Strong maternal lines recovered from ancient DNA samples at the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük, along with archaeological evidence of female-centered practice, points to a socio-cultural practice of matriarchy! Was it egalitarian? Matrilineal? Or just something other than what the modern eye can comprehend and read?
The genetic time capsules buried underneath the floors are rewriting the history of early civilization. In the arid steppes of inner Anatolia, the ancient city of Çatalhöyük, the world’s first proto-city was littered with common hearths and goddess figurines.
A fascinating new paper published in Science unveils DNA data from more than a hundred skeletons unearthed at Çatalhöyük, yielding a rich social tapestry sewn by women. This population, thriving between 7100 and 5800 BC, bears witness not to patriarchal dominance but to matrilocal organization — with women remaining in their homes of birth, while men relocated into them.
Maternal Lines and Household Walls
The research compared 131 genomes from people who died under 35 houses over a thousand years. These graves — a distinguishing characteristic of Çatalhöyük — had long been a puzzle: were these bone groups indicative of familial relationship, or something more ritual?
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"For Çatalhöyük, we now have the earliest genetically-reconstructed social organisation pattern in food-producing societies," said study co-author Mehmet Somel, a Middle East Technical University evolutionary geneticist. "Which is female-centered”, he told Live Science, over email.
By comparing nuclear DNA, scientists discovered that first-degree relatives (parents, siblings, children) were habitually buried together — predominantly in the same buildings. But between generations, these relationships bunched densely around maternal lines. Girls remained. Boys departed. Again and again.
"What we can see is individuals buried in buildings are linked in the maternal line," Somel explained. "It appears individuals going between buildings are adult males, while individuals living in them are adult females."
Excavations at Çatalhöyük. Most homes were accessed by holes in the ceiling and doors on the side of the houses, with doors reached by ladders and stairs. (Murat Özsoy 1958/CC BY-SA 4.0)
This matrilocal arrangement was dramatic against the pattern of Neolithic Europe, where patrilocality — women settling with male relatives — characterizes the archaeological record. Çatalhöyük, it appears, danced to a different beat.
Grave Goods and Infant Priorities
Analysis of DNA also opened another window: the sex of infants and children, whose skeletons provide few hints prior to puberty. Now that this information was available, another surprise lay in wait — female infants were buried with roughly five times the grave goods as males.
"The trend of greater burial offerings for baby girls was also not something we anticipated," Somel explained.
This profusion of offerings does not in itself establish goddess worship or matriarchy. Rather, it points toward symbolic meaning and a possible social preference — or at least a cultural system in which young girls had sacred significance.
A City of Roofs and Shifting Rules: The Pecularities of Çatalhöyük
Çatalhöyük was always peculiar. Its houses were approached by way of roofs. Its walls were adorned with wild bulls, vultures, and human hands. Female figurines and round goddesses are everywhere. No palaces. No kings.
Scholars such as Stanford archaeologist, Ian Hodder, have long argued whether this structureless sprawl was equal or just an order we no longer comprehend. But the DNA now indicates a complicated order: one molded by mothers, shared houses, and changing traditions.
In fact, the research uncovered a second change. At an early stage, there are close genetic connections within families — extended family units. Later, these connections become weaker. Individuals are buried with fewer blood relatives, which might indicate a shift toward adoption, fostering, or alternative kinship structures.
"We observed a dramatic change in the composition of these families over generations," remarked Eren Yüncü, one of the study's co-leads. "And yet maternal ties continued."
Scholars are measured in their terminology. They eschew describing Çatalhöyük as "matrilineal" in favor of "female-centered."
An ideal Çatalhöyük ‘model home’, with a female figurine seated in front. (Shiftetelli/CC BY-SA 4.0)
And yet, this find resonates so profoundly.
"If the sex patterns were reversed, there would likely be little hesitation in concluding that patriarchal power structures were at play," wrote archaeologist Benjamin Arbuckle (not a part of the study) in a commentary in Science. "This is reflective of the difficulty many scholars have in imagining a world characterized by substantial female power."
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Çatalhöyük was not in isolation in time. But it was unparalleled — the oldest instance where science has identified the subtle fingerprint of a woman-centered society at work.
“We are now producing similar data from earlier societies in the region,” Somel concludes. “So hopefully, we’ll have an answer soon — is Çatalhöyük the exception, or just the beginning?”
Top image: Goddess from Çatalhöyük Source: Omar hoftun/CC BY-SA 3.0
By Sahir
References
Kilgrove, K. 2025. Genetic analysis of skeletons buried in a Neolithic proto-city in Turkey reveals that female lineages were important in early agricultural societies. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-female-centered-society-thrived-9-000-years-ago-in-proto-city-in-turkey.
Yüncü, E. et al. 2025. Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük. Science, 388. Available at: DOI:10.1126/science.adr2915.
