Çatalhöyük (also called Çatal Höyük and Çatal Hüyük) is a large mound formed by people living there for a long time. It is a Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement in southern Anatolia, built between about 7500 BC and 5600 BC, and it was most active around 7000 BC. It is located near the Konya Plain, southeast of the modern city of Konya (ancient Iconium) in Turkey, about 140 km (87 miles) from Mount Hasan, a twin-coned volcano. Çatalhöyük is known for its size, the way people seemed to have equal roles in society, and its importance as a well-preserved example of early permanent human settlements. In July 2012, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
Archaeology
The site of Çatalhöyük has two mounds separated by a dried-up path that was once part of the Çarşamba River.
In 1958, British archaeologist James Mellaart discovered the site during a study of the Konya Plain. He later led a team that dug at the site for four years, from 1961 to 1965. These digs showed that this area of Anatolia was an important center of early human culture during the Neolithic period. Excavations uncovered 18 layers of buildings, each showing different stages of the settlement and time periods. Some wall paintings and drawings of missing figurines, used in other books, are believed to have been made up by Mellaart.
Mellaart was banned from Turkey because of the Dorak affair, where he published drawings of Bronze Age artifacts that later disappeared. After this controversy, the site was not studied until 1993, when British archaeologist Ian Hodder, then at the University of Cambridge, led new excavations. Hodder’s work continued until 2018. The first two years focused on surface studies, with digging starting in 1995. Hodder, who had once studied under Mellaart, chose Çatalhöyük to test his theory about how archaeologists can understand the past. The project has used modern technology and involved the local community in its research.
At the Western Mound, where Mellaart had only dug two areas in 1961, Jonathan Last and Catriona Gibson worked in 1998. In 2006, two teams began digging at the West Mound: one led by Burçin Erdoğu and the other by Peter Biehl and Eva Rosenstock. Today, the site is studied by Ali Umut Türkcan from Anadolu University.
In August 2025, archaeologists led by Prof. Dr. Arkadiusz Marciniak from Poznań University found a building called the “House of the Dead” or “Spiritual House.” Inside, the remains of 20 people were placed under the floor, suggesting it was used for rituals. The discovery also included a large ceremonial building with painted walls and 14 platforms, as well as a smaller building covered in plaster.
From the Neolithic layers, archaeologists found textiles, which are rarely preserved in early sites. These were often found in burial areas, sometimes burned, and only in pieces. Many tools made of obsidian were found, including blades, flakes, spear tips, scrapers, daggers, and sickle blades. Neolithic skeletons were also uncovered, many buried inside walls or reburied later. Over 2,500 clay figurines, mostly of animals and 187 of humans, were found, many of which were only partially baked.
Culture
Çatalhöyük was made up only of homes and other living spaces, with no clear public buildings. Some larger rooms had decorated wall paintings, but the purpose of other rooms is still unknown.
Early estimates thought the population was between 5,000 and 7,000 people. However, newer studies using better ideas about how homes were spread out, along with information from archaeology and observations of how people lived, suggest that about 600 to 800 people lived at Çatalhöyük East during the Middle phase (6700–6500 BC). Genetic research from 2025 shows that families were organized with the mother’s family and passed down through the mother’s line.
The settlement had many homes built close together. People relied on neighbors for help, trade, and possible marriage for their children. Homes were made of mud bricks and built very close to each other, almost touching. There were no paths or streets between homes, which formed a maze that looked like a honeycomb. Most homes were entered through holes in the ceiling or doors on the sides, which were reached by ladders or stairs. The rooftops acted as streets. The ceiling openings were the only way smoke from fires and ovens could escape.
Inside the homes, walls and raised platforms were covered with smooth plaster. These were usually on the south wall, along with cooking areas. Main rooms had raised platforms that might have been used for daily tasks. Most homes had two rooms for daily activities, like cooking and making tools. All walls and platforms were plastered. Smaller rooms were used for storage and accessed through low openings.
All rooms were kept very clean. Archaeologists found little trash inside homes, but middens (waste piles) outside the ruins contained sewage, food waste, and large amounts of ash from burning wood, reeds, and animal waste. In good weather, daily activities might have happened on rooftops, which could have been a shared space. Later, large communal ovens were built on rooftops. Over time, homes were rebuilt on top of old ruins, forming the mound. Up to eighteen layers of homes have been found.
People buried their dead inside the village. Human remains were found under floors, near hearths, platforms, and beds. Early burials included close family members, but later burials had more unrelated people, showing changes in family structure over time. Bodies were tightly curled and often placed in baskets or wrapped in reed mats. Some graves had bones that were not connected, suggesting the bodies might have been left outside before being buried. In some cases, graves were disturbed, and the head was removed. These heads may have been used in rituals, as some were found elsewhere in the community. A woman’s grave had spinning tools, and a man’s grave had stone axes. Some skulls were painted with red and blue colors, a practice seen in other ancient sites. Male remains were painted with red, and female remains were painted with blue and green.
Bright paintings and statues are found throughout the settlement on walls inside and outside homes. Notably, clay statues of women, like the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük, were found in higher layers of the site. Although no temples have been found, graves, paintings, and statues suggest the people had a religion with many symbols. Rooms with many of these items may have been shrines or meeting places. Common images include men with large penises, hunting scenes, red pictures of extinct wild cattle and deer, and vultures attacking headless figures. Carved images on walls show lionesses facing each other.
Animal heads, especially from cattle, were placed on walls. A painting of the village with two mountain peaks in the background is often called the world’s oldest map and the first landscape painting. However, some experts disagree, suggesting it might instead show a leopard skin and a decorative pattern rather than a volcano or a map.
