Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (2013) 180–189
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Journ al of Anthr opological Archaeolo gy 

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/ locate / jaa
Food and social complexity at Çayönü Tepesi, southeastern Anatolia: Stable 
isotope evidence of differentiation in diet according to burial practice and 
sex in the early Neolithic 

Jessica Pearson a,⇑, Matt Grove a, Metin Özbek b, Hitomi Hongo c

a Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, Hartley Building, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GS, UK 
b Department of Anthropology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey 
c School of Advanced Science, Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Shohan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan 
a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history: 
Received 6 February 2012 
Revision received 24 January 2013 

Keywords:
Neolithic
Near East 
Social differentiation 
Burial practices 
Isotopes
Diet
0278-4165     � 2013 Elsevier Inc. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2013.01.002

⇑ Corresponding author. Fax: +44 151 794 5057. 
E-mail address: pearson@liv.ac.uk (J. Pearson).

Open access under CC BY
a b s t r a c t

The identification of early social complexity and differentiation in early village societies has been 
approache d in the past most notably through the evaluation of rituals and architectural layouts. Such 
studies could be complemente d by an approach that provides data about everyday behaviours of individ- 
uals. We took 540 human and animal bone samples for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis from 
the Neolithic site of Çayönü Tepesi in southeaste rn Anatolia. The inhabitants at this site chose to bury 
their dead in two different ways at different times during its occupation: beneath the floors of their 
house s, but also inside a public mortuary building known as the Skull Building. This variation provides 
an opportunit y using isotope methods to test whether there was evidence for structuring of daily activ- 
ities (diet in this case) that might serve to reinforce this change in burial practice. We show that when the 
inhabi tants of Çayönü Tepesi changed their architecture and operated different burial practices in con- 
junction, this coincided with other aspects of behaviour including sociall y-constituted food consumption 
practices, which served to reinforce social identities. 

� 2013 Elsevier Inc. Open access under CC BY license.
Introductio n

One of the central issues in the understand ing of early social 
organisation and the origins of social complexity in early commu- 
nities is whether different burial practices were the result of incip- 
ient hierarchical social structures that singled out individua ls for 
specific roles, or acknowledged differences between groups that 
were organised along more egalitarian lines (Binford, 1971; Carr, 
1995; Goldstein, 1981; Hodder, 1982; Kroeber, 1927; Kuijt and 
Goring-Mor ris, 2002; Peterson, 2010; Ucko, 1969 ). It has been ar- 
gued, on a number of occasions, that burial practices of the Neo- 
lithic Near East, and in particular those of the Pre Pottery 
Neolithic B (PPNB) (9300–8500 bp) communitie s in the Levant 
and elsewhere, were inclusive events able to combat social tension 
caused by population increase and uncertainty in resource secu- 
rity, thereby allowing for the successfu l negotiation of rapidly 
changing economic, technologic al, social and political regimes 
(Kuijt, 2000 ). Others have argued that some form of hierarchy ex- 
isted in this period and penetrated many aspects of life, such as the 
production of figurative art and burial of the dead within the house 
(Rollefson, 2000 see also Garfinkel, 1988 on the use of plaster).
 license.
Goring-M orris (2000) argues that since the less common practices, 
such as skull modification and decoration, cross sex and age 
boundari es, they are more likely to be representative of socio- 
political differentiation based on inherited status, which served 
as a mechanism for orderly transfer of accumulated power and 
wealth upon death of an individua l. However, he also points out 
that the extent to which these secondary burial practices reflect
the status of the individual pre-mortem is debatable (see also Byrd
and Monahan, 1995 on the Natufian) and difficult to confirm
independen tly. 
Aims and objectives 

Although burial practices can bear some relationship to an indi- 
vidual’s role in life, these practices are rarely passive reflections
(Hodder, 1982 ). Such approaches wrongfully assume that all prac- 
tices (or the inclusion of particular objects) mean the same thing to 
all individuals or groups and that changes in social developmen ts 
are translated in burial practices, which have been shown not to 
be the case amongst ethnograph ic studies of the Nuba of the Sudan 
(Hodder, 1982 ) or the Merina of Madagascar (Bloch, 1971 ) for 
example. Any attempt to identify what in-life roles people that 
were buried in a particular manner had requires an approach that 
provides data about everyday behaviours of the individual rather 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2013.01.002
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J. Pearson et al. / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (2013) 180–189 181
than associated artefacts or the archaeological features of burial. 
These have been somewhat limited to date, although physical 
anthropology has offered some solutions: Fletcher et al. (2008)
showed, through radiographi c assessment of a plastered skull from 
Jericho, that evidence of skull modification was present but not vis- 
ible by eye, thus suggestin g that the process in childhood was the 
important factor, rather than the outcome of a visibly manipulate d
skull. Observation of limb bones at Çatalhöyük, Ain Mallaha and 
Abu Hureyra (Eshed et al., 2004; Molleson, 1994; Molleson et al., 
2005) revealed evidence of occupationa l pathologies caused by 
physical activity necessary to undertak e tasks such as grinding 
cereals for flour. Although this last approach tells us which individ- 
uals were involved in resource collection and preparation, cru- 
cially, it does not tell us who actually consumed resources. 

