Why is Catal Huyuk an Important Archaeological Find?

          There are a couple different reasons why Catal Huyuk is an important archaeological find.  It is helps give an insight to the religion of people in the Neolithic age, it explains more about the daily life back then (trading, tools, houses, etc.), and it helps explain the needs other villages near bye might have had.
         Digging up Catal Huyuk taught archaeologists a lot about the daily life of humans living in the Neolithic Age.  The houses were fashioned out of mud bricks, with the only openings for entering and leaving in the roofs.  To get from place to place, you would simply walk over your neighbors' roofs.  The Neolithic homes were varied in height, so when you had to climb or jump on a roof, there would be ladders for your convenience.  The average house would have two rooms - a big one and a small one.  The smaller room would be as a storage place for the surplus food or wares, and the larger one was used as the kitchen and the living quarters.  The furniture was built-in, and the houses contained nothing but wooden platforms extending from the walls, a hearth, and a clay oven.  The platforms once functioned as tables, benches, and beds.  Smoke from the hearths would rise up and exit out of the door in the ceiling.
         Evidence has been found that indicates wheat was the main food crop grown in Catal Huyuk, cattle was domesticated by the people, and deer, bears, and wolves were hunted.  People also grew peas, and gathered crab apples, juniper berries, and nuts.  Excess food or surplus food could have been used for trading.
          The remains of Catal Huyuk also shows that tools were made there.  Grinding tools were created by chipping pieces of larger stones, needles, beads, hairpins, and fish hooks were fashioned out of bone, cloth was woven out of wool, baskets were made, leather was cut into pouches, and wooden bowls/boxes with lids were made.  These tools helped make the creation of clothes, transporting items, fishing, and storage much more easy and convenient. 
          According to archaeologists, the main item of trade in Catal Huyuk was obsidian - a shiny black igneous stone formed by old volcano lava.  It was valued by everyone, including people in neighboring villages, because of its sharpness when chipped to a point.  The people of Catal Huyuk had a long trek over 120 miles long in order to acquire the obsidian, but it turned out to be worth it.  Catal Huyuk became one of the major trading centers of its area.  In some cases, they were able to trade surplus food, clothing, or tools for obsidian from villages closer to the volcanoes that had better access than Catal Huyuk, shape that obsidian into arrowheads or mirrors, and trade them for higher prices later, too.  Based on the success Catal Huyuk had in trading obsidian, archaeologists can assume that obsidian was a valuable rock back in the Neolithic Age.
         There were a lot of shrines found in Catal Huyuk, which helps explain the beliefs these people had.  Bull horns covered the walls, which obviously meant that they thought those were valuable.  Sculptures of leopards, rams, and bulls were also plainly visible on platforms in the shrines, and there were color paintings there, too.  Archaeologists believe that these sculptures, paintings, and horns were connected special/important events in the lives of Neolithic people, and since there were so many shrines in Catal Huyuk, it is believed that this town was once a major religious center where people from many different villages came to worship.
          Old bones discovered under platforms thought to be used for benches, tables, and beds, have helped archaeologists figure out what Neolithic people in Catal Huyuk did to the dead.  Relatives that had passed away were buried under the platforms sticking out of the wall.  This could mean that people back then thought that the dead were still a part of the household.
          Catal Huyuk is a very important discovery by archaeologists, because it gives us so many hints about life in the Neolithic Age - it tells us about trading habits, burial practices, possible religion, tools used, clothes made, and much more.