28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Holy vessels of Anatolia in the Neolithic Age

Although it means Neolithic Age – New stone age – the developments in the Neolithic Age are much more than innovations in stone tools. One of these developments is undoubtedly the innovations in holy vessels.

It is often difficult for archaeologists to define concepts such as holiness, religiosity, and the supernatural based on archaeological evidence, especially for prehistoric periods without writing. The dimensions of the relations of the early peoples with the “sacred” and the reflection of this relationship on material culture are highly controversial issues.

In addition, regarding the religious life of the Prehistoric peoples who lived thousands of years ago; symbolism, mythical system, spiritual life, relationship with the supernatural, cult system, ideological system, spiritual/otherworldly life, religious system, belief system, and ritualistic / ritual / ceremonial system, etc. We see that many definitions are used and there is no consensus on which of these terms is more appropriate to use.

However, if we meet across a highly developed and sophisticated understanding of art and symbolism, sanctuaries, status objects, burial traditions, and finds applied to material culture in the late Neolithic, then we can think that the existence, identities, life, death, and afterlife of these cultures, in a way, are we can think that they think about the entire universe and nature and that all these concepts and phenomena can be gathered under the concept of “religion”.

Çatalhöyük
It is possible to see the bull cult intensely in Çatalhöyük.

According to the famous historian of religions Mircea Eliade, almost every phenomenon in the life process of human beings (including birth and death) and in nature contains symbolic meanings and holiness.

Some scholars, such as Karen Vitelli and Avi Gopher, who researched the Neolithic pottery traditions of societies in the Near East and the Mediterranean, interpreted the first Neolithic clay pots in a symbolic and ceremonial context rather than in an “earthly and daily” meaning.

A vessel with bull depictions found in Western Çatalhöyük.
A vessel with bull depictions found in Western Çatalhöyük.

During the Neolithic period, two of the most important symbols for the peoples of the Near East were the human head and the bull’s head. The depiction of the human head seems to be related to the concept of “ancestral cult” that we have encountered since the earliest periods of the Aceramic Neolithic Age.

In Çatalhöyük, especially in the early periods, real bullheads are placed on the walls of almost every house or the bullheads we see in the form of molds after the middle layers and the horns placed on the benches turned into bull-headed handles on the pottery in the upper layers. Or it is reflected in very special vessels such as the “human and bull-faced vessel”.

A vessel with bull depictions found in Western Köşkhöyük, Nİğde.
A vessel with bull depictions found in Western Köşkhöyük, Nİğde.

The reflection of bull symbolism on ceramics can be observed in many other settlements dating to the Late Neolithic Period, after 6500 BC. For example, it is seen in Neolithic settlements approximately contemporary with each other, such as Höyücek, Bademağacı, Hacılar, Kuruçay, Ege Gübre, Ulucak, Hoca Çeşme, Köşkhöyük and Tepecik-Çiftlik.

The bull’s head is shown on the pottery with vertically perforated handles or by adding horns to the handles with relief decoration, or by direct paint decoration.

A vessel part with bull depictions found in Tepecik- Çiftlik.
A vessel part with bull depictions found in Tepecik- Çiftlik, Niğde.

Symbolism on movable objects should be showing ​a more individual and dogmatic religious understanding. Thus, a group of terracotta pots and pans among the ritualistic elements of daily life becomes understandable both formally and functionally.

In the researchs carried out on the pots found, it was understood that meat with bones was cooked in these pots. In the early stages of the settlement, the wild bull banquets held outside the home may have been replaced by domestic celebrations with meals prepared in special pots over time. It can be thought that the rituals in question were performed on certain days or every day, by certain social groups or by whole families. The vessel itself resembled a bull and was cooking bull meat in it – undoubtedly, mutton was also cooked.

A vessel part with bull depictions found in Çatalhöyük, Konya.
A vessel part with bull depictions found in Çatalhöyük, Konya.

It is possible to say that this situation has developed in a ceremonial context with the way of life and thinking that has changed over time. The fact that such pots were not found in every house and that they were few in number might make them a special item that not every house has, and may indicate their special use and meaning.

Although it is not wrong to think that these vessels are very special and have sacred meanings in every situation, it should not be forgotten that they contain an understanding of art.

It takes place in different cults in Anatolia in the Neolithic Age. However, only the cult of the bull is included in order to narrow down our article content.

Cover Photo: Çatalhöyük, the vessel symbolizing the bull and human head together, “facepot”.

Related Articles

New fortifications unearthed in Porsuk Mound excavations

11 August 2021

11 August 2021

In the excavations of Porsuk Mound, which is an important Hittite settlement and where traces of settlement remains can be...

Library Wars in the Old Age!

12 February 2021

12 February 2021

One of, the world’s oldest and largest library, the other was born 100 years later as a rival to it....

8000 years old fingerprint and ceramic production workshop found in İzmir Ulucak Mound

22 August 2022

22 August 2022

It was understood that the structure unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the 8850-year-old Ulucak Mound (Ulucak Höyük), the oldest...

Floor Mosaic of the Early Byzantine Period Unearthed in St Constantine and Helena Monastery Church in Ordu

12 August 2024

12 August 2024

Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism reported that an in-situ floor mosaic was found at the St Constantine...

Getting to Know Matar Kubilea

8 February 2021

8 February 2021

Hittite state’s, With its collapse in 1200-1190 BC, Anatolia entered a period of drift from holistic to dispersal. (The Hittite...

In southern Turkey, the remains of a Roman villa whose floor was decorated with geometrically patterned mosaics were unearthed during construction

13 July 2022

13 July 2022

Workers working to lay the foundation of a new building in the Defne district of Hatay, southern Turkey, by accident...

The history of Kültepe Mound in central Turkey goes back another 300 years

12 December 2021

12 December 2021

In Kültepe, where the first written documents of Anatolia were unearthed, the date based on 5 thousand years was updated...

Excavations at Aizanoi in Western Turkey to Resume

29 March 2021

29 March 2021

The ancient city of Aizanoi is located in the town of Çavdarhisar, 57 km from the center of Kütahya (Turkey’s...

Meaning of Agora Gate Found in Turkey’s Ancient City of Aizanoi

8 June 2021

8 June 2021

The good news continues to come from the ancient city of Aizanoi, located in Çavdarhisar district, 50 km from Kütahya....

2500 Years of Animal Love in Termessos Ancient City

8 February 2021

8 February 2021

We are witnessing more and more of the unscrupulousness, cruelty and torture inflicted on our animal friends every day.These news...

Three-room Urartian tomb with liquid offering area (libation) found in eastern Turkey

18 January 2023

18 January 2023

A three-room Urartian tomb with a rock-cut libation (liquid offering area) to offer gifts to the gods was unearthed in...

An Urartian fortress was discovered at an altitude of 3,300 meters in eastern Turkey

2 July 2022

2 July 2022

In the Gürpınar district of Van, located in eastern Turkey, a fortress ruin, which is considered to be used by...

A 3200-year-old trepanned skull discovered in eastern Turkey’s Van province

12 November 2022

12 November 2022

A 3200-year-old trepanned skull was discovered in eastern Turkey’s Van province. In the prehistoric era, Anatolia served as a transitional...

Shocking Images Appeared As The Waters Recede

8 February 2021

8 February 2021

As the dams recede, the remains of the flooded settlements come to light. This time Kayseri witnessed these images that...

2000-year-old passage found after Latrina at Smyrna Theater

28 January 2022

28 January 2022

Archaeologists discovered a 2,000-year-old passage that was 26 meters long and constructed in an “L” form in the theater part...