Çatalhöyük (tʃaˈtaɫhøjyc; also
Çatal Höyük and
Çatal Hüyük;
çatal is
Turkish for "fork",
höyük for "mound") was a very large
Neolithic and
Chalcolithic settlement in southern
Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 B.C. to 5700 B.C. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date. In July 2012, it was inscribed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Çatalhöyük is located overlooking the Konya Plain, southeast of the present-day city of
Konya (ancient Iconium) in
Turkey, approximately 140 km (87 mi) from the twin-coned volcano of
Mount Hasan. The eastern settlement forms a mound which would have risen about 20 m (66 ft) above the plain at the time of the latest Neolithic occupation. There is also a smaller settlement mound to the west and a
Byzantine settlement a few hundred meters to the east. The prehistoric mound settlements were abandoned before the
Bronze Age. A channel of the
Çarşamba river once flowed between the two mounds, and the settlement was built on alluvial clay which may have been favourable for early
agriculture.