During Neolithic (late Stone Age) times Anatolia was the centre of an advanced culture. Excavations during 1961 - 1965 unearthed Catal Hüyük as a major site.
The settlement consisted of brick houses with entry over ladders from roof level. The houses contained a hearth and stove and had platforms for sleeping and working. The inhabitants cultivated grains and oil seeds and may have practiced animal husbandry.
The extensive religious quarter of Catal Hüyük makes up nearly one quarter of all excavated buildings. It contains several shrines with wall paintings of outstanding quality. A wall painting from one of the shrines, dated to 6200 BC with an error margin of less than 100 years, depicts the plan of the city and corresponds very accurately to the arrangement of the houses as they were excavated. It testifies for the advanced state of accurate measurement and mapping:
Behind the city can be seen the mountain Hasan Dag and its volcano cone, which is blowing ash from an eruption.