Göbekli Tepe: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:25, 22 August 2019

Revision as of 20:20, 26 August 2019

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| builder =

| material =

| built = 10th millennium BCEBC

| abandoned = 8th millennium BCEBC

|epochs = [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]] to [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B|B]]

|public_access =

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'''Göbekli Tepe''' ({{IPA-tr|ɟœbecˈli teˈpe|lang}},<ref>{{cite web |title=Göbekli Tepe |publisher=Forvo Pronunciation Dictionary |url=http://www.forvo.com/word/g%C3%B6bekli_tepe/}}</ref> Turkish for "Potbelly Hill")<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|title=History in the Remaking|journal=Newsweek|date=18 Feb 2010}}</ref> is an archaeological site in the [[Southeastern Anatolia Region]] of [[Turkey]] approximately {{convert|12|km|0|abbr=on}} northeast of the city of [[Şanlıurfa]]. The [[Tell (archaeology)|tell]] has a height of {{convert|15|m|0|abbr=on}} and is about {{convert|300|m|abbr=on}} in diameter.<ref>Klaus Schmidt (2009): ''Göbekli Tepe - Eine Beschreibung der wichtigsten Befunde erstellt nach den Arbeiten der Grabungsteams der Jahre 1995-2007''. In: ''Erste Tempel - Frühe Siedlungen. 12000 Jahre Kunst und Kultur.'' Oldenburg, p. 188.</ref> It is approximately {{convert|760|m|abbr=on}} above sea level.

The tell includes two phases of use, believed to be of a social or ritual nature by site discoverer and excavator [[Klaus Schmidt (archaeologist)|Klaus Schmidt]], dating back to the 10th–8th millennium BCEBC.<ref name="Smithsonian">{{cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/30706129.html|title=Göbekli Tepe: The World's First Temple?|last=Curry|first=Andrew|date=November 2008|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|accessdate=2019-03-31}}</ref> During the first phase, belonging to the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]] (PPNA), circles of massive T-shaped stone pillars were erected – the world's oldest known [[megalith]]s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qR5TCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47|title=The Archaeology of Malta|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107006690|page=47|language=en|last1=Sagona|first1=Claudia|accessdate=25 November 2016}}</ref>

More than 200 pillars in about 20 circles are currently known through [[Geophysical survey (archaeology)|geophysical surveys]]. Each pillar has a height of up to {{convert|6|m|0|abbr=on}} and weighs up to 10 tons. They are fitted into sockets that were hewn out of the [[bedrock]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Andrew |last=Curry |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html |date=November 2008 |publisher=Smithsonian.com |title=Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple? |accessdate=August 2, 2013}}</ref> In the second phase, belonging to the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]] (PPNB), the erected pillars are smaller and stood in rectangular rooms with floors of polished [[Lime (material)|lime]]. The site was abandoned after the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB). Younger structures date to classical times.

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[[File:Göbekli Tepe.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|View of site and excavation]]

[[File:Earliest carbon 14 dates for Göbekli Tepe as of 2013.jpg|thumb|Earliest [[carbon-14]] dates for Göbekli Tepe as of 2013.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shukurov |first1=Anvar |last2=Sarson |first2=Graeme R. |last3=Gangal |first3=Kavita |title=The Near-Eastern Roots of the Neolithic in South Asia |journal=PLOS ONE |date=7 May 2014 |volume=9 |issue=5 |pages=Appendix S1 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0095714 |url=https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0095714 |language=en |issn=1932-6203|pmc=4012948 }}</ref>]]

The imposing [[stratigraphy]] of Göbekli Tepe attests to many centuries of activity, beginning at least as early as the [[Epipalaeolithic Near East|Epipaleolithic]] period. Structures identified with the succeeding period, [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]] (PPNA), have been dated to the 10th millennium BCEBC.{{citation needed|reason=If it has been dated, the source must be declared|date=March 2019}} Remains of smaller buildings identified as [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]] (PPNB) and dating from the 9th millennium BCEBC have also been unearthed.{{citation needed|reason=If it has been dated, the source must be declared|date=March 2019}}

A number of [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dates]] have been published {{Citation needed|reason=The table of radiocarbon dates needs citations|date=January 2019}}:

