Living together in cities has never been conflict free | Knowledge & Environment | '
After the last glacial period – when the temperatures rose again and the ice sheet retreated – modern life began. Between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers abandoned their nomadic lifestyle and settled down. They grew crops such as wheat, barley and rye, kept animals such as sheep, goats and finally cattle, the first large settlements emerged.
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Prehistoric city
Such a settlement was also the approximately 13-acre Catalhoyuk in southern Turkey today. Between 9100 and 7950 years ago between 3500 and 8000 people lived in clay buildings in this so-called proto-city. Some houses were decorated with elaborate murals and other works of art, including stone figures of animals and corpulent women.
Lots of space for residents and their conflicts: the prehistoric ruins of Catalhoyuk
The living quarters were reached from above by ladders, the houses were connected by the roofs. If someone died, he was buried in pits under the house.
Right there, the researchers now excavated 742 human skeletons, which can give interesting conclusions about the not always conflict-free living together in prehistoric settlements.
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Traces of disease and conflict
The findings show impressively that the former inhabitants of Catalhoyuk had to deal with similar problems as we have today, thousands of years ago. Based on the bones and teeth, the researchers were able to prove that there was a high infection rate in the early metropolis. The hygiene was completely inadequate and illnesses could spread quickly in the narrowness of the city.
The researchers also found numerous indications of interpersonal violence. Many skulls showed healed fractures on the upper or posterior parts of the skull. Some skulls also had multiple injuries.
There are many indications that these injuries were caused by hard clay balls, which were found in large numbers in Catalhoyuk. These clay projectiles were fired using a slingshot.
The everyday challenges can be a test of stress
"A key message from these insights is that our current behavior is deeply rooted in human history," said Clark Spencer Larsen, anthropologist at Ohio State University, who directs the investigation.
Living together as a challenge
"Living together in these settlements has presented people with challenges that address the most fundamental issues: what to eat, who to produce, how to distribute them, what social norms do work split up? Can infectious diseases be prevented despite the lack of sanitary care? How does interpersonal coexistence work, even with occasional animosities? "Larsen writes in the journal" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ".
In Catalhoyuk, the largely homogenous community has evidently practiced this complex coexistence continuously over 1150 years, then the prehistoric metropolis was eventually abandoned.
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