Mystery of the Human History: Göbekli Tepe

Archaeologists provided information about the relationship between settlement communities and temples. From the evidence that they have, they argue that the construction of temples and social structures can only be related to sedentary communities. Nevertheless, from the evidence, archaeologists found out that Göbekli Tepe was constructed by a hunter-gatherer community. As a fun fact, the name Göbekli Tepe means “Belly Hill” in Turkish and the site has a rounded top rising above the landscape! There are many fascinating discoveries about Göbekli Tepe and there are still many things that were not discovered yet. Let’s see what the archaeologists have discovered so far!

The site is located near Urfa, Turkey. At first, there were only broken slabs of limestone and an empty mound. Yet, Archaeologists Klaus Schmidt discovered huge stones that were carved. These stones tend to be almost 10.000-11.000 years old and a product of prehistoric people who used tools. history of humans that we know, and especially the history of religion. The history of Göbekli Tepe dates back to the Neolithic Period and older than the Pyramids. While we are being fascinated by how the Pyramids constructed at the time period, we can also think about how Göbekli Tepe’s carvings and the location of the T-shaped pillars are also fascinating.

Evidence shows that Göbekli Tepe is the world’s oldest temple. There are almost 20 temples located at the site but only 6 temples have been excavated. Excavations in Göbekli Tepe make us rethink about the sedentary living style and religious activities. Thus, we can also see the effect of religion on society even in that time period.

First, we can look at the nature-related information about the site. There are many wild animal depictions that are related to the fauna of the time period. These depictions were carved onto T-shaped pillars. For instance, there are mostly snakes, scorpions, and lions carved onto these pillars. These pillars are from almost 6,000 years earlier the invention of writing, so understanding these symbol communication is quite difficult.

In addition to the wild species of nuts, the ancestor of wheat was from this region. Einkorn grains, a wild kind of wheat, were found in the soil of Göbekli Tepe. These grains are the indicator of the ancestor of wheat being from here. We can say that this site was like a paradise to hunter-gatherer groups!

These mentioned hunter-gatherer communities were small groups that did not have a permanent living site. They gathered their food either by hunting animals or collecting plants. The construction of Göbekli Tepe, carrying stones for the temple, possibly needed many people so small groups of hunter-gatherer communities must be got together. As a result, Göbekli Tepe can be the starting point of the complex society form. This issue of gathering made Schmidt think about whether hunter-gatherer groups got together for religious activities. This is the reason why this site made archaeologists question their knowledge.

Even today, Göbekli Tepe playing a role in our lives. Many archaeology students, including myself, go to the site for learning excavations methods and about the living style or religion of our ancestors. In addition to this, there are concerts taking place in Göbekli Tepe. DJs who play electronic music gave and probably continue to give concerts very close to the site with its view on the background. You can see an example of these concerts below. While mentioning electronic music, wait for my article about electronic music and psychology!

Sources:

Book:

Schmidt, K. (1999). Neolithic in Turkey (1300505449 957260535 M. Özdoğan, 1300505450 957260535 N. Başgelen, & 1300505451 957260535 P. Kuniholm, Eds.). Istanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları.

Websites:

Importance of Göbekli Tepe. (n.d.). Retrieved April 09, 2021, from http://greatdiscoveries.leadr.msu.edu/gobeklitepe/importance/

Curry, A. (2008, November 01). Gobekli tepe: The world’s FIRST TEMPLE? Retrieved April 09, 2021, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gobekli-tepe-the-worlds-first-temple-83613665/