CATAL HUYUK

Catal Huyuk

Catal Huyuk

Introduction

The Neolithic period is undoubtedly one of the most imperative ears in history. It was a pivotal period in which farming, technology and human culture made very significant advances. There are many important settlements from this period, and one of the most significant is the site known as Catal Huyuk. Catal Huyuk, meaning “mound at the fork” in Turkish, is located in South Central Turkey, a region known by many as Anatolia. Catal Huyuk is now a large mound covering thirty-two acres and reaches sixty feet at its highest point. The people of Catal Huyuk built houses out of mud brick and would knock them down and rebuild over many years. This rebuilding would accumulate land higher and higher, thus the mound. The site's layers, representing each “city”, are numbered from the top, 0, to the bottom, X. The oldest level has been dated to about 6500 B.C. The mound was first excavated in 1958 by British archaeologist James Mellaart, and after over thirty years the excavations are being led by fellow Englishman Ian Hodder.

The Discovery of Catal Huyuk

The discoveries made by Mellaart and Hodder, as well as their interpretations, shed light on what the people of Catal Huyuk were like. The excavation of the site can tell us what they ate, how they lived, and what they may have believed. Religion is one of the most widely debated topics concerning the settlement and its inhabitants. Mellaart strongly believed that the people of Catal Huyuk had a distinct religion, and more specifically, that Catal Huyuk was a matriarchal society. The excavations led by Hodder decades later led him disagree with Mellaart's interpretation. The art found at the site, and interpreting what it meant, led the archaeologists to what they believe. It is very important in detail what the archaeologists found and what they thought. Only then is it possible to determine whether Catal Huyuk had distinct religion and whether it was a matriarchal society (Balter, 2004).

As Mellaart first set foot on the mound in 1958 he immediately noticed shards of pottery and obsidian. Mellaart saw the same pottery and obsidian at other Neolithic sites in Turkey he had worked on previously, and immediately deemed Catal Huyuk as Neolithic. In 1961 he assembled a team and the first excavations of Catal Huyuk were underway. It is very important to note that Mellaart excavated at a rigorous pace, uncovering nearly 200 buildings. Throughout the 4 seasons Mellaart excavated Catal Huyuk, he uncovered many artifacts. These artifacts range from plaster reliefs and wall paintings to sculpted figurines. While excavating the site Mellaart quickly made a distinction among the buildings of the settlement. Most of the buildings looked very similar in terms of layout and size, but Mellaart found many so called “shrines.” In order to be classified as a shrine, a building must have wall paintings of an elaborate nature that have religious significance, plaster reliefs depicting deity, and other artifacts. Mellaart also believe that there were greater shrines and lesser ...