An eruption on a neolithic wall
In the early 1960s, archaeologist James Mellaart excavated a wall painting, or mural, from the Neolithic settlement of Çatalhöyük. The ochre-painted artwork, measuring about 3 meters wide, was found in a building on an excavation level dated to around 6600 BCE. The painting has two main parts. The lower section shows around 80 geometric, box-like shapes arranged in a terraced pattern, resembling the layout of the houses at Çatalhöyük. Above this "town plan" rises a large, twin-peaked mountain. The mountain is shown covered in dots and with lines emitting from its summit.
Mellaart interpreted this image as a depiction of the nearby twin-peaked volcano, Hasan Dağı, during an eruption. Hasan Dağı is a stratovolcano located about 130 kilometers northeast of Çatalhöyük. This interpretation makes the mural a possible example of the world's oldest map or landscape painting. The view is not universally accepted. Some researchers have argued the upper image is a representation of a leopard skin, a common motif at the site, and the lower portion is simply a geometric design.