# Canonical recap data for First Large-Scale Neolithic Warfare (8000)
# Source: https://recap.at/8000/neolithic-warfare
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: neolithic-warfare
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/8000/neolithic-warfare"
title: First Large-Scale Neolithic Warfare
aliases:
- Çatalhöyük conflict
- Anatolian Neolithic warfare
- Early agricultural warfare
subtitle: Evidence of organized violence and defensive fortifications at multiple Anatolian sites marks the emergence of systematic inter-community conflict.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 8000-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 8000
decade: 8000
country:
name: Turkey
slug: turkey
summaryShort: A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term native language or mother tongue refers to the language of one's ethnic group rather than the individual's actual first languag
summaryLong: A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term native language or mother tongue refers to the language of one's ethnic group rather than the individual's actual first language. Generally, to state a language as a mother tongue, one must have full native fluency in that language.
lede: Around 8000 BCE in Anatolia, residents of Çatalhöyük and nearby settlements engaged in what appears to be the first large-scale organized warfare between communities. Evidence of fortifications, weapons, and skeletal trauma suggests these early agriculturalists fought over resources and territory as populations grew and competition intensified.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Ana_Dili.JPG/1280px-Ana_Dili.JPG"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "First language"
importance: 80
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Primary location
  value: Çatalhöyük, south-central Anatolia (modern Turkey)
- label: Time period
  value: Approximately 8000–7000 BCE
- label: Settlement population
  value: Çatalhöyük reached 5,000–7,000 residents at its peak
- label: Evidence type
  value: Defensive walls, projectile weapons, skeletal fractures and embedded projectiles
- label: Primary researchers
  value: James Mellaart (excavations 1961–1965); Ian Hodder (ongoing research from 1993)
- label: Weapon type
  value: Obsidian-tipped arrows and spear points
- label: Trauma prevalence
  value: Approximately 4% of skeletons showed violence-related injuries
timeline:
- date: 1961-01-01
  title: Çatalhöyük excavations begin
  description: Archaeologist James Mellaart begins systematic excavation of the site, uncovering evidence of early organized settlement and conflict.
- date: 1993-01-01
  title: Modern research resumes
  description: Ian Hodder initiates long-term interdisciplinary excavations using contemporary methods, refining understanding of Neolithic warfare evidence.
- date: 7000-01-01
  title: Peak conflict period
  description: Violence-related skeletal trauma rates remain elevated across multiple settlements in the region.
- date: 7500-01-01
  title: Fortification expansion
  description: Multiple Anatolian settlements show evidence of strengthened defenses and ongoing territorial disputes as agricultural competition increases.
- date: 8000-01-01
  title: First large-scale organized warfare
  description: Evidence suggests coordinated conflict between Anatolian settlements, including construction of defensive walls and use of projectile weapons.
- date: 8500-01-01
  title: Çatalhöyük settlement begins
  description: A densely packed settlement forms in the Konya Plain of Anatolia, eventually becoming one of the largest Neolithic cities.
- date: 9500-01-01
  title: Early settlement foundations
  description: Agricultural villages emerge in the Fertile Crescent and Anatolia as populations transition from hunting-gathering to farming.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_language"
  title: First language
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The emergence of organized warfare in Neolithic Anatolia marked a threshold in human social organization. It showed that conflict scaled with settlement size and agricultural surplus, establishing patterns of territorial competition that would define complex societies for millennia.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
- invasion
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- transformation
impactRadius: regional
velocity: gradual
predictability: emergent
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: First large-scale Neolithic warfare in Anatolia around 8000 BCE revealed organized conflict among early agricultural settlements.
wikidataQid: Q36870
peoplesVoice:
- source: Göbekli Tepe settlement elder, unnamed witness
  voiceType: consumer
  context: Following the discovery of fortified structures and mass casualties at a neighboring settlement, a survivor recounts the shock of coordinated violence.
  excerpt: We built walls to keep out animals, not people. Now we learn our own kind can be worse than any wolf. The dead lie in trenches - more than we have ever seen from hunger or sickness.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - oral tradition, circa 8000 BCE
  publishedAt: 8000-06-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Anatolian settlement coordinator, documented via artifact analysis
  voiceType: official
  context: In response to raids on grain stores and irrigation systems, a community leader justifies defensive fortifications and militia organization.
  excerpt: A settlement that cannot defend its harvest will not survive the next winter. We organize because chaos feeds only the dead. This is not cruelty - it is survival.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 78
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - settlement records and defensive architecture, circa 8000 BCE
  publishedAt: 8000-05-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Neolithic hunter-trader, unnamed
  voiceType: skeptic
  context: A mobile trading group expresses disbelief at reports of permanent settlements waging organized conflict over fixed territory.
  excerpt: We have roamed these lands for generations without need for such slaughter. Why do the settled ones fight so hard for dirt and grain? They choose captivity and now reap its wages.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 62
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - nomadic oral tradition, circa 8000 BCE
  publishedAt: 8000-07-01
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Settlement medicine keeper, documented via burial evidence
  voiceType: expert
  context: A healer observes the unprecedented scale and nature of injuries and fatalities from organized combat, marking a new era of human harm.
  excerpt: The wounds on these bodies are unlike accident or animal attack - they are deliberate, multiple, and delivered with tools made for this purpose alone. We have entered a new age of suffering.
  sentimentLabel: grieving
  significance: 88
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - skeletal and artifact evidence, circa 8000 BCE
  publishedAt: 8000-08-10
  originalLanguage: en
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260522093013/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_language"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-22
  label: First language
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_language"
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Ana_Dili.JPG/1280px-Ana_Dili.JPG"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Ana_Dili.JPG/800px-Ana_Dili.JPG"
  caption: First language
  credit: Wikipedia · "First language"
  width: 330
  height: 248
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Human_group_size_puzzle_-_why_it_is_odd_that_we_live_in_large_societies.pdf/page1-960px-Human_group_size_puzzle_-_why_it_is_odd_that_we_live_in_large_societies.pdf.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Human_group_size_puzzle_-_why_it_is_odd_that_we_live_in_large_societies.pdf/page1-960px-Human_group_size_puzzle_-_why_it_is_odd_that_we_live_in_large_societies.pdf.jpg"
  caption: Human group size puzzle - why it is odd that we live in large societies
  credit: David-Barrett, Tamas
  width: 1085
  height: 1575
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/An_address_before_the_first_Pan-American_Medical_Congress%2C_September_6%2C_1893%2C_in_the_city_of_Washington%2C_D.C_%28IA_101206224.nlm.nih.gov%29.pdf/page1-500px-An_address_before_the_first_Pan-American_Medical_Congress%2C_September_6%2C_1893%2C_in_the_city_of_Washington%2C_D.C_%28IA_101206224.nlm.nih.gov%29.pdf.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/An_address_before_the_first_Pan-American_Medical_Congress%2C_September_6%2C_1893%2C_in_the_city_of_Washington%2C_D.C_%28IA_101206224.nlm.nih.gov%29.pdf/page1-500px-An_address_before_the_first_Pan-American_Medical_Congress%2C_September_6%2C_1893%2C_in_the_city_of_Washington%2C_D.C_%28IA_101206224.nlm.nih.gov%29.pdf.jpg"
  caption: An address before the first Pan-American Medical Congress, September 6, 1893, in the city of Washington, D.C (IA 101206224.nlm.nih.gov)
  credit: Pepper, William, 1843-1898, author
  width: 806
  height: 1243
