This paper considers the phenomenon of urbanism and the ‘mega-site’ from the perspective of the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Anatolia. At 13 hectares, with 18 levels of Neolithic occupation spanning 1100 years, and peaking at around 8000 inhabitants, Çatalhöyük is considered to be an important source of evidence regarding the transition from settled villages to urban agglomeration. While parallels can be identified between spatio-temporally separated sites, we argue that traditional models of urbanism disregard divergent long-term trajectories. Thus, a comparative look at different types of sites has the potential to provide new insights into broader questions concerning highly populated permanent settlements in the prehistoric period and contemporary concepts of urbanism, providing a useful alternative to diffusionist or grand narratives. Here, we consider social and ritual practice, settlement layout and space, and social organization as they relate to the urban qualities of this prehistoric town and within the Middle Eastern Neolithic context.

中文翻译：

---

Çatalhöyük视角下的城市困境与“巨型站点”

本文从安纳托利亚Çatalhöyük的新石器时代遗址的角度考虑了城市化现象和“巨型遗址”。Çatalhöyük占地13公顷，有18个级别的新石器时代，历时1100年，最高时有8000名居民，被认为是从定居村庄到城市群过渡的重要证据。虽然可以在时空分离的地点之间找到相似之处，但我们认为传统的城市化模型忽略了长期的发展轨迹。因此，对不同类型的遗址进行比较研究有可能为有关史前时期人口稠密的永久定居点和当代城市主义概念的更广泛问题提供新的见解，为传播主义或宏大叙事提供有用的替代方法。这里，