While research and fieldwork at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) sites in Southeast Anatolia are s... more While research and fieldwork at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) sites in Southeast Anatolia are still unfolding, this study focuses on the stone pillars found there as ritually charged elements within specially constructed buildings. This article compares and contrasts the structural, contextual, and compositional aspects of the stone pillars from the Euphrates and Tigris Basins dating back to the 10th and 9th millennia BCE. This contextual-comparative approach allows the production of quantitative and qualitative data on the yet unrecognized aspects of stone pillar tradition in the region. In a broader sense, this approach may inform archaeology of religion and cult as theoretical research agendas. Stone pillars provide ample information on the symbolism and ritual practices of the communities when assessed holistically with their archaeological contexts and symbolic features. The stone pillars identified in the Euphrates and Tigris regions represent two different traditions in terms of form, size, and depiction, which indicate that these two regions need to be viewed as two unique and separate yet connected entities. In Southeast Anatolia, all the cult buildings were found at special locations within the sites separate from the domestic architecture. All the buildings were used, re-used, and reorganized before they were buried. However, there are pronounced differences between the stone pillars in the Euphrates (mainly Urfa) Region and those in the Tigris Region. For instance, all the PPN Tigris stone pillars were left undecorated, except for a few circular marks on some of the Gusir Höyük pillars. The anthropomorphic pillars with human depictions were found only ABSTRACT The last 25 years witnessed an unprecedented increase in the theoretical and empirical research on the southeast Anatolian Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) period, focusing on cult buildings and ritual symbolism. The cult structures, pillars, and relief motifs, which became the center of research in the region with the discovery of Nevali Çori and Göbeklitepe, engendered novel theoretical discussions within the archaeology of religion. The main subject of this study is the evaluation of the stone pillars-which became a tradition in the PPN period-in terms of their archaeological contexts. This paper discusses the pillars and details and depictions etched on them, while compiling numerical data on their assessed features. All the stone pillars unearthed so far in archaeological excavations and surveys have been re-evaluated and reinterpreted from a holistic approach by considering the archaeological contexts as well as their structural features and relief depictions. Stone pillars provide ample information on the symbolism and ritual practices of the communities when assessed with their archaeological contexts and symbolic features as a whole. The stone pillars identified in the Euphrates and Tigris regions represent two different traditions in terms of form, size, and depiction, which indicate that these two regions need to be viewed as two unique and separate yet connected entities. This difference is an indication of unique symbolic and ritual practices that refer to distinct ideological worlds. However, in both regions, the cult and special buildings were mostly located in a specially selected area of the settlements, separate from the domestic features and architecture. In addition, the practice of constant construction and reconstruction , the secondary use of pillars as architectural elements, and the subsequent burial of buildings when their use-life was completed are common characteristics observed in both regions. Masculine and wild faunal symbols typically characterize the pillars from the Euphrates Basin sites. The gradual shrinkage of pillar size and their subsequent disappearance at the Euphrates Basin sites may suggest that ideological and economical transformations were underway in Neolithic society.
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Papers by Erhan Bingöl