Çatalhöyük Hill is actually made up of two mounds. The more famous of them, called the Eastern Mound, shows traces of settlement from the Neolithic period. To put it roughly, the settlement in Çatalhöyük existed on the Eastern Mound from 7400 to 6000 BCE. The mound consists of 18 levels of settlement: its inhabitants decided to abandon their old houses, filled them in and built new houses directly above the old ones. The Western Mound has a later origin because the remains discovered there have been dated "only" to the Copper Age, i.e. to the period from 6000 to 5500 BCE.

Contrary to the speculations of the discoverer of Çatalhöyük - James Melaart - it is currently believed that there were no public buildings in Çatalhöyük, and the entire settlement consisted of residential houses. These buildings were directly adjacent to each other, and the inhabitants of the settlement walked on their roofs. Access to the houses was provided by roof openings and ladders and stairs leading to the interior of the rooms. It is estimated that Çatalhöyük could have been inhabited by as many as 10 thousand people, but the number of inhabitants of the settlement most often ranged from 5 to 8 thousand.

The interior of a typical house in Çatalhöyük consisted of a main room, in which there were hearths and fireplaces. In this room, the most important household activities were performed, while sitting on raised platforms. The walls and platforms were carefully plastered and then adorned with paintings. They depicted animals, phallic symbols, and hunting scenes. In addition, the interiors of the houses were decorated with bas-reliefs.

The famous Seated Woman figurine also comes from Çatalhöyük. It is characterized by a striking resemblance to later representations of the Anatolian mother goddess Cybele. This figurine, as well as many other exhibits from Çatalhöyük, can now be seen in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.

In addition to the main room, the houses of Çatalhöyük had additional, smaller rooms, most likely serving as pantries and storages. They were entered through low openings in the walls of the main room.

An interesting, although probably shocking for many people, practice was the custom related to the burial of the deceased. In Çatalhöyük, the deceased were placed in baskets or wrapped in mats, and then buried within the settlement, and even inside the houses: under floors, hearths, and platforms. There is evidence of later extraction of remains for ritual purposes, for example a skull was removed from the burial site, which was then covered with clay and painted in order to recreate the appearance of the deceased's face.

Studies of the houses at Çatalhöyük show that there was no clear division into different social classes in the settlement. The studies of the human remains found there have shown little social differentiation by gender: for example, both women and men were equally well-nourished.

The economy of Çatalhöyük was based on agriculture and livestock breeding, as well as hunting and gathering. In the area around Çatalhöyük, wheat, barley, and peas were grown. Almonds, pistachios, and various types of fruit were obtained from nearby groves. In addition to domesticated sheep, there are traces of the beginnings of cattle breeding. The main branches of crafts in Çatalhöyük were pottery and the production of obsidian tools. Obsidian objects were also the subject of barter: they were exchanged for shells from the Mediterranean coast and flint from Syria.

The significance of Çatalhöyük

Until the mid-20th century, the prevailing scientific belief was that the area known as the Fertile Crescent, which stretched from Egypt through Palestine and Syria to Mesopotamia, was of exceptional importance. It was believed that this was the area where the first agricultural settlements were established and where the first sheep and goats were domesticated. This area did not include Anatolia because it was believed that the extremely low winter temperatures made this area inhabitable by the first farmers. It was the excavations at Çatalhöyük that revolutionized this belief, as they revealed the existence of a large Neolithic settlement outside the supposed cradle of civilization in the Near East.

It is now known that Çatalhöyük is not an exception, but is actually a part of a vast network of Neolithic settlements in Anatolia. According to dating, it turned out to be a relatively young settlement: many older settlements have been found in eastern and central Asia Minor, including Aşıklı Höyük, Pınarbaşı, and Boncuklu. Moreover, it was not an exceptionally large settlement either, as the centres inhabited by larger populations have been found in both Anatolia and the Levant.

However, the latest archaeological research does not diminish the importance of Çatalhöyük. Its discovery has forever changed the way we think about the first cities in human history, denying the uniqueness of the Levant. The wealth and vastness of the site in Çatalhöyük are an invaluable resource, allowing for a more in-depth understanding of the lifestyle in a Neolithic agricultural settlement. In addition, the paintings found on the walls of buildings in Çatalhöyük constitute an unparalleled source of knowledge about the art of this period of human history.

Despite many years of archaeological work, only 5% of the settlement area has been excavated by researchers so far. This means that when walking around the Çatalhöyük mound, you walk over thousands of as yet unexcavated houses, which may hold groundbreaking information and fascinating secrets.

Due to its great historical significance, Çatalhöyük was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012. The justification for this decision states that Çatalhöyük is a unique testimony to the moment in history when the first agricultural settlements were established in central Anatolia, which then transformed into urban centres based on egalitarian principles.