In the heart of central Turkey, the ancient settlement of Çatalhöyük—one of the world’s earliest known urban centers—is once again rewriting what we know about early human society. A recent international study has uncovered groundbreaking genetic evidence suggesting that women played a central role in shaping Neolithic households nearly 9,000 years ago.
The research, conducted by a team of scientists from Turkey, Denmark, Sweden, and the United States, analyzed the genetic material of 131 individuals buried at the site. The results, published in Science in 2024, offer striking insights into how early human communities may have been organized—not around male lineage, as often assumed, but through maternal lines.
Women at the Core of Neolithic Households
At Çatalhöyük, the dead were buried beneath the floors of their homes. Yet genetic analysis revealed a surprising pattern: most of the individuals buried together were not closely related, and when genetic links did exist, they were more often through the maternal line.
According to Dr. Eva Rosenstock from the University of Bonn, one of the project’s lead archaeologists:
“Genetic connections were stronger through female ancestry. This suggests that women were the anchors of household structure in Çatalhöyük.”
This organization hints at a matrilocal system, where family units centered around women—though Rosenstock stops short of calling it a full matriarchy, in the sense of female dominance. Still, the pattern reflects the influential social and cultural role women may have held.
Excavations and Continuity Across Time
Between 2006 and 2013, Rosenstock and her team excavated part of Çatalhöyük’s West Mound (c. 6100–5500 BCE), which overlaps with the later phases of the East Mound—the original core of the settlement. Among the most remarkable finds were the skeletal remains of two newborn infants, the only prehistoric human remains discovered on the West Mound to date.
These skeletons were excavated following rigorous archaeological procedures, with detailed osteological records taken to ensure proper contextual analysis. The genetic material was then analyzed by archaeogenetics specialists.
Rosenstock explains:
“While the methods have been available for some time, the material itself is relatively new. Until recently, teeth were thought to be the best source for ancient DNA, but we now know that the petrous bone—the densest in the human body—is far superior in preserving genetic material.”
This innovation made it possible to extract DNA even under the harsh, arid conditions of the Anatolian plateau.
The infants were not closely related to each other but did share the same genetic pool as individuals buried on the East Mound. This suggests strong cultural and biological continuity across the two mounds, challenging previous theories that there had been a significant break in settlement or tradition.
Living on the Bones of Ancestors
At Çatalhöyük, new homes were often built directly atop the remains of older ones, creating thick archaeological layers that formed the mound itself. This practice reveals more than just architectural continuity—it suggests a deep cultural memory, a reverence for ancestral presence, and a tradition of literally living atop one’s predecessors.
Yet around 6000 BCE, this tradition briefly paused as habitation shifted from the East Mound to the West. The new findings suggest that rather than a cultural rupture, this shift was part of a broader, continuous tradition.
Material Evidence of Female Status
Beyond the genetic findings, female burials were often accompanied by richer grave goods, reinforcing the idea that women held higher social status within the community. The presence of female figurines, a long-debated symbol of spiritual or social power, also points toward women’s central role.
Even James Mellaart, the site’s first excavator in the 1960s, proposed the idea of a female-centered society, based largely on material culture. Now, decades later, cutting-edge science appears to support what early archaeologists could only speculate.
When Did Male-Dominated Societies Take Over?
This research raises further questions: When and why did patriarchal systems begin to dominate in Europe and western Asia? And how did changes in household structure reflect broader shifts in power, inheritance, and community organization?
Dr. Rosenstock suggests that further genetic studies across other Neolithic sites in Europe and the Near East may hold the key.
The latest findings from Çatalhöyük highlight a society in which women were central to family, community, and cultural continuity—not just symbolic figures, but real agents of structure and stability. The genetic traces they left behind suggest a world far more complex and balanced than once believed.
“Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük,” in: “Science,” DOI: 10.1126/science.adr2915
Cover Image Credit: 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.
© Photo: Çatalhöyük Research Project
