Crop Domestication and Gender j 5353 53
miles away from the settlement. The grain fields of Çatalhüyük would have been easy
pickings for wild ruminants, such as deer and aurochs. When such invasions occurred,
threatening the food supply of the settlement, the men immediately would have been
summoned from the village to drive the interlopers away. Perhaps they adorned them-
selves with leopard skins to instill fear in the formidable ruminants, as well as to access
the occult aspects of leopard power. Perhaps the men in these scenes are protecting agri-
cultural fields from the depredations of large, fierce herbivores.^49 If possible, the intruders
would have been killed and eaten for good measure. Thus, the agricultural fields might
have provided the added dividend of luring large ruminants near the settlement for kill-
ing. However, the original inspiration for the animal- baiting scenes may have had an agri-
cultural context.
If the preceding interpretation is correct, the men and women portrayed in these paint-
ings are actually united in a single purpose: protecting the crops. Alternatively, if the act
of driving large herbivores away from planted fields became enshrined in myth, the paint-
ings could depict reenactments of that myth. As a bonus, such festive occasions— lubricated
by the local brew— would have provided an opportunity for young men to showcase their
courage and athleticism before other members of the settlement.
Of course, an agricultural (economic) interpretation of the animal- baiting murals could
overlap with a spiritual dimension as well. As David Lewis- Williamson has pointed out,
what appears to be “economic behavior” cannot always be disentangled from “symbolic
behavior.”^50 In many societies, hunting wild animals, or in this case the possible harassment
of wild animals, is bound up with important symbolic and spiritual constructs. It is possible
that the people portrayed in the murals may be intent on acquiring the supernatural power
possessed by the animals they attack. In the stag mural, one of the figures appears to be seiz-
ing the tongue of the animal, while others grasp different parts of its body, perhaps access-
ing its supernatural power as well as gaining prestige for courage in the community. Thus,
the protection of fields and the acquisition of food represent only one aspect of meaning.
The acquisition of spiritual power and prestige serves the individual and the community on
another level.Embedded Seeds
The identification of a female harvester in the stag- baiting scene just described is
highly speculative, so we must ask ourselves whether there are any other artworks at
Çatalhüyük that support the association of women and agriculture, or at least plants.
The small female figurine shown in Figure 3.11 appears to provide such evidence. Found
by Hodder’s group in a midden at the upper levels of the mound, the figurine contains
a seed embedded in its back. Based on its position and depth, the seed appears to have
been pressed into the soft clay intentionally, as if mimicking the act of planting a seed
in soil. However, this seed does not appear to have been derived from any of the known
cultivated crops, so the association of the figurine with agriculture is weakened.^51 Still,
a variety of wild plants were still being collected at Çatalhüyük for food and other pur-
poses, so the figurine does exemplify a strong connection between women and plants.
In this context, the implanted seed may symbolize generation, an attribute commonly
associated with women.