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| This is an artist’s impression of Çatalhöyük. Image credit: Dan Lewandowski. |
Rising from the Anatolian plains of modern-day Turkey, Çatalhöyük stands as one of the earliest known examples of a settled, urban community — a proto-city that challenges our modern assumptions of how early humans lived, built, worshipped, and governed. Dating back to around 7500 BCE and flourishing for nearly 2,000 years, Çatalhöyük was a dense, sprawling settlement with no roads, no palaces, and no temples — yet it boasted a complex culture that rivaled even later civilizations in depth and sophistication.
This article explores the birth, life, and enduring mystery of Çatalhöyük, one of the crown jewels of Neolithic archaeology, and a silent witness to humanity’s earliest experiments with community living, symbolic art, and shared belief systems.
The Neolithic Revolution in Anatolia
Çatalhöyük emerged during a transformative time known as the Neolithic Revolution — when human societies transitioned from mobile foraging to settled agriculture. Located on the Konya Plain in south-central Anatolia, the site offered fertile lands near a river and wetlands, ideal for early farming and animal domestication.
Founded around 7500 BCE, Çatalhöyük quickly expanded into one of the largest and most advanced Neolithic sites in the world. At its height, it may have supported a population of 5,000 to 8,000 people — a staggering number for its time.
The site was first excavated by British archaeologist James Mellaart in the 1960s and later extensively studied by Ian Hodder and his team from the 1990s onward, revealing an intricate and tightly packed settlement that defied conventional urban design.
A City Without Streets
Unlike modern cities that develop along roads and alleys, Çatalhöyük had no streets at all. Instead, its inhabitants built mudbrick homes directly next to one another like a honeycomb. Entry into homes was from the rooftops — ladders and trapdoors led inside, where multi-roomed houses were equipped with ovens, platforms for sleeping, and elaborately decorated walls.
The rooftops doubled as pathways and public spaces, creating a uniquely vertical and communal lifestyle. This unusual urban design may have served defensive purposes and also reinforced a shared, egalitarian culture — no house stood out as a palace or temple; there was little evidence of centralized authority or social hierarchy.
Each household seemed largely autonomous, yet functioned within a highly cooperative community. This layout also reveals an early form of architectural sophistication and urban planning that predates Mesopotamian cities by millennia.
Art, Ritual, and Symbolism in Daily Life
Çatalhöyük was more than a physical settlement — it was a center of symbolic life. Nearly every excavated house contains rich artwork: murals depicting vultures, bulls, humans, geometric patterns, and even what some interpret as the first map in history.
Many homes also held shrines and ritual spaces, suggesting spirituality was deeply embedded in everyday life. Plastered skulls, figurines of seated female figures (often called “Mother Goddess” icons), and symbolic horns of wild cattle (auroch) were found within domestic contexts, blurring the lines between sacred and secular.
One of the most striking murals shows a dramatic volcanic eruption — believed to depict nearby Mount Hasan. If true, it may be one of the oldest visual records of a natural disaster. These artistic expressions point to a rich symbolic culture where memory, myth, and ritual were central.
Death Beneath the Floor
In Çatalhöyük, the dead lived among the living — quite literally. Bodies were buried beneath the floors of homes, often in a crouched position, wrapped in cloth or reed mats. Some houses contained multiple burials, suggesting a strong lineage or ancestral connection to the home.
Occasionally, skulls were removed post-burial, possibly for ritual use or ancestor veneration. This practice mirrored traditions in other Neolithic cultures, such as Jericho, indicating a broader spiritual framework in the region.
These intimate burials show a deep connection between the living and the dead, home and memory — a society where family, identity, and space were intertwined.
Social Structure Without a State
One of Çatalhöyük’s most puzzling aspects is its apparent lack of centralized power or class hierarchy. No large administrative buildings, palatial residences, or temples have been discovered. Instead, houses were roughly uniform in size and design.
This has led many scholars to propose that Çatalhöyük was an egalitarian society — a rare example of a complex community without rulers. Decisions may have been made collectively or through household-based consensus. Shared rituals, cooperation in construction and food production, and mutual respect for the dead may have formed the backbone of its social cohesion.
Still, some evidence points to subtle social differentiation over time, especially in the distribution of symbolic objects and burial goods, suggesting that inequalities may have gradually emerged as the settlement grew more complex.
Agriculture, Economy, and Environment
The people of Çatalhöyük were early farmers and herders, cultivating wheat, barley, peas, and lentils, and domesticating sheep and goats. However, hunting remained important — animal bones from wild deer, boar, and birds show that foraging remained part of their diet.
Obsidian — a volcanic glass — was one of Çatalhöyük’s most valuable commodities. The site is near one of the richest obsidian sources in the region, and tools and blades made from this material were widely traded, possibly reaching as far as the Levant and Mesopotamia.
Environmental studies suggest that overexploitation of land and deforestation may have contributed to Çatalhöyük’s decline. By 5700 BCE, the city was gradually abandoned, possibly due to ecological stress or a shift in regional trade networks and settlement patterns.
Legacy of a Proto-City
Çatalhöyük holds a unique place in human history — a city before cities, a society before states. It was a social experiment on a grand scale, one that challenges how we define civilization. Its egalitarian layout, art-infused homes, and integration of the spiritual and material worlds mark it as a cradle of human cultural evolution.
Today, Çatalhöyük is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and ongoing excavations continue to refine our understanding of early urban life. More than just a prehistoric settlement, Çatalhöyük is a mirror reflecting the timeless human pursuit of community, creativity, and meaning.
As archaeologists brush away the dust of millennia, they uncover not just ruins, but the roots of humanity’s deepest values — cooperation, memory, belief, and belonging.
References
- Hodder, I. (2006). The Leopard’s Tale: Revealing the Mysteries of Çatalhöyük. Thames & Hudson.
- Mellaart, J. (1967). Çatal Hüyük: A Neolithic Town in Anatolia. McGraw-Hill.
- Hodder, I. (Editor). (2014). Religion at Work in a Neolithic Society: Vital Matters. Cambridge University Press.
- Hamilton, N. R., Whitehouse, R., & Wright, R. P. (2007). Archaeology and Women: Ancient and Modern Issues. Left Coast Press.
- Hodder, I. (2012). Entangled: An Archaeology of the Relationships between Humans and Things. Wiley-Blackwell.
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre. (n.d.). “Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük.” Retrieved from https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1405/
- British Institute at Ankara. (n.d.). “Çatalhöyük Research Project.” Retrieved from https://www.catalhoyuk.com
- Bar-Yosef, O. & Meadow, R. H. (1995). "The Origins of Agriculture in the Near East." Current Anthropology, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 1–34.
- Balter, M. (2005). The Goddess and the Bull: Çatalhöyük – An Archaeological Journey to the Dawn of Civilization. Free Press.
- Banning, E. B. (2000). The Archaeology of Ancient Jordan. Equinox Publishing.