60km west of Konya (Turkey) is the oldest known Neolithic settlement called Çatalhöyük (the word 'höyük' means 'mound') . The site was first discovered in 1958 by James Mellaart and excavated between 1961 and 1965. Mellaart suggested that the village was occupied from between 7,000 and 5,500 BC.

Since 1993 a team of archaeologists, led by Cambridge archaeologist Professor Ian Hodder, has been carrying out new excavations in order to understand more the people who once inhabited the site, which has a number of wall paintings depicting animals and hunting scenes.

At the entrance to the site is a reconstruction of one of the dwellings - two of the white-washed walls are decorated . One of the murals is thought to be the representation of an urban settlement, with the twin peaks of the erupting volcano "Hasan Dagi" (3253m stratovolcano, inactive since around 7500BC) in the background. Spots on the volcano's flanks have been described as "glowing firebombs of lava". The mural is also believed by many to be a map of Çatalhöyük, dated around 6,200 BC. It is painted in ochre pigments on a mud brick wall which was first prepared with many layers of lime plaster.