Excavations at Çatal Hüyük: First Preliminary Report, 1961

The site of Çatal Hüyük was discovered during our survey of the Konya Plain in November, 1958. Rich in surface finds of a type hitherto only known from Professor J. Garstang's excavations at Mersin on the south coast of Anatolia, its importance was soon realised. However, at the time of the discovery, we were engaged in the excavation of the equally important site of Hacılar and it was not until after the completion of excavations there that digging could be contemplated at Çatal Hüyük. After the final season at Hacılar in 1960, we were free to devote our attention to this new site. As Hacılar showed a gap in its culture sequence exactly during the Early Neolithic period, which surface finds showed was best represented at Çatal Hüyük, it was decided to start excavations at this site to complete the sequence and throw further light on Hacılar.