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Catal Huyuk. Neolithic Site on the Konya Plateau in Turkey By Susan Daly.
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Catal Huyuk Neolithic Site on the Konya Plateau in Turkey By Susan Daly
Catal Huyuk is the oldest and the largest Neolithic city found, so far. It dates to 8,000 years BCE and was occupied continuously for 376 generations. No specific reasons for its abandonment have been found but it may have just gotten too high for comfortable living on top of the mound.
The population of the eastern mound is estimated to have been up to 10,000 people but the average population is believed to have been between 5,000 and 8,000 people. Life expectancy was very short by modern standards, with males living to 34 and females living to around 28 years.
The Catal Huyuk site is believed to be haunted by local people. This may explain why no other people settled here after the original builders left the site. Local people farm around the base of the mound but had done no digging on the mound because of the belief that it was haunted by ghosts.
Catal Huyuk was occupied from 8,000 BCE for about 1600 years. During this period, the climate was very different than it is now. More rainfall meant that these people farmed extensively with productive fields located about 8 kilometers away from their homes. This required a lot of work to walk back and forth to farm.
This site was first discovered in 1958 and excavations started in 1961 led by James Mellaart. Mellaart was banned from Turkey in 1965 after some artifacts were found to be missing . The site remained closed until 1993 when Dr. Ian Hodder from University of Cambridge and Stanford University began a 25 year project.
Modern archaeology involves more than just digging. Under Dr. Hodder, many aspects of life at Catal Huyuk are examined as each layer of soil reveals pottery, animal tools and bones, shells, seeds, wall paintings, and food remnants. Many different experts contribute their expertise to interpret life in this Neolithic village.
Specialists in faunal analysis examine the remains of animals found here to see differences and similarities between the modern animals in this area and what lived and died here during its occupation. Domesticated animals did exist and that was a big change from nomadic life. This also helps us to understand what their diet was like.
During the period of 1961 -1965, James Mellaart excavated nearly 200 buildings using 6 or 7 archaeologists as supervisors but with all digging done by local laborers. He believed that these people worshipped a goddess figure since many female figurines were found here.
These buildings were accessed through a ladder from the roof, similar to the Pueblos found the American southwest. Each building was separate but built right next to the next building with no paths or streets. It is not clear if this was for defense or simply the way people preferred to live. The hole in the roof also let out the smoke from cooking fires.
Flotation involves sending a small amount of the sites soil through water to allow the dirt to float away while heavier objects in the soil are left in the bottom of the catch basin to be collected and later identified. This is another new technique to find more information from an archaeological site.
Obsidian is volcanic glass and would have been a trade good coming from nearby Cappodocia.There were 3 volcanoes whose eruptions approximately 1 million years ago produced the obsidian found at Catal. Obsidian is very sharp and requires a lot of work to make into knives and axe blades.
The “ Finds Room “ where artifacts wait to be logged in and examined.
In 1993, when Dr. Hodder was allowed to reopen this site, the Turkish government wanted to insure that no other objects would be missing so everything found is catalogued and carefully examined before being sent to Ankara. There is a Turkish official on the site at all times to make sure that nothing disappears again.
Finds which have been washed , air drying outside the Finds lab.
The dig season here is from mid June to late August, the hottest time of the year. There might be as many as 100- 120 archaeologists at work on different aspects of Neolithic life here in any season. The work is dirty and very hot since the average temperature here runs around 95-100 degrees daily.
To give visitors a better understanding of life here, a replica of a typical house has been built. This allows visitors to see how Neolithic people would have lived. Local children are invited every spring to come and learn about their history by spending a day here being an “ junior archaeologist". This should help the kids to value their own history and protect it.
The ladder is on a small platform and the oven and fire were placed close to the opening to allow the smoke to go out the hole in the roof. In the winter, these houses would have been very smoky, because a covering kept out the snow and cold but also kept in the smoke.
A local children’s program teaches kids about the site and they leave their hand prints when they finish.
Because Mellaart excavated so quickly, his scrap pile often contains objects his workers missed. The local children get to sort through some of this pile when they practice being an archaeologist.
This mural shows an auroch, like a modern bull with large horns.
A bull head mounted on the wall and another wall painting in the experimental house.
