First Neolithic City Was So Overcrowded People Started Trying to Kill Each Other [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | June 20, 2019 02:44pm ET

About 9,000 years ago, Neolithic people whose ancestors were once isolated foragers were living packed so tightly together in a bustling town in what is now Turkey that they had to climb into their homes through the roofs.

In part, that's why the violence began.

Archaeologists recently discovered that the transition from foraging to a more communal farming lifestyle raised significant challenges for people who lived at Çatalhöyük, a 32-acre site in southern Turkey that was occupied from 7100 B.C. to 5950 B.C. Çatalhöyük was home to as many as 8,000 people at its peak, and is one of the earliest known cities.

That overcrowding and other factors created a highly stressful environment. And for Çatalhöyük's Neolithic occupants, stress found an outlet in brutal violence, including bashes to the backs of heads with projectiles, scientists reported in a new study. [25 Grisly Archaeological Discoveries]

Recently, archaeologists compiled 25 years of data gathered from the remains of 742 individuals at Çatalhöyük. In the preserved evidence of more than 1,000 years of Neolithic life, the scientists discovered "a compelling record of elevated levels of interpersonal violence" triggered by the stress of city living, the researchers wrote in the study.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/65759-violent-neighbors-ancient-city.html