Female-centered practices and changing kinship patterns over time in Çatalhöyük. Shown are two Çatalhöyük figurines (credit: Mellaart International and the British Institute at Ankara). Centre: reconstruction of a typical Çatalhöyük building (credit: Kathryn Killackey). Left: Building 6 with six genetically studied burials (blue on building map) and their genetic connections (lines), and their inferred pedigree. Centre: Grave good frequencies and a stylized female infant burial with beads shown in purple. Lower right: The frequency of genetic relatives within 15 buildings, spanning about 500 years (bottom right).

Before Kings: Did Women Rule in the Ancient World?

History & Prehistory /

Eva Rosenstock during the excavations at Çatalhöyük West in 2008. In the foreground, we can see a mudbrick wall from the buildings dating from the 6th millennium BCE. Image credit: Çatalhöyük Research Project New DNA evidence from Çatalhöyük reveals a 9,000-year-old civilization where women may have held the social reins When archaeologist James Mellaart first […]

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