EXCAVATIONS AT GATAL HUYUK First Pretaunary Report, 1961 By Janes MeLuaart Tue stre or Catal Hiiyik was discovered during our survey of the Konya Plain in November, aaa 1 Rich in surface finds of a type hitherto only known from Professor J. Garstang’s excavations at Mersin on the south coast of Anatolia, its importance was soon realised. However, at the time of the discovery, we were engaged in the excavation of the equally important site of Hacilar and it was not until after the completion of excavations there that digging could be contemplated at Qatal Hiiyiik. After the final season at Hacilar in 1960," we were free to devote our attention to this new site. ‘As Hacilar showed a gap in its culture sequence exactly during the Early Neolithic period, which surface finds showed was best represented at Gatal Hiiyiik, it was decided to start excavations at this site to complete the sequence and throw further light on Hacilar. Therefore, on the initiative of the late Mr. Francis Neilson and with his support and that of the Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, N.Y., the Institute of Archaeology of the University of London, the Australian Institute of Archaeology, the British Academy and British Petrol (Aegean, Ltd., Istanbul), a first season of excavations was conducted beaver 17th May and 2gth June, rg61, a total of thirty-nine working ays. We are most indebted to the Turkish Department of Antiquities and its Director-General, Bay Riistem Duyuran, for the privilege of granting us the permission to dig this important site ; to the Vali of Konya, Bay Rebii Karatekin, as well as to the Director of Education and the Chief of Police in Konya ; the Kaymakam of Gumra and especially to Bay Mehmet Onder, Director of the Konya Muscums, and numerous other local officials for their interest, help, assistance and hospitality. Next we must here acknowledge our thanks to the Byzantine Institute of America for allowing Mr. Ernest Hawkins to come to our much needed assistance and give us the benefit of his invaluable experience in dealing with frescoes ; to the President of the German Archacological Institute, Professor K. Bittel and Professor R. Naumann, Director of its Istanbul section, for the loan of survey equipment and to the British Institute of Archacology at Ankara for the loan of a plane table and a tent. Our most grateful thanks are due to Miss Anne Louise Stockdale, the artist who prepared the finished copies of the wall-paintings, on the Bosphorus and in England, and without whose generosity, enthusiasm and persever- ance under almost impossible climatic conditions the earliest wall-paintings of all, found by chance in late November, would have been lost without adequate record. 1 AS. XE, 1961, p. 158. © AS. XI, 1961, pp. 89-75.42 ANATOLIAN STUDIES And last, but not least, we are very grateful to numerous other friends in Ankara for their help and hospitality, for transport and storage space and the many little things that contributed to the success of the dig. The expedition consisted of myself as Director ; my wife as photo- grapher ; Mr. Perry Bialor, an American anthropologist, as chipped stone expert; Mr. Peter Winchester, a London architect; Mr. Refik Duru, an archaeological assistant from Istanbul University, and Bay Ali Riza Biiyiiklevent as representative of the Department of Antiquities. rs to the excavation included H.E. The British Ambassador and Lady Burrows; the Vali of Konya; Professor Machteld Mellink, Pro- fessor Afif Erzen, Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Beran, Bay Mehmet Onder, Mr. and Mrs, Michael Gough and numerous others. A maximum of thirty-five trained workmen from Beyeesultan were employed under our foreman Veli Karaaslan, as local labour was not available. Once again our trusted ustas included Rifat Celimli, Mustafa Duman and Mustafa An, The advantage of employing only well trained workmen on a site like Catal Hiiyiik where wall-paintings may be expected within 2 inches from the surface is obvious. The expedition headquarters were in the school and the schoolmaster’s house at Kiigiikkoy, kindly put at our disposal by the Ministry of Education. IntRopucTION Catal Hityiik is the name of the largest neolithic site yet known in the Near East, covering 32 acres. It lies in the centre of the most fertile part of the Konya Plain, 52 km. south-east of that city and 11 km. north of CGumra, the nearest kaza.? Its altitude is about 980 m. above sea-level, comparable to that of Hacilar which is about the same. (Fig. 1.) The site is a double one (Fig. 2) situated on the Garsamba Gay, a river which flows from the Lake of Beysehir into the Konya Plain. The eastern mound (Plate IIIa) is the earlier (neolithic) site, measuring 500 by 300 m. with a height of 17-5 m. above the level of the plain. The western mound beyond the river was occupied only during the Early Chalcolithic period and is round with a diameter of about 400 m. and a height of 7m. From the size of these sites it is evident that we are not dealing with villages, but with cities. One can already say that during the neolithic period, at least, Catal Hiiyiak was the capital site of the Konya Plain, without any rivals, for all other known neolithic sites in the area are of village size. Catal Hiiyiik lies in the middle of the most fertile alluvial land in the plain, which is unlikely to be mere coincidence. The nearest mountains are 40 to 50 km. away and the plain stretches as far as the eye can sec for an unbroken 200 km. The volcanic mass of Karadag, north of Karaman—the source of our volcanic stonc—dominates the landscape but beyond it one sces the great sweep of the snow-covered Taurus Mountains and towards the north-east the graccful w cone of Hasan Dag near 2 See map in AS. XI, rg6r, p. 161, site no. 10.43 EXCAVATIONS AT CATAL HOYUK ‘eoamyno oxypyjoou se1DeyT pu ynAnys (ered Jo wonnginsip Suywoys dey “t “ony Ldorrga pty YD vas wovig rd wanes angnwas44 ANATOLIAN STUDIES Aksaray, the source of obsidian and at the time with which we are concerned an active volcano. In this majestic setting lies the site of Catal Hiiyiik, which is only one of two hundred mounds that dot the plain as silent testimonials of lost civilizations. No trees obstruct the view and the silence of the landscape is but rarely disturbed by thunderstorms, for this is the region of Turkey with a minimum rainfall, not exceeding 30 to 4o.cm. a year. Nevertheless the area has frequently been called “ Turkey's granary ” and wheat-growing is its main occupation, now aided by new irrigation systems. That conditions were radically different in the neolithic period is suggested by the fauna at Catal Hiiyiik which indicate the presence of forest in at least a part of the plain. Other changes are indicated by the presence of several dried-up lakes. SUMMARY OF THE 1961 CaMParcN All our work was concentrated on the eastern, neolithic, mound and only at the end of the season