28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

8,500-year-old marble statuette found in Çatalhöyük

In the 29th season of the excavations in Çatalhöyük, one of the first urbanization models in Anatolia, in the Çumra district of Konya, located in the middle of Turkey, an 8,500-year-old marble statuette was found.

A 5 cm tall prismatic figurine with an indeterminate gender and a leaning back human shape thrilled the excavation team at the 9,000-year-old Neolithic City of Çatalhöyük, where the female figure usually stands out.

Head of Excavation, Anadolu University Faculty Member Assoc. Dr. Ali Umut Türkcan told Anadolu Agency that they closed the second season with important findings such as the new neighborhood and street unearthed in the summer, during the excavations carried out under his leadership.

8,500-year-old marble statuette found in Çatalhöyük
Photo: AA

Latest explaining that the most recent excavations in 2016 found marble female statuettes in the southern mound, Türkcan said:

“This year, we opened a large area called ‘North Terrace’. During the excavations carried out in this area, a marble human statuette was found at the foot of a plastered wall while excavating parts of ‘Place 66’, which is filled with rubble and has burn marks at the base, which was also used as a warehouse. The find was found placed next to an obsidian arrowhead and a lump of lime that we don’t fully understand. Like other similar finds, we can say that it is an example that repeats the way it was found with a votive obsidian tool in abandoned and buried structures.”

Türkcan emphasized that this marble statuette is a piece that is rarely seen.

Photo: AA

“This example of ours is reminiscent of figurines identified as male, leaning back slightly and reminiscent of figurines thought to be on an animal, similar to those found in excavations in the past. When Çatalhöyük is mentioned, it is thought that there is always a female representation and a center associated with female fertility.”

“The shaping elements of the head of our marble figurine, which is this year’s find, are slightly different from those found in classical Çatalhöyük. It is seen that his head is elongated and is depicted with a triangular head in the extension of his body. Very fine processing details seem on the figurine, even the chisel marks on the neck.”

Türkcan added that Çatalhöyük is always open to big surprises.

Çatalhöyük ancient city
Çatalhöyük ancient city.

Çatalhöyük

Çatalhöyük is 10 kilometres east of Konya’s Çumra Township. The tumulus is a hill with two flat areas with different altitudes. Because of these two elevations, it is called “çatal,” meaning fork.

Çatalhöyük was first discovered by J. Mellaart in 1958. There were a number of excavations here in 1961-1963 and 1965. The studies made on the western slope of the hill revealed 13 layers. The earliest settlement in the first layer dates back to 5500 B.C. This dating done by examination of style was also proved using the Carbon 14 dating method. The first settlement was a center that sheds light on the history of humanity with the first house architecture and remains of the first sacred structures.

Related Articles

Archaeologists are deciphering Roman history along Dere Street, one of the oldest roadways in Britain

17 July 2021

17 July 2021

Final archaeological finds uncovered as part of a major road improvement in the north of England have shed new insight...

Sicily: Archaeologists make striking discovery in Segesta

8 June 2021

8 June 2021

Archaeological excavations in the Segesta Archaeological Park, investigating a “monumental edifice” near the portico at the end of the old...

Hidden 13th-century carving of ‘face of Christ’ discovered in Ballymore, Ireland

12 May 2022

12 May 2022

At Ballymore, in the county of Westmeath, Ireland, sunlight led to an interesting and special discovery. The sunlight revealed that...

Google Earth Helped Archaeologists Make İmportant Discoveries in Leicestershire

26 April 2021

26 April 2021

After Google Earth revealed traces of underground structures, archaeologists digging at a Roman settlement in Leicestershire say they have made...

Research Uncovers the Parthenon’s Spectacular Lighting Effects for Athena in Antiquity

9 May 2025

9 May 2025

A four-year multidisciplinary study led by Oxford University Archaeologist Professor Juan de Lara has shed new light on a millennia-old...

No Ancient Super-Highway: The Reality of Europe’s Erdstall and the Scotland-Türkiye Tunnel

28 April 2025

28 April 2025

The internet continues to buzz with the captivating notion of an immense, prehistoric tunnel network stretching from the Scottish Highlands,...

Iron Age Warriors Bend the Swords of Their Defeated Enemies

22 April 2021

22 April 2021

Archaeologists from the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL) announced that a metal detector has discovered “one of the largest Iron Age...

The latest excavations in the ancient city of Dülük will shed light on the history of different religions

11 October 2021

11 October 2021

It is thought that the ancient city of Dülük, one of the 25 oldest settlements in the world, will shed...

8000-year-old unique “fish-figure” small home tool found in Turkey

20 October 2021

20 October 2021

During this year’s excavations in the Yeşilova and Yassıtepe mounds in İzmir, a unique “fish-figure” small home tool was found....

Deadly 7.7 quakes hit Turkey destroys historical Gaziantep Castle

6 February 2023

6 February 2023

A deadly 7.7 magnitude earthquake that rocked the southern province of Kahramanmaraş, with tremors felt in the neighboring provinces, has...

7,000 years ago the earliest evidence for the cultivation of a fruit tree came from the Jordan valley

17 June 2022

17 June 2022

Tel Aviv University and Jerusalem’s Hebrew University researchers have unraveled the earliest evidence for the domestication of a fruit tree....

An Etruscan Home Discovered in Corsica “First-Of-Its-Kind Find for the Island”

11 July 2024

11 July 2024

Archaeologists have discovered the first Etruscan domestic structure, dating to the 6th to 4th centuries BC, off the east coast...

The ruins found in Nara could be the Imperial House of Female Emperor Koken

1 July 2021

1 July 2021

Archaeologists unearthed one of the largest building remains ever found at the former site of the Heijokyu palace in the...

Underground Tunnels Discovered in Cusco, Reviving Inca Legends

31 January 2025

31 January 2025

Underground tunnels, long rumored in local legends, have been discovered beneath Cusco, Peru, the former capital of the Inca Empire....

Rare Anglo-Saxon Gold and Garnet Artifacts Discovered in Wiltshire

12 May 2025

12 May 2025

A breathtaking discovery in the southwestern English county of Wiltshire has captivated archaeologists and metal detecting enthusiasts alike. Two detectorists,...