Very Early Sky Burials?

John Hawks observes a new hypothesis about the death rituals of a very early Neolithic village, which are called "sky burial" where similar rituals are still practiced, for example, by Zoroastrians and Tibetan Buddhists, the first of which is a faith vital in historic times near the archaeological site in question. 

The archaeological site of Çatalhöyük, in present-day Turkey, is one of the most significant early Neolithic villages to have been excavated. It was occupied between around 7100 and 6000 BC, and at its height was occupied by more than 3500 people. An array of human skeletal remains have been found at the site. . . .  Marin Pilloud and coworkers in 2016 published a paper suggesting that the Çatalhöyük bodies were possibly defleshed by vultures. A brief excerpt from the conclusion gives the gist of their argument:

"The burial practices at Çatalhöyük (i.e., removal of cephalic extremity, limb removal, tight flexion) as observed in the archaeological record are often consistent with some manner of flesh removal prior to interment. It seems possible based on current forensic experimental work that the people of Çatalhöyük may have employed vulture excarnation prior to interment. Based on human studies, vultures are unlikely to leave marks on the bone that would be visible 9000 years later."

It’s an interesting concept. The paper goes into some of the symbolic meanings of vultures and the possibility that bodies were exposed on the roofs of residences for vultures to approach.