ÇATALHÖYÜK: "it's about the people" - 7,000 BC mega-site revealed.

[@jenniferlevine5406]

Excellent documentary! Totally professional and very informative. Thanks for the insight and all the effort you two put in to bring us such high quality work!

[@JHaven-lg7lj]

One of the best channels out there, to be sure, and one of the very few I *always* make time for. Thank you both so much

[@GrinninPig]

Shhhhh

[@roxiepoe9586]

This is such a comfortable format. It was like getting to hang out in the room with one's favorite professors. As long as I stayed quiet, they might go on for ages. I would just keep the sweet tea coming. (I'm from the southern USA. I'd supply whatever was customary to the attendees.)

[@cindysaroya1251]

You put into words very well the exact thoughts and feelings I have while watching this; also, sweet tea sounds excellent, or perhaps a nice Arnold Palmer?

[@almister]

I prefer a english breakfast tea blended with an earl grey (which itself is a blend) with some semi skimmed milk and no sugar. But I am not a professor and you would find my ramblings tedious at best and disconcerting at worst😂

[@helenamcginty4920]

I like my tea made with black leaves, no tea bag, and no milk or sugar. Just tea leaves and hot water.

[@BillBoulton-js8ns]

As you continue to “dig deeper “ the only thing being unearthed are a boat load of “dumb ass” questions from my head. All of which would take daily 3 hour tutorials and a library full of research papers. Please keep this stuff coming. Yours, A humble chef

[@katyaflippinov9197]

I don't think you're trying to be rude, so I won't be either. If your interest is sincere, how could any of your questions be dumb-ass? I got interested in Paleo when I was 7, with a couple of tiny photos of Las Caux, France. It's been a life-long love and fascination. Welcome to the club!😊

[@allen394]

I discovered your channel about a month ago and I have been binge watching your back catalogue eversince. Fascinating, informative and dare I say humorous when appropriate.

[@StoneRileyArtist]

Brilliant discussion!! Wonderfully informative!! You guys really put the pieces together with this.

[@gordonstewart8258]

It would be very interesting to hear what an archaeologist from one or the Puebloan communities would have to say about Catalhoyuk.

[@karolabryant2798]

The oldest villages on the slopes of the Azores have a similar format. ❤

[@1234cheerful]

Yes it would!

[@GildaLee27]

Was thinking the same thing.

[@GildaLee27]

Was thinking the same thing.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

The universality of tents as temporary or mobile structures points to the existence of aliens. 🙄

[@henrimacaulay835]

I like this new format guys!

[@TheWonderwy]

Oh yes! Thank you! This is lovely.

[@lulubelle0bresil]

love the content AND the format - kudos gents!

[@sharonwhitfield4160]

Great mini film as always...so informative & so accessible to the non professional that requires depth & substance like myself. It's your strength guys, thankyou so much 😊

[@Lerie2010able]

Thank you for another interesting and informative video - living my archaeological life vicariously via your journeys and enjoying every minute.

[@thundercatshooo600]

Another great video guys! You've played a BIG part in the reason I've been visiting amazing sites throughout Europe; like Dolmen de Menga in Spain, Newgrange in Ireland, La Hougue Bie Passage Grave in Jersey UK, Ruin Stones in Sweden, Carnac in Brittanny and many... many more. Thank you.

[@allisonbyrd8523]

I'm doing the same... India, UK, Spain, Egypt, Japan, US, Ireland etc I need to go back to Turkey.

[@thundercatshooo600]

@@allisonbyrd8523 If you get the chance, visit the Dolmens in South Korea.

[@henrikwilladsen2172]

This is your best format so far - a lot of very interesting information in a very dens time, that keeps your audience paying attention and wanting more. And as a viewer of this content is makes your mind speculate in all sort of directions. Excellent!

[@LadyLeda2]

Thank you guys. How extraordinary that this site was covered up all those years ago for us to dig up and learn how our ancestors lived. It is in almost pristine condition. I see you are selling merchandise. I want a T-shirt. Thanks!!!

[@gmze.b]

I love the concept of the video. With this Q&A concept, it's more enjoyable and easier to understand the different features of the sites. :) Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. Appreciated.

[@chiperchap]

Super enjoyable chat that fellas :) very interesting stuff.

