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Eleven human skeletons were found in a 2m deep circular pit in an open area dating to 5389–5300 cal BC at Uğurlu/Gökçeada. The pit can be considered as a part of the pit tradition frequently seen in Thracian and Balkan prehistory. Its unique contents, however, are discussed in this paper in the scope of possible motivations. An ‘accompanied dead’ hypothesis is offered as the possible motivation of the case based on the contents and depositional details of bodies within the pit. This type of deposition was practiced throughout Europe starting from the early Neolithic through the Chalcolithic.

The discovery of a burial pit at Uğurlu on the Aegean island of Gökçeada, in which bodies were deposited one on top of another, raises questions about whether this apparently careless discarding of the dead was local burial custom or a ceremonial ritual.

The bioarchaeological record of human remains viewed in the context of ecology, subsistence, and living circumstances provides a fundamental source for documenting and interpreting the impact of plant and animal domestication in the late Pleistocene and early to middle Holocene. For Western Asia, Çatalhöyük (7100-5950 cal BC) in central Anatolia, presents a comprehensive and contextualized setting for interpreting living circumstances in this highly dynamic period of human history. This article provides an overview of the bioarchaeology of Çatalhöyük in order to characterize patterns of life conditions at the community level, addressing the question, What were the implications of domestication and agricultural intensification, increasing sedentism, and population growth for health and lifestyle in this early farming community? This study employs demography, biogeochemistry, biodistance analysis, biomechanics, growth and development, and paleopathology in order to identify and interpret spatial and temporal patterns of health and lifestyle under circumstances of rapid population growth and aggregation and changing patterns of acquiring food and other resources. The record suggests that the rapid growth in population size was fueled by increased fertility and birthrate. Although the household was likely the focus of economic activity, our analysis suggests that individuals interred in houses were not necessarily biologically related. Predictably, the community employed resource extraction practices involving increased mobility. Although oral and skeletal indicators suggest some evidence of compromised health (e.g. elevated subadult infection, dental caries), growth and development of juveniles and adult body size and stature indicate adjustments to local circumstances.