Preserving collectivity through continuity

Abstract

The concept of “continuity” in prehistory has been studied by many scholars mostly through its expression in mortuary practices or symbolism. The study of the ‘continuity in buildings’ emerged primarily through the study of the Southwestern Asian Neolithic. Renewed excavations at Çatalhöyük, and then at Aşıklı Höyük, both in Central Anatolia contributed to the studies and enriched the data. From the mid-9th millennium BCE until its abandonment in the last quarter of the 8th millennium BCE, the long-durée occupation at Aşıklı Höyük testifies to technological developments in architecture and spatial continuity in the use of space. The well preserved architectural remains allow the study of the different rythms and motivations of rebuilding through the continous occupation of the site over a long period of one thousand years. The many strands of evidence suggest that continuity at Aşıklı differs conceptually and practically through the habitation history. Strenghtened by oral communication and story-telling, all activities were collective and collaborative from the beginning, but more actively maintained later in the occupation. Collaboration among the members of the community in the early stages of settlement was based mostly on practicality but as time progressed this extended into many other aspects of the social fabric. Rebuilding took on a meaning far beyond functionality, ultimately serving to preserve social memory and structure, social actions and ideology. Continuity manifested itself clearly throughout the 8th millennium BCE and provided stability that lasted for hundreds of years until the abandonment of the settlement.