Podcast
Questions and Answers
Which of the following is NOT considered a traditional requirement of a proto-city?
Which of the following is NOT considered a traditional requirement of a proto-city?
- Monuments
- Shared communal spaces (correct)
- Hierarchical structure
- Writing
Çatalhöyük displays clear signs of social hierarchy through visible architectural differences.
Çatalhöyük displays clear signs of social hierarchy through visible architectural differences.
False (B)
What major societal transformation occurred at Çatalhöyük during the abandonment process?
What major societal transformation occurred at Çatalhöyük during the abandonment process?
Population dispersal across Konya Plain
The architecture in the East Mound of Çatalhöyük is characterized by __________ house sizes and shared walls.
The architecture in the East Mound of Çatalhöyük is characterized by __________ house sizes and shared walls.
Match the following phases of daily life evolution with their characteristics:
Match the following phases of daily life evolution with their characteristics:
What type of site is Çatalhöyük classified as?
What type of site is Çatalhöyük classified as?
Çatalhöyük had extensive public buildings such as temples and palaces.
Çatalhöyük had extensive public buildings such as temples and palaces.
What materials were primarily used to build houses in Çatalhöyük?
What materials were primarily used to build houses in Çatalhöyük?
Çatalhöyük was inhabited from __________ BC to __________ BC.
Çatalhöyük was inhabited from __________ BC to __________ BC.
Match the following excavation milestones with their respective years:
Match the following excavation milestones with their respective years:
Which of the following features was NOT typical of Çatalhöyük?
Which of the following features was NOT typical of Çatalhöyük?
Burials in Çatalhöyük were commonly conducted above the house floors.
Burials in Çatalhöyük were commonly conducted above the house floors.
Name one type of artifact found in Çatalhöyük's trash pits.
Name one type of artifact found in Çatalhöyük's trash pits.
The major climate shift affecting Çatalhöyük occurred around __________ BC.
The major climate shift affecting Çatalhöyük occurred around __________ BC.
What does the brown layer in the stratigraphy of house floors indicate?
What does the brown layer in the stratigraphy of house floors indicate?
Flashcards
Çatalhöyük's challenge
Çatalhöyük's challenge
Çatalhöyük, a proto-city, showed that dense populations could exist without typical markers of civilization like large monuments, writing, or strict social hierarchies.
Social Networks (Proto-City)
Social Networks (Proto-City)
In proto-cities like Çatalhöyük, social connections and shared rituals, rather than physical structures, were crucial to maintaining community and identity.
Hidden Inequalities (Çatalhöyük)
Hidden Inequalities (Çatalhöyük)
Although Çatalhöyük's houses might seem equal, evidence shows that social differences and status existed ,often tied to ritual knowledge or symbolic objects, rather than obvious wealth.
Proto-city Abandonment Process
Proto-city Abandonment Process
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Cities as Processes
Cities as Processes
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Çatalhöyük
Çatalhöyük
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Proto-city
Proto-city
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Egalitarian society
Egalitarian society
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Mudbrick houses
Mudbrick houses
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Rooftop streets
Rooftop streets
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Burials beneath floors
Burials beneath floors
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Trash pits
Trash pits
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Organized waste management
Organized waste management
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Physical continuity
Physical continuity
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Urban memory
Urban memory
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Study Notes
Çatalhöyük
- Turkish for "forked hill"
- Neolithic settlement in Anatolia (Turkey)
- Dates from 7500 BC to 5500 BC
- Built on alluvial, river-borne clay suitable for agriculture
- First city (or proto-city)
- Egalitarian society – no temples or palaces
- Follow "carnival parade of forms"
Çatalhöyük (page 2)
- Composed of domestic buildings
- No obvious public buildings (e.g., temples, palaces)
- Population ranged up to 10,000
- Mudbrick houses were closely packed together
- Accessed by holes in the ceilings (rooftops served as streets)
- No footpaths or streets between dwellings
Çatalhöyük (page 3)