two soundings were made with a limited number of men on the western mound. The results at Catal H. West were somewhat unsatisfactory as both trenches encountered courtyards or pits. However, two successive phases of Early Chalcolithic pottery * (of which there was any amount, both painted and monochrome) could be established stratigraphically, and basically the same sequence, but associated with buildings, painting, figurines and metal, was established by the excavations at Can Hasan, some 75 km. south-east of Gatal Hiiyiik, conducted by Mr. David French in autumn 1961. The importance of the site of Gan Hasan will be obvious from his report which appears elsewhere in this journal (pp. 27-40) and the opportunity of being able to compare and discuss the new evidence from two approximately contemporary and related sites is not only fortunate but much needed, as the culture sequence of the Konya Plain has already proved to be of more than ordinary interest within the wider limits of Anatolian prehistory. On the neolithic eastern mound, the eroded western slope offered the best opportunity for horizontal excavation and after a few exploratory trenches had revealed that the area was closely built up, an area of about two-thirds of an acre was investigated running from a point some 2 m. below the somewhat disturbed top of the mound down to the track which follows the eastern side of the cultivated fields at its foot (see plan, Fig. 2 and Pl, IIIa). Not less than ten successive building-levels were discovered, numbered from top to bottom, and out of these, only two (VII and IX} are not burnt. In all some forty houses were found with a more or less standard plan, The culture deposits so far discovered show that this culture went through a steady development, without any serious breaks or disturbances, extending through a considerable period of time, during which the accumulations of houses and debris reached a thickness of not less than 35 fect. It is possible that still further building levels of this 4 For pottery of the earlier phase see AS. XI, 1961, pp. 177-184, and Figs, 11-145 for the later see D. H. French’s report on Can Hasan.Fic. 2, Site plan of Gatal Hayak (Gumra), showing the double mound, the river bed and the areas excavalGATAL HUViK GuMRA tatal Hui (Camra), showing the double mound, the river bed and the aress excavated in 1964 (in black) Pacing pose 4445 EXCAVATIONS AT GATAL HUYUK GATAL HUYUK Ty) por co LL Fic. 3. Catal Hayiik, Plan of building-levels III.46 ANATOLIAN STUDIES. Early Neolithic period will be found at Qatal Hiiyiik, for we cannot yet clearly demarcate cither its end or its beginning. Deposits which can be attributed either to the following Late Neolithic or the preceding aceramic neolithic period have not yct been found during our first season of excavation, but that does not mean that they do not exist elsewhere on the mound. Virgin soil has, of course, not yet been reached. The level of culture reached at Gatal Hityak during the Early Neo- lithic period is far above that of the contemporary neolithic at Mersin on the south coast and was therefore quite unexpected. There can now be little doubt that we have hitherto quite underestimated not only the potential but the actual richness of achievement of the earliest cultures on the Anatolian plateau. Arcuitecture (Figs. 3-6) It is not my intention to describe here in detail all the architectural remains discovered during the 1961 scason, Most of the plans speak for themselves, and the perspective drawings and reconstructions (Figs. 7, 8, 10, 11) need little explanation. What follows is therefore of a more general nature. All houses at Gatal Hiiyiik East are built of sundried mudbrick, which is made either of a sticky clay mixed with chopped straw or of a more sandy clay. Stone foundations are not found, for stone is not a commodity to be found in the middle of the alluvial plain. House plans are rectilinear, or approximately so. Each house consists of a large living room (averaging 5 by 4 m., though some are much larger), and one, or occasionally two, smaller chambers used for storage or other domestic tasks. Roofs were flat and none of these houses appear to have had more than one storcy. The dwellings were grouped around courtyards (Level IV, Fig. 4) in blocks, or along narrow lanes (Levels II, III; Fig. 9). Where possible, they were entered by a door from the court or street, but several houses crowded in the middle of a block had no access but that provided by a shaft leading from the flat roof. These shafis, carefully plastered, cannot have been open to the sky and in the absence of a mudbrick staircase they must have held a wooden ladder. Carefully plastered niches evidently held lamps. At the bottom of the shaft a low doorway—the only complete example was 0:87 m. high—without provision for a door led into the main living room (Fig. 7 and Plate IVa). Entry from the roof is still found in numerous villages in the more remote parts of Turkey, and adds con- siderably to security. It is not yet known whether Catal Hiiyiik was provided with a defensive wall. The problem of lighting these houses was probably solved by having roofs set at different levels, such as one would in any case expect on our western section of the mound where all building levels slope up both eastwards and northwards. All building levels from VII to II show the same features in the living room. The north-east corner is occupied by a raised platform or div:SAAS SSS SQ SN j + PNY — ESS of ey Narr SSS N y = 3 8 z & 3 Fro. 4. Gatal Huyak. Plan of building.LLL Fy RQO7 SQV WN | WOO A y RG ASN SS N SSH SS SSS WN iY SQ COURTYARD SS SM ETD LiL LLU Lh Cy Vp EL Up LLL. GR “Lee DENUDED. CATAL HUYUK BUILDING LEVEL IV |. Gatal Haya. Plan of building-level IV. Facing page a5EXCAVATIONS AT GATAL HUYOK 47 which would have served for sitting, working by day and sleeping at night (Plate IVa, b). At its southern end is a raised bench of mudbrick. A large bin or compartment often occupies the north-western corner of the room, but sometimes we find subsidiary platforms against the north wall. rj Gama? waft Y tye HLL SATAL HUYUK BUILDING LEVEL V Fic. 5. Gatal Hoyuk. Plan of building-level V, Between bench and south wall there frequently is another and lower bench and the southern part of the house contains a raised hearth with kerb, rectangular and often square in shape ; or a number of them. Behind it, but never in line, we often find a domed oven set in the south wall. The oven had no chimney and smoke must have escaped through the door or through windows set high up in the walls below the roof. Sometimes we find side by side in the south wall an oven and a kiln, the latter with separate fire box but otherwise similar to an oven.48 ANATOLIAN STUDIES This arrangement is the usual one, but there are numerous variations, as a glance at the plans will show. All these features are carefully plastered in a white or