Reshaping previous ideas on the story of civilisation, Gobekli Tepe in Turkey was built by a prehistoric people 6,000 years before Stonehenge.
The world’s oldest monuments may soon get an image makeover. A new project will promote and preserve Göbekli Tepe, home to the most ancient temple structures ever discovered. Gobekli Tepe’s circular temples have changed the way archaeologists look at the beginnings of civilization [Credit: Vincent Musi, National Geographic Creative] Turkey hopes to eventually boost tourism at the site, which is in a region where tourism has declined because of the nearby Syrian conflict and refugee crisis. Since excavations began in 1995, the site in southeastern Turkey has changed the way archaeologists think about the origins of civilization. Its circular structures, with their elaborately carved stones and distinctive, T-shaped pillars, are more than 12,000 years old—older than the invention of agriculture or even pottery. The early dates have upended the idea that agriculture led to civilization. Scholars long thought that when hunter-gatherers settled down and started growing crops, the resulting food surplus made it possible for people to organize complex societies. General view of Gobekli Tepe [Credit: Vincent Musi, National Geographic Creative] Göbekli Tepe calls that conventional wisdom into question. Klaus Schmidt, a German archaeologist who led excavations at the site, argued before he died in 2014 that it might have worked the other way around: The vast labor force needed to build the enclosures pushed people to develop agriculture as a way of providing predictable food—and perhaps drink—for workers. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Turkey’s Doğuş Group will announce Wednesday that they plan to spend $15 million over the next 20 years on the project, in partnership with the National Geographic Society. “Göbekli Tepe is our zero point in time,” Doğuş Group chairman Ferit F. Şahenk said in a press release. Earliest Religious Site? Newly gathered evidence from excavations at the site backs up Schmidt’s argument that the beginnings of civilization spurred the invention of farming. In the middle of each monumental enclosure are two tall T-shaped pillars, carved with stylized arms, hands and loincloths. The largest weigh more than 16 tons. Carving and moving them from a nearby quarry must have been a tremendous challenge, requiring hundreds of people and enough food to feed them all. Bas-reliefs of vultures, scorpions, and other creatures found on pillars at Gobekli Tepe may have been a wat to deal with a frightening world through ritual [Credit: Vincent Musi, National Geographic Creative] But archaeologists have yet to find evidence of permanent settlement at Göbekli Tepe. One recent suggestion is that the site was a regional gathering place. It’s perched on top of a bone-dry peak, with a commanding view of the surrounding mountains and the plains to the south. “Back then people would have to meet regularly to keep the gene pool fresh and exchange information,” says Jens Notroff, a German Archaeological Institute archaeologist who works on the site. “It’s a landmark. It’s no accident they gathered there.” In fact, smaller versions of the pillars, symbols and architecture carved into stone at Göbekli Tepe have been found in settlements up to 125 miles away. It’s as though Göbekli Tepe were a cathedral and the others local churches; hunter-gatherers might have traveled long distances to meet, worship and help build new monumental structures, sponsoring feasts to display their wealth. “The feasting aspect is the easiest explanation for attracting a labor force to construct the enclosures,” Notroff says. T-shaped pillars at Gobekli Tepe are carved with stylized hands, belts and loincloths [Credit: Vincent Musi, National Geographic Creative] As they’ve dug deeper into the hilltop, archaeologists have found other evidence for feasting: After they were built, the stone enclosures were filled in with dirt, stone, and animal bones. Over the course of centuries, new structures were built on top of the backfill, creating a man-made mound. The debris includes tens of thousands of broken animal bones, including gazelles and aurochs, a type of wild cow that’s now extinct. There are also huge stone vessels, big enough to hold more than 40 gallons of liquid—perhaps early beer. Tour Buses and Refugees The new funding comes at a critical time for Göbekli Tepe. As the site has gained international prominence, it’s become a bona fide tourist attraction. Less than a decade ago, the hilltop was reachable only via a bumpy ride on a rough dirt road. The occasional visitor might be shown around by Schmidt himself. Today, tour buses sometimes unload hundreds of visitors each day in front of a small visitor’s center, and Turkish travel agencies promote special Göbekli Tepe tours. There’s a gift shop and parking lot, and Turkey’s largest archaeological museum opened recently in the nearby city of Urfa. The tallest of Gobekli Tepe's T-shaped pillars are 18 feet high and weigh around 16 tons [Credit: Vincent Musi, National Geographic Creative] Though excavation and research at the site are funded by the German Archaeological Institute and the German Research Foundation, funds from the Dogus Group, a Turkish conglomerate that includes tourism and media companies, will go toward building a new, larger visitor’s center and protective