[@glittermama]

Fascinating! These female figures, particularly the enthroned figure, seem to reinforce Maria Gambutas's theory of the mother goddess. The goddess or matriarch on the throne is seen frequently in other ancient cultures as well. What I found interesting was the agricultural aspect of the culture with the additional presence of animal paintings, suggesting both farming and hunter-gatherer societies, which I thought you might discuss. In such a permanently settled region, I'm wondering if it's possible to speculate on the role of hunting. Did perhaps hunting parties follow the herds and return? This society seems to breach two types of existence; the wall art resembles cave paintings, which may have been a cultural memory along with a settled agricultural life and fixed burial customs. Thanks for this video.

[@paintingtracey]

Love this format! Great video guys!

[@Sibyle79]

Yay! I've been so excited about this video! 🎉

[@mikkel6938]

The production value of this video is top notch boys! How lovely it is to learn so many new things about this site. Cheers!

[@buckynick]

Great presentation🌍

[@qarljohnson4971]

Have to say "excellent job!" on the efficient editing here. So many YT channels ramble on, that I often block them, just for wasting my time. Here, the PG team has greatly improved their "watchibility".

[@gowanhewlett745]

Fascinating. Thankyou. A most engaging format and presenters.

[@rhondakiblinger7339]

Very professional and great interpretation of the most recent science, Bravo! Loved this one.

[@christmasmoore6880]

Beautiful -- the information is so clearly presented and organized. This is the best documentary on the subject that I've seen so far.

[@lesleytaranthamusic2851]

Just fascinating!!! Another great video! Love how you guys just point out that nothing is really definitive...and this culture is just fascinating to speculate over...based on things that have been found...or not found yet!

[@marcellacruser951]

I love the idea of a fostering, highly nurturing society. Thanks for this one, guys. It's gorgeous.

[@RolftheRed]

I'm just gobsmacked by your vids educating and opening new doors for me. Goodness me, for years now your content and sources have been astonishing. Thank you again!

[@sillybeeful]

A fascinating watch…. Thanks Guys 🙏🏼🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🥃🥃🥃

[@ilonasummers4073]

Wonderful, very informative and entertaining at the same time!😊

[@anatomicallymodernhuman5175]

The burial characteristics you mentioned are perfectly consistent with ancestor worship. That explains both why children and young people aren’t buried in the North ends - they died before they could leave descendants - and why outsiders weren’t buried there - their descendants, if they have any, live elsewhere. Passing around a doctored skull also implies ancestor worship, or at least veneration. The Northward burial makes sense from a symbolic point of view. Ancient peoples tended to be East-oriented due to the importance of sunrise in daily life. North, then, is on the left hand side - the side universally associated with darkness, harm, and death; the English word sinister comes from the Latin word for left hand or left side. The right hand is associated with light, life, and goodness. Thus, you live on the South side, the right side, of your East-facing world.

[@saucywench9122]

This is absolutely fascinating. Thank you to everyone for everyone for putting this together. The value attached to the skulls of the dead is so curious and yet heartfelt. Out of all the cultural internment rites and rituals we've learned of throughout history, the ones practiced by these people fascinate me the most. The possible aspect of the fostering in the culture brings forth lots of different questions about the complexity of the society as well. These people were obviously thoughtful and complex. I will definitely want to follow this site.

[@35eb35]

Thank you for the documentary. It's amazing to see how incredible this excavation even we had only 5% of the entire settlement. Keep this kind of great documentary coming please!

[@lindadaniel9745]

Really excellent. Thank you felllas

[@chrishowe4864]

You commented that the storage area appears to be on the north side of the dwelling, and that it is not clear why that was so. Well, you'd want your storage area to be cool. It is pretty clear to me that the north side would be the cooler side of the dwelling - south facing walls receive the most solar radiation (in the Northern Hemisphere) That is the same reason that moss tends to grow on the north side of trees.