It is with these issues in mind that an extensive programme of 
stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis was undertaken from 
Çayönü Tepesi, a Neolithic site in southeastern Anatolia. This site 
was chosen since both primary burial beneath house floors and 
mass secondary burial in a public building was used. Isotope signa- 
tures in bone provide long-lived information about food consumed. 
Therefore, if human diet consisted of carefully structured meals 
that were eaten over a number of years, we can compare this infor- 
mation among individuals afforded a particular type of burial to 
see if they were repeatedly eating or not eating certain foods in life. 
Any differenc es may have been due to participatio n or exclusion in 
certain meals/events or if food was distribut ed in a highly forma- 
lised fashion to groups with strict rules governing sharing. For 
the isotope analysis, we sampled 286 humans and 254 animals 
to reconstruct diet of the individual adult inhabitants. Specifically, 
we address two questions : firstly, whether individuals that were 
afforded secondary burial treatment in the public building in the 
middle sub-phases of occupation had similar diets or not to those 
buried (and left) as primary inhumations beneath houses in the 
preceding and following sub-phases. Mass burial in a public build- 
ing would have been a more public affair, so if diets that differed 
according to burial practice did so independen tly of changes in re- 
source availabili ty over time, this would suggest that burial prac- 
tices changes were accompanied by diet changes in order to 
reinforce social identity and further promote cohesion. Conversely, 
differential access to resource s amongst people buried in the same 
way could have fuelled social conflict that already existed from 
uncertainty about food security and pressure from population 
expansion. A second question is whether the diet was similar for 
all individuals during the sub-phases when primary burial was 
used, or if the diet varied accordin g to sex (thereby confirming
observations of dental pathologies), rather than an inherited or 
achieved status. Such a distinctio n would provide an early indica- 
tion of social different iation in terms of food consump tion and sup- 
port evidence from occupationa l pathology seen at other sites that 
early Neolithic communi ties regularly differentiate d between 
groups in life. 
Background to the Pre Pottery Neolithic and burial practices 

The Pre Pottery Neolithic was a period of extensive transforma- 
tion; environmental condition s fluctuated, a number of plants and 
animals were domesticated, communi ties expanded in size and 
density, and the number of settlements increased (Kuijt, 2000; 
Özdoğan, 1997 ). As part of this change, mobile hunter–gatherer
groups built more permane nt structures where they tended to live 
year round transforming themselves into more sedentary villagers. 
It seems likely that such transformation s caused changes in access 
to, and encroachment of, territorie s and put pressure on a range of 
resources, which contributed to social tension (Akkermans and 
Schwartz, 2003 ).
At the same time the explosion of ritual and florescence of sym- 
bolism is witnessed, which has been argued repeatedly as a coun- 
ter-measure to reduce social tension caused by the new ways of 
living. The peak expression of symbolic and ritual behaviou rs oc- 
curs during the PPN and it has been argued that the range of sec- 
ondary burial practices become common as early Neolithic 
societies used body part removal to mask social inequalit y through 
the emphasis of shared worldviews, that is effectively smoothing 
over social relations that caused tension amongst inhabitants 
(Hodder, 1982; Kuijt, 1996, 2008; Verhoeve n, 2002 ). Burial prac- 
tices of the PPN typically involved the removal of body parts, mul- 
tiple burial of disarticulate d individuals and differential (and
varied) treatment of the skull in particular, which some scholars 
have suggested is evidence of skull cults linked to ancestor worship 
(Arensburg and Hershkov itz, 1989; Bienert, 1991; de Contenson, 
1971) and more recently headhunting (Testart, 2008 ). These prac- 
tices are found frequently across the Levant at sites such as Jericho 
(Kurth and Rohrer-Er tl, 1981 ), ‘Ain Ghazal (Rollefson, 1986 ), Kfar 
Hahoresh (Goring-M orris, 2000 ) and Nahal Hemar (Bar-Yosef and 
Alon, 1988 ) to name a few. Some aspects of these practices, with 
the exception of cranial modification, are also found beyond the 
Levantin e corridor (and beyond the PPNB) in Turkey at sites such 
Çatalhöyük (Hodder, 2004 ), Boncuklu Höyük (Baird, forthcoming; 
Pearson, forthcoming ), Çayönü Tepesi (Özdoğan, 1999 ), Domuz- 
tepe (Carter et al., 2003 ), Kös�k Höyük (Özbek, 2009; Silistreli, 
1988), and in Syria at Abu Hureyra (Moore and Molleson, 2000 )
Bouqras (Meiklejohn et al., 1992 ) and Jerf al Ahmar (Stordeur
et al., 2000 ). Practices at these sites most frequently involve cranial 
removal and the burial of isolated skulls. Plastered skulls are only 
rarely encountered .

Discussion of the question of social complexity or differentia- 
tion and recognition of group identities amongst the presumed 
egalitarian communities of the Neolithic has focused mainly on rit- 
ual behaviours (such as secondary burial practices and other ritual 
deposits) (Goring-M orris, 2000; Kuijt, 2000 ) and also household s
through consideration of architecture (Byrd, 2000 ). Using burial 
practices as a method of identifying social differentiation is prob- 
lematic in the absence of informat ion about the living status of 
the individual because, as mentioned earlier, ritual and symbolic 
behaviou rs rarely represent faithful replications of everyday life 
(Hodder, 1982 ; and discussion by Fletcher et al. (2008)) and are 
used to re-establish social harmony by inverting social distinctions 
in life (or by providing opportun ities for this to occur).

Physical anthropology can be a useful complemen t to ap- 
proaches develope d from material culture and such studies have 
been used to good effect in the Neolithic Near East, even if they 
have not always been considered alongside existing debates of rit- 
ual, burial practice or household organisation. Pilloud and Larsen 
(2011) studied the relationships between individuals buried at sev- 
eral central Anatolian sites to address biological versus social- 
based kinship, Molleson (1994, 2005) and Eshed et al. (2004) have
shown evidence of division of labour by modifications of individual 
skeletons through various tasks and practices pointing to differen- 
tial allocation of food production and preparati on tasks (Eshed
et al., 2004; Molleson , 1994; Molleson et al., 2005 ) as predicted 
by Rosenberg and Redding (2000) and Byrd (2000). So far, the only 
approach that has provided evidence of how food resource s were 
shared, once the production and preparation had taken place, is 
palaeodieta ry reconstru ction through stable carbon and nitrogen 
isotope analysis (Lösch et al., 2006; Pearson, in press; Richards 
et al., 2003 ). For this reason we focus here on stable isotope anal- 
ysis because, like occupationa l pathology, it provides a window 
into individual and group identities but crucially goes one step fur- 
ther by providing direct evidence beyond preparati on and produc- 
tion of food, to how food is shared over the long term. As stable 
isotope measurements are carried out on individual skeletons, 



Table 1
Sub-phase chronology at Çayönü Tepesi with absolute and relative dating based on 39 
radiocarbon dates (after Erim-Özdoğan, 2007 ).

