What 12 Centuries of Bones Tell Us About Early Farmers
The skeleton of a woman, curled tightly as if in sleep, lies buried beneath the packed clay floor of a Neolithic home. For over 9,000 years, she remained there, holding secrets about humanity's dramatic shift from foraging to farming.
The transition from foraging to farming, beginning around 10,000 years ago in Southwest Asia, represents one of the most fundamental revolutions in human history. For the first time, people shifted from hunting wild game and gathering wild plants to depending on domesticated crops and animals. This change set in motion new social structures, health patterns, and lifestyles that would eventually spread across the globe.
The agricultural revolution is sometimes called the "Neolithic Revolution" and marks the beginning of the New Stone Age, when humans began settling in permanent communities.
At the forefront of understanding this transition stands Çatalhöyük, a massive Neolithic settlement in south-central Turkey that thrived from approximately 7100 to 5950 BCE 3 . Recently, a comprehensive bioarchaeological investigation—the study of human remains in their archaeological context—has revealed fascinating insights into how this agricultural revolution transformed human health, mobility, and daily life. Analysis of nearly 1,200 years of human bones and teeth from the site provides a remarkable window into the challenges early farmers faced and the resilience they demonstrated in building one of the world's first proto-urban communities 5 6 .
Çatalhöyük was no ordinary settlement. This sprawling community covered 13 hectares and consisted of densely clustered mud-brick houses packed together like a honeycomb, with entries through roof openings rather than ground-level doors 2 3 . At its peak, this early "proto-city" was home to an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 people—an unprecedented population concentration for its time 2 .
What makes Çatalhöyük exceptionally valuable to archaeologists is its extraordinary preservation and the unbroken sequence of occupation spanning nearly twelve centuries. The site presents 18 successive layers of buildings, representing different eras of the settlement's history 3 .
The site was first excavated by James Mellaart, revealing the extraordinary scale and preservation of the Neolithic settlement.
The Çatalhöyük Research Project under Ian Hodder has conducted extensive, multidisciplinary investigations 2 3 .
The bioarchaeological study led by Clark Spencer Larsen examined an remarkable assemblage of human remains—470 complete individuals from primary burial contexts, plus partial remains of another 272 individuals 6 . This extensive collection, representing the full demographic spectrum from newborns to elderly adults, forms the foundation for understanding life and death in this early farming community.
The recent groundbreaking study employed multiple lines of skeletal evidence to reconstruct the lives of Çatalhöyük's inhabitants:
This multifaceted approach allowed researchers to move beyond simple observations to understand how various aspects of life—diet, work, health, and social organization—interconnected throughout the settlement's history.
Bioarchaeologists use specialized methods and materials to extract life histories from skeletal remains. The following table details key components of their research toolkit:
| Research Tool | Function | What It Reveals |
|---|---|---|
| Dental Microwear Analysis | Examination of tooth surface wear patterns under microscopy | Diet composition and food processing methods 5 |
| Cortical Bone Mass Measurement | Assessment of bone density and structure | Activity levels, workload, and mobility patterns 6 |
| Stable Isotope Analysis | Chemical analysis of bone collagen and tooth enamel | Dietary composition and migration patterns 6 |
| ASUDAS (Dental Anthropology System) | Standardized scoring of dental morphological traits | Biological relationships and population genetics 8 |
| Osteological Measurements | Precise measurement of skeletal elements | Health status, physical activity, and genetic relationships 6 8 |
The skeletal record reveals that the agricultural transition came with significant health costs for Çatalhöyük's residents. As the community became more dependent on domesticated plant carbohydrates, evidence of dental cavities and tooth loss increased markedly—a common trend among early farming societies 5 .
Perhaps more telling were the signs of physiological stress during childhood. Linear enamel hypoplasia—horizontal defects in tooth enamel that form during periods of growth disruption—appeared with concerning frequency. These stress markers indicate that children experienced episodes of famine or illness serious enough to interrupt normal development 6 .
Bioarchaeological evidence revealed fascinating shifts in activity patterns over Çatalhöyük's history:
This change reflects an evolving division of labor and adaptation to the demands of an agricultural lifestyle. The skeleton of one individual showed markedly different development in the right versus left arm, suggesting repetitive one-sided activities, possibly related to tool-making or grain processing 6 .
