STAMP SEALS 1997 Archive Report "Stamp Seals"
These seals are made of baked clay and bear incised ornaments with many different shapes apart from the classical shapes known from other Levant & S.E European Neolithic stamp seals.
Examples of Çatalhöyük stamps seals
These are just 2 of 351 pics regarding seal stamps, please view more HERE.
It is not known for sure what they were used for, either stamping ownership, counting, decorating textiles and pottery have all been suggested. However they do suggest a skilful and complex society.
GRAVE GOODS
1997 Archive Report - Grave Goods
Bearing in mind these burials were within the walls of the dwellings, the grave goods are truly amazing, an example:
In 1996 a bracelet of 44 dentalium shell beads was found around the arm of skeleton 1924 and two pendants - one of bone and one of stone - were found below the chin of the same skeleton. During 1997 six further items were recovered from heavy residue left unsorted last year - two more dentalium beads; three stone beads, all of different colour and type and another bone pendant. This was clearly the other half of the one found last year, which had been broken and then reworked.
Some photos of grave goods:
There are over 5,000 pics to be found
HERE.
ARCHITECTURE CATAL HOYUK ARCHITECTURE
The site above gives a very accurate and succinct description of Çatalhöyük architecture.
The entrances to the attached buildings were via the ceilings. This style of architecture can still be found in the eastern provinces of Turkey. Despite being very close in proximity to one another, the houses display separate walls with a small gap between them. The walls were built with sun-dried mud bricks supported by wooden beams. This technique is called "himis" and is still utilised in certain areas of Anatolia. The small doorways in the houses are thought to have been for small domestic animals to get in and out. The inhabitants of Catal Hoyuk used the flat roof tops as a means of getting from one dwelling to another. The roofs were made from clay, wood and reeds and measured approximately 60 centimetres in width. The roof tops were a convenient place to carry out daily activities as the interiors of the houses had poor light and ventilation.
However, the author describes the architecture as being in a childhood period, but I disagree, according to Hodder:
There is an 'oven' in the south wall near what was probably the ladder entrance from the roof, and a hearth near the oven. An obsidian cache occurred by this hearth. A main platform occurred in the centre of the east wall, with benches on its north and south sides. Along the north wall a step occurred and the main platform was in the northwest corner surrounded in red paint. In the centre of the west wall there were traces of sculpture within a well-defined panel. Nearby, a later collapsed 'arch' may have been in place from this phase. Burials began under the north and east platforms.
They must have been one of the first to even contemplate interior design!
Onsite reconstruction of Catal Hoyuk house
Wall painted red
It is not exactly known why the horns of cattle adorn many of the walls in the homes of these Neolithic people. Obviously it is out of some sense of respect to the animal, it has been theorised that the platform in front of the horns is a place of ritual or worship.
In all the homes the religious paintings and statues have the heads of animals with horns. Some houses have peculiar differences to them; for example, small areas found are considered to be areas of worship. According to current thinking, when an important member of a house died, the house was emptied and closed.
Childlike Stage!! I strongly disagree!
OBSIDIAN TRADE
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock. It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools without crystal growth.
It is only found in a few locations, and has for several millennia been used to make arrows, cutting tools and worked ornaments and trinkets.
In Çatalhöyük, Obsidian has been found cached within the walls of houses and buildings. Çatalhöyük is approximately 140 km (87 mi) from the twin-coned volcano of Hasan Dağ. A source of Obsidian. Obsidian from the region has been traced as far East as China, and to Syria and the Mediterranean.
The significance of his is quite great, the Silk Route was considered to be the earliest example of sustained ancient trade, but the hoarding of this mineral combined with the occurrence of it in far flung places actually suggests that our Neolithic City was far more advanced and trading thousands of years before anyone else.
Obsidian Cache in Situ
Well ATS, I have brought you just a taste of the information that is out there. I am exhausted otherwise I could go on for ever, but I hope this has been enlightening for you.
I wasn't aware of these remarkable people and their 14 hectare city until recently.
Imagine what treasure awaits under the other %95!
All the best ATS, Kiwifoot!
Panoramic View Of The Dig
SOURCES
ARCHIVE REPORTS
Çatalhöyük Image Database
Çatalhöyük Wiki
CATAL HUYUK Local Histories
Çatalhöyük Excavation Site
[edit on 18-1-2010 by kiwifoot]
), the mother goddess figurine found seems to be in a style more at home in the paleolthic age(in fact it looks
remarkably like the 'Venus of Willendorf' which has been dated to approximately 24,000 to 22,000BC). 