Sub-phase Absolute dating (bp) Levantine period 

Round Building 10,200–9400 PPNA 
Grill Building (Early) 9400–9200 PPNA 
Grill Building (Late) 9200–9100? Early PPNB 
Channelled Building 9100–9000 Early PPNB 
Cobble-Paved Building 9000–8600? Middle PPNB 
Cell Plan Building 8600–8300 Late PPNB 
Large Room Building 8200–8000? PPNC 

182 J. Pearson et al. / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (2013) 180–189
some can be singled out from others and grouped together accord- 
ing to biologica l or archaeological characterist ics (i.e. sex or burial 
practice) (e.g. Barrett and Richards, 2004; Bentley et al., 2007 ).

Çayönü Tepesi 

Çayönü Tepesi is located on the Ergani plain in southeastern 
Turkey, approximat ely 40 km northwest of the modern city of 
Diyarbakır (Fig. 1). Halet Çambel and Robert Braidwood discovered 
the site during the 1963 Southeast Anatolia Survey and later exca- 
vated it with the aim of understa nding the transition from hunting 
and gathering to farming (Çambel and Braidwood, 1980 ). Sixteen 
seasons of excavation were conducte d between 1964 and 1991 
(the latest years were directed by Mehmet Özdoğan and Aslı Erim 
Özdoğan), which uncovered over 4500 m2 of archaeological depos- 
its spanning the early Neolithic to the Middle Ages (Özdoğan, 
1999). The site is perhaps best known for its Aceramic Neolithic 
deposits which date from the 9th millenniu m to the end of the 
7th millennium cal BC (Pre Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) to the final
Pre Pottery Neolithic B/PPNC in Levantin e terminology).

The sub-phases of Neolithic occupation at Çayönü Tepesi are 
characterise d by shifts in building layout over relatively short peri- 
ods of time. The six Aceramic Neolithic sub-phases are tabulated 
below (Table 1). Much of the architectur e within the sub-phases 
is domestic, although a number of public buildings and spaces 
are also associated with specific sub-phases (Özdoğan, 1999 ). The 
most notable of these is the Skull Building, so-called because of 
the large numbers of disarticulate d skulls and limb bones of both 
sexes and juveniles found buried there (Özbek, 1988a ). This struc- 
ture seems to have been long lived, witnessing numerous episodes 
of rebuilding, and where as many as 400 individua ls were interred 
throughout its use. During the first phase of use (BM1), which is 
contemporar y with the Round and Grill building sub-phases, 
approximat ely 120 secondary burials have been recovered (Özdo-
ğan and Özdoğan, 1998 ). At the same time approximately 65 buri- 
als were deposited beneath contempor ary domestic houses of the 
Round and Grill plan sub-phases . Most of the human deposits 
(n = 280) found in the Skull Building were interred during the later 
BM2, which is phase contemporary with the middle sub-phases of 
occupation (Channelled and Cobble-Paved sub-phases) (Özdoğan 
and Özdoğan, 1998 ) and correlate s approximat ely with the 
early–middle PPNB (Özdoğan, 1999 ). Primary burials were very 
rarely encountered in the Skull Building, numbering only one or 
two (Özdoğan, 1999 ). Secondary burial beneath contemporary 
Fig. 1. Relative proportion of taxa by sub-phase at Çayönü Tepesi according to 
%NISP (after Hongo et al., 2009 ).
houses was significantly less (c. 30) and are represented only by 
small fragments of teeth or skull. The substanti al nature of the 
building and the extensive deposits of human remains suggest it 
was an important structure for the inhabitants at Çayönü Tepesi. 
This public building was used to bury the dead as secondary inhu- 
mations until the onset of the Cell Plan sub-phase, when the inhab- 
itants returned to burying their dead as primary inhumations 
beneath the floors of their houses (n = 135). Secondary inhuma- 
tions were rarely encountered beneath houses. 

The scale of secondary burial and the decision to bury individ- 
uals away from the house at Çayönü Tepesi is unique in the Near 
East. The reasons why these activities were performed on such a
scale in a public building has been little discussed and a full consid- 
eration of this is difficult to discuss here. We use the data pre- 
sented here to address the arguments of scholars such as 
Rollefson (2000) and Goring-Morris (2000) that secondary burial 
practices were afforded to individuals with particular socio-pol iti- 
cal status but whose in life status is otherwise difficult to establish. 
This then allows us to contribute towards the debates of scholars 
such as Kuijt (1996, 2000), Verhoeve n (2002) that secondary burial 
activities were in some ways linked to attempts to mask social 
inequalit y attributed to greater pressure on communitie s caused 
by rapidly changing economic, technologic al social and political 
regimes.
Faunal and botanical evidence at Çayönü Tepesi 

During the Neolithic the local vegetation surroundi ng Çayönü
Tepesi comprised woodland/for est steppe with little access to 
aquatic resources. The inhabitants, many of whom probably occu- 
pied the site throughout the year, exploited wild (and possibly cul- 
tivated) pulses and nuts (almond, terebinth, pistachio), peas, lentil 
and bitter vetch rather than cereals, which, where present, are rep- 
resented by wheat (Triticum spp.) predominantly (van Zeist and de 
Roller, 1992 ). The ratio of pulses to cereals varies throughout the 
occupation. Until the end of the Channelled sub-phase the cereal:- 
pulse ratio was 1:3, cereals decrease in importance with the onset 
of the cobble-p aved sub-phase (1:10) and increase again in the Cell 
Plan sub-phase (1:6).

