ABSTRACT
Louise and Rissa would explain what they had found that season and this chapter focuses on their latest thinking about which species were domesticated and which were wild. Since domesticated animals tend to be markedly smaller than their wild counterparts, it could mean that both domestic and wild cattle were being consumed at atalhyk, at least in the early days of the settlement. At atalhyk, where both sheep and goat were plentiful, Louise and Rissa often had no choice but to lump together some of their bones into a general category known as 'sheep/goat'. The relationship between humans and animals was important not only for understanding atalhyk's economy, but also for gaining insights into the religious and ideological beliefs of its people. While Ian Hodder and many other team members had their doubts about goddess worship, there was little questioning that the bull and cattle in general had an important symbolic significance to the Neolithic settlers.
