Ethnoarchaeology in Indonesia Illuminating the Ancient Past at Çatalhöyük?

Abstract

In a recent volume of American Antiquity, Hodder and Cessford (2004) suggested that various aspects of the domestic architecture at Çatalhöyük reflect a concern for the construction of social memory and social regulations through daily, habituated practices. The authors note that domestic architecture provides a locus for the construction of social memory in ethnographically documented “house societies” (e.g., Carsten and Hugh-Jones 1995; Joyce and Gillespie 2000) and imply that a similar pattern was prevalent during the Neolithic at Çatalhöyük. While not disputing the general premises of this suggestion, I argue that ethnoarchaeological work in two house societies in Indonesia ( West Sumba and Tana Toraja) can provide further, more detailed insight and some alternate perspectives on the social system of Neolithic Çatalhöyük, particularly in relation to notions of “daily practice” and the critical role of feasting in these societies.

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