Turkey’s Catalhöyük: A Victim of Climate Change
These days, the dusty, sunbaked ruins of Çatalhöyük in central Turkey do not receive a lot of attention, except from tourists and archaeologists, but around 9,000 to 7,000 years ago it was a busy, bustling, Neolithic metropolis, boasting a farming civilization that was both unique and important in its day. However, having scarcely recovered from the end of the Younger Dryas Ice Age, the world was again hit with a climate catastrophe round about this time. The weather changed abruptly, leading to cooler, dryer summers for much of the Northern Hemisphere. Exactly what happened is anyone's guess, but the trigger is called the 8.2-Kiloyear Event, named after the fact that it happened 8,200 years ago.
The 8.2-Kiloyear Event
One plausible explanation is that a huge melt water pulse occurred when the Laurentide Ice Sheet in North America, having already played a huge part in terms of changing global weather patterns at the end of the Younger Dryas, finally collapsed. Two immense glacial lakes, now called Ojibwa and Agassiz, located along the Canadian/North American border, suddenly drained into the North Atlantic. This released the equivalent of almost 50 Amazon Rivers’ worth of fresh water and disrupted the natural flow of the currents which bring warm equatorial water north, where it cools and then flows south again in a never ending circle that is recognized as an important regulator of current climate conditions.
With that much cold glacial melt water suddenly dumped into the system, all kinds of terrible things happened. The result was what is today called climate change. The impact of such a sudden cooling of the earth's atmosphere might not have occurred as rapidly as it did a few thousand years earlier at the beginning of the Younger Dryas, but it would have had a devastating effect on the relatively new agricultural civilization that had begun to flourish in Anatolia, having spread out from Göbekli Tepe and then to Sumer, Egypt, and beyond.
Probably 10,000 or more people lived at Catalhöyük in southern Anatolia, and most of them seemed to have been obsessed with plaster. They used it to line the walls of their houses and to create works of art. They even coated the skulls of some of their dead with it. Above all, they used it to glaze their pottery, and that is why archaeologists today can learn a lot about how the early inhabitants of Çatalhöyük reacted to the climate change.
Dietary Stress
The journal Science, report that a team of researchers led by biochemists Mélanie Roffet-Salque and Richard Evershed of the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, and archaeologist Arkadiusz Marciniak at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, decided to examine potsherds from Çatalhöyük to determine the content of animal fat that had soaked into the pots made by the ancient potters. Their thinking was that dramatic climate change might show up in the amounts and kinds of feed the animals had been eating before their butchered meat was stored in clay pots. In other words, they were looking for evidence of dietary stress.
Using a technique called gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, they determined that the ratio of the isotope deuterium, or heavy hydrogen, rose by about nine percent in relation to other hydrogen isotopes from the samples. This amount differed from both earlier and later samples. Lower precipitation results in higher ratios of heavy hydrogen. So, the drought was real, long lasting, and had a profound effect on the ancient civilization. The studies showed that livestock had been severely affected by the drought. They also found evidence from butchered bones which indicated that fewer cattle were being raised at the same time the goat herds were growing in numbers. Cattle require more grain than goats, so goats can survive drought more economically. The people were also butchering earlier and more cleanly, indicating that meat was at a premium.
At the same time, archaeologists discovered that the site's large, communal, city-like dwellings began to make way for smaller, individual family homes. This seems to point to a shift toward an independent lifestyle featuring self-sufficiency. Although Çatalhöyük architecture could very well have been gradually changing even before the swift, climatic event, and the switch from cattle to goats may have already begun before the drought, it is still worth examining to learn how even minor climate changes can have an effect on human civilizations.
Cults and Religion
In his book, Göbekli Tepe: Genesis of the Gods, Andrew Collins points out that:
"BC Dietrich, (Ph.D) author of The Origins of Greek Religion, [suggested] that the ritual activities practiced in Çatalhöyük's cult shrines had formerly been celebrated in primordial cave settings."
This may shed some light on a unique structural component of Çatalhöyük architecture. There are no doors and windows found in the city. The west wall of one house becomes the east wall of its neighbor's. Apparently, the inhabitants came and went by means of ladders through the roof, so the interior of the dwellings, which seem to have been kept scrupulously clean, must have appeared cave-like. Unlike the underground cities of Cappadocia, Çatalhöyük was built above ground. But the effect on those who lived there must have been eerily similar to living in a cave. Perhaps this hints to the lingering remnant of a religion that traces its roots back all the way to the great painted caves of western Europe some 35,000 to 40,000 years ago.
