Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük, Turkey

Discovered only in the 1950s, this 91-acre site is dense with archaeological treasures dating back to 7,400 B.C. Eighteen Neolithic civilization layers have been uncovered on the older, taller eastern hill. Within are wall paintings, sculptures, household objects, and other items, which show the transition from villages into a highly organized urban lifestyle over a 2,000-year period. Within the western mound are ruins dating from the Chalcolithic era (6,200–5,200 B.C.), among them, houses that were joined in a street-less urban pattern, each entered via the rooftop.