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Çatalhöyük (English: Chatalhoyuk; , cha-tal-HOO-yuhk; Turkish pronunciation: ; also Çatal Höyük and Çatal Hüyük; from Turkish çatal "fork" + höyük "tumulus") is a tell (a mounded accretion resulting from long-term human settlement) of a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from around 7500 BC to 5600 BC and flourished around 7000 BC. Çatalhöyük overlooks the Konya Plain, southeast of the present-day city of Konya (ancient Iconium) in Turkey, around 140 km (87 mi) from the twin-coned volcano of Mount Hasan.

It is notable for its large size, apparent egalitarian social structure, and value as a well-preserved example of early Neolithic-era permanent human settlements. In July 2012, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The site of Çatalhöyük consists of two mounds separated by an extinct channel of the Çarşamba River. Its initial occupation in the Neolithic period resulted in a thick layer of remains whose extent is uncertain due to overlying later remains. Abandoned after the Neolithic, aside from a few stray Bronze Age graves, it was later occupied in the Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods. A fort was built there in the Roman period, and a number of Byzantine coins were found.

Çatalhöyük was composed entirely of domestic buildings with no obvious public buildings. However, more recent work using revised ideas of the distribution of residential buildings, and employing archaeological and ethnographic data exploring building use, suggests that between 600 and 800 people would have lived at Çatalhöyük East during an average year during the Middle phase (6700–6500 BC). As a part of ritual life, the people of Çatalhöyük buried their dead within the village. Distinctive clay figurines of women, notably the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük, have been found in the upper levels of the site. Although no identifiable temples have been found, the graves, murals, and figurines suggest that the people of Çatalhöyük had a religion rich in symbols.

A feature of Çatalhöyük are its female figurines. In an article in the Turkish Daily News, Hodder denied that Çatalhöyük was a matriarchal society, saying "When we look at what they eat and drink and at their social statues, we see that men and women had the same social status. If one's social status was of high importance in Çatalhöyük, the body and head were separated after death. Sir James Mellaart, who excavated the site in the 1960s, came up with all sorts of ideas about the way the site was organised and how it was lived in and so on ... One of the most obvious examples of that is that Çatalhöyük is perhaps best known for the idea of the mother goddess. Estonian folklorist Uku Masing has suggested as early as in 1976, that Çatalhöyük was probably a hunting and gathering religion and the Mother Goddess figurine did not represent a female deity.

Çatalhöyük has strong evidence of an egalitarian society, as no houses with distinctive features (belonging to royalty or religious hierarchy for example) have been found so far. Conversely, a 2014 paper argues that the picture of Çatalhöyük is more complex and that while there seemed to have been an egalitarian distribution of cooking tools and some stone tools, unbroken quern-stones and storage units were more unevenly distributed.

In the upper levels of the site, it becomes apparent that the people of Çatalhöyük were honing skills in agriculture and the domestication of animals. Remains of cattle and sheep are present at the site, and evidence of animal penning and dung remains indicates some degree of domestication or management of these animals.

Hodder, I. (2014). Çatalhöyük excavations: the 2000-2008 seasons. "'But some were more equal than others:' Exploring inequality at Neolithic Çatalhöyük". Çatalhöyük — Excavations of a Neolithic Anatolian Höyük

Quick Facts

• It is notable for its large size, apparent egalitarian social structure, and value as a well-preserved example of early Neolithic-era permanent human settlements.
• A feature of Çatalhöyük are its female figurines.
• Distinctive clay figurines of women, notably the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük, have been found in the upper levels of the site.
• Çatalhöyük — Excavations of a Neolithic Anatolian Höyük
• The site of Çatalhöyük consists of two mounds separated by an extinct channel of the Çarşamba River.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Çatalhöyük". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.