Reading Response 1: Çatalhöyük

Çatalhöyük:

 An early urbanization model.

7400 BCE. Population 8000. No streets.

http://www.ritualgoddess.com/aboutcatalhuyuk.htm

  Constructed of mud bricks and wooden posts, this honeycomb patterned city was built without streets or passageways. Inhabitants moved about along the rooftops of the city and lived below,  accessed by ladder through holes in the roof. 

http://www.ritualgoddess.com/aboutcatalhuyuk.htm

  The family unit lived in one main room. Walls were plastered and often painted with scenes depicting the local landscape or hunting adventures. There was no central communal sacred space, so each house had its own shrine with bull horns and bones from the deceased.

http://leavingbabylon.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/catal2.jpg

http://www.catalhoyuk.com/history.html

 

To the left, a plan from the archeaological site as we can render it to the best of our knowledge.

Below, a plan of the city of Washington, DC. This relatively modern urban plan incorporates streets and passageways, but the general geometric pattern remains. 

http://www.thenowpass.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/LEnfant_plan.jpg

The patterns of urban development in Çatalhöyük and those of modern cities like Washington, DC both include repetitive geometric shapes. Studying these ancient civilizations can shed light on humanity’s intuitive urbanization plans.

http://globalheritagefund.org/images/uploads/projects/catal_overview_main.jpg

*All information regarding Çatalhöyük is from our class texts: Ching & Roth.