The faunal remains are dominate d by pigs (and wild boar) fol- 
lowed by caprines (mostly sheep), cattle and red deer. The faunal 
remains have been studied extensively and generally indicate that 
the Çayönü people exploited some domestic animals, exploited 
animals in the process of domestication and continued to hunt 
the same species in the wild (Ervynck et al., 2001; Hongo et al., 
2002; Hongo et al., 2009; Hongo and Meadow , 2000; _Ilgezdi,
2000; Öksüz, 2000 ). There is some variation in the species 
exploited as shown by the Number of Identified Specimens (NISP)
percentages (Fig. 1). Fig. 1 shows that the importance of Sus ini-
tially increases, after the Round building sub-phases, but then de- 
clines over time , caprines gradually increase in importance , cattle 
decrease in importance between the Round and Channelled sub- 
phase and then increase again in the Cobble-Pave d and Cell Plan 



J. Pearson et al. / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (2013) 180–189 183
sub-phases. The decrease in cattle exploitation seems to have been 
mitigated by a corresponding increase in red deer exploitation 
(Hongo et al., 2009 ), which are included in the ‘Other’ category. 
Other wild taxa in this category include gazelle, which remain a
constant component of the assemblage in the early sub-phases 
and gradually decline in number after the Channelled building 
sub-phase.
Human diet and health at Çayönü Tepesi 

Detailed reports of the health of the inhabitants buried beneath 
houses in single inhumations are presently confined to the denti- 
tion. The Skull Building individuals are currently being studied 
and these data are not yet available (A. Özdoğan, pers. comm.). Pre- 
liminary observations by Özbek (1988b, 1995) indicate that the 
inhabitants display the following pathological condition s: cribra 
orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis (both blood disorders often associ- 
ated with iron deficiency), osteoarthritis and osteomy elitis (an
infective disorder of bone). Examination of the oral health revealed 
that less than 5% of the examined permane nt teeth revealed a car- 
ious lesion. Linear enamel hypoplas ias were found at a rate of 4% in 
permanent teeth and 3% in deciduous teeth. However , ante-mor- 
tem tooth loss was found at a rate of 28% and dental wear patterns 
indicate heavy attrition, consistent with grit introduced into the 
diet from food processing technology, or foods that were already 
coarse and abrasive, even amongst young adults (15–20 years)
and therefore the overall rate of lesions may have been higher in 
life. Dental abscesses were found in 63% of cases and correlated 
with heavy dental wear that exposed the pulp cavity on remaining 
teeth. Instances of periodontiti s (gum disease) seemed to correlate 
with sex since 67% of males presented this pathology compared 
with 33% of females (Özbek, 1995 ). This suggests a sex division 
concerning consumption of cereals by males rather than females, 
who were assumed to have consumed more of the less cariogeni c
legumes that dominate the archaeobotani cal record at the site. In- 
fant mortality was high at birth, as was childhood mortality in the 
3–4 year age group. Extended exclusive breastfeeding practices 
may have played a role in childhoo d deaths (Pearson et al., 2010 ).
Isotope analysis and diet reconstructi on 

Isotope analysis of body minerals (apatite) provides dietary 
information that reflects whole diet (proteins, fats, and carbohy- 
drates), whereas measureme nts of bone protein (collagen) reflect
just the protein consumed . Each isotope also provides different 
information about the diet: nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios 
can be measured in collagen to ascertain the source of dietary pro- 
tein (plant versus animal) and hence position in the food chain. 
Studies of bone apatite for whole diet measure carbon isotopes of- 
ten alongside oxygen isotope ratios since body minerals contain 
very little nitrogen. Each method therefore provides a complemen -
tary view of diet. For this study we focus here on carbon and nitro- 
gen isotope analysis of bone collagen, but acknowled ge that a
useful follow up study would be the analysis of bone apatite to 
measure whole diet. 

The phrase ‘You are what you eat’ reflects the basic principles 
behind stable isotope ratios as palaeodieta ry indicators because 
they are assimilated in the body through the food chain (DeNiro
and Epstein, 1978, 1981 ). Since bone collagen is an archive of die- 
tary protein over at least 10 years in an adult, isotope analysis is a
particularly useful source of information about dietary variations 
because any difference detected amongst stable isotope ratios laid 
down in bone collagen is the result of food repeated ly eaten on a
regular, perhaps daily basis, rather than one-off meals on special 
occasions such as feasts (Pearson, in press ). Given the highly struc- 
tured nature of food consumption that would have to occur to pro- 
duce distinctiv e patternin g between groups at the same site, few 
sites have been able yet to demonstrat e differences between sexes 
or burial practices in the Neolithic Near East (e.g. Lösch et al., 2006; 
Richards et al., 2003 ).

Sources of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in the food chain 

Nitrogen enters at the base of the food chain through plants, as 
either adsorbed nitrogenous compounds in soil (practised by most 
plants) or fixed directly from atmospheric nitrogen through symbi- 
otic bacteria (a method used most notably by legumes) and is 
incorporate d into bone with a fixed enrichment factor of �4‰

(per mil.) known as the ’trophic level effect’ (Ambrose and Norr, 
1993; DeNiro and Epstein, 1981; Hedges and Reynard, 2007 ). Since 
this enrichme nt factor is more or less constant in the bone collagen 
between the different positions in a food web, the nitrogen isotope 
value of individuals can be used to understand the relationshi p be- 
tween consumers in the food chain (DeNiro and Epstein, 1981 ). As 
a very general rule, within a single population, the higher the nitro- 
gen isotope value (d15N) the higher up in the food chain a member 
is likely to be and the more meat they probably ate. 

