Neolithic Mural in Turkey May Illustrate Ancient Volcanic Eruption

Popular Archaeology Magazine ^ | 08 Jan 2014 | Popular Archaeology Magazine

[Theoria]

Study indicates a correlation between the ancient mural image and date of the Hasan Dagi volcanic eruption.

First discovered and excavated in the 1960's by British archaeologist James Mellaart, the world-famous 9,000-year-old Neolithic site of Catälhöyuk in Central Anatolia, Turkey, has provided a unique window on the lives of humans at the transition from hunter-gatherer to settled agriculture societies. Among the spectacular finds was a mural or wall-painting dated to about 6600 BCE and described by its discoverer and others as depicting a volcanic eruption. Arguably regarded as the first map or graphical representation of a landscape, it featured "a rendering of a mountain with two peaks with the cell-like patterns representing a plan view of a village with a general layout of the houses similar to that of Catälhöyuk and other nearby Neolithic settlements"......"with the summit region showing ‘‘falling volcanic ‘bombs’ or large semiliquid lava.’’*

This description or interpretation has been contested, however, as critics have maintained that there has been little or no geologic evidence for an explosive volcanic eruption in the area contemporaneous with the age of the site, and other scholars have descibed the painting as representing a "leopard skin with its extremities cut off".*

Now, new volcanic rock dating suggests the mural date may have overlapped with the date of an eruption from the nearby Hasan Dagi volcano. Led by Axel Schmitt from the University of California Los Angeles and colleagues from other institutions, an international team of scientists analyzed rocks from the nearby Hasan Dagi volcano in order to determine whether it was the volcano depicted in the mural from ~6600 BC. To determine if Hasan Dagi was active during that time, scientists collected and analyzed volcanic rock samples from the summit and flanks of the Hasan Dagi volcano using (U-Th)/He zircon geochronology.

[Theoria]

Identifying the Volcanic Eruption Depicted in a Neolithic Painting at Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia, Turkey

[Theoria]

map, mural, volcano...ping.

[TigersEye]

What do the stacks of TV sets signify? ;^)

[Grimmy]

My guess would be either villages in the area of affect, or homes in a single village.

[TigersEye]

Sounds like a good guess.

[blueunicorn6]

Why.....it’s just like looking at a photograph of the event!

Dear Mrs. Frederickson: Remember the “F” you gave me on my seventh grade art project? I drew a picture of a volcano erupting. You said, “It looks like something a drunken chimpanzee would draw. No human could do worse than this!” Oh yeah? Look at the drawing I’ve enclosed. Whose is better? Yeah. Maybe you should go back and raise my grade to a “D-”. Then I could probably get into law school.....or plumbers school.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Theoria. Some years ago a scientist in Germany sent me a pic of the "volcano" image, with the explanation that it portrayed an eruption burying a neighboring neolithic village. The other suggested explanation I've read seems more plausible -- that it portrays an animal skin. It's cool either way. It's worth checking the James Mellaart keyword here on FR.