Men And Women Held Equal Status in Ancient City of Catalhoyuk

Overlooking the Konya Plain in Turkey lies the remarkable and unique ancient city of Catalhoyuk, the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date. At a time when most of the world’s people were nomadic hunter-gatherers, Catalhoyuk was a bustling town of as many as 10,000 people. According to a 2014 report in Hurriyet Daily News, archaeologists have gained new insights into the ancient city as further excavation work has revealed that the Catalhoyuk society was a place of gender equality, where men and women held equal status. 

Çatalhöyük, which means ‘forked mound’ and refers to the site’s east and west mounds, features a unique and peculiar street-less settlement of houses clustered together in a honeycomb-like maze with most accessed by holes in the ceiling, which also served as the only source of ventilation into the house. The rooftops were effectively streets and may have formed plazas where many daily activities may have taken place. The homes had plaster interiors, and each main room served for cooking and daily activities.

North Area Excavation. Catalhoyuk was a street-less settlement of houses clustered together in a honeycomb-like maze. (Çatalhöyük/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Through analysis of wall paintings, sculptures, and burials, researchers have concluded that men and women held equal status in Catalhoyuk. 

“Thanks to modern scientific techniques, we have seen that women and men were eating very similar foods, lived similar lives and worked in similar works,” said Stanford University Professor Ian Hodder, who directed the excavations. “The same social stature was given to both men and women.” 

The level of equality also extended beyond gender and appears to have applied to the society as a whole. 

No footpaths or streets between the dwellings. Most were accessed by holes in the ceiling and doors on the side of the houses, with doors reached by ladders and stairs. (Murat Özsoy 1958/CC BY-SA 4.0)

 “People lived with the principle of equality in Catalhoyuk, especially considering the hierarchy that appeared in other settlements in the Middle East. This makes Catalhoyuk different. There was no leader, government or administrative building,” Professor Hodder said.

Another interesting discovery that emerged from excavations was that burials of the deceased, which were typically in pits under the floor or beneath hearths in houses, were not organized according to family relationships.

“We have also seen that people who were buried under houses were not biologically relatives or members of the same family. They lived as a family, but their natural parents are not the same. Those who were born in Catalhoyuk did not live with their biological parents but with others,” said Hodder.

Catalhoyuk. (kanuni_10tr/Adobe Stock)

Catalhoyuk was first discovered in 1958 by James Mellaart, and the first excavations were carried out in 1961. Since 1995, an enormous archaeological research project took place each season with surprising discoveries and ended in 2018 although publications are still in preparation. 

Catalhoyuk is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site and has attracted thousands of academics from more than twenty countries to its archaeological works. Continued excavations at Catalhoyuk are being directed by the Anadolu University.  

Top image: Catalhoyuk. Source: GeniusMinus/Adobe Stock

By Joanna Gillan