 Archaeologist James Mellaart described the earliest bikini @-@ like costume in Çatalhöyük , Anatolia in the Chalcolithic era ( around 5600 BC ) , where a mother goddess is depicted astride two leopards wearing a costume somewhat like a bikini . The two @-@ piece swimsuit can be traced back to the Greco @-@ Roman world , where bikini @-@ like garments worn by women athletes are depicted on urns and paintings dating back to 1400 BC . 
