11 July 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

Remains of a 3,700-year-old domed oven were discovered in the ancient city of Troy

10 September 2022

10 September 2022

Remains of a 3,700-year-old domed oven were found in the ancient city of Troy, located in the Tevfikiye district of Çanakkale...

134 ancient settlements discovered north of Hadrian’s Wall

26 May 2022

26 May 2022

134 ancient settlements have been found during a survey of the region north of Hadrian’s Wall in the United Kingdom....

Ancient Balkan genomes trace the rise and fall of the Roman Empire’s frontier, reveal Slavic migrations to southeastern Europe

7 January 2024

7 January 2024

The genomic history of the Balkan Peninsula during the first millennium of the common era—a period marked by significant changes...

Genetic Analysis Reveals A Woman As The Highest-Ranking Individual In Copper Age Spain: ‘Ivory Lady’

6 July 2023

6 July 2023

According to a study published Thursday (July 6) in the journal Scientific Reports, the highest-status individual in ancient Copper Age...

Orkney dig reveals ruins of huge Neolithic tomb

21 October 2023

21 October 2023 1

A 5,000-year-old tomb was unearthed in Orkney, north-east Scotland. The discovery was announced by the Guardian, describing the tomb structure...

‘Bakery Prison’ found in Ancient Rome’s Pompeii

12 December 2023

12 December 2023

Archaeologists working on the ongoing excavations in Region IX, Insula 10, near the slopes of the ancient city of Pompeii,...

The earliest Buddha statues in China found in northwestern Shaanxi

10 December 2021

10 December 2021

The two copper-tin-lead alloy Buddha statues discovered in northwestern Shaanxi Province became the earliest Buddha statues of this kind unearthed...

Sacred Seduction: Kamasutra Feminism and the Legacy of Ancient Erotic Temples

8 April 2025

8 April 2025

For many, the Kamasutra is merely a name linked to condom brands and erotic chocolates, often dismissed as just a...

The latest discovery at the villa Civita Giuliana, north of Pompeii, the remains of a slave room

7 November 2021

7 November 2021

Ella IDE Pompeii archaeologists announced Saturday the discovery of the remnants of a “slave room” in an exceedingly unusual find...

Turkish researchers to work in Mount Ağrı believed to host Noah’s Ark remains

15 December 2022

15 December 2022

A team from Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ) and Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University (AİÇÜ) has started in the area where the...

Poland’s oldest copper axe discovered in the Lublin region

30 March 2024

30 March 2024

A copper axe from the 4th to 3rd millennium BC identified with the Trypillia culture was found in the Horodło...

Archaeologists have discovered a large-sized 4,000-Year-Old steppe pyramid of the Bronze Age in Kazakhstan

10 August 2023

10 August 2023

Archaeologists of L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University discovered a massive Bronze Age steppe pyramid associated with a horse cult...

A new study provides the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating to as early as 10,000 years ago

8 December 2022

8 December 2022

A new study of stone tools from southern China reveals the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating back 10,000 years....

Two Archaic Sculptures was Unearthed in Milas Euromos 2021 Excavations

2 July 2021

2 July 2021

Milas Euromos 2021 archaeological excavations continue. During the excavations of Milas Euromos 2021, archaeologists unearthed two archaic period statues (kuros)...

Traces of 9300-year-old settlement unearthed near Volcanic Cappadocia in central Turkey

28 August 2022

28 August 2022

During the most recent excavations at Sırçalıtepe Mound (Sırçalıtepe Höyük) in Türkiye’s central Niğde province, archaeologists discovered traces of a...