Introduction to Catalhoyuk
As early as the 1960s, archaeologists felt that Catalhoyuk was something special. And not only because the Neolithic settlement was one of the oldest inhabited places in the world. The researchers believed that women had an increased social position in Catalhoyuk, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site in today’s Türkiye. But this assumption was only based on figures that they had found and assumed that they represent anatolian mother gods.
Discovery of a Matrilineal Society
Only with the methods of modern archeology were researchers able to convert their feelings into practice: 9,000 years ago, society in the Catalhoyuk revolved around women. An international research team has published their findings in the journal Science. The researchers came to their conclusion after examining 131 skeletons that they had discovered directly under the houses in the houses that had lived in the people in Catalhoyuk. The DNA analysis showed that people who were buried under the same house were often related – on the side of their mother.
Matrilineal Households
In other words, when a man and a woman entered a partnership in the Neolithic settlement, they moved into the woman’s family, not in that of the man. Households were formed matrilineal. And there was another indication that women had a higher status than men: archaeologists found the grave goods buried with female bodies up to five times than with male. This suggests that women played a significant role in the society and were possibly held in higher esteem than men.
Was Catalhoyuk a Matriarchy?
In the recent past, patrilineal households in which women move into the family of their male partner after marriage – and formed a patriarchy. The opposite means that the residents of Catalhoyuk, from around 7100 to 6000 BC, lived in a matriarchy? Not necessarily. A prehistoric archaeologist notes that nothing tells you whether a society is matrilal or patroilocal about who has power. But these things often go hand in hand.
Unique DNA Source
If you like, the usable DNA for the genetic analysis was not an easy task for the researchers. Catalhoyuk was in a region with a continental climate with strong fluctuations between winter and summer. Under these conditions, even teeth that until recently were known as one of the best DNA sources do not last forever. However, there is a tiny part of the human body, which has turned out to be the perfect DNA source under undesirable conditions, for example in the Catalhoyuk region: the petroleous part of the temporal bone in the inner ear. It’s like a DNA safe!
Change Children with Neighbors
By analyzing the material in this "DNA safe", researchers discovered the matrilineal relationship between people who were buried under the same house. But not all people who were buried under the same house were related. The archaeologists assume that it was not common in the Catalhoyuk Society to change children, so that their child would grow up nearby in another family. This was probably done to ensure the same distribution of resources, and refers to society, which appreciates the idea of the same rights for everyone. If your own child grows up three doors below, you will probably not only stand up for your household to get the best of everything.
From Matriarchy to Patriarchy
But how has a society that evaluates equality and focused on women, became the patriarchy that has dominated Central Europe in the recent past? This is the next exciting question. The answer to this question remains unknown, leaving room for further research and exploration into the history of Catalhoyuk and its significance in understanding the development of human societies.
