The Neolithic 'City' With No Streets

Nine thousand years ago, people were living in one of the most extraordinary settlements of the ancient world. At Çatalhöyük, houses were packed together, roofs became streets, and the dead were buried beneath the floors of the homes. Each house was a covered in ritual animal installations and wall paintings and people cooked, slept, produced tools all in the same place. But what did this remarkable society actually look like? In this video, I discuss the latest archaeological, genetic and scientific evidence that reveals more about Çatalhöyük’s mysterious houses, burials, figurines, possible volcano painting, family relationships and inequality. Far from being simply the “first city” or a matriarchal and egalitarian society, Çatalhöyük was a much more complex world—and one that is changing how we understand the transition to farming. #ancienthistory #archaeology #neolithic ✨ IN THIS EPISODE 00:00 A Mysterious Neolithic Settlement 01:37 Çatalhöyük, a Proto-City of Roofs & Ladders 06:48 The ‘Erupting Volcano’ Mural 09:23 Life, Death and Ritual Within the Home 11:52 Was Çatalhöyük A Matriarchal Society? 14:14 Was Çatalhöyük Really Egalitarian? 18:29 The Chalcollithic Occupation ✨ JOIN MY CHANNEL    / @megalithhunter   ✨ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS BlueSky: @MegalithHunter.bsky.social ✨ REFERENCES Yüncü, E., Doğu, A.K., Kaptan, D., Kılıç, M.S., Mazzucato, C., Güler, M.N., Eker, E., Katırcıoğlu, B., Chyleński, M., Vural, K.B. and Sağlıcan, E., 2025. Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük. Science, 388(6754), p.eadr2915. Twiss KC, Bogaard A, Haddow S, Milella M, Taylor JS, Veropoulidou R, et al. (2024) “But some were more equal than others:” Exploring inequality at Neolithic Çatalhöyük. PLoS ONE 19(9): e0307067. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.... Haddow, S.D., 2025. Bodies in buildings: Human remains and the life histories of houses at Neolithic Çatalhöyük. Archaeological Research in Asia, 41, p.100598. Schmitt AK, Danišík M, Aydar E, Şen E, Ulusoy İ, Lovera OM (2014) Identifying the Volcanic Eruption Depicted in a Neolithic Painting at Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia, Turkey. PLoS ONE 9(1): e84711. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.... https://www.catalhoyuk.com/site/archi... ✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS Google Earth Locations CC BY 4.0 DEED https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Figures from the paper by Twiss, K. C., et al, as referenced above Figures from the paper by Haddow, S. D., et al, as referenced above. Figures from the paper by Schmitt, A. K., et al as referenced above. CC-BY-NC 4.0 DEED https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Illustrations of the houses packed together, of one house and of the West and East Mounds and photograph of a Chalcolithic pottery vessel, credit: Çatalhöyük Research Project CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Venus of Willendorf, credit: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen Çatalhöyük overview with visitors in background, credit: Murat Özsoy 1958 Çatalhöyük overview, credit: Murat Özsoy 1958 Reconstruction of a house, credit: Murat Özsoy 1958 Reconstruction of a house with a cow’s skull in the corner, credit: Murat Özsoy 1958 Reconstruction of a house showing a burial and animal installations, leopard relief, mural which may depict a map and an erupting volcano, mural depicting a hunting scene, small clay figurine, two small clay figurines, geometric wall painting, credit: Dosseman CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Çatalhöyük after the first excavations, credit: Omar hoftun Seated woman of Çatalhöyük, credit: Nevit Dilmen CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Bulls’ horns at Çatalhöyük, credit: Verity Cridland House platform, credit: Dr._Colleen_Morgan