Gift or Belongings? The Social Significance of Grave Goods in the Neolithic Çatalhöyük

Abstract

The grave goods discovered at the neolithic site Çatalhöyük (7100–5950 BC) can be described as an information carrier about the society that inhabited it. On their basis, it is possible to determine relations between living and the dead, but also what role the dead played during their lifetime and what importance they had in the society. This article focuses on understanding what guided people in offering grave goods, they meant to them in the social terms and how was it connected to life of the dead.