creamy clay (ak toprak), still widely used by present day villagers, and the plaster of the walls, etc., was smoothed with polishers in rules = als zN* \ Tg as SSSQEN \3: KKKKWwv CATAL HUYUK \ BUILDING LEVELS VI. SONY ee s = A Fig. 6. Gatal Hayik, Plan of buitding-levels VI-IX. white or green limestone, of which numerous examples have been found. Another feature of great interest is architectural ornament which occurs in every house, To break the monotony of plain wall surfaces, the Early Neolithic “ architects” of Gatal Hiiyiék had devised a system of plaster ribs, engaged posts (plastered and frequently painted red) for vertical differentiation in combination with horizontal offsets, so that eachEXCAVATIONS AT GATAL HUYUK 49 room bore a number of panels and recesses (Fig. 7), which were normally emphasized by red paint (Plate V6). Brick pillars, hearths and platforms were commonly painted red, but red paint was never used to colour the floors as it had been in aceramic Hacilar. As a result red dados are unknown. Doorways frequently bore a border of parallel horizontal red bands (Levels II, IV, V, VI). In not less than a dozen (out of forty) houses some parts of the building bore simple ornamentation in a red ochreous 24 Fic. 7. Section and reconstruction of house E VL, 4, with entrance shaft. paint, and it is particularly interesting that this tradition has survived for some eight thousand years (or more) in the Konya Plain, but nowhere else in Turkey. When asked, the villager will admit that it is “ tradition ” (anane) to paint their houses, but he is evidently unaware of the reason. for doing so. It is hardly less surprising that the best painting is found in the villages of Kiigitkkoy and Karkin, which are nearest to Gatal Hiiyiik and a corresponding decrease in imagination is found the further away one gets from Catal Hiiyiik. The implications of this phenomenon are still difficult to evaluate. A large building in Level VII (Fig. 8) adds still another feature to the already rich repertoire of architectural ornament: plaster reliefs (PL. IIIs). This building is in many respects unusual. Access to it lay probably through a shaft in the south-western corner, the doorway of which has not survived. In front of it was a subsidiary hearth (a single hearth could hardly heat this large room) and in the north-west corner was a basin with red-painted rim. The main platform, directly to the5° ANATOLIAN STUDIES right of the basin, was surmounted by a panel, painted red, and above the next but lower platform there were a pair of relief of seated human figures. The ends of the limbs were painted red, and one bears a knob CATAL HUYUK BUILDING LEVEL vil BUILOING 1 Fic. 8 Perspective drawing of large building in Level VIT. whereas the other has a hole, a possible indication of the sex of the figures represented. Against the back wall not less than three engaged posts were covered with red painted plaster and a line of red surrounded a niche for a lamp. A third relief once decorated the panel in the north-east corner (on the north wall), but it is so mutilated that it is impossible even to guess what it represented.EXCAVATIONS AT GATAL HUYUK 51 Other low platforms extend along the east and south wall and their edges were painted red. This building was unburnt and empty so that no conclusions can be drawn as to its use from the contents of the room, However, both its size and its unusually rich decoration suggest that it was not an ordinary dwelling and support for this theory may be found in both earlier and later finds from exactly the same spot. In Level VI a building lay over this room, of which only part of one wall with platform and some burials underneath were preserved, but immediately to the east we found a small room—carefully plastered, but without access—which contained the horn cores and part of the skull of an enormous aurochs (Pl. Vc). The spread of the horns, from tip to tip, measured 1-20 m. This is evidently a ritual deposit connected with a bull cult and a further deposit of scapulae, horns and tibia of aurochs were found in the next room to the east. On the other hand, a rich deposit of crude clay votive figurines of wild animals, ritually broken, crushed or wounded with arrow or spear points, was found in a pit in building level VIII, immediately west of the large building in question (Pl. VII5). Where they came from is not yet known 5 perhaps an carlicr shrine lay below the building with the plaster reliefs. Al this strongly suggests that there existed during Levels VIII-VI a shrine or temple connected with hunting or bull cult in this immediate area of the site, and it is perfectly possible that the large building in Level VII was in fact one of these. Burrat Hasrrs The Early Neolithic people of Catal Hiiyiik buried their dead below the floors of their houses. Burials of children may occur anywhere below the floor, but adults were regularly buried below the platform in the north-east quarter of the house, that is, they buried the dead below their beds. When intact the skeletons lie in a contracted position in shallow oval graves on their left side with the head towards the room and their feet towards the east (back) wall. However, incomplete burials are far more common and it is not the last interment which is complete, as one might perhaps expect. In house A III, 4, a body was found intact but for the head, for which there was room in the grave. The head was, however, found separately about a foot away and two other skulls were found higher up in the grave. In house EIV, 2, three human skulls were found in a shallow grave below the floor just in front of the platform, and piles of human bones, skulls and mandibles were found below the platforms of denuded houses in Levels IV (PI. Va) and VI. In the latter there were numerous long bones but only a single skull, whereas in the former there was found one intact skeleton, one trunk without head, legs or arms and not less than seven skulls and mandibles. At least eight people were buried below this house. These burial habits, unknown cither in the aceramic or the Late52 ANATOLIAN STUDIES Neolithic or Early Chalcolithic levels of Hacilar, or for that matter at Mersin, are reminiscent of similar practices observed in the Natufian and following pre-pottery cultures of Palestine. They strongly suggest that secondary interment was practised involving the reburial of parts of the skeletons after complete or partial decomposition of the flesh. This would explain the numerous severed heads and mandibles, arms and limbs and the comparative rarity of complete burials. For a “ modern ” ethnological parallel [ refer the reader to the {lustrated London News of 3rd February, 1962, where very similar practices among the “ Palaeolithic” Onge pygmies of the Andaman Islands are described. That we are dealing at Catal Hiiyiik with burial rites of vast antiquity is beyond much doubt and these practices