Göbekli Tepe, an archaeological site in southern Turkey, features several Neolithic temple-like enclosures adorned with many intricately carved symbols.
Pillar 43 in Enclosure D, Göbekli Tepe. Image credit: Alistair Coombs.
Göbekli Tepe (‘Potbelly Hill’ in Turkish) is among the earliest known examples of man-made megalithic buildings constructed specifically for the ritual requirements of their prehistoric builders.
Its impressive monumental architecture was built by groups of hunter-gatherers in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, between 9,600 and 8,200 BCE.
Göbekli Tepe was discovered towards the end of the last century in the hills overlooking the Harran Plain.
It is situated between the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, around 12 km north-east of the modern city of Şanliurfa, which was ancient Urfa and said to be the birthplace of Biblical Abraham.
Excavations at Göbekli Tepe, which began in 1994, revealed four large sub-circular enclosures and many other rectangular buildings which are generally smaller.
Each rounded enclosure consists of a rough stone wall embedded with megalithic T-shaped pillars surrounding a pair of taller, centrally located T-shaped pillars which are typically grounded within stone sockets.
Although archaeologists originally thought Göbekli Tepe was a cultic center only, more recent excavations indicate that Göbekli Tepe was also a settlement with the rectangular buildings thought now to be houses.
While the large enclosures are still considered ‘special’ buildings, it is debated whether they had a specific cultic purpose or whether they were the larger homes of important families.
In the context of this debate, it is argued whether the largest pillars could represent deities or perhaps revered ancestors.
In either case, it is generally thought these large enclosures were roofed, although firm evidence is elusive.
Monumental round-oval buildings with their characteristic T-shaped monolithic pillars at Göbekli Tepe, Turkey. Image credit: Nico Becker, Göbekli Tepe Archive, German Archaeological Institute.
“The largest complete enclosure so far uncovered, Enclosure D (30 m, or 98 feet, across), generated the oldest radiocarbon date yet measured for the site at 9530 BCE,” said University of Edinburgh archaeologist Martin Sweatman, author of a paper published in the journal Time and Mind.
“This date corresponds approximately to the end of the Younger Dryas period at the Epipaleolithic-Neolithic boundary when the northern-hemisphere climate rocketed upwards after more than 1,200 years of near ice-age Younger Dryas climate.”
“However, the earliest occupation date of Göbekli Tepe is unknown,” he added.
“Ground-penetrating radar scans suggest several other large structures situated towards the center of the main tell also exist, waiting to be uncovered.”
“Given that only a small fraction of the site’s surface has been excavated, with an even smaller area excavated down to bedrock, it is possible that Göbekli Tepe’s origin will eventually be found to date closer to the onset of the Younger Dryas around 10,800 BCE.”
“In fact, scientists suggested it could have a Paleolithic origin.”
In a new analysis of V-shaped symbols carved onto pillars at Göbekli Tepe, Dr. Sweatman found that each V could represent a single day.
This interpretation allowed the researcher to count a solar calendar of 365 days on one of the pillars, consisting of 12 lunar months plus 11 extra days.
The summer solstice appears as a separate, special day, represented by a V worn around the neck of a bird-like beast thought to represent the summer solstice constellation at the time.
Other statues nearby, possibly representing deities, have been found with similar V-markings at their necks.
Since both the Moon’s and the Sun’s cycles are depicted, the carvings could represent the world’s earliest so-called lunisolar calendar, based on the phases of the Moon and the position of the Sun — pre-dating other known calendars of this type by many millennia.
Detail of the center of Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe. Image credit: Martin B. Sweatman, doi: 10.1080/1751696X.2024.2373876.
“Ancient people may have created these carvings at Göbekli Tepe to record the date a swarm of comet fragments hit Earth nearly 13,000 years ago, or 10,850 BCE,” the scientist said.
“The comet strike is suggested to have ushered in a mini ice age lasting over 1,200 years, wiping out many species of large animals.”
“It could also have triggered changes in lifestyle and agriculture thought to be linked to the birth of civilization soon afterwards in the Fertile Crescent of West Asia.”
Another pillar at the site appears to picture the Taurid meteor stream — which is thought to be the source of the comet fragments — lasting 27 days and emanating from the directions of Aquarius and Pisces.
The find also appears to confirm that ancient people were able to record dates using precession — the wobble in Earth’s axis which affects the movement of constellations across the sky — at least 10,000 years before the phenomenon was documented by Hipparchus of Ancient Greece in 150 BCE.
The carvings appear to have remained important to the people of Göbekli Tepe for millennia, suggesting the impact event may have triggered a new cult or religion that influenced the development of civilization.
The find also supports a theory that Earth faces increased comet strikes as its orbit crosses the path of circling comet fragments, which we normally experience as meteor streams.
“It appears the inhabitants of Göbekli Tepe were keen observers of the sky, which is to be expected given their world had been devastated by a comet strike,” Dr. Sweatman said.
“This event might have triggered civilization by initiating a new religion and by motivating developments in agriculture to cope with the cold climate.”
“Possibly, their attempts to record what they saw are the first steps towards the development of writing millennia later.”
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Martin B. Sweatman. Representations of calendars and time at Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe support an astronomical interpretation of their symbolism. Time and Mind, published online July 24, 2024; doi: 10.1080/1751696X.2024.2373876