I quoted extensively from Ian Hodder, the anthropologist who heads the Çatalhöyük Research Project as well as other experts and you're telling me about what "actual scholars" believe. Snort!!

FYI, evidence of interpersonal violence does not negate what is anthropologically considered to be a peaceful culture. Human beings squabble, and sometimes fight — even to the point of killing. They punish those who have transgressed the norms of their group, and they sometimes make human sacrifices. That isn't what makes them a "violent" society or not.

Near the late middle and end of the settlement's lifespan, crowding was intensive and no doubt contributed to greater interpersonal tensions. The balls in question have been hypothesized to have been used to heat food. The fact that in 25 known cases they were used as weapons doesn't really negate the rest of the picture that the archeology paints.