Carbon also enters the food chain through plants during photo- 
synthesis and is assimilated into the body of the consumer. Varia- 
tions in plant stable carbon isotope ratios are mainly influenced by 
their physiology (O’Leary 1981). C3 plants typically measure be- 
tween �34‰ and �22‰ whereas C4 plants range from �20‰ to
�7‰. Although some overlap does occur between CAM and C4, it 
is still possible to distingui sh between plants following C3 versus
C4/CAM pathways. Carbon is also used further up the food chain 
to distinguish between terrestria l and marine resource s. Freshwa- 
ter aquatic resources are more difficult to distinguish in the food 
chain than marine aquatic ones. Freshwater fish and birds are 
rarely measured in other Neolithic Anatolia sites. At Boncuklu 
Höyük (Central Anatolia) these resources ranged from �22.6‰ to
�19.7‰ (2.9‰ range) and 7.8 ‰ to 12.7 ‰ (4.8‰ range) in nitrogen 
for fish and �23.1‰ to �17.2‰ (5.9‰ range) in carbon and 5.2 ‰
to 11.1 ‰ (5.9‰ range) in nitrogen for aquatic birds (Pearson, forth- 
coming). The rarity of freshwater resource s on the site indicates 
that such foods are unlikely to have made a sustained contribution 
to human diet (Hongo et al., 2009 ). The carbon enrichme nt factor 
between plants and a consumer bone is 5‰ and just 1‰ between
herbivore and carnivore bone (DeNiro and Epstein, 1978 ). A review 
of the archaeobotani cal data at Çayönü Tepesi has shown no evi- 
dence for the physical presence of C4 or CAM plants (see Table 1, 
Hongo et al., 2009 ), although they cannot be completely dis- 
counted on this basis because animals may have fed on their 
leaves, which would leave no physical trace in the archaeobotani- 
cal record. 

Environm ental variation in carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios 

The d13C ratios of terrestrial higher plants have been shown to 
vary considerably (e.g. Glagoleva and Chulanovskaya, 1992; Hea- 
ton, 1999; Tieszen, 1991; Tieszen and Fagre, 1993 ). Plants respond 
to the relative availability of water (water-use efficiency) during 
photosyn thesis by limiting water lost as vapour during photosyn -
thesis in warm condition s. How they respond affects the carbon 
isotope ratio of their tissues. Plants growing in areas of abundant 
water have low water-us e efficiency, and consequentl y more neg- 
ative carbon isotope ratios. Nutrient impoverishme nt (lack of 
nitrogen or phosphorus) and exposure to low temperatures for C3

photosyn thesis also result in more negative carbon isotope ratios 
(Tieszen, 1991 ). C3 plants occupying areas with low water avail- 
ability increase their water use efficiency, which causes their car- 
bon isotope ratios to be more positive (Araus et al., 1997, 2001; 



184 J. Pearson et al. / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (2013) 180–189
Stewart et al., 1995 ). Water deficits can be caused by low rainfall or 
higher temperature and can be mimicked by the presence of saline 
rather than fresh water. The range in carbon isotope ratios is much 
larger for aquatic systems (both freshwater and marine environ- 
ments) than terrestrial ones. Çayönü Tepesi is located approxi- 
mately 300 km from the nearest coast (Black Sea), which allows 
us to exclude any dietary contribution from marine resources. 
The site is, however , situated in the Tigris river valley close to a
tributary although there is no evidence of marshland in the imme- 
diate vicinity and little evidence for freshwater fish in the faunal 
remains (Hongo et al., 2009 ) suggesting that the impact of this 
aquatic system is likely to be small. 

Nitrogen also enters the food chain either as adsorbed nitroge- 
nous compound s in soil or fixed directly from nitrogen in the 
atmosphere . Nitrogen isotope signature s in a food web are addi- 
tionally influenced by a large number of environmental factors 
most of which can cause ratios to rise. In plants these include arid- 
ity (e.g. Ambrose, 1991; Cormie and Schwarcz, 1994; Gröcke et al., 
1997; Heaton, 1987; Schwarcz et al., 1999 ) and soil salinity (e.g.
van Groenigen and van Kessel, 2002 ; cf. Handley and Scrimgeour ,
1997; Robinson et al., 2000 ). More recently, Bogaard et al. (2007)
and Fraser et al. (2011) have suggested that manuring of crops 
introduces heavy nitrogen into the food chain resulting in higher 
ratios of manured-crop consumer s. Çayönü Tepesi shows no evi- 
dence for an intensive agricultural regime, so this potential source 
of input is not relevant. Animal physiology also plays a role in 
pushing up nitrogen isotope ratios in tissues. Minimising the 
amount of water lost in urine (which contains nitrogen-rich urea)
in warmer climates (for a discussion of this see Ambrose, 2000 ).
Ruminating animals (Caprines, cattle, deer and others) normally 
have higher nitrogen isotope ratios than non-ruminants (most
notably equids and pigs) (Cormie and Schwarcz , 1996; Macko 
et al., 1982; Sealy et al., 1987; Wattiaux and Reed, 1995 ). Similarly ,
nitrogen isotope ratios can be raised during starvatio n and protein 
deficient diets, which causes urea nitrogen salvaging by the body 
(e.g. Ambrose, 2000; Barboza et al., 1997; Fuller et al., 2005 ).

While there is ample information about the nitrogen isotope 
values of many archaeological animals across the globe, the diffi-
culty measuring proteins (rather than bulk tissue) of plants has 
meant that our knowledge of archaeological plant nitrogen isotope 
ratios is still very limited. Ecological studies of modern terrestrial 
plants report than most plants generally range in nitrogen between 
�6‰ and +5 ‰. However, effects of volatilisation, nitrification and 
denitrification in soils (Handley et al., 1999 ) have been known to 
produce plant tissues less than �10‰ and greater than 10 ‰ (Fin-
lay and Kendall, 2007 ). Higher ratios would normally be associated 
with wetland environments or anthropoge nic disturbance .
Methods

