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10,000 Year Ago in West Asia

Small part of the city of Catal Huyuk as it once looked Archaeological research at Tell Abu Hureyra, an ancient village on the Euphrates River in Syria, 120 km east of Aleppo, has added important new knowledge on how early farming developed. The earliest occupation of the village was in 9000 BC. A very large amount of seeds and grains were found, including large quantities of wheat and some grains of barley and rye; there were also plants from the pea family, like lentils and vetches, and a wide range of other edible fruits, nuts and seeds (unlike most plant material, seeds and grains do not rot quickly) . It appears that at least the wheat was being grown, while the rest likely represent gatherings from wild plants. The presence of both cereals and peas suggests that these early farmers might already have discovered that if these two types of crops are grown in rotation soil fertility is renewed (members of the pea family add nitrogen to the soil). Most of the meat food came from gazelle and onager and it is possible that these animals were being either selectively hunted or perhaps herded. The 7000 BC settlement covered 15 hectares, a very large town, and larger than any other recorded site of this period (even Catal Huyuk). Houses were rectangular and walls were plastered, and some of the plaster has traces of painting.

A city without streets! Dated to about 6000 BC, Catal Huyuk in modern Turkey is almost as old as Jericho. The houses of Catal Huyuk, made of sun-dried bricks, are joined to together so that the outside walls form one continuous wall without doors or windows. No surrounding wall as at Jericho was necessary. Altogether the city must have looked something like a human beehive. Ladders were used to climb up on the roofs, which formed the "streets" of Catal Huyuk. The individual houses had their doors built into little porches on top of the roof. There were open squares between groups of houses to provide light for windows. Up to 10,000 people lived here.

The people of Catal Huyuk are thought to have lived by farming and herding animals on the nearby plains. But the city needed to trade to support the large population. Trade routes existed with Palestine and Cyprus. The defences of the city are much more sophisticated than what would be needed to keep out a lion or any other hunting animal. Obviously, there was fear of attack by other people, but from what has been uncovered by archaeologists, Catal Huyuk was never plundered.

The oldest piece of cloth yet found, from about 7000 BC, has been found at Cayanu on the upper Tigris River in Turkey. The cloth appears to be linen, a fabric made from the stems of flax. The threads made from the twisted strands of flax were woven on a simple frame loom.

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