should not be confused with the custom of collective burial such as was practised at a later date by many communities, but for which there is no evidence in Anatolia. They do, however, suggest a strong family sense of kinship with the dead, different from but not unlike the custom of ancestor cult involving the preservation of skulls found in the aceramic levels at Hacilar and in the pre-pottery cultures of Jericho. Burial gifts are exceedingly rare and consist almost entirely of neck- laces of beads made of marble, fossil shell (Pl. V4), various stones and a blue copper ore. These same blue beads were also found at Kizilkaya and at Hacilar and contrary to an earlier theory of mine that metal tools were needed to make these,® they were probably manufactured with bone tools. The only other object from a grave is a bone wrist-guard found between the arms of the headless skeleton in house A III, 4. No pottery or stone bowls were found with the dead, nor is there a trace of red ochre. The bones have not yct been studied, but the heads are long and the teeth are well preserved. Porter (Fig. 9) Pottery occurs in all building levels except the earliest (IX), where its absence may be fortuitous, as only a minute area has been exposed. Compared to the abundance of pottery at Late Neolithic Hacilar one is immediately struck by the small quantity of pottery found and by its 5 ASX, 1960, p. 87. Fis. 9. (AU pottery is hand-made and fas a buff fabric containing smald white grits or micaceous particles, but no stra.) AHL. Buff, mouted grey: burnished. 14. BIL, 1. Smoothed coarse bul ware, ATLL, 7. Brown interior, cream exterior, burnished. 1%. EV. 4. Cream, mottled black burnished. AIL, 4. Greyish buff coarse burnished. EV, 2a, Coarse greyish bull ware. ATI, 4 Fine brown burnished. E1V; 4, Coarse brown, mottled grey ware 23. Very coarse bull ware, smoothed. VITL Brown burnished, HE BIV, 1. Red-brown burnished, 2. AILL, 4. Grevish black burnished tg. EVE, ¢. Dark buff vertically burnished ware 8. WIL. Bul burnished. “Four feet. Brown burnished. 9. EV. Smoothed grey ware, Four fect Reddish buff burnished, Jt. Coarse bull ware. Four feet Black burnished, Greyish black burnished. Black burnished, V3. Buff, mottled grey coarse burnished Fine dark brown burnished, TEL” Smoothed bulf ware wilt black core 2), ENIIT, Black burnished,54 ANATOLIAN STUDIES much simpler shapes. Only two sherds (one from Level III, the other from Level I) bear any traces of paint and only half dozen sherds have horizontal incised lines below the rim® (Levels III and II), Otherwise the pottery is devoid of any ornament.” The rarity of pottery as such is noteworthy; in the earlier levels (VIIE-IV) it is uncommon to find more than half a dozen pots per house, and it is only in the later ones that an increase in quantity is noted. With the increase in quantity goes an increase in size of the individual pots and the steady appearance of more light-coloured wares. Towards the end of the development (Level II) we may draw attention to the appearance of disc bases and an occasional vertically perforated tubular lug, features well known from Late Neolithic Hacilar,* but as no Late Neolithic deposits have yet been found at Catal Hiiyiik the possibility of a slight overlap can neither be postulated nor denied, and it seems safer to treat the whole series as earlier than Late Neolithic Hacilar. Within the sequence we can trace some, but not much development. From beginning to end, most of the pottery is a brownish black burnished ware, but with numerous colour variations. Many of these vessels were cooking pots, as is clearly demonstrated by the thick layers of soot in which they are covered. Others are bowls and dishes and among the latter brown to buff colours prevail in the earlier levels (VILI-VI), but dull reds occur. In Level V the first light-coloured wares make a hesitant appearance : cream wares, mottled black, and a little orange and pink. These increase in Levels IV-I, and many fine mottled pieces occur side by side with the introduction of a red slip. Jet-black wares are unknown. The cooking pots remain darkish brown throughout the sequence and their hole-mouth shape shows little change from beginning to end ; the only development noticeable is in the lugs which change from vertically perforated knobs to ledge handles (still perforated), the latter acquiring a tilt in Level III, In the Early Chalcolithic deposits at the western mound this shape continues (in buff or pale red ware), but the handles are now crescent-shaped with or without the vertical perforation. The Early Neolithic pottery was made of a buff clay, containing small particles of white grit, but never any straw. Pots were built up in a coil technique on a flat base, but frequently finished with paddle and anvil as is clear from the thinness of their walls. The pottery was invariably burnished, and burnishing marks are common. The pottery is well fired and quite hard and even the earliest products (from Level VIII) show a developed technique and excellent quality. We quite evidently have not yet reached the beginnings of pottery making. On the other hand, numerous shapes, all comparatively simple, appear to betray prototypes in different materials: stone, wood, leather or basketry. Oval bowls with basket handles (not illustrated) are almost certainly copied from baskets, many oval bowls look like hollowed-out © AS. XI, 1961, p. 167, 1 3 S..XI, 1961, p. 16. # AS. XT, 1961, p. 626, p. 69, Figs. 24-27 (passim).EXCAVATIONS AT CATAL HUYUK 35 pebbles (Fig. 9:13, 16), and the flat dishes (Fig. 9:1, 5, 6, 7) look like wood or stone. Actually, stone dishes (like Fig. 9:7) have been found and the bowls on four feet (Fig. 9 : 8-10) occur also in white or veined marble. The same can be said of shapes shown in Fig. 9: 4, 12 and 5, and the tray on four feet (Fig. 9: 3) as well as square and lozenge-shaped vessels found are almost certainly copied from wooden prototypes. The bow (illustrated in Fig, g : 21) has a rectangular base, again reminiscent of wood or stone, and one could even argue that the hole-mouth pot, the most common of all our shapes—and probably almost the only obvious pottery shape—was derived from stone, for such vessels occur in pre- ceramic Jarmo,® but this could be the other way round. However that may be, there can be little doubt that the Early Neolithic potters at Catal Hiiyiik, for all their technical proficiency, borrowed many shapes from other materials and this perhaps suggests that we are approaching the transition from an aceramic to a ceramic neolithic. I personally like to imagine that the difficulties of providing stone vessels for a population of a city like Gatal Hiiyiik, which must have run into the thousands, in the middle of a stoneless alluvial plain, may have contributed considerably to experimenting with a new and locally available material, clay. Factors stich as these may be to some extent