Çatalhöyük discovery of eight infants reveals changes in a 9,000-year-old community

Eight infant skeletons, all belonging to babies no more than six months old, have been found beside a distinctive burial complex at Çatalhöyük in central Anatolia.

The remains were uncovered in the Eastern Area of the East Mound, a UNESCO World Heritage site on the Konya plain. Archaeologists say the location dates to the final centuries of occupation on the mound, shortly before settlement activity shifted to the neighboring West Mound.

For most of Çatalhöyük’s history, residents buried the dead beneath floors and raised platforms inside homes where people continued to live. Recent excavations in the eastern part of the mound have instead identified a group of buildings used for non-domestic activities.

Excavators named one of those structures the House of the Dead after finding 18 human burials in its small interior chambers. The building, identified as Building 173, has been interpreted in academic studies as an ossuary or mortuary house. Çatalhöyük excavation director Professor Ali Ozan said it did not appear to serve ordinary domestic needs and was organized around an open space, with chambers connected to the structure.

Researchers from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań say the building was not a conventional home. Its interior changed over time as it was divided into smaller rooms or chambers. Archaeologists are continuing to study the infant remains and their setting to understand what took place in this part of the settlement during Çatalhöyük’s final phase.