Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes the aspects of the Mother Goddess as an archetype. Mellaart's findings, which included remarkably well preserved mud-brick houses and spectacular artworks depicting leopards, vultures, bulls, and what he interpreted as 'Mother Goddesses', made the site internationally famous. The Neolithic Revolution was a crucial turning point in human cultural and technological development. For better or worse, the first roots of civilization were planted along with the first crops of wheat and barley, and the mightiest of today's skyscrapers can trace its heritage to the Neolithic architects who built the first houses from stone, mud, and timber. Biologist Jared Diamond, in his Pulitzer Prizewinning book Guns, Germs, and Steel, has even argued that today's division of the world into haves and have-nots can be traced back to the Neolithic Revolution.