<P> Çatalhöyük (Turkish pronunciation: (tʃaˈtaɫhøjyk); also Çatal Höyük and Çatal Hüyük; from Turkish çatal "fork" + höyük "mound") was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto - city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to 5700 BC, and flourished around 7000 BC . In July 2012, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site . </P> <P> Çatalhöyük is located overlooking the Konya Plain, southeast of the present - day city of Konya (ancient Iconium) in Turkey, approximately 140 km (87 mi) from the twin - coned volcano of Mount Hasan . The eastern settlement forms a mound which would have risen about 20 m (66 ft) above the plain at the time of the latest Neolithic occupation . There is also a smaller settlement mound to the west and a Byzantine settlement a few hundred meters to the east . The prehistoric mound settlements were abandoned before the Bronze Age . A channel of the Çarşamba River once flowed between the two mounds, and the settlement was built on alluvial clay which may have been favorable for early agriculture . </P> <P> The site was first excavated by James Mellaart in 1958 . He later led a team which further excavated there for four seasons between 1961 and 1965 . These excavations revealed this section of Anatolia as a centre of advanced culture in the Neolithic period . Excavation revealed 18 successive layers of buildings signifying various stages of the settlement and eras of history . The bottom layer of buildings can be dated as early as 7100 BC while the top layer is of 5600 BC . </P> <P> Mellaart was banned from Turkey for his involvement in the Dorak affair in which he published drawings of supposedly important Bronze Age artifacts that later went missing . After this scandal, the site lay idle until 1993, when investigations began under the leadership of Ian Hodder, then at the University of Cambridge . These investigations are among the most ambitious excavation projects currently in progress according to, among others, archaeologist Colin Renfrew . In addition to extensive use of archaeological science, psychological and artistic interpretations of the symbolism of the wall paintings have been employed . Hodder, a former student of Mellaart, chose the site as the first "real world" test of his then - controversial theory of post-processual archaeology . The site has always had a strong research emphasis upon engagement with digital methodologies, driven by the project's experimental and reflexive methodological framework . Sponsors and collaborators of the current dig include Yapi Kredi, Boeing, University of York, Selçuk University, British Institute at Ankara, Cardiff University, Stanford University, Turkish Cultural Foundation, and University at Buffalo . </P>

One of the earliest neolithic towns excavated so far is