Show Notes
A new study out of Notre Dame University, Indiana has suggested that accepted estimations for population levels at Çatahöyük and other Neolithic villages in Anatolia may be grossly inflated. In the past We have been told that Çatalhoyuk could have had up to 10,000 inhabitants at any one time - now this paper says maybe not so much. In fact, maybe less than 1,000 people lived there. This is a pretty big deal and hopefully, we’ll be able to help explain why in the next forty minutes! 'How many people lived in the world’s earliest villages? Reconsidering community size and population pressure at Neolithic Çatalhöyük' available here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278416524000047
More from The Prehistory Guys
Do we layer too much significance on people and things from prehistory and the past - simply because they are old? Do we confer special status on them in the absence of direct connection? 00:00 - Greetings & introduction 02:55 - A reverence for ‘things’ from the past 14:37 - A reverence for the people of the past 18:59 - Were people more spiritual in the past? 22:26 - William Stukeley’s legacy 26:53 - Making the past ordinary again! 30:40 - Exotic vs simple explanations 34:46 - Contingency and evolution vs intentional development 45:36 - The past as a mirror WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/i9GJZB08Bx8 🟡 Donate to the GÖBEKLI TEPE to STONEHENGE PROJECT here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/prehistoryguys 🔴 Become a PATREON member here: https://www.patreon.com/theprehistoryguys WEBSITE: https://theprehistoryguys.ukFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theprehistoryguys/Twitter: https://twitter.com/prehistoryguysInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/prehistoryguys
Why do certain places take on significance in the human psyche? How do places of pilgrimage arise? Why are Göbekli Tepe, Stonehenge and other sites where they are? We look at an aspect of human behaviour that is rarely taken into account when trying to explain what our ancestors were up to. The Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge Podcast is the place where we discuss matters of prehistory at a more conceptual and philosophical level, inspired by our research for the Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge Project https://www.buymeacoffee.com/prehistoryguys (also see below). 00:00 - Intro & Overview 03:20 - Elephants, water & stone 06:41 - Testing the premise at Göbekli Tepe 14:09 - Testing the premise at Stonehenge 25:09 - Where are the places of pilgrimage in early Neolithic S.E. Europe? 30:57 - Crete & Knossos? 32:54 - Human imprinting: a useful perspective? 37:26 - Grime’s Graves, Mont Viso, the Langdale axe factcories 43:23 - Outro Help us make our next film, GÖBEKLI TEPE to STONEHENGE at ... 🟡 BUY ME A COFFEE: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/prehistoryguys If you want to show some love to the Prehistory Guys but don't want the commitment of a monthly subscription (see Patreon link below), you can make a one off donation by following the link above. All single donations go to our current project: GÖBEKLI TEPE to STONEHENGE 🔴 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/theprehistoryguys We have a friendly and enthusiastic Patreon community helping us create our content through monthly subscription. Get access to exclusive (ad-free!) content, be on the inside track of what we're up to and help us build the channel. WEBSITE: https://theprehistoryguys.uk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theprehistoryguys/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/prehistoryguys Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prehistoryguys
In the process of developing and making Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge, we're lifting the corner of the carpet on all sorts of aspects to do with the Neolithic period that we perhaps would not have otherwise. And so it is with the topic of this discussion - obsidian: we had absolutely no idea how crucial this 'black stuff' was to the spread of farming from Anatolia and the fertile crescent into Europe until really examining the narrative of how the early pioneers first ventured out in to the Aegean and crossed to mainland Greece. Our research has turned up all sorts of surprises and we hope you all enjoy this brief overview of the power of the trade in obsidian.
