WILD AT HEART
Some murals at Çatalhöyük reveal the relationship between wild animals and
people. In one dynamic painting 1 , animals flee from hunters. Other murals
show the animals in combat with each other, 2 as the two sparring cheetahs
in this piece. Many figurines, amulets, and seals in the shape of other animals
have also been recovered, such as 3 this seal in the form of a bear, which was
found in 2005.
1., 2. ALAMY/ACI. 3. JASON QUINLAN/ÇATALHÖYÜK RESEARCH PROJECT
1
3RECONSTRUCTIONOF DAILY LIFE
IN ÇATALHÖYÜK IN 6000 B.C.
FERNANDO G. BAPTISTA/NGSBull Horns.Houses were
often adorned with bull horns.
They served both as domestic
decoration and perhaps as a ritual
reminder of the wildness of nature
outside the settlement.Interior.The main room featured
a hearth, an oven, and sleeping
platforms, below which the dead
were buried.Houses.
These were
rectangular
in shape and
clustered
together.
There were
no streets and
people moved
around on the
rooftops.HOME, HEARTH,
AND HISTORY
Archaeologists study
the architecture of
Çatalhöyük to better
understand how its
society developed. The
close structure of their
homes indicates that
large numbers of people
had learned to live side
by side while developing
common rituals.2