterns. Therefore, identifying the presence of avian species with different ecological niches is key to determining past environments and ultimately how prehistoric people responded to climatic and environmental realignments. However, the identification of osteological remains of waterbirds such as ducks to species level is notoriously challenging. We address this by presenting a new two‐dimensional geometric morphometric protocol on wing elements from over 20 duck species and test the utility of these shape data for correct species identification. This is an ideal starting point to expand utilization of these types of approaches in avifaunal research and test applicability to an extremely difficult taxonomic group.
Mobility and kinship in the world’s first village societies Jessica Pearson, Jane Evans, Angela Lamb, Douglas Baird, Ian Hodder, Arkadiusz Marciniak, Clark Spencer Larsen, Christopher J. Knüsel, Scott D. Haddow, Marin A. Pilloud, Amy Bogaard, Andrew Fairbairn, Jo-Hannah Plug, Camilla Mazzucato, Gökhan Mustafaoğlu, Michal Feldman, Mehmet Somel, Eva Fernández-Domínguez Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2023 Around 10,000 y ago in southwest Asia, the cessation of a mobile lifestyle and the emergence of the first village communities during the Neolithic marked a fundamental change in human history. The first communities were small (tens to hundreds of individuals) but remained semisedentary. So-called megasites appeared soon after, occupied by thousands of more sedentary inhabitants. Accompanying this shift, the material culture and ancient ecological data indicate profound changes in economic and social behavior. A shift from residential to logistical mobility and increasing population size are clear and can be explained by either changes in fertility and/or aggregation of local groups. However, as sedentism increased, small early communities likely risked inbreeding without maintaining or establishing exogamous relationships typical of hunter-gatherers. Megasites, where large populations would have made endogamy sustainable, could have avoided this risk. To examine the role of kinship practices in the rise of megasites, we measured strontium and oxygen isotopes in tooth enamel from 99 individuals buried at Pınarbaşı, Boncuklu, and Çatalhöyük (Turkey) over 7,000 y. These sites are geographically proximate and, critically, span both early sedentary behaviors (Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu) and the rise of a local megasite (Çatalhöyük). Our data are consistent with the presence of only local individuals at Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu, whereas at Çatalhöyük, several nonlocals are present. The Çatalhöyük data stand in contrast to other megasites where bioarchaeological evidence has pointed to strict endogamy. These different kinship behaviors suggest that megasites may have arisen by employing unique, community-specific kinship practices.
New insights on commemoration of the dead through mortuary and architectural use of pigments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey E. M. J. Schotsmans, G. Busacca, S. C. Lin, M. Vasić, A. M. Lingle, R. Veropoulidou, C. Mazzucato, B. Tibbetts, S. D. Haddow, M. Somel, F. Toksoy-Köksal, C. J. Knüsel, M. Milella Scientific Reports, 2022 The cultural use of pigments in human societies is associated with ritual activities and the creation of social memory. Neolithic Çatalhöyük (Turkey, 7100–5950 cal BC) provides a unique case study for the exploration of links between pigments in burials, demographic data and colourants in contemporary architectural contexts. This study presents the first combined analysis of funerary and architectural evidence of pigment use in Neolithic Anatolia and discusses the possible social processes underlying the observed statistical patterns. Results reveal that pigments were either applied directly to the deceased or included in the grave as a burial association. The most commonly used pigment was red ochre. Cinnabar was mainly applied to males and blue/green pigment was associated with females. A correlation was found between the number of buried individuals and the number of painted layers in the buildings. Mortuary practices seem to have followed specific selection processes independent of sex and age-at-death of the deceased. This study offers new insights about the social factors involved in pigment use in this community, and contributes to the interpretation of funerary practices in Neolithic Anatolia. Specifically, it suggests that visual expression, ritual performance and symbolic associations were elements of shared long-term socio-cultural practices.