responsible for the discovery of pottery at such an early date on the Anatolian plateau, but not elsewhere. Oruer Inpustries aND CRAFTS The chipped stone industry at Catal Hiiyiik is one of the most characteristic features of the culture and is dealt with in a specialist report by Mr. Perry Bialor (pp. 67-110). The ground stone industry is equally developed, though less spec- tacular. Again all the raw materials had to be imported ; volcanic stone for the larger and coarser tools such as mortars, pounders and saddle querns (Pl. IVc) ; various limestones for polishers (Pl. VIé), figurines, beads, marbles, bowls and dishes ; blue limestone and breccia for mace- heads (Pl. VIa); alabaster and white marble for figurines, bowls and pendants ; copper ore for beads, fossil shell for rings, beads and bracelets. Fully polished axes and adzes (the latter predominate and are smaller in size) used for the cutting of trees and in carpentry were made of harder rocks, and a soft stone like chlorite was fashioned into cosmetic palettes. House AIII, 2, produced a large number of stone tools as well as raw material and might have been a stoneworker’s shop. The quality of the stone objects is, on the whole, very high, and it is clear that Qatal Hiiytk must have engaged in a widespread trade with neighbouring settlements in the hill zone to acquire all these raw materials. Besides stone they also brought shells from the Mediterrancan (whelks, cockles, dentalium), red ochre (which now comes from the Bozdag), copper ore from an unknown source (Bozkir ?), ete. Animal bone was widely used for the preparation of leather (awls), ® Sonia Cole, The Neolithic Revolution, Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), Pl. XIIIa.56 ANATOLIAN STUDIES for pressure flaking (punches) ; for weaving needles, spoons, spatulac (Pl. VIe), modelling tools, tubes, beads, cosmetic sticks (Pl. VId), scrapers and a number of other tools the use of which is not known. Occasionally animal heads decorate the finer spatulae and other bone carvings (PI. WIc) are not unknown. The absence of worked antler is still surprising, but it occurs on the later western mound. Shoulder blades were used as shovels near the hearth. Baked clay was further used for figurines human and animal, loom- weights, stampscals and horned potstands of a type that remains familiar in Anatolia till the end of the Bronze Age.!° Spindle-whorls and sling- stones were made of unbaked clay. Red and green paint was found in lumps or ready for use in the shells of freshwater mussels. Impressions of mats and coiled baskets have been found. Spindle-whorls, loomweights and weaving needles, as well as the white loincloths worn by men on the wall-paintings and the earliest geometric wall-paintings themselves, attest the art of weaving. The so-called stampseals (PI. VIIc) decorated with highly elaborate pseudo-maeander patterns, spirals, etc., could have been used to stamp cloth as well as produce stored in sacks. No impression of such stamp- seals has ever been found on clay, but the fact that no two are alike and that they always occur singly in a house supports the idea that they were used to indicate ownership. Economy Pending specialists’ reports on the carbonized cereals, etc., and the animal bones found in the settlements of Gatal Hiiyiik, the following notes may give some idea of the Early Neolithic economy. Agriculture was practised, as is clear from the numerous mortars, querns (Pl. IVe), ovens and deposits of carbonized wheat (in Levels III, IV, VI), field peas (in IV) and seeds (in VI). This is hardly surprising since Dr, H. Helback’s study of an ash deposit from Level V of the Aceramic settlement of Hacilar has established agriculture at a date early in the seventh millennium.!! Hunting was evidently important, as is shown not only by the numerous arrow and javelin heads and the frescoes, but by the remains of the following animals: wild cattle, wild ass, red deer, leopard, wild pig, wild sheep, fallow deer, etc. Among the animal bones are the remains of several birds, including a stork (?), and the feet of birds are shown on a fragment of wall-painting. Professor Charles Reed's preliminary examination of the bone material from Catal Hityiik 1° drew attention to the preponderance of cattle over sheep and goat, to the probability of domestication of these three species, as well as to the possibility that these people had a domesticated dog. Personal communication dated 5th March, 1962. to Istanbul in January, 1962. We are much indebted to Professor Reed for the information,PLATE IDL () View of neolithie mound of Qatal Huyik and excavation, from the Early Chaleolithic mound ‘across the old river bed. (®) Plaster reliefs on nosth wall of a building im Level VI.PLATE IV wend onoqe joued pared par qm ‘CAA ene) ey a0, ‘suzonb pue woped SupuLd ‘Sanjays soiseyd yum “uayaey (q) syaued 1d “Avenzoop mol “IpEYS YEN 1°TA"A aNOH (0)PLATE V ) Objects of personal adornment, Level TIT (stone __(¢) Horn cores of bos primigenius in small plastered Ritiguicest ou tessan |” oon Level VI. , and fossil shells from which such beads, etc., were made),PLATE VI (a) Two polishers (for bone tools) from Levels HIT and 1 bottom). (@) Bone tool carved in the form of a stork’: head. House ALTE. ee.) (6) Two stone maceheads from Level VI. il > a. > (@ Carved bone fork, found with «. fosmeticiet, House AIL.PLATE VIE () Schemnatized clay haman figurines from & Levels 1V-Vill. = = (6) Stamp seals of baked clay with ineised ornament from Levels II-IV,PLATE VIII (B) Painted baked clay female figurine. Hit. 6 em, House E.1V.g. (2) Baked clay fernale figurine. Ht. em, House AIL: (©) Seated female figure in white limestone. Ht. 6 cm, {@) Baked clay female figurine, ‘Shrine in Level TIL (A.IIT.1). Hit g°5 om. Shrine in Level IV (EV)PLATE IX © (0-2) Three views of complete alabaster figurine from House EV.4. Ht. 12-6 em. (2) Head of a similar alabaster Sigure. House G.I. Ht. 4-5.cm.(@) Polychrome wallepainting No. 1 from House E.V1.1, Length o-g m.,, ht. 0-45 m. fer acoby by A. L, Stockdale, (#) Polychrome wall-painting No. 2 from House E.VI2, left end. After aco by A. fo StohdaePLATE XI (@) Painting from north wall of Level IV shrine. Length 1-7 m.; ht. 0-4 m. After a copy by A. be Stchae, (#) Painting from south end of east wall of Level IV shrine, Length 0-9 m.; ht. 0-3 m. After by by Ay Sosa, (@ Detail of the man’s head from 6.PLATE XH 6) White female gu rom (0 Wine ight ute? (6) Tracing of white female figure (Painted pilaster and small white female igure, from Shrine 2 ee celal of ples eye Aer copies oy AL Steal,PLATE XIV (@) The wall-paintings on the north wall of the Level III Shrine, left half (see also Pl. XV, a). ‘Length of entire scene ¢. 