The Konya Plain is dotted with höyük’s of every size. It is possible to look out of the car window and spot manymounds while driving even short distances.While some are very large and cover tens of hectares of land, others are tiny mounds, hardly discernible to the eye. Though Boncuklu is certainly one of the smaller mounds, we are situated within 10 kilometres of one of the larger and certainly the most famous höyük on the plain, Çatalhöyük. This creates a great opportunity for an archaeological excursion to the “mound of the fork” every season.
Çatalhöyük is a famous Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlementand was awarded World Hertiage status by UNESCO in 2012. The excavation is lead by Director Prof. Ian Hodder of Stanford University and we were privileged to be given a site tour by Ian himself, who showed us the latest discoveries and brought us up to date with his thinking about the site. It also allowed us to catch up with old friends, many of whom are working at the site.
Whilst Çatalis an important site, how the community there grew to such a large size is still a mystery and Boncuklu, despite its small scaleis vital for understanding that process. Many of the traditions developed at Çatalhöyük are found at Boncuklu up to 1000 years earlier and we believe that the people of Boncuklu eventually became part of the larger population aggregation which formed Çatal.
If you would like more information about Çatalhöyük, go to: www.catalhoyuk.com. The site is open for public visits and has an informative visitor centre.
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