<Li> <P> Obsidian mirrors . Çatalhöyük, 6000 - 5500 BC . Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara . </P> </Li> <P> Obsidian mirrors . Çatalhöyük, 6000 - 5500 BC . Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara . </P> <P> A striking feature of Çatalhöyük are its female figurines . Mellaart, the original excavator, argued that these well - formed, carefully made figurines, carved and molded from marble, blue and brown limestone, schist, calcite, basalt, alabaster, and clay, represented a female deity . Although a male deity existed as well, "statues of a female deity far outnumber those of the male deity, who moreover, does not appear to be represented at all after Level VI". To date, eighteen levels have been identified . These artfully - hewn figurines were found primarily in areas Mellaart believed to be shrines . The stately goddess seated on a throne flanked by two female lions (illustration) was found in a grain bin, which Mellaart suggests might have been a means of ensuring the harvest or protecting the food supply . In later cultures, similar depictions are seen of Cybele, a mountain goddess . </P> <P> Whereas Mellaart excavated nearly two hundred buildings in four seasons, the current excavator, Ian Hodder, spent an entire season excavating one building alone . Hodder and his team, in 2004 and 2005, began to believe that the patterns suggested by Mellaart were false . They found one similar figurine, but the vast majority did not imitate the Mother Goddess style that Mellaart suggested . Instead of a Mother Goddess culture, Hodder points out that the site gives little indication of a matriarchy or patriarchy . </P>

Name three characteristics of figurines at catal hoyuk
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