Catalhoyuk

Çatalhöyük was occupied from approximately 7500 to 5700 BCE, making it one of the earliest and largest Neolithic settlements in the world. It predates the pyramids of Egypt by thousands of years and represents a crucial period in the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies.

The mudbrick houses at Çatalhöyük were built directly against one another with no streets or ground-level doorways. Residents entered through openings in the roof, using ladders to climb down inside, and buried their dead beneath the floors of their homes.

Excavations have revealed wall paintings, relief sculptures, and figurines, including the famous 'Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük' figurine depicting a female figure flanked by two large cats. Some wall murals appear to depict a volcanic eruption, possibly of the nearby Mount Hasan Dağ, which would make them among the earliest landscape paintings in human history.

Çatalhöyük is located in south-central Turkey, near the modern city of Konya. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and can be visited; a visitor center and sheltered excavation areas allow tourists to see the reconstructed houses and murals.