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{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Lab-Number !! Context !! cal [[Common Era|BCE]]BC

|-

| Ua-19561 || enclosure C || 7560–7370

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| total_width=400

| image1 = GobeklitepeHeykel.jpg

| image2 = Gobeklitepe_animal_sculpture,_circa_9000_BCE_circa_9000_BC.jpg

| footer=<center>Pillar 27 from Enclosure C (Layer III) with the sculpture of a predatory animal in high relief catching a prey in low relief.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Steadman |first1=Sharon R. |last2=McMahon |first2=Gregory |title=The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE) |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press USA |isbn=9780195376142 |page=923 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TY3t4y_L5SQC&pg=PA923 |language=en}}</ref></center>

}}

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Few humanoid figures have appeared in the art at Göbekli Tepe. Some of the T-shaped pillars have human arms carved on their lower half, however, suggesting to site excavator Schmidt that they are intended to represent the bodies of stylized humans (or perhaps deities). Loincloths appear on the lower half of a few pillars. The horizontal stone slab on top is thought by Schmidt to symbolize shoulders, which suggests that the figures were left headless.<ref>Schmidt 2010, pp. 244, 246</ref> Whether they were intended to serve as surrogate worshippers, symbolize venerated ancestors, or represent supernatural, anthropomorphic beings is not known.

Some of the floors in this, the oldest, layer are made of [[terrazzo]] (burnt lime); others are bedrock from which pedestals to hold the large pair of central pillars were carved in high relief.<ref>Schmidt, 2010, p. 251.</ref> Radiocarbon dating places the construction of these early circles in the range of 9600 to 8800 BCEBC. Carbon dating suggests that (for reasons unknown) the enclosures were backfilled during the Stone Age.

===Layer II===

[[File:Şanlıurfa Müzesi Neotilik Çağ totem.jpg|thumb|upright|A sort of [[totem pole]] from Göbekli Tepe, with portions of humanoid figures. Layer II, 8800-8000 BCEBC - [[Şanlıurfa Museum|Şanlıurfa (Urfa) Museum]]]]

Creation of the circular enclosures in layer III later gave way to the construction of small rectangular rooms in layer II. Rectangular buildings make a more efficient use of space compared with circular structures. They often are associated with the emergence of the Neolithic,<ref>Flannery and Marcus, ''The Creation of Inequality'', p. 128</ref> but the T-shaped pillars, the main feature of the older enclosures, also are present here, indicating that the buildings of Layer II continued to serve the same function in the culture, presumably as sanctuaries.<ref>Schmidt 2010, pp. 239, 241.</ref> Layer II is assigned to [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]] (PPNB). The several adjoining rectangular, doorless and windowless rooms have floors of polished lime reminiscent of [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] terrazzo floors. Carbon dating has yielded dates between 8800 and 8000 BCEBC.<ref>Schmidt 2009, p. 291</ref> Several T-pillars up to 1.5 meters tall occupy the center of the rooms. A pair decorated with fierce-looking lions is the rationale for the name "lion pillar building" by which their enclosure is known.<ref>Schmidt 1990, p. 198</ref>

A stone pillar resembling totem pole designs was discovered at Göbekli Tepe, Layer II in 2010. It is 1.92 metres high, and is superficially reminiscent of the totem poles in North America. The pole features three figures, the uppermost depicting a predator, probably a bear, and below it a human-like shape. Because the statue is damaged, the interpretation is not entirely clear. Fragments of a similar pole also were discovered about 20 years ago in another Turkey site at [[Nevalı Çori]]. Also, an older layer at Gobekli features some related sculptures portraying animals on human heads.<ref>[https://tepetelegrams.wordpress.com/2017/03/01/the-gobekli-tepe-totem-pole/ The Göbekli Tepe ‘Totem Pole’.] News & Notes from the Göbekli Tepe Research Staff - 03/01/2017</ref>

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Layer I is the uppermost part of the hill. It is the shallowest, but accounts for the longest stretch of time. It consists of loose sediments caused by erosion and the virtually-uninterrupted use of the hill for agricultural purposes since it ceased to operate as a ceremonial center.