55m. (8) The main (lefchand) fragment ofthe dancing scene, with thre layers of painting, Oe one en rar ee ea ere aie ie eves of pee (© The earliest of the three paintings shown above : a ritual leopard dance. ‘Aber prdiminary copes by AE Stochdale,(a) The wall-painting on the north wall of the Level III Shrine, right half (see also Pl. XIV, a). ° — ee : t of the east wall. The two and the animal in the bottom left comer represent the latest phase. (0) The second and third fragments on the east wall, Aer priminary copes by A. La Shchdle,PLATE XVI (@) Deer hunt from antechamber of Level III shrine. Tracine, wih onstrction, by AL, Stohdate, (6-«) Two details from Deer Hunt painting in antechamber of Level III shrine.PLATE XVI (@) Detail from the deer hunt, Doe with fawn. (®) Detail from the deer hunt, The wounded stag,PLATE XVIL ‘One of the leopard dancers ; cf, Ple XIVe, lower registersEXCAVATIONS AT CATAL HUYUK 57 The fauna furthermore suggests that at least part of the Konya plain was covered. with forest during the Early Neolithic period. The shells of land snails or the carbonized wood fragments have not yet been submitted to analysis. Reuicion Burial customs, indicative of a belief in an afterlife, have already been examined, and practices of hunting magic, performed on crude clay figurines of wild animals, were mentioned above. The preservation of the horns of wild cattle, set up in rooms in Level VI, or embedded in plaster so as to form a portable horned altar, found near the hearth in a house in Level IV, or its equivalent in which part of a tibia of an aurochs was set in a plaster base ornamented with stripes of red paint in Level V, all suggest a possible bull cult. To this we may add the wall- painting of a 6 ft. bull in the “ Shrine” of building-level II] and possibly the reliefs in a similar building in Level VII, described above. A belief in a goddess of fertility and abundance is clearly demonstrated by figurines (Pls. VIII, IX) modelled in clay, baked and sometimes painted, or carved in soft stone (limestone, marble and alabaster), ancestors of the remarkable series found in Late Neolithic Hacilar in 1960.18 Though much less varied, they are not inferior to the later ones and of about the same size, not on the whole exceeding 15 cm. in height. The goddess is shown standing or seated, but the position of the legs (Pl. VIIIc) is different from that found at Hacilar. Holes in the back of the head (PI. IX) show that something in a different material was attached ; either hair or a cap or bonnet. Male figures have not been found. Unbaked clay figures, rather coarsely modelled and with a hole for a peg-like head of wood, such as occurred at Hacilar in Level VI,!4 are also found here, and in the lower levels there are several examples of stylized figurines (PI. VIIa). Animal figurines, conspicuously absent at Hacilar, occur rather frequently and their disappearance at the later site may perhaps be attributed to the decline of hunting in the Hacilar economy. Most if not all the animals portrayed at Gatal Hiyik would appear to be wild ones. Watt-paintines (Pls. X-X VIII) The most spectacular contribution made by Gatal Hiiyiik to Near Eastern archaeology, as well as to art history, is its wall-paintings, the carliest yet found on man-made walls. These were found in two buildings in Levels III and I'V, which we regard as shrines, and in two private houses of Level VI. The cream plaster of the walls is used as a background for a decoration 49 48. XI, 1961, pp. 46-61 ; Figs. 5-23 and Pls. VII-XIIL. 14 4S. XT, 1961, p. 47, Pl. VId.58 ANATOLIAN STUDIES which is most often executed in more than one colour, but sometimes only in red (Level III). The paints and plaster are being analysed by the Courtauld Institute in London, and until a report is available it is probably better not to guess at the nature of the colours, the use of an adhesive, etc. In Level VI we find red, orange red, white, buff and creamy yellow ; in Level IV red, white and black and in Level III several reds, pink, mauve, black, white and a lemon yellow. Painting was done with a brush in a flat wash without previously drawing outlines, and then filling in. Fic. 10, Perspective drawing of House E VI, 1, indicating position of the wall-paintings. It is common to find three, but not more, successive layers of painting separated by white plaster, and all paintings, even the non-figurative ones, were subsequently covered and hidden under white plaster for reasons unknown. It is suspected that some ritual is involved here, but we cannot be sure. In any case it is perfectly clear that these paintings served a definite purpose and were not just painted for artistic reasons alone. The cleaning of these wall-paintings was a painstaking operation as their state of preservation left much to be desired, and is entirely due to the skill of Mr. Bialor and my wife, who was also solely responsible for their preservation, lifting and transport to the Archacological Museum atEXCAVATIONS AT GATAL HUYUK 59 Ankara. The earliest wall-paintings discovered in November were cleaned by Miss Stockdale and myself, but as it was impossible to detach them from vitrified walls they were covered up after recording. Wall-paintings from Level VI These paintings, covering three panels (Fig. 10) in a private house, were discovered after a fall of plaster in late November and represent the carliest paintings known at Catal Hiiyiik. They show geometric designs in polychrome of great intricacy and from this it is perfectly clear that wall- painting was fully developed in Level VI. The panels are placed on either side of the open doorway at the bottom of the shaft which gave access to the building, one (Pl. X) to the left of the doorway and the other (PI. XI) above the platform. The third and worst-preserved one was found in a panel between bench and south wall, and fortunately was the least interesting. The first shows a pattern of horizontal zigzag bands inter- rupted by vertical columns and the apexes of the zigzags bear a floral pattern. Painted over them at a slightly later phase were two arms with outstretched hands, such as we find both in the Early Chalcolithic pottery of Hacilar #5 and in present-day painting round the doorways of houses of the Konya Plain as an apotropaic sign against the “Evil Eye”. The changes in colour and the variations in the vertical bands are all extremely reminiscent of textiles. The same can be said to an even greater degree of the second and larger painting, which looks like an Anatolian kilim. Here not less than three phases could be recognized of which the last is represented by the fragment on the left. Of the earliest only some parallel bands directly to the right of it belong ; the remaining major portion of the wall-painting represents the middle phase. There is some evidence that these paintings originally extended above the rib which now marks their upper limit but whatever was there originally was destroyed when the wall was replastered after a fire. The main pattern is of great complexity, the execution careful but bold. The “floral” patterns may represent