The human remains from Çayönü Tepesi are housed in the 
Department of Anthropolog y, Hacettepe University, Ankara. 
Destructive sampling of the Çayönü Tepesi human remains collec- 
tion was only permitted on ribs. No other elements such as skulls 
or long bones could be sampled. Age and sex determination s and 
details of the demogra phic profile have been reported previously 
(Özbek, 1988a,b, 1995 ). The sex of adults was assigned, where pos- 
sible, following Ferembach et al. (1980) while age stage was as- 
signed following Ubelaker (1989). A total of 540 bone samples 
were taken from Çayönü Tepesi consisting of 286 from human 
bone and 254 from animal bone covering the period of Aceramic 
Neolithic occupation. Samples were taken from caprines, cattle, 
cervids, equids, pigs and gazelle across the Aceramic phases from 
Round to Large Room (6 sub-phases ). Measuring samples across 
all sub-phases allows human diet to be reconstructed for each 
sub-phase, but also allows monitoring of fluctuations that may 
be associated with palaeoenvi ronmental change. We aimed to take 
10 samples of each species from each phase (a potential total num- 
ber of specimens of 360), however, samples were not always avail- 
able in such numbers from the rarer species. All human remains 
were sampled including the secondary/multi ple burials in the Skull 
Building, for which a specific methodology was adopted to exclude 
potential duplicate sampling (see below).

Collagen was extracted from approximately 300–500 mg of 
compact bone using a modified Longin method (1971) described
elsewher e (Pearson et al., 2007 ). Measurements were made at 
the Research Laboratory for Archaeol ogy and the History of Art, 
Oxford University, UK on a Europa Geo Gas Chromatograp hy Con- 
tinuous Flow–Isotope ratio monitoring mass spectromete r (GC–
CF–IRMS). All samples were measure d in duplicate machine runs 
and are reported drift-correc ted. All reported samples fell within 
the range for well-preserved collagen established by Ambrose
(1990). Both isotopes are reported relative to the AIR for nitrogen 
and vPDB for carbon. The error on measurements of both isotopes 
is ±0.1‰ (Pearson, 2004 ). A total of 121 (�22%) samples failed to 
yield sufficiently well preserved collagen, including all but four 
from the initial phases of the Skull Building use (BM1). Since the 
BM1 data is very small, these data are not discussed separately 
here. Samples from the human juveniles relating to weaning prac- 
tices are presented elsewhere (Pearson et al., 2010 ).

Since the deposits of human remains in the Skull Building are 
disarticu lated it is possible that samples taken may be multiple 
samples from the same individuals. Therefore, two sub-sampling 
methods were used (once the isotope measurements were known)
to detect samples most likely to be duplicates . These subsampl ing 
approach es allow for the assessment of any confounds or biasing 
effects created by inclusion of duplicates in the dataset, as well 
as providing more robust comparisons between the skeletal sam- 
ples from the domestic and Skull Building datasets. The first sub- 
sampling method involved using only the first sample from any 
given archaeological feature and discarding the others; at n = 47, 
this ‘F IRSTSAMPLES’ subsample is considerabl y smaller than the ‘A LL-

DATA’ sample at n = 108. Secondly, the ‘E UCLIDEAN’ subsample 
(n = 67) was created by first calculatin g pairwise Euclidean dis- 
tances between the individual samples in the FIRSTSAMPLES subsam-
ple when these were graphed as a bivariate plot of d13C‰ against
d15N‰. The distribution of these distances was then calculated 
and the value at the 50th percentile noted. Samples from each 
archaeologi cal feature in the ALLDATA sample that were separated 
by less than this value (=0.90068) were then excluded from the 
analysis. This subsamplin g method employs the rationale that, to 
be plausibly counted as belonging to different individuals, skeletal 
elements sampled from the same feature should be at least as dif- 
ferent as the median difference between skeletal elements sam- 
pled from different features (as the latter are known a priori to
represent different individuals).
Results of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis 

Firstly, we consider the general human diet from all phases to 
determine the average diet at the site (Fig. 2). The adults from all 
sub-phases vary in d13C from �20.1‰ to �18.4‰ (1.7‰ range)
and in d15N from 3.7 ‰ to 9.7 ‰ (6.0‰ range). These data show 
that all humans and animals had a C3-based terrestrial diet, 
which is based on the use of a specific Neolithic Anatolian C3

plant carbon isotope value of �23.0‰ (Pearson et al., 2007 ) rather 
than the lighter global average reported by others (e.g. O’Leary, 
1981). The nitrogen isotope ratios are relatively low amongst 
both humans and animals compared to sites such as Çatalhöyük
(Richards et al., 2003; Pearson, in press ) or As �ıklı Höyük (Pearson



Fig. 2. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data for all humans and fauna from all 
sub-phases at Çayönü Tepesi. Data are given as the mean and 1 sd (error bars).
Potential duplicated humans in the Skull Building not removed. 

J. Pearson et al. / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (2013) 180–189 185
et al., 2007, 2010 ) and are more similar to Nevalı Çori (Lösch
et al., 2006 ). The inhabitants were not intensively rearing animals 
or agricultu ral cereals so sources of isotope variation relating to 
agricultural and herding practices (which normally result in high- 
er than normal isotope ratios) described above are not relevant 
here.

The variation in human d15N is large (greater than one trophic 
level) suggesting a substantial difference between the amount of 
meat consumed by the inhabitants. The mean nitrogen isotope ra- 
tio of 6.8 ‰, and the similar (and often higher) nitrogen isotope ra- 
tios of caprines, cattle and gazelle suggests that protein from these 
animals made only a small contribution to the average diet and a
higher contribution to the few individua ls with isotope ratios 
much higher than this mean (the full range of human values is 
shown in Fig. 3). The mean nitrogen isotope ratios for pigs is 
5.8‰ suggesting that this resource was the most likely animal pro- 
tein consumed, although the 1‰ difference between the pig and 
human mean suggest that some people probably had very little 
animal protein in their diet from any species. Lösch et al. (2006)
also noted low nitrogen isotope ratios at Nevalı Çori, which is 
not far (c. 100 km southwe st) from Çayönü Tepesi. The range in hu- 
man nitrogen isotope ratios is almost twice the variation observed 
at other Neolithic Anatolian sites including Nevalı Çori (Lösch et al., 
2006) and recent work at Çatalhöyük (Pearson, in press ). Since 
Çatalhöyük is a later and much larger site and the animals there 
were hunted and herded in a range of locations (Pearson, in press; 
Pearson et al., 2007 ), the Çayönü Tepesi data suggest that the range 
of foods consumed or the geographical range of where the re- 
sources were collected by the Çayönü Tepesi inhabitants may have 
been extensive. 