No gentry but grave-makers: inequality beyond property accumulation at Neolithic Çatalhöyük Kevin Kay, Scott Haddow, Christopher Knüsel, Camilla Mazzucato, Marco Milella, Rena Veropoulidou, Katheryn C. Twiss World Archaeology, 2022 Archaeologists have adopted the Gini coefficient to evaluate unequal accumulations of material, supporting narratives modelled on modern inequality discourse. Proxies are defined for wealth and the household, to render 21st century-style economic tensions perceptible in the past. This ‘property paradigm’ treats material culture as a generic rather than substantive factor in unequal pasts. We question this framing while suggesting that the Gini coefficient can prompt a deeper exploration of value. Our study grows from multi-material evaluation of inequality at Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Here we use the Gini coefficient to scrutinise distributions of burial practices among houses. To the expectations of the property paradigm, the result is unintuitive – becoming slightly more equal despite rising social complexity. We explore possible explanations for this result, each pointing to a more substantive link between past futures and differentiated lives as a framework for archaeologies of inequality.
Variable kinship patterns in Neolithic Anatolia revealed by ancient genomes Reyhan Yaka, Igor Mapelli, Damla Kaptan, Ayça Doğu, Maciej Chyleński, Ömür Dilek Erdal, Dilek Koptekin, Kıvılcım Başak Vural, Alex Bayliss, Camilla Mazzucato, Evrim Fer, Sevim Seda Çokoğlu, Vendela Kempe Lagerholm, Maja Krzewińska, Cansu Karamurat, Hasan Can Gemici, Arda Sevkar, Nihan Dilşad Dağtaş, Gülşah Merve Kılınç, Donovan Adams, Arielle R. Munters, Ekin Sağlıcan, Marco Milella, Eline M.J. Schotsmans, Erinç Yurtman, Mehmet Çetin, Sevgi Yorulmaz, N. Ezgi Altınışık, Ayshin Ghalichi, Anna Juras, C. Can Bilgin, Torsten Günther, Jan Storå, Mattias Jakobsson, Maurice de Kleijn, Gökhan Mustafaoğlu, Andrew Fairbairn, Jessica Pearson, İnci Togan, Nurcan Kayacan, Arkadiusz Marciniak, Clark Spencer Larsen, Ian Hodder, Çiğdem Atakuman, Marin Pilloud, Elif Sürer, Fokke Gerritsen, Rana Özbal, Douglas Baird, Yılmaz Selim Erdal, Güneş Duru, Mihriban Özbaşaran, Scott D. Haddow, Christopher J. Knüsel, Anders Götherström, Füsun Özer, Mehmet Somel Current Biology, 2021
Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük E Yuncu, AK Dogu, D Kaptan, MS Kilic, C Mazzucato, MN Guler, E Eker, ... 2025 Citations: 1
Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük E Yüncü, AK Doğu, D Kaptan, MS Kılıç, C Mazzucato, MN Güler, E Eker, ... Science 388 (6754), eadr2915 , 2025 2025 Citations: 37
“A Network of Mutualities of Being”: Socio-material Archaeological Networks and Biological Ties at Çatalhöyük C Mazzucato, M Coscia, A Küçükakdağ Doğu, S Haddow, MS Kılıç, ... Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 32 (1), 25 , 2025 2025 Citations: 6
Proceedings of the 13th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. Copenhagen, 22–26 May 2023. Volume 1: Sustainability; Islamic Archaeology; Inclusion … SD Haddow, C Mazzucato, I Thuesen Harrassowitz Verlag 1, 1-616 , 2025 2025
Human-bird interactions in the Levant during the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene: Multi-scalar analysis of avifaunal remains L Yeomans, C Mazzucato Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 16 (11), 185 , 2024 2024 Citations: 6
“But some were more equal than others:” Exploring inequality at Neolithic Çatalhöyük KC Twiss, A Bogaard, S Haddow, M Milella, JS Taylor, R Veropoulidou, ... PloS one 19 (9), e0307067 , 2024 2024 Citations: 11
