Çatalhöyük was a Neolitic settlement located in Southern Anatolia, approximately between the years 7500 and 5700 BC. It was abandoned before the Bronze Age. It was been declared World Heritage because it is one of the world's best preserved sites.
In the rests founded, there is evidence of an egalitarian society as no distinctive features or objects were encountered (no monarchy or nobility). People in Çatalhöyük had developed good agricultural and animal husbandry skills. Other poblators were in charge of hunting which continued being one of the important economic activities. Also pottery and the manufacturing of obsidian tools were main industries. Tools were probably traded for other commodities. Evidence has been found that proves how it was the first settlement in to world to mine and smelt metal.
Question 1
Ideas to write sentences about what a nomadic hunter-gatherer would say when seeing Çatalhöyük for the first time. These ideas are referred to aspects with a different in Çatalhöyük and in a nomadic life.
- First of all, nomadic people would be amazed with the existence of this kind of sedentary settlement, something new to them as they do not establish themselves permanently in a fixed place.
- Nomadics usually do not know agriculture or animal husbandry therefore their subsistence relies on their huntering and gathering activities.
- Pottery activities would be surprised
Question 2
- Çatalhöyük was an egalitarian society with no social classes or subgroups of people in their society. This contrasts sharply with current societies in which there are many divisions working: poor-rich, ethnical groups, religious groups, etc
- Their life consisted on being constantly worried about subsistence. Even in the example of Çatalhöyük, where there was already some specialization, division of labor and trade activities, still they do not have the technical development to have subsistence secured as most people in developed countries with modern societies nowadays.
- Of course, this early civilizations were usually organized in small settlements instead of establishing huge agglomerations as current cities. They lacked the means to do so back then.
