Catalhoyuk and a new take on the origins of farming in the Middle East

Professor Ian Hodder will describe recent results from Catalhoyuk, a Neolithic settlement in central Turkey.

Professor Hodder has previously described the social organisation as involving a 'fierce egalitarianism' and will discuss new evidence that shows varying forms of egalitarianism over time, variations that can be described as molar and molecular.

The tension between these two trends in social and economic organisation may have relevance to some other Neolithic sites in the Middle East and the usefulness of the model for sites such as Gobekli Tepe will be considered.