Strangely enough, however, that spirituality, as well as the cult-like religion of Çatalhöyük, was connected to the stars. ‘As above, so below’, could very well have been a central doctrine of the religion. A world existed above, in the skies, and another below, on the earth. This is a central tenet of classic Shamanism and is expressed even today when Christians pray: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." What were the ancients thinking when they went deep into the earth in order to paint pictures of the heavens on walls and ceilings?
There are no buildings identified as religious temples in the town, but it has nevertheless been called the ‘first religious created city’ by more than a few researchers. Morgan Freeman visited it in the 2016 National Geographic Channel's tv series called The Story of God, which highlighted a search for the world's first religion. He found symbols portraying fertility, life and death by means of naturalistic human and animal forms and funereal practices. It appears as if an important spiritual cult existed there for a very long time.
Excarnation
The many painted vultures of Çatalhöyük indicate the presence of a kind of bird cult and the practice of a world-wide funeral practice called Excarnation. From Hawk and Eagle stone effigies in North America to Göbekli Tepe's Vulture Stone, the image of birds escorting human beings up into the afterlife appears universal. Such an escort is called a psychopomp and is sometimes portrayed as a swan or stork. This is the basis of the operatic ‘swan song’, sung before the hero makes his or her way to Valhalla. It is repeated by modern parents as well, when their answer to a child's question, "Where did I come from?", is often, "The stork brought you."
The constellation Cygnus the Swan, easily recognized by its prominent asterism, the Northern Cross, is reproduced time and again by cultures around the world, signifying a bird cult associated with the path of the soul from earth into the heavens. The road to the stars leads through the great northern rift in the Milky Way. Quoting Andrew Collins again, when he described Göbekli Tepe's Vulture Stone or Pillar 43:
"This identification with Cygnus, first noted by Professor Vachagan Vahradyn of the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University, is remarkable and unlikely to be a coincidence."
Cult of Skulls
There is more evidence of a religious nature found at Çatalhöyük, illustrated by what has been called a ‘cult of skulls’. Plastered skulls have been found, similar to those found further south in places such as Jericho. The skull of an adult male, buried in the arms of an adult female, raises all sorts of questions. Originally archaeologists thought this represented the veneration of ancestors, the skeletons of whom were often found buried beneath sleeping platforms, signifying possible ancestor worship. But many of the skulls were later proved to be those of children.
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When added together, all this evidence indicates that Çatalhöyük is a city that seems to be founded for various religious reasons—reasons that probably held the society together until its sinews began to stretch and collapse over time. Was this collapse the reason nearby Göbekli Tepe was deliberately buried? Did the Anatolian religion that grew out of the ashes of a catastrophic global event no longer adequately serve its people? If so, it might well have been the first time a religion died from lack of relevance in a changing world. This is speculation, of course, but speculation that grows out of artifacts and evidence.
Feminine Cult
Certainly, the carefully carved and beautifully finished female figurines discovered at Çatalhöyük are considered by many experts to be representations of goddesses. Others are doubtful, rightly claiming that archaeologists often jump to a religious explanation for almost everything. But a goddess cult associated with the supposed ‘miracle’ of birth is certainly a possibility. Twenty five percent of the rooms uncovered feature an altar dedicated to a feminine deity. The absence of class structures, seen by the lack of elite homes for a ruling class, is also common to a balance of masculine/feminine rule in society. Pictures of men featuring erect phalluses are reminiscent of the great painted caves of western Europe, many of which are decorated with red ochre, symbolizing that channel through which every human being enter into life from the womb of Mother Earth.
No Social Elite
A city as big as Çatalhöyük might be expected to produce archaeological evidence of specialization. Evidence of a social elite and large communal areas is also the rule in big cities. Instead, what seems to be a fairly even distribution of labor and resources is the case at Catalhöyük, especially in the early days of settlement.
Mounted heads of cattle and other animals adorn the walls of the dwellings of Çatalhöyük, and a painting of the village, including a view of the Hasan Dag mountain peaks in the background, is sometimes cited as being the world's oldest map. Other times it is called the world's oldest landscape painting.