Waterfowl eggshell refines palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and supports multi-species niche construction at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the Levant L Yeomans, MC Codlin, C Mazzucato, F Dal Bello, B Demarchi Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 31 (3), 1383-1429 , 2024 2024 Citations: 20
On the wing: Morphological variation in the osteology of Mediterranean, Near Eastern, and European Anatidae (excluding Anserinae) A Haruda, C Mazzucato, L Yeomans Journal of Morphology 285 (8), e21750 , 2024 2024 Citations: 2
Commemoration of the dead through mortuary and architectural use of pigments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey E Schotsmans, G Busacca, S Lin, M Vasić, A Lingle, R Veropoulidou, ... World Neolithic Congress 2024 , 2024 2024
Scratching the surface? A histotaphonomic study of human remains at Neolithic Çatalhöyük SD Haddow, C Mazzucato, S Mangaloğlu-Votruba, B Yağcı, T Booth, ... Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 15 (6), 74 , 2023 2023 Citations: 16
13th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East SD Haddow, C Mazzucato, I Thuesen 2023
Mobility and kinship in the world’s first village societies J Pearson, J Evans, A Lamb, D Baird, I Hodder, A Marciniak, CS Larsen, ... Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120 (4), e2209480119 , 2023 2023 Citations: 27
No gentry but grave-makers: Inequality beyond property accumulation at Neolithic Çatalhöyük K Kay, S Haddow, C Knüsel, C Mazzucato, M Milella, R Veropoulidou, ... World Archaeology 54 (4), 584-601 , 2022 2022 Citations: 15
New insights on commemoration of the dead through mortuary and architectural use of pigments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey EMJ Schotsmans, G Busacca, SC Lin, M Vasić, AM Lingle, ... Scientific Reports 12 (1), 4055 , 2022 2022 Citations: 29
Continuity and change in architectural traditions at late Neolithic Çatalhöyük MZ Barański, A García-Suárez, C Kabukcu, A Klimowicz, S Love, ... Communities at Work the Making of Çatalhöyük. Çatalhöyük Research Project … , 2022 2022 Citations: 5
An integrated approach to the study of socio-material networks at Çatalhöyük C Mazzucato, S Doyle, J Issavi, S Love, D Tarkan, C Tsoraki, ... Communities at Work the Making of Çatalhöyük. Çatalhöyük Research Project … , 2022 2022 Citations: 8
Variable kinship patterns in Neolithic Anatolia revealed by ancient genomes R Yaka, I Mapelli, D Kaptan, A Doğu, M Chyleński, ÖD Erdal, D Koptekin, ... Current Biology 31 (11), 2455-2468. e18 , 2021 2021 Citations: 142
Variation in Genetic Relatedness Patterns among Co-burials in Anatolian Neolithic Societies R Yaka, I Mapelli, D Kaptan, A Doğu, M Chyleński, ÖD Erdal, KB Vural, ... 2021
16. Data analysis and integration at Çatalhöyük C Kabukcu, D Lukas, C Mazzucato The Matter of Çatalhöyük: Reports from the 2009-2017 Seasons, 409 , 2021 2021 Citations: 1
Unravelling the knot. A socio-material approach to the study of Neolithic megasites: The view from Çatalhöyük C Mazzucato Stanford University , 2021 2021 Citations: 2
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Revisiting reflexive archaeology at Çatalhöyük: integrating digital and 3D technologies at the trowel's edge Å Berggren, N Dell’Unto, M Forte, S Haddow, I Hodder, J Issavi, N Lercari, ... Antiquity 89 (344), 433-448 , 2015 2015 Citations: 243
Variable kinship patterns in Neolithic Anatolia revealed by ancient genomes R Yaka, I Mapelli, D Kaptan, A Doğu, M Chyleński, ÖD Erdal, D Koptekin, ... Current Biology 31 (11), 2455-2468. e18 , 2021 2021 Citations: 142
'The Rise of the Machine': the impact of digital tablet recording in the field at Çatalhöyük N Null, J Taylor, J Issavi, Å Berggren, D Lukas, C Mazzucato, B Tung, ... Internet Archaeology, 1-10 , 2018 2018 Citations: 59
