Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Çatalhöyük reveals fundamental transitions in health, mobility, and lifestyle in early farmers

Clark Spencer Larsen; Christopher J. Knüsel; Scott D. Haddow; Marin A. Pilloud; Marco Milella; Joshua W. Sadvari; Jessica Pearson; Christopher B. Ruff; Evan M. Garofalo; Emmy Bocaege; Barbara J. Betz; Irene Dori; Bonnie Glencross

doi:10.1073/pnas.1904345116

Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Çatalhöyük reveals fundamental transitions in health, mobility, and lifestyle in early farmers

Clark Spencer Larsen, Christopher J. Knüsel, Scott D. Haddow, Marin A. Pilloud, Marco Milella, Joshua W. Sadvari, Jessica Pearson, Christopher B. Ruff, Evan M. Garofalo, Emmy Bocaege, Barbara J. Betz, Irene Dori, Bonnie Glencross

Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The transition from a human diet based exclusively on wild plants and animals to one involving dependence on domesticated plants and animals beginning 10,000 to 11,000 y ago in Southwest Asia set into motion a series of profound health, lifestyle, social, and economic changes affecting human populations throughout most of the world. However, the social, cultural, behavioral, and other factors surrounding health and lifestyle associated with the foraging-to-farming transition are vague, owing to an incomplete or poorly understood contextual archaeological record of living conditions. Bioarchaeological investigation of the extraordinary record of human remains and their context from Neolithic Çatalhöyük (7100–5950 cal BCE), a massive archaeological site in south-central Anatolia (Turkey), provides important perspectives on population dynamics, health outcomes, behavioral adaptations, interpersonal conflict, and a record of community resilience over the life of this single early farming settlement having the attributes of a protocity. Study of Çatalhöyük human biology reveals increasing costs to members of the settlement, including elevated exposure to disease and labor demands in response to community dependence on and production of domesticated plant carbohydrates, growing population size and density fueled by elevated fertility, and increasing stresses due to heightened workload and greater mobility required for caprine herding and other resource acquisition activities over the nearly 12 centuries of settlement occupation. These changes in life conditions foreshadow developments that would take place worldwide over the millennia following the abandonment of Neolithic Çatalhöyük, including health challenges, adaptive patterns, physical activity, and emerging social behaviors involving interpersonal violence.

Original language	English
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	116
Issue number	26
Pages (from-to)	12615-12623
Number of pages	9
ISSN	0027-8424
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904345116
Publication status	Published - 2019

Keywords

Bioarchaeology
Health
Lifestyle
Neolithic farmers
Turkey

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Larsen, C. S., Knüsel, C. J., Haddow, S. D., Pilloud, M. A., Milella, M., Sadvari, J. W., Pearson, J., Ruff, C. B., Garofalo, E. M., Bocaege, E., Betz, B. J., Dori, I., & Glencross, B. (2019). Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Çatalhöyük reveals fundamental transitions in health, mobility, and lifestyle in early farmers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(26), 12615-12623. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904345116

Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Çatalhöyük reveals fundamental transitions in health, mobility, and lifestyle in early farmers. / Larsen, Clark Spencer; Knüsel, Christopher J.; Haddow, Scott D. et al.

In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 116, No. 26, 2019, p. 12615-12623.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Larsen, CS, Knüsel, CJ, Haddow, SD, Pilloud, MA, Milella, M, Sadvari, JW, Pearson, J, Ruff, CB, Garofalo, EM, Bocaege, E, Betz, BJ, Dori, I & Glencross, B 2019, 'Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Çatalhöyük reveals fundamental transitions in health, mobility, and lifestyle in early farmers', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 116, no. 26, pp. 12615-12623. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904345116

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abstract = "The transition from a human diet based exclusively on wild plants and animals to one involving dependence on domesticated plants and animals beginning 10,000 to 11,000 y ago in Southwest Asia set into motion a series of profound health, lifestyle, social, and economic changes affecting human populations throughout most of the world. However, the social, cultural, behavioral, and other factors surrounding health and lifestyle associated with the foraging-to-farming transition are vague, owing to an incomplete or poorly understood contextual archaeological record of living conditions. Bioarchaeological investigation of the extraordinary record of human remains and their context from Neolithic {\c C}atalh{\"o}y{\"u}k (7100–5950 cal BCE), a massive archaeological site in south-central Anatolia (Turkey), provides important perspectives on population dynamics, health outcomes, behavioral adaptations, interpersonal conflict, and a record of community resilience over the life of this single early farming settlement having the attributes of a protocity. Study of {\c C}atalh{\"o}y{\"u}k human biology reveals increasing costs to members of the settlement, including elevated exposure to disease and labor demands in response to community dependence on and production of domesticated plant carbohydrates, growing population size and density fueled by elevated fertility, and increasing stresses due to heightened workload and greater mobility required for caprine herding and other resource acquisition activities over the nearly 12 centuries of settlement occupation. These changes in life conditions foreshadow developments that would take place worldwide over the millennia following the abandonment of Neolithic {\c C}atalh{\"o}y{\"u}k, including health challenges, adaptive patterns, physical activity, and emerging social behaviors involving interpersonal violence.",

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AU - Pilloud, Marin A.

AU - Milella, Marco

AU - Sadvari, Joshua W.

AU - Pearson, Jessica

AU - Ruff, Christopher B.

AU - Garofalo, Evan M.

AU - Bocaege, Emmy

AU - Betz, Barbara J.

AU - Dori, Irene

AU - Glencross, Bonnie

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N2 - The transition from a human diet based exclusively on wild plants and animals to one involving dependence on domesticated plants and animals beginning 10,000 to 11,000 y ago in Southwest Asia set into motion a series of profound health, lifestyle, social, and economic changes affecting human populations throughout most of the world. However, the social, cultural, behavioral, and other factors surrounding health and lifestyle associated with the foraging-to-farming transition are vague, owing to an incomplete or poorly understood contextual archaeological record of living conditions. Bioarchaeological investigation of the extraordinary record of human remains and their context from Neolithic Çatalhöyük (7100–5950 cal BCE), a massive archaeological site in south-central Anatolia (Turkey), provides important perspectives on population dynamics, health outcomes, behavioral adaptations, interpersonal conflict, and a record of community resilience over the life of this single early farming settlement having the attributes of a protocity. Study of Çatalhöyük human biology reveals increasing costs to members of the settlement, including elevated exposure to disease and labor demands in response to community dependence on and production of domesticated plant carbohydrates, growing population size and density fueled by elevated fertility, and increasing stresses due to heightened workload and greater mobility required for caprine herding and other resource acquisition activities over the nearly 12 centuries of settlement occupation. These changes in life conditions foreshadow developments that would take place worldwide over the millennia following the abandonment of Neolithic Çatalhöyük, including health challenges, adaptive patterns, physical activity, and emerging social behaviors involving interpersonal violence.

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JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

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ER -

Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Çatalhöyük reveals fundamental transitions in health, mobility, and lifestyle in early farmers

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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