Discuss the Principle Differences Between Pre Pottery Neolithic Sites Discussion

For choice B, please discuss the principle differences between Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites such as Jericho (Links to an external site.) and ‘Ain Ghazal on the one hand, and a later Neolithic site such as Çatal Höyük (Links to an external site.) on the other? What does Çatal Höyük suggest about the increasing ability of human beings to exploit, order, and manage their environment? Please remember, I am expecting to see examples, quotes, or paraphrased (but cited) information from our secondary sources i.e e-text and websites  (and any other information you would like to share). 

Heres a smaple example: For my discussion, I went with Option B and chose to talk about the principle differences between the Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites. There are multiple principle differences between Jericho, ‘Ain Ghazal, and Çatal Höyük. To start off, the site of Jericho is one of the oldest lived-in-cities in the world. Jericho was located northwest of the Dead Sea and is in the Middle East. It had a natural oasis in the desert where countless freshwater springs can be found. The site was best known for its identity in the Bible which drew many visitors like pilgrims and explorers. On the other hand, ‘Ain Ghazal was the same size as Jericho at first. Later on, it “blossomed over the next several centuries. By 6500, it had doubled in size, and by 6000 its original population had tripled to around 3,000 residents” (Brand, Chapter 1, section 6). Another difference they had was the way they made their buildings. Jericho started with mud huts and then improved with stone towers which were wider. The people of ‘Ain Ghazal were using rectangular stone buildings and it separated the people by class. As for Çatal Höyük, it wasn’t the oldest or largest site of the Neolithic era, but it was still very important. The site of Çatal Höyük was located near the modern city of Konya in south-central Turkey. It had up to 8000 people who lived together in a large town about 9000 years ago when it was inhabited. Across its history, witnesses the transition from exclusively hunting and gathering subsistence to increasing skill in plant and animal domestication. Like at Jericho, the deceased was placed under the floors or platforms in houses and sometimes the skulls were removed and plastered to resemble live faces. The burials at Çatal Höyük show no significant variations, either based on wealth or gender; the only bodies which were treated differently, decorated with beads and covered with ochre, were those of children. Overall, you can see that one of the things they had in common was the overall improvement in their society.

References: Brand, Connie, and Angela Feres. Early World History: An Interactive Text. National Social Science Press, 2021.