Modes of religiosity and the evolution of social complexity at Çatalhöyük H Whitehouse, C Mazzucato, I Hodder, QD Atkinson Religion at work in a Neolithic society, 134-158 , 2014 2014 Citations: 54
Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük E Yüncü, AK Doğu, D Kaptan, MS Kılıç, C Mazzucato, MN Güler, E Eker, ... Science 388 (6754), eadr2915 , 2025 2025 Citations: 37
Socio-material archaeological networks at Çatalhöyük a community detection approach C Mazzucato Frontiers in Digital Humanities 6, 8 , 2019 2019 Citations: 37
Towards a living archive: Making multi layered research data and knowledge generation transparent D Lukas, C Engel, C Mazzucato Journal of Field Archaeology 43 (sup1), S19-S30 , 2018 2018 Citations: 36
Assessing outdoor activities and their social implications at Çatalhöyük A Bogaard, P Ryan, N Yalman, E Asouti, KC Twiss, C Mazzucato, S Farid Assessing Outdoor Activities and their Social Implications at Çatalhöyük 10 … , 2014 2014 Citations: 34
New insights on commemoration of the dead through mortuary and architectural use of pigments at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey EMJ Schotsmans, G Busacca, SC Lin, M Vasić, AM Lingle, ... Scientific Reports 12 (1), 4055 , 2022 2022 Citations: 29
Mobility and kinship in the world’s first village societies J Pearson, J Evans, A Lamb, D Baird, I Hodder, A Marciniak, CS Larsen, ... Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120 (4), e2209480119 , 2023 2023 Citations: 27
Waterfowl eggshell refines palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and supports multi-species niche construction at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the Levant L Yeomans, MC Codlin, C Mazzucato, F Dal Bello, B Demarchi Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 31 (3), 1383-1429 , 2024 2024 Citations: 20
Sampling and mapping Çatalhöyük C Mazzucato Humans and landscapes of Çatalhöyük, 31-64 , 2000 2000 Citations: 20
‘Up in Flames’: a visual exploration of a burnt building at Çatalhöyük in GIS J Taylor, A Bogaard, T Carter, M Charles, S Haddow, CJ Knüsel, ... Assembling Çatalhöyük, 127-149 , 2017 2017 Citations: 17
Scratching the surface? A histotaphonomic study of human remains at Neolithic Çatalhöyük SD Haddow, C Mazzucato, S Mangaloğlu-Votruba, B Yağcı, T Booth, ... Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 15 (6), 74 , 2023 2023 Citations: 16
No gentry but grave-makers: Inequality beyond property accumulation at Neolithic Çatalhöyük K Kay, S Haddow, C Knüsel, C Mazzucato, M Milella, R Veropoulidou, ... World Archaeology 54 (4), 584-601 , 2022 2022 Citations: 15
“But some were more equal than others:” Exploring inequality at Neolithic Çatalhöyük KC Twiss, A Bogaard, S Haddow, M Milella, JS Taylor, R Veropoulidou, ... PloS one 19 (9), e0307067 , 2024 2024 Citations: 11
An integrated approach to the study of socio-material networks at Çatalhöyük C Mazzucato, S Doyle, J Issavi, S Love, D Tarkan, C Tsoraki, ... Communities at Work the Making of Çatalhöyük. Çatalhöyük Research Project … , 2022 2022 Citations: 8
Ancient genomics in Neolithic central Anatolia and Çatalhöyük R Yaka, A Doğu, D Kaptan, ND Dağtaş, M Chyleński, KB Vural, ... Peopling the Landscape Of Çatalhöyük: Reports from the 2009-2017 Seasons , 2021 2021 Citations: 7
Near urban living: Çatalhöyük and the Late Neolithic megasites C Mazzucato Norwegian Archaeological Review 49 (1), 65-69 , 2016 2016 Citations: 7
“A Network of Mutualities of Being”: Socio-material Archaeological Networks and Biological Ties at Çatalhöyük C Mazzucato, M Coscia, A Küçükakdağ Doğu, S Haddow, MS Kılıç, ... Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 32 (1), 25 , 2025 2025 Citations: 6