Religion in the Emergence of Civilization: Catalhoyuk as a Case Study

by Ian Hodder

This book presents an interdisciplinary study of the role of spirituality and religious ritual in the emergence of complex societies. Involving an eminent group of natural scientists, archaeologists, anthropologists, philosophers, and theologians, this volume examines Çatalhöyük as a case study. A nine-thousand-year old town in central Turkey, Çatalhöyük was first excavated in the 1960s and has since become integral to understanding the symbolic and ritual worlds of the early farmers and village-dwellers in the Middle East. It is thus an ideal location for exploring theories about the role of religion in early settled life. This book provides a unique overview of current debates concerning religion and its historical variations. Through exploration of themes including the integration of the spiritual and the material, the role of belief in religion, the cognitive bases for religion, and religion's social roles, this book situates the results from Çatalhöyük within a broader understanding of the Neolithic in the Middle East.

Genres: Archaeology, Nonfiction, Religion, Anthropology

ebook

First published August 30, 2010

About the author

Ian Hodder is Dunleavie Family Professor of Archaeology at Stanford University. A Fellow of the British Academy, he has received numerous awards for his accomplishments, including the Oscar Montelius Medal from the Swedish Society of Antiquaries, the Huxley Memorial Medal by the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Fyssen International Prize, and the Gold Medal by the Archaeological Institute of America, along with honorary doctorates from the Bristol and Leiden Universities. Hodder is the author of numerous books, including Symbols in Action (Cambridge, 1982), Reading the Past (Cambridge, 1982), and Entangled: An Archaeology of the Relationships between Humans and Things (2012).

Reviews

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intensive, though by no means exhaustive, examination of possible religion at the Neolithic Anatolian site of Catalhoyuk. This volume comprises contributions from a variety of fields, including anthropologists, ethnographers, and theologists in addition to the archaeologists, brought together and edited by site director Ian Hodder. As with many of my archaeological reads, I must note that whilst I praise the research, professional academic approach, and impeccable referencing, I warn the general reader that it is stuffed full of technical language and detail that may go over the heads of those without a pre-existing interest in and understanding of the topics discussed. I have to admit that for someone who is not into this kind of thing, it’ll probably be a dry read. As for the content and conclusions, I personally enjoyed Keane’s chapter the most; he notes that not everything that lacks utilitarian function and contains symbolism may be religion, pointing to the vast amounts of effort, expense, and symbolism imbued into such modern institutions as entertainment and art. Whilst the contributors are able to make interesting inferences, and possible suggestions for religion at Catalhoyuk, it seems to remain ephemeral for now, obscured behind a veil of ‘maybes’ that currently cannot be satisfactorily proven and resolved.

[Wendelle]

This is very interesting book on Catalhoyuk. Its chapters consist of separate articles and include: discussion of whether religion evolved from the imagistic phase to the doctrinal phase in Catalhoyuk, and whether rituals were practiced due to conscientious religious memory or habituated and commemorative uses;
the use of simulations and big data to ratify theories on the social evolution of Catalhoyuk, through input of initial values for variables such as level of environmental stress, economic capacity, pastoral capacity, and default levels of cognitive religious characteristics;
the use of geological or micromorphological analyses of surfaces and residue to clarify microhistories in Catalhoyuk;
the use of the material record, such as animal-based jewelry in burials, to find archaeological evidence for shared-history construction and long-term memories in Epipaleolithic cultures;
the excavation of Gobekli Tepe, a ritual or communal space whose megalithic monument-burials fostered the bonds of a cultic community;
the conversion from a face-to-face community to a supra-regional group community in Kortik Tepe;
the hypothesis that hearths were not integral to homes but to ritual places, and if homes in Catalhoyuk all had hearths, it was because they were all private ritual places for the homeowners;

[Vidya Muller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. I am smarter now.

[Aykut Karabay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Çatalhöyük örneği üzerinden, karmaşık toplumların ortaya çıkışında doğabilimciler, arkeolog, antropolog, filozof ve teologların klavuzluğunda dinin, spiritüellik ile ritüellerin rolüne ilişkin disiplinlerarası, araziye ve olgulara dayalı bir çalışma.

Kitap, Çatalhöyük’te MÖ 7400 ‘de uygarlığa doğru atılan ilk adımları, oradaki sanatı, sembolizmi, ritüelleri anlatıyor. Çok geniş bir arazide incelikli anlatı sanatı, evlerde yer döşemelerinin altında ortaya çıkan gömüleri ve olağanüstü muhafaza koşullarını, yerleşmenin hem erken yerleşik tarım hayatını, hemde yerleşik köylerden kentsel toplaşmalara uzanan genel süreci anlatıyor.

Kitap genel olarak bulunan gömü ve objelerden hareketle uzmanların yorum ve çıkarımlarına dayanıyor. Elbette böylesine eski bir tarihe dair kesin sonuçlara varmak şu anki teknolojimizle mümkün değil malesef. Ancak dinin, inancın, toplumsallaşmanın ve medeniyetin kökenine dair mantıklı savları ve çıkarımları olan bir kitap. Tavsiye ederim.

[mahatmanto]

ian hodder, terkenal karena menekuni situs catalhoyuk.
di sini ia mengorganisir para peneliti dari berbagai disiplin untuk melakukan pekerjaan penelitian lapangan dengan lingkup yang spesifik.
penelitian berbasiskan keadaan lapangan itu dikenakan pada antropolog, sejarawan, teolog... di situs permukiman yang lebih tua dari pada sumeria maupun mesir.
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