[@gaufrid1956]

This was the first major prehistoric site in Turkey that I heard about. I even had a book from the 1980's that had a chapter about it, mentioning how the houses were accessed through the roof, and there were burials under sleeping areas in the houses. It also mentioned the practice of plastering skulls to make a representation of the deceased person. It would seem that an obsidian industry was there, and obviously also there was brick making and baking of bread. If 8000 people lived there, I'd think some organisations must have existed. Something like the guilds in the Middle Ages, or a large version of tribal councils. Where there is manufacturing, one would expect trade as well. As you said, so much about the lives of people there seems alien to us, but yet intriguing. I think also the debate about whether or not a community was egalitarian has been applied to sites in the Indus Valley civilisation as well, such as Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. They are about a thousand years younger, but also larger.

[@batoncharge]

That makes it about 50 year old information, nothing new here, 😊

[@ruthcherry3177]

Fabulous! Superbly well put together - you guys doing what you do so well! Thank you.

[@jr3389]

Thank you for the amazingly informative videos. Keep it up please!

[@dabneyapplechunks]

Thank you! You are really on a roll… 😄

[@johnthomas845]

Absolutely Fantastic! This is perhaps the most interesting and enjoyable discussion on this site I've seen to date, and I've seen quite a few. Great Format with Beautifully Edited Content! You guys never disappoint but this one of the best "KZbin-documentaries" I've seen in quite some time. Hope to see many more like this! (I'm sure it was a hell-of-a-lot of work - But Please, May We Have Some More)

[@billybradford]

I really like this method of editing, to go back and forth like this. It keeps the thing moving along, but still loads of good information from each PHG.

[@StargazerFS128]

I love what you both have done here, this professionally done documentary style format is great, you gentlemen are doing archaeology a great service.

[@fredriks5090]

The haplogroup most closely associated with domesticating cattle also happens to be from the same region. My guess is that these Megalithic sites were used to trade milk, cheese and grains and most importantly, livestock itself, as a means for specialized tribes to trade their excess with tribes that have made more of other things than themselves. In short, it's the stone age version of a city, before the need for cities were a thing. It's a seasonal complex where peoples could meet and trade in common, but likely had "priests" or staff that kept the place ready for the seasonal meetings and travellers. That's just my opinion so far.

[@GRMNCVS]

Your explanation makes ALL the sense. I read in another comment on another video that, as you hypothesize, first sedentary settlements were a means to trade resources seasonally by different tribes. That comment also suggested that old and disabled people from all those tribes could reside all year around. Also, it could function as a warehouse for valuables and, as you said, excess of crops.

[@valeriebrown6079]

Decision making, marriages, storytelling and culture definition. I imagine their equivalents of parliaments.

[@m.6292]

I'm alil late to this party, but glad I found you guys. Good stuff, thanx!

[@radinelle]

Very interesting, I particularly like the idea of fostering the children of others. It may just be for apprenticeship . Great job, thank you.

[@jacob.munkhammar]

I was there in 1992. At the time there was more or less just a hut, and the excavations had barely started. But there was a guide who told us about the site. The experience was profound in an undefinable way and one that is always resonating with me. There is one thing that I have been wondering since then. While standing on the top of the mound (for lack of a better word) I could see at least a handfull other mounds of the same size and shape in the distance on the surrounding, very flat plain, and I thought they must (or at least could) be other similar settlements. But I have not heard, then or since, of any such other settlements. Was I just imagining or fantasizing?

[@jonm7272]

Fascinating, and I really enjoyed the format. I would be very interested to hear how they managed waste, particularly sewage, with such a high population density this would of course be hugely important. The suggested excellent life expectancy suggests they had some very efficient systems in place?

[@acidkween]

Excellent work, Prehistory Guys. Thank You!

[@erpthompsonqueen9130]

Thank you so much. Watching from Alaska. 🤔 So grateful for work.

[@eastcoastartist]

This is AMAZING

[@aidanmacdougall9250]

Another fascinating video. I do hope you will visit buster ancient (Neolithic) farm for a comparison of how folk lived at the time of Stonehenge construction. I have a massive disconnect with how advanced they were in the fertile crescent, Mesopotamia & Egypt, while we seem 1000s of years behind in North west Europe! I hope you might also look into the work of Howard Crowhurst (also on YT) on the mathematics and geometry of sites like Carnac, Stonehenge and the temple of King Gudea of Girso in Mesopotamia (c2144bc) which show incredible advanced mathematics and geometry at the times! Many thanks for bringing us these stunning videos 😊

[@jaspermolenaar1218]

The interview format works really well, very nice presentation!