As the first steps in making the Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge film project, a few weeks ago Rupert and I spent three days at Göbekli Tepe with access to the whole site - we've been down amongst the T-pillars, we've seen the places where the people lived, we've seen excavations that are normally out of the public eye and much more - all in the company of the head archaeologist there, Lee Clare. So that is what this show about: we so had our minds blown during our visit, we've got so much to talk about, and this is the first opportunity - probably the first of many - to share what we've taken away from our visit. Help us make our film series, GÖBEKLI TEPE to STONEHENGE at ... 🟡 BUY ME A COFFEE: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/prehistoryguys If you want to show some love to the Prehistory Guys but don't want the commitment of a monthly subscription (see Patreon link below), you can make a one off donation by following the link above. All single donations go to our current project: GÖBEKLI TEPE to STONEHENGE 🔴 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/theprehistoryguys We have a friendly and enthusiastic Patreon community helping us create our content through monthly subscription. Get access to exclusive (ad-free!) content, be on the inside track of what we're up to and help us build the channel.
In the very first 'Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge' podcast, we aim to provide a context for the phenomenon of the T-Pillar sites of South Eastern Turkïye and to set the scene for the journey we are about to embark upon with the whole Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge film project, In order to fulfil the promise of the project our prehistory focus has shifted over to the Levant and the Fertile Crescent. And our tiny minds have been a little bit blown just a bit. We've never accepted the idea of Göbekli Tepe as this 'Ground Zero' of civilization as it presents in the popular press and now largely in the public imagination, or even worse, that it must have been constructed by aliens (how could hunter-gatherers have made THAT?). But of course, there is a story that leads up to Göbekli Tepe, the other Taş Tepeler (stone hills) and other sites; one that stretches back a further 10,000 years, right to the shores of the Sea of Galilee. We hope you enjoy this condensed overview of what came before Göbekli Tepe. 00:00:00 - Intro & show outline 00:04:24 - Why the Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge podcast? 00:10:46 - It didn’t all start with Göbekli Tepe 00:15:59 - Ohalo II 00:20:00 - The Epipaleolithic 00:23:18 - Archaeological sites of the area 00:26:05 - Zarzian Culture 00:27:04 - Available information about the Epipaleolithic 00:29:47 - Kharaheneh IV 00:32:58 - Natufian Culture 00:39:51 - Bread & beer? 00:43:27 - More about the Natufians 00:45:23 - Halizon Tachtit 00:47:04 - Tortoises 00:49:54 - The Younger Dryas 00:55:22 - Special buildings, silo storage and the Tas Tepeler sites 00:58:32 - Göbekli Tepe precursor sites 01:03:45 - Desert kItes and the hunting of gazelle 01:06:40 - Rounding up & goodbyes For those of you who would like to take a closer look at some of the sites we discussed in the podcast, below is a list of some of the key settlements. Ohalo II, northern Israel. A 22,000 year-old site that was discovered when sea of Galilee dried to a very low level in 1989 The small settlement of oval houses also contained a single burial of a male between 35-40 years old Due to the waterlogged conditions there was an unusually high level of preservation. Thousands of seeds and fruits showing that these people exploited over 100 different plant species with evidence that they lived there all year round. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohalo_II Kharaneh IV, Jordan The site’s main period of occupation was 21,000 to 18,500 years ago. Traces of stone foundations for round huts - more widely known as hut circles. Over time the site developed into a low mound covering over two hectares or five and a half acres. The surface was littered with literally millions of discarded flints. Also interesting here is that these people apparently socialised in some way with other more distant groups. archaeologists have also found beads here made from marine shells which came from the mediterranean and the red sea - which are 125 and 250 miles away respectively. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharaneh_IV El Wad, Mount Carmel, northern Israel A cave settlement dating to around 14,500 years ago. As the community grew in size, the area outside the cave was terraced to allow the building of circular stone huts with paved floors. It was the excavations at El Wad in the 1920s that prompted Dorothy Garrod to name these people the Natufians after recognising similarities between the stone tools found at El Wad and her previous excavations at Shuqba cave near Wadi en-Natuf. Interesting that excavations have shown that some Natufian graves were reopened specifically to remove the skull of the deceased https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Wad Tel Abu Hureyra - northern Syria Established about 13,000 years ago but abandoned before the end of the younger dryas. Then reoccupied around 10,800 years ago. The site is significant because the inhabitants of Abu Hureyra started out as hunter-gatherers but gradually moved to farming, making them the earliest known farmers i