human hands with four fingers, the thumb being drawn in as a rectangle—another favourite gesture against the “ Evil Eye”. From these earliest paintings it is clear that we have not reached the beginning of this art. The Level IV Shrine (Building E, 1V, 1, on plan, Fig. 4) No figurative paintings have yet been found in Level V, but a badly destroyed building in Level IV contained a number of paintings along its east wall and the adjacent north-eastern corner. As these were covered by less than 6 inches of topsoil and were furthcr honeycombed by roots and burrows of ground squirrels and jerboas that inhabit the mound, their 18 AS. VII, 1958, p. 137, Fig. 4: relief in AS, XI, 1961, p. 68, Fig. 27:16, ; Fig. 5:243 and in the Late Neolithic in60 ANATOLIAN STUDIES preservation was virtually impossible, but they were fully recorded on the spot. As in Level VI the wall-paintings were found hidden bencath a thick coat of white plaster which in this building was very tenacious and difficult to remove. Part of the painting on the north wall had fallen forward on to the floor. There is evidence that the other walls also were once painted in red and white, but only small specks of paint had survived, when the cover of white plaster fell to the floor. The destruction of the wall-paintings of this building through the ravages of time is much to be lamented for there is evidence that its walls bore numerous human figures both male and female, some of which must have reached a height of about 1 foot judging by the surviving fragments. Males are shown in red, whereas ‘women are painted white, a convention found also in Egypt some three thousand years later. Whereas the males are tall and slender, the women are fat and plump (PI. XIIIa, 6) and almost identical with the figurines. ‘The resemblance of the small painted figure in a leopard-skin dress, red necklace and anklets (Pl. XIIIe), found to the right of the plastered pilaster with geometric ornament, to a battered seated figurine from House 4 in the same building level is most striking, as it is painted in exactly the same way (Pl. VIII6). The geometric patterns on the pilaster are painted in black and when white plaster covered the wall paintings, this part was painted plain red, of which some large fragments survive. The decoration of the main east wall above the platforms—on cither side of the pilaster—is too fragmentary to merit description here and all one can see are splodges of white and red paint as well as part of a male figure armed with a throwing stick. Those on the eastern half of the north wall are a little better preserved and four fragmentary male figures dressed in an animal skin with tail and white loincloth, which reaches down either to the knee or to the ankles, are shown proceeding towards a most enigmatic polychrome scene on the left. A man’s head and torso are shown with an arm outstretched towards what may have been a head of a horned animal. The scene behind him defies interpretation (bear or bird trapped in net ?—PI. XIIa). ‘The scenes in the south-eastern corner are partly destroyed by deep pits of much later date, but the following scenes or fragments can be recognized : (a) a white steatopygous figure with long head and raised arms (Pl. XIIIa, 6); (6) a group of several figures of different sizes (Pl. XIId). The latter shows a small figure in white on the left, then some traces of something unrecognizable ; then what is almost certainly a loincloth of leopard skin with tail on the left on some traces of white, all that remains of a large female figure. At the right the torso and part of the arms of a man with white belt and below it one or probably two human heads seen en face (Pl. XII¢), but without any traces of the body. The male head, in red, black and white, shows a black bearded man with open mouth painted red, a red forchead and slit (or clased) eyes. One has a distinct impression that this is the head of a dead man. A fragment of wall-painting on the south wall shows legs of a small and a large figure painted in red and therefore probably male.or EXCAVATIONS AT GATAL HUYUK TIVH O3LNIVd IN 13A37 ONIGTING YOANH TWiWd62 ANATOLIAN STUDIES The Shrine in Building-level HI (A, UII, 1, on plan, Fig. 3 and Figs. 11, 12) The richest discovery of wall-paintings was made in this shrine where every intact wall (except the south one) was covered with paintings. The back wall of an antechamber bore a panel with a deer hunt; in the main chamber the north wall showed an enormous aurochs bull and a second hunting scene which continued on the west wall, whereas on the east wall there are the remains of three stags and an exceedingly lively scene of dancers. Their position is indicated on the perspective drawing (Fig. 11). There is no geometric ornament except horizontal parallel red stripes about 1 inch thick and 1 inch apart on the plaster of the brick pillar, apparently the standard decoration of doorways which also occurs in Levels VI, V and IV. The deer hunt panel is one of the few paintings executed solely in monochrome red without the addition of other pigments. In its present state it is truncated by a later rebuilding of the west wall of the ante- chamber which cut the wall with the painting and covered the new narrow room with thick layers of white plaster, completely hiding the paintings. The scene shows a group of five men attacking a herd of red deer (Cerous elaphus) consisting of three stags and two does with their fawns, with bow and arrow, throwing sticks and lassoe (PI. XVI). Some of the males wear an animal skin with tail, but others appear to be naked. This scene was twice repainted, without obvious alterations, over an intervening coat of white plaster. The style is naturalistic and lively, but there is some stylization in the rendering of the animals. All four legs are shown and the antlers are shown in twisted perspective. The human figures vary in size and the large figure on the left is evidently the leader of the hunt. Heads and noses are always clearly marked, but eyes are never indicated. Embedded in the rebuilt west wall of the antechamber was a fragment showing the webbed feet of two wading birds, possibly storks, and in a hollow below the floor in front of it lay some bird bones. The central part of the north wall of the main chamber shows the enormous picture of a wild bull (Bos primigenius), over 6 feet long, which dominates the room (PI. XVa). It is painted in red and surrounded by a group of men, including at least two figures who are painted half red, half white. There are traces of over-painting, but they are not very clear. The figures are somewhat fragmentary and the drawing shows much less care than that of the other wall-paintings in the room. Most figures wear an animal skin with tail around the waist, and they are armed with bows and throwing sticks. It is not clear whether this is a hunting scene or a scene of veneration and both are equally