Houses are rich resources for understanding prehistoric social structure. However, conventional working methods often handle houses as stable entities that reflect the nature of households and other social units. Social groups may be inadvertently rendered static in the process. A biographical understanding, in which the on-going transformation of built space is part of different kinds of human collaboration, allows us to explore the dynamic qualities of past communities. I examine detailed life-histories of four contemporary houses at Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, using the site's fine stratigraphy to interrogate how furnishings, elaborations and rhythms of burial varied through each building's use-life. These trace shifting practice and performance in relation to built space. Çatalhöyük buildings’ social roles changed dramatically over their lives. The spatial dynamics observed suggest that commensal groups were less stable and less bound to specific houses than in more conventional views of the site, and interacted in unpredictable ways with larger forms of social collaboration. Ultimately, this suggests a more dynamic approach to both houses and social units in the Near East and the archaeology of houses generally.

中文翻译：

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Çatalhöyük 的动态房屋和社区：史前社会结构的建筑传记方法

房屋是了解史前社会结构的丰富资源。然而，传统的工作方法通常将房屋作为反映家庭和其他社会单位性质的稳定实体来处理。在此过程中，社会团体可能会不经意间变得静止。一种传记式的理解，其中建筑空间的持续转变是不同类型的人类合作的一部分，使我们能够探索过去社区的动态品质。我研究了土耳其中部Çatalhöyük 的四座当代房屋的详细生活史，利用该地点的精细地层学来询问家具、精心制作和埋葬节奏如何随着每座建筑的使用寿命而变化。这些追踪与建筑空间相关的转变实践和表现。Çatalhöyük 建筑的社会角色在其生活中发生了巨大变化。观察到的空间动态表明，与更传统的场地视图相比，共生群体不太稳定，与特定房屋的绑定更少，并且以不可预测的方式与更大形式的社会合作相互作用。最终，这表明对近东的房屋和社会单位以及一般房屋考古采用一种更具活力的方法。