[@michellerenner6880]

Entrance through the roof - oh that makes so much sense.

[@PhilowenAster]

I think the burials of the elders actually suggests that *they* were the leaders--if only of their family units.

[@rdklkje13]

The style of those wall paintings reminds me so much of the rock carvings in Tanum. The people in them, that is, especially the figures in the corner to the right of the guy with the "net".

[@RawBogan]

Absolutely superb video. Thanks fellas!

[@brendacooper5729]

I wonder about the big piggy looking creature that seems to be being attacked by people, a few of whom are headless, the body looks like a pig but the ears look more like horns, the bull skulls with horns in the room lead to believe it is a bull or a bull pig hybrid. I wonder if this could be a precursor of Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven Inanna sent to slay him? Seems to me a lot of myths survive in some form, and maybe this wall is the beginning of that one. If I recall correctly giant rather nasty boars show up in more that one Oral History.

[@dirtfarmer7070]

Those boars are still nasty....

[@lg9586]

Excellent 👌 presentation and explanation.

[@lengnauer78]

Wonderful discussion and presentation. I felt like I was there. One question: The very last statement I had a hard time understanding with my poor hearing, even with my earbuds: "It would be a bit of a shock if they found XXX." Found what? Thanks to anyone for helping me.

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Found a T-pillar! A bit of a Göbekli Tepe joke. Thanks for the kind words. M😊

[@YarrowPressburg]

Living in farming all my adult life you don’t need any ruling class all is based on water management.

[@roystewart4826]

Hi `these people who slime up to the surface of the pond should and must be obeyed cheat and lie their way through life and call themselves our leaders your 100% right we don’t need any of them starting with the royals of this planet

[@almister]

But was it not having a surplus that led to a priestly class of buerecrats ?

[@evancurran3438]

Water management requires a gigantic administrative bureaucracy

[@bwhitedpencilbox889]

⁠@@almister there are cultural norms and ways to discharge excess, like the potlatch traditions from the people of the pacific north west.

[@lowersaxon]

For farming you dont need a ruling class, but for anything else you do. The ruling class is the warrior class and the priest class and in Sumer and China there was a class of administrators for irrigation management, a middle class so to speak together with artisans, merchants and others.

[@qwertyuiop1st]

Çatalhöyük may be an example from the time period between 'organizing a hierarchy for practicality' and the people at the top of the hierarchy figuring out that they could use their power to 'get more' and exploit people.

[@GrahamCLester]

Beautifully done, as usual.

[@JeanPickering-s1z]

Thank you so much for your very informative video Enjoyed thoroughly.

[@lnbjr7]

I thank you for presenting an incredible narrative. This video is a Jewell!

[@GlassEyedDetectives]

What a wonderful reconstruction of those rooms...of course they were not furnished with modern lighting but that being said; fire and pil lamps would have made for a cosy place to be all tucked up in, out of the elements at night. As for group cohesion; Terence McKenna may shed some light on that.

[@kennedyjames007]

It would be very interesting to see what impact it might have on society if we started teaching all this prehistory in primary schools and Sunday schools before we teach “history” and the baggage that goes with it.

[@dianespears6057]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[@vicromaker7692]

First off, very well done! Second, it seems like the community gathering place might just be up on the roofs! :)

[@fleurdickinson5626]

Really great. Another place on my bucket list to visit now.

[@george46light]

Listening to you guys is not only informative, but also entertaining and meditative

[@cafeanthropos]

Thanks for this magnificent video. It's great to see this very interesting site in it and learn so many interesting facts.

[@thetapeloops9522]

Anarchists would argue it's not a problem to organise a community of 8,000 people into an egalitarian society. It was perhaps a golden age of sorts, before the rise of the king ruled city states

[@dontnoable]

There's that dawn of everything book isn't there by David Graeber and the other one. Looks very interesting

[@Licensed_To_Chill]

I read a little about this in the book "The Dawn Of Everything". I guess the fundamental question is, why is all the wall art so focused on the hunting way of life, when the people of this city were apparently experimenting with farming on the alluvial plains near where they lived? Is it that they saw agriculture, or perhaps more accurately, seasonal farming and gardening, as a way to supplement what they considered their primary way of life: the hunt? It's fascinating to think about, and we may never know the answer. But clearly, this transition from hunting, gathering, and foraging to farming of domesticated crops was not a linear process and Neolithic societies were very much aware of the limitations and drawbacks of agriculture compared to the bounty of food they could gather.

