NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 23DAVID TIPLING PHOTO LIBRARY/ALAMY/ACI
RAISING
THE DEAD
O
ne of the most striking ancient
wall paintings found in Çatal-
höyük shows headless human
figures alongside a giant bird,
believed to be a vulture (left). Depictions of
birds like this one have been found on other
objects from Çatalhöyük. This scene may
show a funerary ritual, in which the dead
were placed on the rooftops, out of reach of
other carnivores. There, their bodies would
be picked clean by the scavenging vultures.
This process, known as excarnation, could
have taken a matter of hours and would
have left behind only bones. People would
then retrieve these remains, wrap or bind
them, and bury them beneath the floors
of their homes. Researchers theorize this
placement was believed to keep a dead
person’s soul nearby and has been docu-
mented elsewhere in Anatolia (modern
Turkey) and in other ancient societies.forced to travel to get clay to build their homes.
The cane baskets they used to transport it were
unsuited to hauling vast quantities over large
stretches of territory. It was easier to transport
their harvests and store them.
Traveling was evidently not a problem, as the
citizens of Çatalhöyük engaged in long-distance
trade. Archaeologists found baskets of date
palm leaves that originated from Mesopotamia
or the Levant. Shells suggest they traded with
peoples near the Red Sea or the Mediterranean.
The prized obsidian came from the Hasan Daùi
volcano, some 80 miles away or the Cappadocia
region farther to the east.
To date, no monumental constructions
(temples, grand communal buildings, or burial
grounds) have been found at Çatalhöyük. Ar-
chaeologists believe this lack suggests a remark-
ably egalitarian society—at least in its earlier
stages. Some buildings with more burials and
more elaborate architecture have been identi-
fied, notable for the presence of bull’s horns
on pedestals or other elements. However, the
people who lived in these homes did not controlfood production, nor were their burials more
elaborate than others. It is thought they served
to keep the historical and cultural memory of the
community alive. Hodder’s team dubbed these
buildings “history houses.”
There are also many mysteries surrounding
why the site was eventually abandoned. Evi-
dence suggests that the social system gradually
broke down due to cultural shifts and climate
change. In the later period, archaeologists de-
tected an increase in the differences dividing
social classes. Homes were no longer the cen-
ter of ritual and social relations and became
centers of production and consumption. Ar-
chaeologists are still searching for explana-
tions. Only 4 percent of the entire surface area
of Çatalhöyük has been studied, which means
that there are thousands of unexcavated build-
ings that perhaps hold the answers to these and
many other questions about the “urban” dwellers
of Çatalhöyük.A FORMER MEMBER OF THE ÇATALHÖYÜK PROJECT IN TURKEY, CRISTINA BELMONTE
HAS PARTICIPATED IN THE EXCAVATION OF THE EASTERN MOUND OF THE SITE.A VULTURE PICKING CORPSES
CLEAN, DEPICTED IN A
WALL PAINTING FOUND AT
ÇATALHÖYÜK