canopies for the structures that have already been uncovered, along with walkways and fencing to help manage tourism’s impact on the ancient enclosures. “This impressive partnership between the Sahenk Initiative and the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism is sure to shed new light on Gobekli Tepe’s historical significance—not only for Turkey but for the world,” said Terry Garcia, chief science and exploration officer for the National Geographic Society. It’s good news in a region that desperately needs some. As Syria has become less stable, Notroff says, the flood of tourists to the site has visibly slowed. Urfa is just a few miles from Turkey’s border with Syria, and is a key crossing point for refugees fleeing the conflict there. When the Syrian town of Kobani was under attack by ISIS last year, smoke from the battle could be seen from the mountaintop dig site. Author: Andrew Curry | Source: National Geographic [January 21, 2016] Labels ArchaeoHeritage, Archaeology, Breakingnews, Greater Middle East, Heritage, Near East, Turkey TANN you might also like Newer Post Older Post
Gobekli Tepe near Urfa in Turkey is the Archaeological site of the Worlds oldest known religious structure. Predating Stonehenge by over 6000 years. Discovered by Klaus Schmidt it features Megalithic Stone Slabs arranged and Carved with Abstract Animal and Plant Designs, done by a Prehistoric/Neolithic hunter gatherer people. © Neil Beer www.neilbeer.com Photography Swansea
The megalithic circles of Göbekli Tepe mark a transitioning from the last Ice Age to the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution.
Göbekli Tepe is an ancient and significant site which has been pushing back the beginnings of civilization further than we previously assumed. As each temple, pillar, and engraving at the Neolithic site is excavated, the story of human history is rewritten, and the symbols and messages of prehistoric cultures are revealed.
Discovered in 1995, the monoliths at Gobekli Tepe are clearly one of the world's biggest historical mysteries. When found, it appeared to have been
By Graham Hancock Photographs by Santha Faiia For more than a year I’ve been deeply immersed in a major new project that involves Karahan Tepe, in Turkey’s Anatolia region, it’s better-known sister site Gobekli Tepe, and many other enigmatic ancient sites in many different parts of the world. I was […]
For decades, beer partisans have argued that fermented rather than baked grain led humans to begin sowing the fields, settling down, and abandoning their hunter-gatherer ways. I have found none of their arguments persuasive; there just wasn't a smoking gun to support it one way or another.
Up to 10 to 15 years ago, the first settled life for human beings in terms of animal feeding and agriculture, the so called “Neolithic Age” society, was being marked in history as B.C. 9500 by the …
Editorial: An astonishing neolithic ruin shows the incomprehensible variety and power of religion
The megalithic circles of Göbekli Tepe mark a transitioning from the last Ice Age to the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution.
The megalithic circles of Göbekli Tepe mark a transitioning from the last Ice Age to the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution.
Göbeklitepe is an ancient and significant site which has been pushing back the beginnings of civilization further than we previously assumed. As each temple at the Neolithic site is excavated, the story of human history is rewritten.
Archaeologists suspect that Karahan Tepe (also known as Keçili Tepe), built by the same mysterious civilization as Göbekli Tepe, is even older.
Mysterious symbols carved onto stone pillars at Gobekli Tepe in southern Turkey reveal that a comet may have triggered the ice age that brought about human agriculture.
“#GobekliTepe‘s monumental T-pillars are actually giant #anthropomorphic sculptures. Got to admit that in the beginning of my work there, more than 12 yrs ago, I found it quite ... challenging to recognize this likeness. Until we finally excavated the 'hands & loincloth' part ...”
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Relatively little is known of Sudan beyond the borders of Africa even though it is a country which has been home to significant civilizations and has many fascinating archaeological sites.
Göbekli Tepe is an ancient and significant site which has been pushing back the beginnings of civilization further than we previously assumed. As each temple, pillar, and engraving at the Neolithic site is excavated, the story of human history is rewritten, and the symbols and messages of prehistoric cultures are revealed.
A Kurdish man, wandering in Turkey in 1994, discovered a series of stone rectangles, which turned out to be at least 12,000 years old - making the site the oldest in the world.
An original and unique print of the hot air balloons floating across the iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge. A classic Bristol view! The perfect gift for any Bristolian, a wedding, house warming or birthday.
Gōbekli Tepe in Turkey and Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon New Mexico may both be similar necropolis sites, although dating millennia apart.
Scientists at Stockholm University extracted DNA from ancient human remains found at Kumtepe in Anatolia, northwest Turkey, and found they matched genes from early European farmers.
