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8,500 years ago the spot that is now known as Catal Huyuk was a neolithic village of mud houses, packed solidly together. The doors were in the roofs, residents climbed down into a main room, with hearth, sleeping platforms and one or two antechambers. It resembled the "cities" of the Pueblo indians of the American southwest.
The village was on a plain, surrounded by a swampy area. The people engaged in foraging in this area, and they also kept sheep and cattle. A nearby volcano provided obsidian, and Catal Huyuk became a trading center for this valuable mineral.
Only Jericho is older (est. 9,000 bc) but never attained the population of Catal Huyuk, which had over 6,000 residents at its height. Eventually the site was abandoned, not by war nor natural disaster, but no one knows why.
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Today, Catal Huyuk is seen as a mound rising above a plain of wheat fields. There is an office and museum at the foot of the mound, also a small tent city to house the archaeologists working at the site. After a lecture in the museum by one of the archaeologists, we followed her up a path to see one of the houses they have been digging out. This "dig" is covered by a huge tent, to protect the newly unearthed wall from the weather, and to protect the workers, as well.
The earth is carefully scraped away from the wall, and tagged. Part of the wall had been originally painted red, and we can see the pigment still. There is a hearth and sleeping platforms.
Then we are led to another part of the mound, where James Mellart excavated in the early 1960's. Today's workers are trying to bring this part of the dig down to virgin ground. What we saw was a deep pit, shored up by boards and covered by a canvas roof.
They believe that the society of Catal Huyuk was matriarchial, and that they worshipped the goddess. Several representations of obese, pregnant women have been found in the sanctuary rooms at Catal Huyuk.
The archaeologist do not know if these figurines were representations of the Goddess or were merely tokens to protect women through pregnancy and childbirth.
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