Category Lost Civilizations

               We know about ancient civilizations on the Anatolian plateau from murals, and excavations of sites at Gobekli Tepe and Nevali Cori. The mural paintings at Catal Huyuk are the oldest in the world on human built structures. The animals shown have been identified as bulls, horses, stag deer, bear and wild boar. The figures and scenes that are depicted suggest that hunting was very important at that time.

               At a place called Gobekli Tepe, archeologists have discovered massive carved stones about 11,000 years old, crafted and arranged by prehistoric people who had not yet developed metal tools. They believe that this is the site of the world’s oldest temple.

               Discoveries of settlements at Nevali, Cayonu, Hacilar, and Hoca Cesme all are evidence that the Anatolian plateau was the home of the most ancient civilizations.

               Anatolia is the portion of Turkey that extends from the Bosphorus and Aegean coast eastward to the borders of the Soviet Union, Iran, and Iraq. Because of its strategic location, at the intersection of Asia and Europe, Anatolia has been the centre of several civilizations, since prehistoric times. One of the first of these civilizations was at Catal Huyuk. It existed around the 7th millennium BC and was located in Central Anatolia.

               Catal Huyuk was one of the world’s first towns. Its houses were made of mud bricks, and were built touching against each other. They did not have doors, and houses were entered through hatches in roofs. Since, houses were built touching each other, the roofs must have acted as streets!

               The people of Catal Huyuk made clothes woven from wool. They also wore jewellery made of stone, bone and shell, and wove baskets of reeds. They made pottery, and they used obsidian, a hard volcanic rock to make tools and weapons. Craftsmen made dishes and boxes of wood.

               Catal Huyuk was abandoned about 5,000 BC, and then forgotten for thousands of years, till it was rediscovered by James Mellaart in 1958.

               You will find that the first civilizations were built around rivers. Do you know why? One reason was that rivers ensured a supply of water for farming, building, and washing, drinking, and cooking. The flood-waters of rivers made the land very fertile, and the rivers made transportation easy. Consequently, rivers helped in the development of trade and commerce. Rivers also inspired new technological and economic innovations and developments, like dams, dykes, sluices and canals. As a result, between 3000 and 2000 BC, river valley civilizations formed independently of each other along the Indus, the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates, and the Yellow Rivers. 

               Scientists say that the Earth may be as many as six billion years old, and that human beings in their present form first appeared around 100,000 years ago in Africa. The earliest humans lived by hunting, fishing, and collecting edible roots and fruits. Only some 10,000 years ago did they learn to cultivate plants, herd animals, and make airtight pottery for storage. These discoveries transformed them from gatherers to producers, and allowed them to grow in number and to lead a settled life. People also migrated from Africa to other parts of the world, and adapted to new climates and new conditions.

               Gradually, humans learned how to increase harvests through irrigation and other methods, making possible much larger populations. They came together in towns, cities, and other centres, where they erected impressive structures and where industry and commerce flourished. In time, different civilizations came into existence in various parts of the world.