- Human remains found in pits beneath floors
- Bodies were flexed and placed in baskets
- Disarticulated bones in some graves
- In some graves, heads were removed from skeletons and used in rituals
- Skulls were plastered and painted
- Women's graves contained spinning whorls, men's graves contained stone axes
Çatalhöyük (page 4)
- "Mega-site" – a large village
- No centralized planning
- Settling permanently was a new idea
- Key questions for neighbours:
- Where are you from? (permanent settlement)
- Who are your ancestors? (mobile people)
Timeline
- 7500 BC: East Mound settlement begins
- 6500 BC: Peak occupation ("crisis point")
- 6200 BC: Major climate shift (8.2kbp event)
- 6000 BC: West Mound settlement starts
- 5500 BC: Final abandonment as a residence
- Continued use as a cemetery through 1700s CE
Excavations
- 1958: Mellaart discovered Çatalhöyük
- 1961-1965: Mellaart's excavations uncovered the Neolithic settlement
- 1960s: Excavations stopped due to disputes over antiquities smuggling
- 1993: Ian Hodder of Stanford U resumed excavations
- 1993-2018: Hodder's focus: Daily life, social organization, religion
- 2018-present: Anadolu University (Turkey) continues research
Online Presence
- https://www.catalhoyuk.com/
- Video Montage: http://www.catalhoyuk.com/video/city
Stratigraphy in House Floors
- Brown layers: Maintenance (replastering, cleaning, ritual renewal)
- Black layers: Daily activities (cooking residue, food remains, household debris)
- Show regular maintenance cycles and how people cared for homes; length of house occupation
Trash Pits
- Abandoned houses became trash pits
- Spaces between buildings filled with refuse
- Artifacts/Ecofacts: Animal bones, broken pottery, tool fragments
- Food remains, construction debris, ash from hearths
- Shows organized waste management, community cooperation, and dietary patterns
- Houses "never died," continued use
The Evidence
- Well-preserved organic materials
- Activity patterns
- Economic information
- Environmental data
- Trash disposal was a communal issue requiring cooperation
- Shows how people adapted to dense urban living
- Important source for understanding daily life
- Broader themes: Urban organization, community cooperation, practical challenges of city life
Building Memory
- Physical Continuity: Houses rebuilt in same spots, floor plans maintained
- Ancestors Below: Dead buried under house floors, multiple generations stacked
- Living With History: Daily life conducted above ancestors, regular floor replastering preserved burial places
- Making Urban Identity: People lived on top of their history, built deep connections to place, established urban memory
History Houses
- Physical Characteristics: More burials under floors than other houses; richer symbolic decorations, bull heads on walls, elaborate wall paintings; longer sequences of rebuilding
- Social Function: Gathering places for extended families, centers for ritual activities, repositories of group memory, focal points for community identity.
City vs. Proto-City
- Traditional requirements: Monuments, writing, hierarchy
- Çatalhöyük challenges these definitions
- Dense population without traditional markers
- Social networks over physical structures
Social Structure
- Surface appearance of equality (similar house sizes)
- Hidden inequalities in symbolic objects
- Status through ritual knowledge vs. wealth
- West Mound: Visible social differences emerge, two-story houses mark growing inequality.
Abandonment Process
- Gradual exodus over centuries
- Population dispersal across Konya Plain
- Movement to new urban centers
- Maintained connection through burial practices
- Social transformation vs. collapse
- New communities emerge from old networks.
Legacy & Significance
- Early experiment in urban living
- Balance of equality vs. hierarchy
- Climate adaptation strategies
- Complex social networks
- Importance of portable identity markers
- Lessons for modern urban sustainability
Daily Life Evolution
- Early phase: Shared communal spaces
- Middle phase: Specialized craft production; increased trade networks
- Late phase: Changes in food storage practices, increasing mobility between settlements
Architecture & Space
- East Mound: Uniform house sizes, shared walls, roof access, burials beneath floors
- West Mound: Variable house sizes, courtyard spaces, ground-level access, no floor burials.
Cities as Living Systems
- Cities evolve rather than simply rise and fall, transformation continues
- Population movement represents adaptation; Social networks outlive physical structures
- Modern lessons about sustainability and change, cities as processes rather than fixed places, community survival through transformation.
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