But yet this year we found two objects which upset established views and forced us to reconsider some of our unquestioned assumptions. It is amazing what a few small objects can do.Çatalhöyük Archive Report 2005, p. 1
One example of the new discoveries that have shaken our earlier assumptions is a beautifully made stamp seal (Figure 2), found in the fill of a Level V building in the South Area on the East mound. These stamps were probably used to stamp designs on skin or clothing. This example shows an animal with its front and hind legs raised upwards. Such figures have been known from Çatalhöyük for some time as plaster reliefs on the walls of houses. An example excavated by James Mellaart is shown in (Figure 3). These plaster reliefs have often been interpreted as ‘mother goddess’ figures. But the heads and hands of the plaster relief examples have always been cut off, so it was never possible to say whether the figures were humans or not. But now the stamp seal provides a key. Here the head and the hind paws remain. They clearly show that the figure is an animal, probably a bear. So it is probable that the reliefs with upraised arms and legs are not goddesses but bears. Depicting animals, such as leopards, in houses is common at Çatalhöyük, and so it is not surprising that we should find a bear. It has long been argued that some form of ‘mother goddess’ was central to the symbolism at Çatalhöyük, and these views were partly based on the interpretation of the reliefs with upraised arms as a woman. While it remains possible that the figures are ‘mother bears’ and representative of a female divinity, there is now little evidence that they are indeed women at all.Çatalhöyük Archive Report 2005, p. 1-2
Another important object this year that upset our long-held views was a clay figurine discovered by the Istanbul team in the burnt fill of a house (Figure 4). Immediately on finding the figurine we were all taken aback by its very strange and unusual imagery. The front of the figurine looks very much like the small, squat, so called ‘mother goddess’ figurines that are so well known (though rare) from Çatalhöyük. There are full breasts on which the hands rest, and the stomach is extended in the central part. There is a hole in the top for the head which is missing. As one turns the figurine around one notices that the arms are very thin, and then on the back of the figurine one sees a depiction of either a skeleton or the bones of a very thin and depleted human. The ribs and vertebrae are clear, as are the scapulae and the main pelvic bones. The figurine can be interpreted in a number of ways - as a woman turning into an ancestor, as a woman associated with death, or as death and life conjoined. It is possible that the lines around the body represent wrapping rather than ribs. Whatever the specific interpretation, this is a unique piece that may force us to change our views of the nature of Çatalhöyük society and imagery. Perhaps the importance of female imagery was related to some special role of the female in relation to death as much as to the roles of mother and nurturer.Çatalhöyük Archive Report 2005, p. 2
We have previously argued against associating figurine practices with narratives and ideas of the Mother Goddess given the lack of evidence for this in the current excavations. However, we have also argued that the Çatahöyük figurine-making addresses a range of concerns and some of these may have included more ritualized practices. While we would not argue that figurines primarily functioned in a magical or sacred capacity, it is likely that they articulated a form of ritualized practice at the level of habitual or even daily life of inhabitants at the site.Çatalhöyük Archive Report 2012, p. 191
