Wall painting in a sanctuary recovered at Çatalhöyük (Anatolia, Turkey), one of the main centers of Neolithic civilization dated between 6,300 and 5,400 B.C. In this site, many inhabited levels have been identified, some of which contained sacred depictions on reliefs and frescos. The figure reproduces the wall of a possible cultic place, in which a huge bull does stand out, surrounded by dancing human figures or persons in ritual attitude. On the right wall two deer can be noticed, which are also surrounded by human figures. The remarkable dimensions of the animal, compared with those of the humans surrounding it, could have been the purpose of representing a ritual scene, performed around an artificial construction in the shape of a bull, perhaps built with perishable materials (wood and skins), in some way similar to the large animals which still today appear during parades in the European carnivals.

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