Next, we compared the isotope ratios of individuals buried be- 
neath domestic houses in the Round, Grill, and Cell building sub- 
phases with those buried in the Skull Building (BM2) during the 
main sub-phases of use (equivalent to the Cobble-paved and Chan- 
nelled sub-phases). Results from Shapiro–Wilk tests demonst rated 
that not all sets and subsets of the Skull Building BM2 data were 
normally distribut ed; as such, nonparametric Mann–Whitney tests 
were used to test for significant differences between samples taken 
from within the Skull Building and those from single inhumations 
beneath the floors of domestic buildings. Tests were conducted 
using all the data from the Skull Building as well as using the 
two subsets as outlined above. The complete dataset from the 
domestic buildings was used in each test. Regardless of which Skull 
Building dataset was used, the values for both d15N and d13C were 
significantly different to those from domestic buildings indicating 
they consumed a different diet (Table 2 and Fig. 3).
Nitrogen isotope ratios by species and phase 

Plotting the mean nitrogen isotope data by species and phase re- 
veals some chronological trends (Fig. 4). Overall, the nitrogen iso- 
tope ratios show a gradual decrease from the Round to the Cell 
Plan sub-phase. Species of caprines and cattle show greater de- 
creases than pigs and other taxa. When all animal species are aver- 
aged and compare d with the nitrogen isotope ratios of humans over 
time (Fig. 5), the animals show a general decline in isotope ratios. 
This would appear to be related to environmental fluctuations
rather than the result of human interventi on since both domestic 
and known wild animals are affected. Since the human nitrogen iso- 
tope data shows an upturn in nitrogen isotope values and not the 
same downturn seen in the animals, this instead confirms the sug- 
gestion above that the individuals buried in the Skull Building dur- 
ing the Channelled and Cobble-paved sub-phase had a different diet 
than people buried under houses in the preceding Round and Grill 
plan sub-phases, and those in the later Cell Plan sub-phase. 

Human dietary reconstructio n by mortuary area 

The isotope ratios discussed above (Fig. 6) suggest that pigs 
(and wild boar) comprised the majority of the animal protein 
(when consumed) and caprines and cattle only made a small con- 
tribution to human diet, largely because a number of ruminan ts 
have higher nitrogen isotope ratios than humans. This suggests 
that foods with low nitrogen isotope ratios such as plants and 
some animals (perhaps small game such as hare) were important 
aspects of the diet of the inhabitants generally, and were the most 
important dietary sources for the individuals buried beneath 
houses in the Round, Grill and Cell Plan sub-phases who have the 
lowest nitrogen isotope ratios. The plants that are most likely 
implicate d here would be legumes which normally have nitrogen 
isotope ratios closer to 0‰ than grasses and chenopods because 
they fix atmosph eric nitrogen. In contrast, the higher nitrogen iso- 
tope ratios of the Skull Building individuals suggest the diet of peo- 
ple buried in this building included a contributi on of legumino us 
plants supplemented by more caprines, cattle and gazelle protein 
and cereals, or simply more meat from boar/pigs as well as more 
modest portions from the ruminants and cereals. 

Male and female diet in the Cell Plan sub-phase 

The Cell Plan sub-phase represents a relatively large population 
of skeletons where sex could be confidently identified (compared
with the Round and Grill Building sub-phases where there are only 
a few individuals). The mean carbon isotope ratios for males from 
the Cell Plan sub-phase were �19.5‰ and 6.4 ‰ for nitrogen. For 
females, the carbon ratios are identical at �19.5‰ but the nitrogen 
isotope ratio is lower at 6.0 ‰. These data were analysed using Stu- 
dent’s T-Test (p = 0.046, df = 31), which shows the differenc e is sta- 
tistically significant. These data suggest that males had access to 
either more pig/boar protein or to the resource s with higher nitro- 
gen isotope ratios (cattle, caprines and cereals) than females. These 
data suggest that the inhabitants at Çayönü Tepesi used food to dif- 
ferentiate between people within at least one sub-phase. Unfortu- 
nately, the lack of data on sex for the Skull Building individuals, 
and the low number of sexed adults from other sub-phases and 
house floors means that we cannot look to see if this mechanis m
of differentiation exists in other sub-phases or burial types at the 
site.

Discussion

These data represent some of the earliest stable isotope evi- 
dence for the use of food to underpin social differentiation and 



Fig. 3. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data for all humans from the domestic buildings sample plotted for comparison with the Skull Building human subsamples: (A)
ALLDATA, (B), FIRSTSAMPLES and, (C), EUCLIDEAN. The ALLDATA subsample contains all of the samples measured including possible duplicates. The FIRSTSAMPLES subsample contains only 
the first samples selected from a feature in the Skull Building. The EUCLIDEAN subsample was created by first calculating pairwise Euclidean distances between the individual 
samples in the First Samples subsample when these were graphed as a bivariate plot of carbon against nitrogen isotope ratios. The distribution of these distances was then 
calculated and the value at the 50th percentile noted. Crosses mark one standard deviation either side of the mean value for carbon and nitrogen; confidence ellipses for the 
means are plotted at 68% (solid lines) and 95% (dashed lines). (D and E) show the proportional frequencies of carbon and nitrogen measurements separately for the ALLDATA,
FIRSTSAMPLES, and EUCLIDEAN subsamples, demonstrating that subsampling does not appreciably affect either the location or the shape of the distribution of the measurements of 
either isotope. 

