Çatalhöyük

7400 BCE – 5600 BCE

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)

Interest

W26KG40

NeolithicÇatalhöyük CultureKonya

Date Range

c. 7400–5600 BCE

Peak Population

3,500–8,000

UNESCO Status

World Heritage Site (2012)

Excavation Layers

18 occupation levels

“Çatalhöyük provides unparalleled insight into how people organized their lives in one of the earliest large communities.”

Wfrom_wikipedia

Çatalhöyük is a tell of a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to 5600 BC. It overlooks the Konya Plain, southeast of the present-day city of Konya in Turkey.

read_wikipedia →

overview

Çatalhöyük is a large Neolithic settlement mound in the Konya Plain of central Anatolia. The site consists of two mounds — the larger Eastern Mound, dating from approximately 7400 to 6200 BCE, and the smaller Western Mound, dating from approximately 6200 to 5600 BCE. At its peak, the settlement may have housed between 3,500 and 8,000 people, making it one of the largest known Neolithic communities. Houses were built directly against each other with no streets; access was through openings in the roof, with ladders leading down into living spaces. The site is renowned for its elaborate wall paintings, plaster reliefs, and figurines. Paintings depict hunting scenes, geometric patterns, and what may be landscape views. The famous "goddess figurine" found at the site is one of the most recognized artifacts of Neolithic Anatolia. Çatalhöyük was first excavated by James Mellaart from 1961 to 1965. A long-term research project led by Ian Hodder of Stanford University ran from 1993 to 2018, producing one of the most thoroughly documented Neolithic excavations in the world.

why_it_matters

Çatalhöyük provides unparalleled insight into how people organized their lives in one of the earliest large communities. The evidence suggests a remarkably egalitarian society with no obvious signs of social hierarchy, challenging assumptions about early urbanization. The site's wall paintings and material culture offer a rare window into Neolithic symbolic life, burial practices, and the relationship between daily life and ritual. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.

evidence

Distinguishing what is well-established from what remains debated.

confirmed

Houses were accessed from the roof, with no ground-level streets between them.
The dead were buried beneath the floors of houses.
Wall paintings depict hunting scenes, geometric patterns, and possibly landscape views.

inferred

The community appears to have been relatively egalitarian based on the similarity of houses and grave goods.

debated

Whether the famous figurine represents a "mother goddess" or has another meaning is debated.
A wall painting is sometimes interpreted as one of the earliest maps or landscape depictions, though this interpretation is contested.