Çatalhöyük

Türkiye · Konya

SettlementExcavation ongoingUNESCO · 2012
Approximate period7,400 BCE — 5,200 BCENeolithic–Chalcolithic See on the map ↓

In brief

The East Mound contains Neolithic settlement layers, while the West Mound contains Chalcolithic layers. Adjoining houses entered through the roof, with no streets between them, are the settlement's distinctive feature.

What was found?

  • 1Adjoining houses entered through the roof

    Houses built against one another, with entrances in their roofs, form a settlement layout without streets. They show how a densely populated community shared space.

  • 2Wall paintings

    Paintings found in the Neolithic settlement layers document visual expression within buildings. They help us understand the artistic and symbolic aspects of settled life.

  • 3Reliefs

    Reliefs found in the buildings show that wall surfaces were also arranged with three-dimensional depictions. They are tangible examples of symbolic practices at the settlement.

  • 4Figurines

    The small figures recovered during excavations are among the settlement's portable representational objects. They allow us to examine people's visual world; they should not be interpreted as definitive evidence of a single belief.

What does it point to?

Çatalhöyük allows us to examine together the homes, shared spatial arrangements and symbolic expressions of people adapting to settled life. Paintings, reliefs and figurines show that everyday living environments were intertwined with visual production.

What did it teach us?

  1. Documented a dense settlement layout that functioned through roof connections without streets.
  2. Provided important evidence for examining the transition from settled villages to larger settlement communities.
  3. Showed changes in cultural practices over more than 2,000 years of settlement at the same location.

Images

James Mellaart excavating a mural in Çatalhöyük.
Omar hoftun · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations Çatalhöyük Leopard reliefs bottom in 2019 02
Dosseman · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Çatalhöyük Ana Tanrıça Figürini soldan görünüm
Firatlal · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
CatalHoyukSouthArea
CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Videos

Latest news / selected archive

Analyses announced in 2024 identified organic remains found during the 2021 excavations as leavened bread dating to approximately 6600 BC.

Record

Culture
Central Anatolian Neolithic and Chalcolithic communities
First modern dig
1961
Team / historical
Ali Umut Türkcan / Anadolu University
Coordinates
37.6667°, 32.8281°

Sources

  1. whc.unesco.org
  2. catalhoyuk.com
  3. haberturk.com

Nearby excavations


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12.000

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