Archaeologists continue to excavate Çatalhöyük looking for the secrets of the past, where digs commenced 19 years ago. As the excavations, which commenced 19 years ago, are coming to an end, the archaeologists intend to unearth one of the oldest Neolithic features in its entirety. Stressing that 2014 was a fruitful year for excavations in terms of understanding the history of the 9,000-year-old buildings, the head of the Çatalhöyük excavations, Professor Ian Hodder said, "We used to believe that the late period houses were built on top of the early buildings due to the data compiled from past excavations. However, we have new information thanks to the construction called Building 77 we unearthed this year. The building that was constructed before Building 77 was a different size and shape." It was discovered that the previously built construction was twice as big as Building 77 with much thicker walls. Archaeologists aim to uncover the entire building in order to determine its size and whether it indicates a special purpose or not. Moreover, Hodder announced that they discovered an extraordinary painting in the area called Building 119. "We came to the conclusion that the walls of all the buildings in Çatalhöyük were painted in different styles during their occupancy," Hodder said. "However, the painting that we discovered in Building 119 was painted on plaster. They first carved the wall and then painted over it," he continued. The newly discovered painting is reportedly the first mural that was first carved and then painted in Çatalhöyük. Additionally, a tool made from animal bones, an animal figure made from clay and another clay object was unearthed in the northern area of Çatalhöyük during the excavation season this year.
