Çatalhöyük in central Turkey was home to thousands of people around 7000 BCE. Houses were packed wall to wall, so people climbed in through holes in the roof. The dead were buried under the floors.
Truth label: Established. Strong evidence and broad agreement among experts.
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A town with no rulers?
There are no palaces or grand houses. Homes were remarkably similar, which suggests a fairly equal society.
Painted walls
Inside, walls were plastered and painted with bulls, vultures and hunting scenes, then replastered again and again.
Learn
- Living with ancestors. Families buried relatives beneath the platforms they slept on, keeping the dead close.
- Why it matters. It is one of the best-preserved early towns, showing how people lived as farming took hold.
Test yourself
How did people enter houses at Çatalhöyük?
Through the roof. Houses had no street doors. Ladders led down from roof openings.
Sources
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