Dating around 9,400 year old , Çatalhöyük in present - dayTurkeyis rest home to some of the earliest surviving buildings ever built by human hands .
The many archaeologic levels of Çatalhöyük indicate that human activity started around 7,400 BCE and was maintained for over 2,000 years , according toUNESCO .
The only known land site that ’s older than this ancient proto - metropolis settlement isGöbekli Tepe , which was build around 11,500 long time ago . Both of these sites are located in modern - day southern Turkey , although they were likely built by two very different cultures .
An artist’s impression of how Çatalhöyük might have looked in its heyday.Image credit: Javier Jaime/Shutterstock.com
This time full stop was a crucial chapter of the human tale when people transitioned from nomadic hunter - gatherer groups to install agriculture . archaeologist generally trust that the organisation and wealth of material want to work up this kind of settlement could only be achieved aftera society has get over farming .
“ Today we know that Çatalhöyük was not the earliest or the largest husbandry community in Anatolia and the Levant ; however , it was a major participant in the cultural and economic changes that swept across the Near East in the Neolithic Period . Its strategical location in Anatolia made it a foothold for the spread of the Neolithic manner of life to Europe and beyond , ” explainsUNESCO .
The website is described as a “ streetless resolution of houses cluster back to back with roof access into the construction . ” This stands in comparison toGöbekli Tepe , which is thought to have primarily help as a temple used for ceremonies .
The Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük was discovered at the site.Image credit: Nevit Dilmen/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
It ’s a vast settlement , compensate around 34 acres . Given this size , researchers believe it could have been home to a population of 3,000 to 8,000 people .
beast clear had considerable meaning in the urban center . Animal bones in the country suggest that animate being were reclaim here , primarily sheep and goats . Many of the walls are also cover in beautiful paintings that draw all form of painting flesh - eating wild beasts .
art of women are also common . One of the most impressive is the so - hollo Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük , a stunning bake - clay manakin of a nude female posing on a throne , which has two hand rest in the build of big cats . Scholars have previouslyinterpretedthe fig as a fertile Mother Goddess in the process of giving parentage , although others believe it depicts an elderly local char of high social status .
Çatalhöyük was first discovered in 1958 by a squad led by British archeologist James Mellaart . After becoming entangle in a number offorgery scandals , Mellaart was banned from Turkey and research at the site was put on crank until the 1990s .
Thanks to the riches of enquiry that ’s spread here , archaeologist have built up a pretty decorous picture of this magnificent place . Nevertheless , the ancient wall of this small town still burst with secret and machination .