The site was deliberately [[Earthworks (engineering)|backfilled]] sometime after 8000 BCEBC: the buildings were buried under debris, mostly flint gravel, stone tools, and animal bones.<ref>Schmidt 2010, p. 242</ref> In addition to [[Byblos]] points (weapon heads, such as arrowheads etc.) and numerous [[Nemrik]] points, [[Helwan]]-points, and [[Tell Aswad|Aswad]]-points dominate the backfill's lithic inventory.

==Chronological context==

All statements about the site must be considered preliminary, as less than 5% of the site has been excavated, and Schmidt planned to leave much of it untouched to be explored by future generations when archaeological techniques will presumably have improved.<ref name="Smithsonian"/> While the site formally belongs to the earliest Neolithic ([[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A|PPNA]]), to date no traces of domesticated plants or animals have been found. The inhabitants are presumed to have been [[hunters and gatherers]] who nevertheless lived in villages for at least part of the year.<ref>The Guardian report 23 April 2008</ref> So far, very little evidence for residential use has been found. Through the [[radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon]] method, the end of Layer III can be fixed at about 9000 BCEBC (see above), but it is believed{{by whom?|date=June 2018}} that the elevated ___location may have functioned as a spiritual center during 10,000 BCEBC or earlier, essentially, at the very end of the [[Pleistocene]].

The surviving structures, then, not only predate [[pottery]], [[metallurgy]], and the invention of writing or the wheel, but were built before the so-called [[Neolithic Revolution]], that marks the beginning of [[agriculture]] and [[animal husbandry]], around 9000 BCEBC. The construction of Göbekli Tepe implies organization of an advanced order not hitherto associated with [[Paleolithic]], [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A|PPNA]], or [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B|PPNB]] societies, however. Archaeologists estimate that up to 500 persons were required to extract the heavy pillars from local [[quarry|quarries]] and move them {{convert|100|-|500|m|ft|-1|sp=us}} to the site.<ref>{{cite web| title= Which came first, monumental building projects or farming? |work=Archaeo News |date= 14 December 2008 | url= http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/003061.html}}</ref> The pillars weigh {{convert|10|-|20|MT|lk=out|0}}, with one still in the quarry weighing 50 tons.<ref>{{cite book|last=Taracha|first=Piotr|title=Religions of second millennium Anatolia|year=2009|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-3-447-05885-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTE7o8aKI7IC&pg=PA12&dq=%22G%C3%B6bekli+Tepe%22+%2250+tons%22#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=12}}</ref>

Around the beginning of the 8th millennium BCEBC Göbekli Tepe lost its importance. The advent of agriculture and animal husbandry brought new realities to human life in the area, and the "Stone-age zoo" (Schmidt's phrase applied particularly to Layer III, Enclosure D) apparently lost whatever significance it had had for the region's older, foraging communities. But the complex was not simply abandoned and forgotten to be gradually destroyed by the elements. Instead, each enclosure was buried quite deliberately under as much as {{convert|300|to|500|m3|cuyd|-1|sp=us}} of refuse, creating a tell consisting mainly of small limestone fragments, stone vessels, and stone tools. Many animal, and even human, bones have been identified in the fill.<ref>Schmidt 2010, pp. 242—243, 249.</ref> Why the enclosures were buried is unknown, but it preserved them for posterity.

==Interpretation==

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[[File:UrfaMuseumGöbekli.jpg|thumb|left|Steles and sculptures from Göbekli Tepe in [[Şanlıurfa Museum]].]]

With its mountains catching the rain and a calcareous, porous bedrock creating lots of springs, creeks, and rivers,<ref name=":2" /> the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris was a refuge during the dry and cold [[Younger Dryas]] climatic event (10,800 – 9,500 BCEBC){{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}. Speculation exists that conditions driven by population expansions locally could have led them to develop common rituals strengthened by monumental gathering places to reduce tensions and conflicts over resources,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tepetelegrams.wordpress.com/2017/06/01/cooperative-action-of-hunter-gatherers-in-the-early-neolithic-near-east-a-view-from-goebekli-tepe/|title=Cooperative Action of Hunter-Gatherers in the Early Neolithic Near East. A View from Göbekli Tepe|last=Oliver|first=Dietrich|date=June 1, 2017|website=|access-date=}}</ref> and probably, to mark territorial claims.

[[File:Göbekli2012-27.jpg|thumb|Statue of a wild boar, Göbekli Tepe, 9000 BC]]