The Middle East (7533–7390 BCE): Rise of the Settlement at Çatalhöyük

Foundation of Çatalhöyük

Between 7533 and 7390 BCE, a significant development occurred with the founding of Çatalhöyük, a vast Neolithic settlement located in southern Anatolia, roughly fifty kilometers (thirty-one miles) southeast of Konya. Established around 7500 BCE, Çatalhöyük rapidly expanded into one of the largest settlements of its time, continuing to thrive for approximately eighteen centuries, transitioning eventually into the Chalcolithic period.

Characteristics and Structure

Çatalhöyük is remarkable not only for its extensive size but also for its state of preservation. It is currently recognized as the largest and most intact Neolithic site discovered. The settlement primarily consists of densely packed domestic buildings, notably lacking any structures identifiable as public or ceremonial centers, which is highly unusual for settlements of its scale and complexity.

Significance in Neolithic Studies

The structure and organization of Çatalhöyük provide invaluable insights into early human social structures, daily life, and community organization during the Neolithic era. The exclusively domestic nature of the buildings suggests a highly integrated and communal form of living, with extensive social interactions happening within homes rather than in separate public spaces.

This period illustrates a critical stage in human development, showcasing a distinctive form of societal organization that significantly advanced understanding of early human communities in the Middle East.

The large settlement of Çatalhöyük, a very large Neolithic settlement in southern Anatolia, about thirty-one miles (fifty kilometers) southeast of Konya, founded in approximately 7500 BCE, will exist for the next eighteen centuries, into the Chalcolithic.

The largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the entire settlement is composed of domestic buildings; the site has no obvious public buildings.

The exact history of human interaction with cats remains vague.

However, a shallow gravesite discovered in 1983 in Shillourokambos in southern Cyprus, dating to 7500 BCE, during the Neolithic period, contains the skeleton of a human, buried ceremonially with stone tools, a lump of iron oxide, and a handful of seashells.

In its own tiny grave forty centimeters (eighteen inches) from the human grave was an eight-month-old cat, its body oriented in the same westward direction as the human skeleton.

The cat specimen is large and closely resembles the African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica), rather than present-day domestic cats.

This discovery, combined with genetic studies, suggest that cats, which are not native to Cyprus, were probably domesticated in the Near East, in the Fertile Crescent around the time of the development of agriculture and then they were brought to Cyprus and Egypt.

This is evidence that cats were being tamed just as humankind was establishing the first settlements in the part of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent.

The so-called Cattle Period begins in the Sahara around 7500 BCE; the region will provide excellent pasture for cattle roughly throughout the epoch.

Mesolithic hunter-gatherers are the first humans to reach Ireland, sometime around 7500 BCE.

Settlements—mostly caves and rock shelters—are constructed at Sand, Applecross, on the coast of Wester Ross, Scotland, in about 7500 BCE.

The first users work antler and stone to make tools.

They are able to cross open sea, as they obtain distinctive stone for some of their tools from the island of Rùm, thirty kilometers (nineteen miles) to the south, and Staffin on Skye, ten kilometers (six miles) to the west.

The Middle East (7389–7246 BCE): Neolithic Advancements and Expansion

Continued Development of Çatalhöyük

During 7389 to 7246 BCE, the settlement of Çatalhöyük in southern Anatolia continued to flourish, solidifying its role as a pivotal center for Neolithic life. Throughout this period, the settlement expanded further, maintaining its unique characteristic of densely packed domestic structures without discernible public buildings, reflecting a distinctive social organization emphasizing communal life.

Agricultural Intensification

Agricultural practices during this period advanced significantly. Communities across the Middle East deepened their reliance on farming, improving techniques in the cultivation of cereals such as wheat and barley. Enhanced agricultural productivity supported larger populations and facilitated the expansion of permanent settlements, laying critical foundations for future social complexity.

Technological Innovations

Technological developments in lithic tools also marked this era. Improved stone implements, including refined scrapers, blades, and arrowheads, became more widespread, underscoring advancements in hunting, crafting, and general daily utility. The increased sophistication of these tools is evident in archaeological sites throughout the region.

Cultural and Social Developments

In parallel with technological innovations, cultural expressions such as pottery making, figurative artwork, and ritual practices continued to evolve, becoming more diverse and widespread. These artifacts and practices highlight a rich cultural tapestry reflecting spiritual beliefs, social identities, and community cohesion.

This age represents a pivotal period of growth, technological advancement, and increasing social complexity within early Neolithic societies in the Middle East.

The Jericho site originally occupied by the Natufian culture is greatly expanded during the eighth millennium BCE under a culture known to archaeologists as the Aceramic, or Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, who build a wall seventeen feet (five point two meters) high around the settlement.

They erect on the west side a round tower, twenty-three feet (seven meters) high, with an internal flight of steps.

The world's people are comparatively few, the technologies simple, and resources plentiful, but the community's indigenous inhabitants evidently require this kind of protection.

We can surmise that the people of ten thousand years ago differed little from us in being wary of strangers, covetous of resources, and inclined to violence.

The settlement ends around 7370 BCE.

All three stages of the stone age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic) are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave in Peloponnesus, one of the very few settlements in the world that shows continuous human occupation for more than twenty thousand years.

It also contains some of the earliest evidence for agriculture in Greece.

The first inhabitants were probably hunter gatherers, but from around 11,000 BCE almonds, pistachios, bitter vetch, and lentils all appear at the same time, while wild oats and wild barley appear from 10,500 BCE; from 7,300 BCE, peas and wild pears also appear.

None appear to be native to the region, while two are certainly from Asia Minor.

This would seem to indicate that the farming of legumes and nuts preceded that of grain in Greece, if not in Asia Minor at least.

This would make this area the oldest known agricultural site in Greece.

Obsidian items from the cave have been traced to the island of Melos eighty miles away by sea, which indicates long-distance sea travel.

Mount Edgecumbe, located at the southern end of Kruzof Island in present Alaska, erupts circa 7220 BCE.