possible. To the left of the bull and continuing on to the west wall another scene is painted in which a large animal of undeterminable species (Pl. XIVa) is chased by a group of men moving at some speed towards the left. Among these is one wearing a white loincloth and immediately below it another headless “ harlequin” is shown, painted half white, half red, dressed in a spotted leopard skin (black on pink) and brandishing a club. In front63 EXCAVATIONS AT GATAL HUYUK noniyarensa ro asa 1 - swoond 1 “TL A271 J9 Bumping aueoRlpe pore TTT [2477 Jo SUNS axp YEON HONDAg “Tt “ORY on anena £ go a2AvD98 % semnh woos Swialt rg asnoK — “i T ° ' ' Juscusuosss b HEVaATT OM anMns aaaniyg woow NIWW Weaanzt ow 4 feecow aun saoGy ANATOLIAN STUDIES of these two hunters there are the remains of what looks like a lattice pattern which extended much further down than the drawing indicates and which may be interpreted as a fence or stockade. This scene evidently continued up to the destroyed doorway in the west wall, but the last metre or so of the wall and with it the head of the animal were destroyed by Hellenistic pits which have also created great havoc with the scenes on the east wall (Fig. 12). At the extreme right of the cast wall is a large, but fragmentary stag of which only the body, the hind legs and part of the antler survives. Somewhat further toward the left there is the magnificent head of another (Pl. XVe, right) and a third once stood between the two large fragments of the scene of dancing hunters (ibid., left). These two fragments show several layers of painting ; two on the right-hand fragment (Pl. XV¢) and three on the left (PI. XIV6). The third and latest painting, represented only on the largest fragment (measuring about 1 m. by 70 cm.) is in mono- chrome red and shows a number of rather lifeless figures, one of which holds two bows, and a small animal. In style they are not unlike the figures that surround the bull but the association of these two wall- paintings cannot be proved (PI. XVB, on left). The two earlier paintings are in polychrome and the second one (Pl. XVb) shows a number of rather large figures running to the right, where the stags are. They are dressed in a headgear of leopard skin and skins of the same animal are tied round their waists. In their hands they carry bows and throwing sticks. At the broken edge at the right end of the large fragment is an object which may be a bag. The earliest scene is also the one that is best preserved (Pl. XIVc). Not less than thirteen figures (there were more originally) of armed hunters are shown in three registers of which the middle contains three larger figures. One of these is a headless “ harlequin” painted half white, half red ; the second figure wears a white loincloth in addition to the leopard skin and the third is shown all white but for a leopard skin on its shoulder. The latter figure appears to be brandishing a stick or wand at two smaller and naked figures in the top row who are performing acrobatics. In the bottom row one of the two figures facing to the right—all others face left—appears to be a musician beating a drum, In the top row the third figure from the left is shown holding a small animal and the next figure holds both a bow and an arrow. The other figures are armed with a bow and throwing stick or with two bows. All figures are attired in skins of leopards worn stiffly round the waist and in addition they wear caps of leopard skin on the head. Many wear pendants round the neck and several of these flat stone pendants were found in this building. ‘The dancing scene is remarkably lively ; the drawing superb, perspec- tive is observed and motion well expressed. What is the meaning of this scene? It would appear that we have here a ritual hunting dance in which the hunters are actually disguised as leopards. As the leopard was evidently the most feared and dangerous animal in this forested regionEXCAVATIONS AT CATAL HUYUK 65 during the neolithic period as well as man’s rival in the hunt for wild cattle, deer, etc., man may well have sought to acquire ritually the power of his feared rival by disguise and one would expect that such a dance would be considered necessary to ensure the success of a new hunting season. It looks as if some such rite took place in this building where it was “recorded” on the wall. It is known that the bear hunters of the Upper Palaeolithic had similar rites and I personally think that the explanation offered above is reasonable and compatible with what is known about early hunting cults. What is equally clear is that all these wall paintings served a definite purpose. They were not painted for decorative purposes alone—art rarely is dissociated from religion—and this could not be clearer than from the fact that these paintings were subsequently hidden, i.e. either covered with white plaster and overpainted or hidden entirely. Not Jess than twenty coats of white plaster cover the three superimposed paintings just discussed and every painted surface at Gatal Hiiyiik was whitewashed over, whether it bore figural ornament or not. Why this is so we do not know, but one has a feeling that all paintings had a magic potency which eventually had to be preserved or hidden, after it had served its purpose. The discoveries of these Early Neolithic wall-paintings at Gatal Hiyiik is of more than ordinary interest for it concerns the archacologist as much as it does the art historian or the student of early religions. There are many things we do not understand and perhaps never shall, but it is hoped that many questions will be answered when better preserved buildings are found in lower levels. One of the tasks of future seasons of excavation will be to elucidate the beginnings of this remarkable art, not only the wall-paintings, but the plastic art as well, and relate it to that of the ceramic red floors or the Mesolithic rock paintings at Beldibi, if not to that of even earlier periods, about which to this day virtually nothing is known in Anatolia. ‘That the Anatolian plateau played an important role in early man’s culture history in the neolithic and early chalcolithic periods (seventh and sixth millennia p.c.), that is during the dawn of civilization, needs, we hope, no further demonstration. This first preliminary report, necessarily brief, has dealt with the results of only forty days’ work with a modest average labour force of twenty-five men. It is far too early to generalize or draw conclusions, but I cannot help feeling that we are here at this enormous neolithic site on the threshold of revealing what in all fairness may well be called a neolithic civilization, which flourished during the seventh and the beginning of the sixth millennium s.c. [We are most grateful to the Editor of Archaeology for the gift of the colour blocks reproduced on Plates XVII-XVIII, which have already been printed in that journal (Vol. 15, No. 1)—Eprror.]