Religion
A feature of Çatalhöyük is its female figurines. Mellaart, the original excavator, believed these carefully made figurines, carved and shaped from materials such as marble, blue and brown limestone, schist, calcite, basalt, alabaster, and clay, represented a female deity. Although a male deity also existed, "statues of the female deity far outnumber those of the male deity, who does not appear to be represented at all after Level VI." To date, eighteen levels have been identified. These figurines were found mainly in areas Mellaart thought were shrines. A stately goddess seated on a throne, flanked by two lionesses, was found in a grain bin, which Mellaart suggested might have been a way to ensure a good harvest or protect the food supply.
Mellaart excavated nearly two hundred buildings over four seasons. In contrast, the current excavator, Ian Hodder, spent an entire season excavating just one building. Hodder and his team, in 2004 and 2005, began to believe that some patterns Mellaart described were incorrect. They found one figurine similar to the Mother Goddess style, but most did not match this style. Instead of a Mother Goddess culture, Hodder notes that the site shows little evidence of a matriarchy or patriarchy.
The figurines have full breasts on which the hands rest, and the stomach is extended in the center. There is a hole at the top where the head is missing. When turned around, the arms appear very thin, and on the back of the figurine, there is a depiction of either a skeleton or the bones of a very thin person. The ribs, vertebrae, scapulae, and main pelvic bones are clearly visible. This figurine can be interpreted in several ways, such as a woman turning into an ancestor, a woman connected to death, or a symbol of death and life together. The lines around the body might represent wrapping rather than ribs. Regardless of the interpretation, this is a unique piece that may change how people understand the society and imagery of Çatalhöyük. It is possible that the importance of female imagery was linked to a special role of women in relation to death, rather than their roles as mothers or nurturers.
In an article in the Turkish Daily News, Hodder denied that Çatalhöyük was a matriarchal society. He stated, "When we look at what they ate, drank, and their social status, we see that men and women had the same social status. There was a balance of power." Another example is the skulls found. If social status was important in Çatalhöyük, the body and head were separated after death. The number of female and male skulls found during excavations is nearly equal. In another article in the Hürriyet Daily News, Hodder is reported to have said, "We have learned that men and women were equally approached."
In a September 2009 report, Hodder described the discovery of around 2000 figurines. He noted that Çatalhöyük was excavated in the 1960s in a methodical way but without using all the scientific techniques available today. Sir James Mellaart, who excavated the site in the 1960s, proposed many ideas about how the site was organized and lived in. Since the mid-1990s, new excavations have led to different ideas about the site. One well-known idea is that Çatalhöyük is famous for the concept of the Mother Goddess. However, recent work has shown that there is little evidence of a Mother Goddess or a female-based matriarchy. This is one of many myths that modern scientific research has challenged.
Lynn Meskell explained that while the original excavations found only 200 figures, the new excavations uncovered 2000 figures. Most of these depicted animals, and fewer than 5% showed women.
Estonian folklorist Uku Masing suggested as early as 1976 that Çatalhöyük was likely a hunting and gathering religion, and the Mother Goddess figurine did not represent a female deity. He suggested that more time may have been needed to develop symbols for agricultural rituals. His theory was discussed in the paper "Some remarks on the mythology of the people of Çatal Hüyük."
Economy
Çatalhöyük has strong evidence of a society where people were treated equally. No houses with special features, such as those that might belong to royalty or religious leaders, have been found so far. Recent studies show little difference in social roles between men and women, as they received similar nutrition and seemed to have equal status, similar to earlier Paleolithic cultures. Children observed adults in homes and learned how to perform rituals and build or repair houses by watching adults make statues, beads, and other items. The layout of Çatalhöyük may reflect close family relationships. The site shows two groups of people living on opposite sides of the town, separated by a gully. Since no nearby towns were found, this separation likely marked two groups that married within their families. This could explain how the settlement grew so large.
Pottery and tools made from obsidian were important industries. Obsidian tools were likely used and traded for items like sea shells from the Mediterranean and flint from Syria. Historian Murray Bookchin noted the lack of hierarchy and economic inequality, suggesting Çatalhöyük was an early example of a system where resources were shared equally. However, a 2014 study argued the situation was more complex. While cooking tools and some stone tools were evenly distributed, items like quern-stones and storage units were not. People had personal items, but shared tools also existed. Some evidence suggests the society was becoming less equal, with wealth possibly passing from one generation to the next.
In the upper layers of the site, signs of farming and animal domestication appear. Early grains found in the Eastern Mound show the cultivation of different wheat species, which helped ensure food supplies even if some crops failed. Female figurines were found in storage bins holding cereals like wheat and barley, possibly representing a deity who protected the grain. Peas, almonds, pistachios, and fruit from nearby hills were also harvested. Bread and porridge were made, and dome ovens were used in early layers of the site.
Remains of cattle and sheep, along with evidence of pens and animal dung, suggest these animals were raised or managed. Protein found on pottery shows cow milk was consumed at the Western Mound. Hunting remained an important food source, including fish, birds, and small mammals like foxes and hares.
Museum
In 2023, a museum was opened on the site, built by the Konya municipality. In October 2024, a bookshop and cafe were added to the location. Non-Turkish visitors must pay five euros per person to enter. The museum has many information kiosks that visitors can use, with some offering information in English and Turkish. Detailed information about all discoveries is available in eight rooms, including an underground reconstruction of a typical home used by people 90 centuries ago.