Archaeologists find ancient matrilineal society in Turkiye’s Catalhoyuk

Catalhoyuk, Turkiye – About an hour southeast of Konya lies one of the most exciting Neolithic finds of the 20th century – the densely populated settlement of Catalhoyuk.

Occupied for 1,000 years from about 7000 to 6000 BC, Catalhoyuk has drawn archaeologists since its discovery in 1958 as they have tried to piece together how its society worked.

A recent genomics study published in the journal Science revealed that Catalhoyuk’s gender dynamics made it unique among European Neolithic settlements.

The discovery centres around matrilocality, the fact that women remained in their homes while males were more likely to move away when they reached adulthood.

The study’s 46 authors “estimated that 70 to 100% of the time, female offspring remained connected to buildings”, in contrast to other European Neolithic communities, which were patrilineal and patrilocal.

Catalhoyuk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is possibly the world’s first city with clusters of buildings, agricultural production, rituals and even ornamentation.

Today, its remains are in two large tells, or mounds, that have formed over successive generations that built, demolished and built again on the sites.

The homes in Catalhoyuk were built directly on top of one another. Excavations have found about 18 layers of construction, leading to a theory that its inhabitants filled in the lower level of buildings, demolished any structures above them and built new homes on top.