Musicians might be intrigued by another interesting archaeological discovery at Çatalhöyük. One of the frescoes displays the oldest known representation of a drum, surrounded by more than 30 figures who appear to be dancing, many of whom are playing similar percussion instruments. They are pictured circling, some say baiting, a large bull, so the message seems to be that this was worship, rather than party time. Two of the characters hold what looks like single-string bows, similar to those found in parts of Africa. They are not weapons. They resemble a 15,000-year-old cave painting in France which displays a bow being played as a musical instrument.
But the most important aspect is this: The skin color of some of the figures is black, while others are white. Some of those who have black skin appear to be wearing leopard pelts. Africa is a long way from Çatalhöyük. What could this possibly mean? Obviously, there is a lot of information still to be gleaned from excavations at Çatalhöyük. Like all good mystery stories, it raises more questions than answers:
It seems that it was a flourishing civilization. Until it wasn't.
The lack of class-related structures might suggest a utopian society with no rulers. But maybe not.
Evidence of infighting seems to begin after a sufficient time passed for the inhabitants to begin accumulating possessions, perhaps indicating a societal evolution toward upper and lower classes that resulted in class warfare. But that may be reading current ideas into ancient evidence.
A Lesson in Climate Change
The one lesson to be learnt with a degree of confidence is that climate change played an important role in Çatalhöyük history. There is a good chance that what happened half a world away, the final melting of the glacial ice sheets in North America, affected daily life in the average citizen's life in Turkey.
Today glaciers in Greenland, Alaska, the Arctic region and Antarctica, are melting. There may be conflicting views as to the cause of the phenomenon, but people from Miami to Mumbai and other low-lying cities are already feeling the results. No-one can predict what is going to happen when the world's coastal cities drown. But it is happening, and a climate change of this magnitude calls for immediate action. The effects will be catastrophic if one does not prepare in advance. First, however, one has to admit that change is coming. That is why Çatalhöyük is so important. The evidence of the ancient lost ancestors’ coping strategies may yet teach a lesson to modern man.
Top Image: Çatalhöyük after the first excavations. Source: Omar hoftun/ CC BY-SA 3.0
By Jim Willis
References
Collins, A. 2014. Göbekli Tepe: Genesis of the Gods. Bear & Co.
Collins, A. 2006. The Cygnus Mystery. Watkins Publishing.
Collins, A. 2018. The Cygnus Key: The Denisovan Legacy, Göbekli Tepe, and the Birth of Egypt. Bear & Co.
Diamond, J. 2006. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Penguin.
Felser, J.M. 2005. The Way Back to Paradise: Restoring the Balance Between Magic and Reason. Hampton Roads Publishing.
Price, M. 2018. Animal fat on ancient pottery reveals a nearly catastrophic period of human prehistory. Science. Available at: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/08/animal-fat-ancient-pottery-shards-reveals-nearly-catastrophic-period-human-prehistory
Willis, J. 2019. Lost Civilizations: The Secret Histories and Suppressed Technologies of the Ancient. Visible Ink Press.
Willis, J. 2004. The Religion Book: Places, Prophets, Saints and Seers. Visible Ink Press
Sorry to raise this, but if there's a chance you could correct the error, I believe it would be well worth it in terms of preserving the article's credibility and accuracy. In the sentence that begins, "This is a central tenant of classic Shamanism...," the word you want is "tenet" ("element of belief"), not "tenant" ("renter or lease-holder of a property"). I see this malapropism a lot and, besides wrecking the whole argument, it drives me crazy.
Hi, I DO have a member’s subscription but I’ll have to get the correct email address.
I am reconstructing the Picts Origin Story, which is based on descent from King Brutus of Troy, lineage.
And part of that story is that our original Eve, hailed from Lake Van.
These people were the original
‘Faires and Hobgoblins’ of yore, and they seem to have been telepathic, and were called the “long skulls”, by us Aryans.
Telepathic in the sense that they had their neighbors terrified to go near their mounds, because you may receive an injury without physical contact.
And, for me, the fact that they had no openings in their homes, confirms that unbroken frequencies were important to them.
However, they were not alone.
In South Africa there are millions of ancient ‘camps’, built in idiosyncratic manner, which, for me, seem to reflect a non-geometric, or ‘Frequency’ culture, (sic).
And there was a wall running from Nigeria, south, which the British Army destroyed.
A sort of defense against these ‘telepathic’ types?