20 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

World’s Oldest Settlement Plan Found in “Çatalhöyük”

With the beginning of the Holocene period, many lakes have dried up and have become suitable for settlement. It is one of the lake floors in the Konya Plain that dried up in the Holocene period. There have many mounds in this area. One of the most important of these mounds is Çatalhöyük, which is undoubtedly located within the borders of Çumra province.

It probably owes its name to the fork-like shape of the two hills. Although there are two mounds, east and west, excavations continue in the west mound. Its inhabitants moved to the western mound when the river changed direction in the early chalcolithic period.

Çatalhöyük was discovered in 1958 by James Mellaart. Since 1993, excavations have been continued by Ian Hodder, a student of Mellaart, and if nowadays excavations are carried out by Assoc. Dr. Çiler Çilingiroğlu continues.

Eastern mound, BC. Eighteen layers of Neolithic settlements dating from 7400 to 6200 have been found. Layers 12 and 8 are dated to the first phase of the Early Neolithic (6500 – 6000 BC). After 6 layers it belongs to the second phase of early Neolithic.

The Chalcolithic Age layers in the western mound are dated between 6200 and 5200 BC.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Çatalhöyük
Çatalhöyük

On the north and east walls of the building, a map that is thought to be the city plan of Çatalhöyük was unearthed during the 1963 excavations. This drawing, which is dated to 8200 years ago (age 6200 ± 97 BC as determined by radiocarbon dating method) is the first known map of the world. Approximately 3 meters long and 90 cm. has a height. It is still exhibited in Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum.

Çatalhöyük has its own characteristics. Conservation of art, symbolism, social structure, living of too many people, bull cult, the burial of people, skulls, ancestral cult and house shapes, an egalitarian lifestyle is seen.

Interestingly, although they know of pottery making, they did not show intensive use of up to 5 layers. This is just a preference of those who live there. Probably because they had developed in woodworking, they did not want to change their traditional structure.

The residences they use are intertwined. Since no traces of war and destruction were visible, this might mean that intimacy involves an intense bond of kinship relations. Houses were entered through roofs. Probably these roofs were used for socializing on hot days. It is thought that many jobs required for the home are here. These flat-roofed houses are now found in the South East.

Bull cult is widely seen in this mound.
Bull cult is widely seen in this mound.

The pictures made on the walls in the settlement, where the understanding of art is very developed, is remarkable. The depictions on the walls of the housing are hunting and dance scenes, human and animal paintings. Animal pictures are animals such as vulture, leopard, various birds, deer, and lions. In addition, there are also motifs that can be called rug motifs dating back to 8800 years ago and are associated with today’s Anatolian rug motifs.

Bull horns and heads should be important to those living here. Many houses have reliefs made by plastering real bull heads with clay on the walls. The figurine finds are cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, bulls, dogs and single cattle horns.

There are Neolithic settlements older than Çatalhöyük in the Middle East. For example, Eriha is a Neolithic settlement a thousand years older than Çatalhöyük. Still, Çatalhöyük has different characteristics from older or contemporary settlements. One of the main differences is its population, which reaches ten thousand people.

According to Hodder, Çatalhöyük is “a center that carries the concept of village beyond logical dimensions”.

It was decided by UNESCO to be included in the World Heritage List in 2012.

SOURCE: Çatalhöyük Research Project, Çatalhöyük 2008 Report

YAZAR, M., 2008 “Anadolu’da Neolitik Dönem Sanatı ve Merkezleri”, Gazi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Tarih Anabilim Dalı, Eskiçağ Tarihi Bilim Dalı Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Ankara

Related Articles

A 2,000-year-old whistle was found in a child’s grave in the ruins of Assos, Turkey

18 October 2022

18 October 2022

A terracotta whistle believed to be 2,000 years old from the Roman era and placed as a gift in a...

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...

1,500-year-old secret underground passage uncovered in Istanbul

15 May 2023

15 May 2023

During the ongoing excavations in the ruins of Saint Polyeuktos Church in Istanbul’s Saraçhane neighborhood, which was destroyed during the...

Archaeologists Uncover 4,800-Year-Old Bronze Age Tombs in Başur Höyük, Türkiye, Where Teenage Girls Were Ritually Sacrificed

30 March 2025

30 March 2025

As the first civilizations began to emerge in Mesopotamia and Anatolia, significant transformations in social structure, economy, and culture took...

In the ancient city of Syedra: a unique mosaic with the 12 labors of Heracles depicted on a single panel found

25 July 2022

25 July 2022

During the excavations in the ancient city of Syedra in the Alanya district of Antalya, approximately 164 square meters of...

3 Bronze Shields and Helmet of 2700 Years Old Belonging to Urartians Found in Ayanis Castle

8 September 2024

8 September 2024

Three bronze shields and a bronze helmet dedicated to Haldi, the chief god of the Urartians, were discovered during excavations...

During the demolition work, a 2,500-year-old bull heads alto relievo was discovered in Sinop

20 April 2022

20 April 2022

During the demolition work of the buildings in front of the historical city walls for the City Square National Garden...

A 1,600-year-old church has been discovered in Turkey’s ancient city of Priene

19 October 2021

19 October 2021

A 1,600-year-old historical church was unearthed during the excavations in the Ancient City of Priene, located in the western province...

First in Anatolian Archaeology, a 2,600-year-old Sacred Room and Stone Symbolizing the Goddess Kubaba Discovered at Oluz Höyük

29 November 2024

29 November 2024

Archaeologists have discovered a sacred room and stone from the Phrygian period, dating back 2,600 years, during excavations at the...

God Pan statue unearthed at Istanbul’s historical church of St. Polyeuctus

1 June 2023

1 June 2023

A Pan statue thought to belong to the Roman period was recovered during excavation works carried out by Istanbul Metropolitan...

A bronze tablet from 2000 years ago proves that Greek was spoken in Anatolia and that a multicultural life existed ‘Anisa tablet’

12 April 2024

12 April 2024

The Anisa bronze tablet proves that Greek was used in Anatolia 2000 years ago and that a multicultural life existed....

1300-year-old baby footprints found in excavations at the ancient city of Assos in western Turkey

3 September 2021

3 September 2021

1300 years ago, a baby stepped on baked bricks prepared to make a bread baking oven. The baby was probably...

Cave paintings discovered in western Turkey carry the region’s past back to prehistory

18 December 2021

18 December 2021

During the archaeological survey carried out in and around the ancient city of Alinda in Aydın province in western Turkey,...

Turkey’s second ancient lighthouse found in the Bathonea

28 July 2023

28 July 2023

The excavations in the ancient Greek city of Bathonea, located in the Küçükçekmece Lake basin in the Avcılar district of...

8,000-year-old Cave paintings found in Türkiye’s İnkaya Cave depict life and death

10 September 2023

10 September 2023

A number of cave paintings dating back some 8,000 years have been found in İnkaya cave in the Marmara province...