[@MrYeahnahmate]

Excellent documentary. Thanks.

[@HypaBumfuzzle]

My most favorite history lads, slamming another one out of the park, as usual💪💪 thank you for all your hard work sirs❤

[@andrewswanlund]

Great dialog, thanks, good work!

[@bjrockensock]

was there a central square or a market agora? would there have been roads to go to the next town or would they have just canoed up or down to the next place? if they were burying in the north of the structures, will more of these settlements also be found to the north, perhaps on the shores of the Black Sea?

[@barbarapalmer1404]

Wonderful, so evocative!

[@edspencer7198]

Wonderfully informative as ever, with open discussion. But, whose bookcase is that in the back of the shots?

[@thefisherking78]

What a fascinating place. I hope to live long enough to learn a lot more about it

[@deepquake9]

So happy I found the channel.

[@lewiswarburton1224]

Great video, thanks! I like the 'talking heads' format, but be honest; is it just you two talking to each other?

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Kind of. We just asked each other those prearranged questions and this is the heavily edited composite of what came out. Thank you Lewis. M😊

[@lewiswarburton1224]

@ThePrehistoryGuys Well, it's very engaging. And fascinating as always. Catal Huyuk seems like one of those early experiments in living that worked just fine , but wasn't the progenitor any later settlements. Or am I wrong about that?

[@maryeberle8994]

The net on the wall painting reminds me of the towel waved in front of a bull in a bullfight.

[@susyrosyworzy]

Always intrigued me - why no doors? I was interested to see that hut in the much smaller development had a doorway. Was it just there wasn’t enough room in the bigger area?

[@CassandraHowe-ho7op]

Awesome

[@ozgurtaskent9490]

Very nice documentary! Would you please tell me who the interlocutors are?

[@MrGaborseres]

Fascinating 👀👍

[@paul6925]

The way they dealt with their dead has some serious Norman Bates serial killer vibes 😮

[@TheAussieRod]

Very good presentation, thank you. What was the average number of children per house/family?

[@ava.artemis]

Very interesting , thank you. I have so many questions I’d love to see a video 2-3 x as long. 😂

[@missfriscowin3606]

How on earth could people live in one place for 1500+ years with BlackRock buying up huts 😏

[@analiviaminsk1171]

how long a human would live like at that naked and afraid tv show right?

[@RonBurgess]

They paid rent

[@missfriscowin3606]

@@RonBurgess hehehe

[@Alienalloy]

perfect Saturday night viewing (in my man cave) whilst the Mrs watches the football!

[@junitawilde3663]

Brilliant as always! Just one question,why do you assume that the same family/group of people lived day to day in the same house? Is property ownership not some alien to the earlier people/cultures? Maybe this is why the buriels under the houses are not related?

[@jandlouhy6914]

The density of built-up area point to imposibility of keeping live stock in this place ,setlement was permanent so it is centre of centraly organised hierarchic society ,some kind of protective fortifications could be discovered on the perimeter .

[@carolegarland8050]

Hi Both, fascinating as usual, and brought many speculations as to when farming arose and how meat and fish were provided. If people were living until 60 years of age there was surely a division of wealth usually only thought of as modern. A town of this size needed all sorts of administrative skills. early thoughts for me which I know you will answer in time.

[@nicolelaw4469]

Wow this is great, wish I found your channel earlier! Subscribed

[@jonathandavies6839]

All the best from Costa Rica ,.,

[@anitarohanchalmer8531]

The painting with the boomerangs remind me of the Bradshaw paintings from northern Australia where they wear the boomerangs on their hips in the same way

[@yoke-munchan1813]

Saw a upload the other day on how industrial revolution in the weaving industry changed many lives. It was a program on making strings, and cloths. With what you say 8k worth of folks, that's lots of cloths needed besides hides from animals. Lots of spinning needed. Lots of kids, like a skill guild to train from young age. A place to teach and produce, folks sent their youth to come to learn ?

[@veronicalogotheti1162]

Thank you