Çatalhöyük: Neolithic Settlement

Around 7500 BCE, a Neolithic settlement emerged on the Konya Plain in central Anatolia. Çatalhöyük residents built densely packed mud-brick houses without streets, accessing homes through rooftops and ceiling openings. Archaeological evidence suggests an egalitarian society with similar-sized houses and no apparent wealth inequality. The site contained wall paintings depicting hunting scenes and geometric patterns, female and animal figurines, obsidian tools, and textiles. Residents practiced agriculture, animal husbandry, and hunting, burying their dead beneath house floors. Eighteen successive settlement layers document approximately 2,000 years of continuous occupation until abandonment around 5600 BCE.