Hermione Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I can't believe this ... Apparently, even the
> famous exploding volcano mural is now suspect ...
>


Happily, I don't think that's the case. The volcanoes and vultures and hunters etc were properly photographed and recorded in situ; their interpretations may be debatable (volcano or catskin?), but they did exist, and appear in the 1960s excavation reports.

The suspect murals were never seen or photographed or mentioned in any excavation records. They "existed" only as teeny fragments that nobody but Mellaart ever saw, and even he didn't mention them until decades later. In fact, Mellaart claimed the fragments couldn't be photographed, or were photographed but the photos were lost or destroyed, etc. And they related entirely to his startling claims about Neolithic kilim carpets--he claimed that these fragmentary wall paintings were poor-people's copies of real Neolithic kilims on the walls of the elite quarters of Catal Huyuk, and he produced astonishing reconstructions up to several metres long. He further claimed, AFAIR, that modern Anatolian carpet motifs were directly descended from the carpets of Catal Huyuk. Beyond his assertions, there's not a shred of evidence for any of this.

A good analysis and summary of the affair, by Maria Mallett, one of the principal critics, is at [www.marlamallett.com]