The Construction of Community at Early Bronze Age Karataş-Semayük, Southwestern Anatolia

Abstract

Objectives

The present study seeks to examine biological kinship structures as expressed in mortuary treatment and postmarital residence practices of the Early Bronze Age (c. 3000–2000 BCE) Karataş-Semayük in southwestern Anatolia.

Materials and Methods

Dental morphology and metrics of 451 (n_female = 47; n_male = 67) individuals were examined for biological distance analyses. Gower's coefficient of similarity and Non-Euclidean Fuzzy Relational Clustering (NEFRC) were used to examine phenotypic similarities between individuals and associations with burial location. Binomial and Fisher's exact tests were used to examine significant differences in rare traits between burial locations. Mean pairwise differences, diversity indices, and modified signed-likelihood ratio tests for the equality of coefficients of variation examined significant differences in shape and size variation between males and females.

Results

Individuals did not cluster based on burial location or unit for either the Gower's or NEFRC analyses. Additionally, rare traits were not clustered in specific burial locations. Females consistently showed greater metric and morphological variation compared to males, reaching statistical significance in mean pairwise difference tests.

Discussion

These results suggest that burial location was not strongly defined by biological kinship units or lineages. Rather, a negotiation of various social identities likely influenced the expression of group membership in mortuary practice. Additionally, Karataş-Semayük likely practiced a bilocal residence pattern with a virilocal bias. The significant incorporation of outside females in the local community and the lack of biologically constrained burial practice may have simultaneously contributed to a cohesive community identity.