The farming lifestyle supported unprecedented population growth at Çatalhöyük, fueled by elevated fertility rates 6 . However, this population density came with consequences. Skeletons show increasing evidence of interpersonal violence toward the later periods of occupation, including cranial fractures that suggest non-lethal blows to the head 5 .
This rise in conflict markers may reflect growing stresses of community living, competition for resources, or social tensions in the increasingly crowded settlement.
The 2019 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences represented one of the most comprehensive bioarchaeological investigations ever conducted. Rather than focusing on a single aspect of health or lifestyle, the research team employed an integrated approach examining multiple lines of evidence across the entire 1,150-year occupation sequence 5 6 .
Tracking changes across different periods of occupation
Examining differences by age and sex
Connecting biological findings to burial practices
The following tables present critical data from the bioarchaeological investigation of Çatalhöyük:
| Burial Practices and Population Profile at Neolithic Çatalhöyük | ||
|---|---|---|
| Aspect | Findings | Interpretation |
| Burial Location | Primarily under house floors, platforms, and hearths | Connection between living and ancestors 3 6 |
| Body Preparation | Tightly flexed, often in baskets or wrapped in mats | Ritual treatment of the dead 3 |
| Sample Size | 470 complete individuals + 272 partial remains | Unprecedented demographic representation 6 |
| Burial Changes | Shift to secondary burials in later periods | Evolving social and ritual practices 6 |
| Health Indicators in Çatalhöyük Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Health Indicator | Findings | Significance |
| Dental Health | Increased cavities over time; enamel defects | Dietary change to domesticated carbs; childhood stress 5 6 |
| Infectious Disease | Moderate evidence of infection | Crowding and sedentary lifestyle 6 |
| Physical Activity | Changing patterns of bone strength | Evolving labor division and mobility 5 6 |
| Interpersonal Violence | Cranial depression fractures | Social tensions in crowded conditions 5 |
| Evolutionary Trends Over Çatalhöyük's Occupation (7100-5950 BCE) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Aspect | Early Period | Late Period | Overall Trend |
| Diet | Wild plants + some domesticates | Heavy dependence on domesticates | Less diverse food sources 5 |
| Mobility | More sedentary activities | Increased mobility for herding | Changing work demands 6 |
| Population | Moderate density | High density | Crowding and its consequences 6 |
| Social Structure | Biological kinship in burials | More non-related co-burials | Expanding social units 1 |
The bioarchaeological record from Çatalhöyük provides unprecedented insight into the human experience during one of our species' most important transitions. The skeletons tell a story of resilience and adaptation in the face of significant challenges. Early farmers paid a biological price for their new sedentary, agricultural lifestyle—increased disease, dietary deficiencies, and interpersonal conflict—yet they persevered for over a millennium, developing new social structures and community coping strategies 5 6 .
These findings from ancient Anatolia foreshadow developments that would take place worldwide in the millennia following Çatalhöyük's abandonment. The health challenges, adaptive patterns, and social behaviors identified in this Neolithic community represent the beginning of trends that continue to affect humanity today 6 .
Perhaps most importantly, Çatalhöyük reminds us that major technological and economic shifts—like the agricultural revolution—always involve trade-offs. While farming enabled unprecedented population growth and cultural development, it also introduced new health challenges and social stresses that we continue to navigate today. The bones beneath the floors of Çatalhöyük's houses thus speak not only of the past but offer profound lessons about human adaptation that remain relevant in our modern era of rapid technological change.
The bioarchaeological research continues, with each skeleton adding another piece to the puzzle of our shared human story. What remains clear is that the people of Çatalhöyük were not so different from us—navigating the challenges of a changing world, building community, and leaving behind fragments of their lives for future generations to discover and understand.
Rethinking Social Structure Through Genetics
Recent ancient DNA studies from Neolithic Anatolia, including Çatalhöyük, have revealed surprising insights about social organization. At early Neolithic sites like Aşıklı Höyük and Boncuklu, co-burials within domestic structures frequently contained close genetic relatives—siblings and parent-offspring pairings 1 .
Genetic Findings
At Çatalhöyük, close genetic relatives were surprisingly rare among co-burials, at least for subadults 1 . This finding challenges previous assumptions and suggests that in this later Neolithic community, domestic structures may have served as burial locations for social units incorporating biologically unrelated individuals 1 .
Social Implications
This genetic evidence points to a diversity of kin structures in Neolithic communities, with Çatalhöyük possibly representing a more complex social organization where households were not necessarily based solely on biological kinship 1 .