Table 2
Results of Mann–Whitney U tests for significant differ ences in human carbon and nitrog en isotope ratios betwe en the domestic 
building and Skull Building samples at Çayönü Tepesi. The Skull Building data is divided into three groups: ALLDATA subsample, which 
contains all of the samples measured including possible duplicates. FIR ST SAMPLES subsample, which contains only the first samples 
selected from a feature in the Skull Building, and EUCLIDE AN subsample, which was created by first calculating pairwise Euclidean 
distances between the individual samples in the First Samples subsamp le when these were graphed as a bivariate plot of carbon 
against nitrogen isotope ratios. The distribution of these distances was then calculated and the value at the 50th percentile noted. 

U Z p

d13C‰ ALLDATA 2419.5 �2.566 0.010 
FIR ST SAM PLES 2142.0 �2.369 0.018 
EUC LIDEAN 3773.0 �2.354 0.019 

d15N‰ ALLDATA 1015.0 �7.269 <0.001 
FIR ST SAM PLES 460.5 �5.889 <0.001 
EUC LIDEAN 2424.0 �6.466 <0.001 

186 J. Pearson et al. / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (2013) 180–189



Fig. 4. Mean nitrogen stable isotope data for individual taxa and humans by sub- 
phase at Çayönü Tepesi. 

Fig. 5. Mean animal (all taxa together) nitrogen isotope ratios plotted with mean 
human isotope ratios. The mean animal isotope ratio was calculated by incorpo- 
rating their contribution to diet as determined by %NISP rather than averaging the 
four taxon groups given in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data for all humans (separated according 
to burial at single inhumations beneath house floors and Secondary inhumation in 
the Skull Building) and fauna from all sub-phases at Çayönü Tepesi. Data are given 
as the mean and 1 sd (error bars). Potential duplicated humans in the Skull Building 
not removed. 

J. Pearson et al. / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (2013) 180–189 187
complexi ty in the Near East. We show that the inhabitants of 
Çayönü Tepesi changed their architecture and operated different 
burial practices in conjunction with other aspects of behaviour 
including food consumption practices suggesting these were so- 
cially-con stituted identities. Earlier evidence of the dental health 
at Çayönü Tepesi had already indicated sex distinctions in diet 
from the greater incidence of gum disease amongst males com- 
pared with females. This is supported by the isotope data for the 
Cell building sub-phase which suggests that males enjoyed more 
access to pig/boar protein and/or to more caprines, cattle and ga- 
zelle and protein from cereals compared to females. Unfortunate ly, 
the earlier levels could not be assessed so we cannot test if this was 
also true in other sub-phases of occupation. 

It would seem that the maintenanc e of distinct social identities 
amongst the living was so important that they had to be frequently 
(and perhaps daily) reinforced through food consumption. Meat 
and cereals (which would have been relatively novel at the site)
seemed to play a key role in these behaviours. Overall, we suggest 
that food consumptio n was part of the method used more regularly 
to alleviate social tension and mask social inequality alongside less 
frequent performances of feasting and burial of the dead. Since the 
Cell Plan sub-phase reveals evidence for sex differentiation in diet, 
a time when secondary burial practices were no longer the norm, 
our data would seem to suggest that differential access to food 
was not a cause of tension assuming that secondary burial was a
method to alleviate this. 

Returnin g to the hypothesis of Kuijt (2000) and others that sec- 
ondary burial practices was a mechanism that promoted social 
cohesion, these data suggest that the more inclusive practice of 
burial of Çayönü Tepesi dead in the public Skull Building was 
accompanied by a specific diet througho ut a significant period of 
adult life, which perhaps further served to reinforce social identity. 
Once the dead were buried exclusivel y beneath the houses in the 
Cell Plan sub-phase, a practice that would have been a much more 
private affair, sex-based food ways provide evidence of a different 
social behaviour that was more exclusive and points to early evi- 
dence of social complexity through social rules governing the dis- 
tribution of resources among groups. 
Conclusi on 

The early Neolithic in the Near East has been frequently associ- 
ated with some of the most compelling evidence for the beginnings 
of social complexi ty and ritual. However , the evidence typically 
used rarely seems to reflect everyday life. The role of more repeti- 
tive, everyday and normal activities and allocation of tasks and re- 
sources is much less studied. Through measurement of stable 
carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, which allows the long term diet 
of people to be determined on an individua l basis, we have shown 
how food resources were distributed at Çayönü Tepesi as a part of 
enduring and highly repetitive processes in life that mirrored sym- 
bolic social complexity of burial rituals in death. 
Acknowled gments 

This research formed part of the D.Phil. of J.P. undertaken at the 
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Uni- 
versity of Oxford and was funded under a Wellcom e Trust Prize 
Studentship in Bioarchaeology. We thank Aslı Erim Özdogan and 
Mehmet Özdogan for sampling permissions and the Turkish Minis- 
try of Culture for permission to export the samples. Thanks are also 
due to Eleni Asouti, Douglas Baird, Alexandra Fletcher and two 
anonymous referees whose comments have greatly improved this 
paper.



188 J. Pearson et al. / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (2013) 180–189
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	Food and social complexity at Çayönü Tepesi, southeastern Anatolia: Stable  isotope evidence of differentiation in diet according to burial practice and  sex in the early Neolithic
	Introduction
	Aims and objectives
	Background to the Pre Pottery Neolithic and burial practices
	Çayönü Tepesi
	Faunal and botanical evidence at Çayönü Tepesi
	Human diet and health at Çayönü Tepesi

	Isotope analysis and diet reconstruction
	Sources of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in the food chain
	Environmental variation in carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios

	Methods
	Results of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis
	Nitrogen isotope ratios by species and phase
	Human dietary reconstruction by mortuary area
	Male and female diet in the Cell Plan sub-phase

	Discussion
	Conclusion
	Acknowledgments
	References