One of the World’s First Farming Villages Housed Fewer People Than Expected
A new look at one of the earliest farming villages, Çatalhöyük, shows it wasn’t as crowded as scientists once thought. Earlier studies estimated that this ancient settlement, located in what is now southern Turkey, could have had between 2,800 and 10,000 people. However, more recent research suggests that during its peak, only about 600 to 800 people lived there at any given time. This surprising discovery challenges older ideas about population growth in early farming communities.
The Ancient Settlement of Çatalhöyük
Çatalhöyük was a large Neolithic village built around 9,100 years ago, covering an area about the size of 26 U.S. football fields. The village is famous for its multi-roomed, mud-brick houses that were packed closely together. These buildings made the site look much larger than it actually was in terms of population. Archaeologists used to think that these houses were all built and occupied at the same time, leading to overestimated population figures. But now, researchers believe that only a portion of the buildings were in use at any given time.
The new population estimates come from the work of archaeologists Ian Kuijt of the University of Notre Dame and Arkadiusz Marciniak of Adam Mickiewicz University. Their study, published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, suggests that earlier estimates were too high because they assumed all the buildings were lived in at once. This study offers a more accurate picture of how many people lived in Çatalhöyük, with only 600 to 800 residents during its heyday around 8,600 years ago.
How Were the New Estimates Made?
Kuijt and Marciniak created new population estimates by looking at different phases of Çatalhöyük’s history, which spanned about 1,150 years. They used radiocarbon dating and sediment studies to figure out how long buildings were used and how often they were replaced. Their research also relied on comparisons with modern farming villages in Turkey and nearby areas.
According to the researchers, about 40% of the site was covered by residential buildings, and about 70% of those buildings were in use at the same time. An average of five people lived in each house. Most homes were occupied for only one generation, lasting around 20 to 45 years. These findings suggest that the village was much less populated than previously thought.
A Baby Boom That Wasn’t
This smaller population size challenges the idea that early farming villages, like Çatalhöyük, experienced explosive population growth due to the domestication of plants and animals. Many archaeologists had assumed that farming triggered rapid social and population changes, leading to larger settlements and eventually cities. However, the new study suggests that this wasn’t the case.
Instead of a farming-fueled baby boom, Kuijt and Marciniak believe that population growth in early farming communities was slow and inconsistent. Farming villages like Çatalhöyük likely spread gradually across southwest Asia and Europe, with periods of growth followed by declines. This pattern suggests that early Neolithic settlements did not see the kind of rapid population increase that many had previously believed.
Life in Çatalhöyük
The way of life in Çatalhöyük was quite different from what we might expect in such a large settlement. Despite its size, the village had no central government or political authority. Instead, it seems that decisions were made collectively by the community. This is in line with the smaller population size, as larger groups of people usually require some form of organized leadership.
Many of the houses in Çatalhöyük were multi-roomed, built with mud bricks, and closely packed together. The residents likely engaged in farming and herding animals, but the slow population growth suggests that these activities were not enough to trigger large migrations or major social changes. This contrasts with the theory that farming directly led to the rise of cities.
Comparing Population Estimates
Other archaeologists, such as Peter Akkermans of Leiden University in the Netherlands, agree that many Neolithic villages had much smaller populations than originally thought. Akkermans has studied Neolithic sites in Syria, where populations were typically only a few dozen to a few hundred people. These small settlements were often abandoned after one generation and then rebuilt nearby. This pattern created large archaeological sites, similar to Çatalhöyük, even though the actual populations were small.
Akkermans believes that it took thousands of years for Neolithic villages to grow into city-sized settlements. Even when urban life began, these cities ranged from tightly packed communities to more spread-out hamlets. The transition from small farming villages to larger urban centers was slow and gradual, much like what the new research on Çatalhöyük suggests.
A Significant Step Forward in Understanding Ancient Populations
The study by Kuijt and Marciniak is an important step forward in understanding the population sizes of ancient villages. Ecological anthropologist Sean Downey of Ohio State University calls their analysis a “significant step forward” in reconstructing the population size of ancient farming villages. However, Downey also notes that it is still difficult to pin down the exact size of these populations. More evidence, such as studies of ancient human DNA, could help validate the new population estimates.
Despite the challenges, ongoing excavations at other Neolithic villages support the idea that early farming communities had smaller populations than previously thought. This new understanding of population sizes in places like Çatalhöyük can help archaeologists better understand how farming and social structures developed over time.
What This Means for the Study of Early Farming Communities
This new research on Çatalhöyük changes the way we think about early farming communities and how they grew. Instead of rapid growth and major social changes, it seems that population increases were slow and uneven. This suggests that the spread of agriculture in southwest Asia and Europe took place over thousands of years, with periods of growth followed by declines.
The findings also challenge the idea that large settlements like Çatalhöyük were filled with people all at once. Instead, these settlements were likely occupied by smaller groups of people who rebuilt homes and structures over generations, leaving behind large archaeological sites that might have led to inflated population estimates.
As archaeologists continue to study ancient farming villages, it’s likely that they will discover even more about how early communities lived and grew. This research on Çatalhöyük is just the beginning of a deeper understanding of the Neolithic period and the slow, gradual rise of cities in human history.