Gobekli Tepe is huge!



This is for the benefit of those that haven't yet seen the subsurface radar scan of Gobekli Tepe. The above image is from Deitrich et al., Antiquity vol. 86 (2012), freely available on the internet.

The little portion of Gobekli Tepe so far excavated corresponds to the detailed portion of the map, bottom right, which includes the main circular enclosures A to D. As you can see, even Enclosure D, the oldest and largest enclosure yet uncovered, corresponding to the uppermost green circle is small relative to some of the remaining structures.

The structure right in the middle of the plot looks especially interesting  - being nearly twice the diameter of enclosure D. Considering the progression of these structures - they seem to get larger as they get older - perhaps this central enclosure is the 'heart' of Gobekli Tepe, and will reveal a great deal more about its function and purpose.

But some of the other structures remaining in the ground also look to be massive. Quite possibly, we have only scratched the surface of Gobekli Tepe so far, and the main event remains to be excavated.

Comments

  1. TimothyJuly 24, 2019 at 3:04 PM

    Are you aware of any current plans to excavate the site further? Has work been paused since Klaus Schmidt's death in 1994? I haven't found any recent information, though it would seem like an archaeological priority even for those who are not testing the zodiac theory.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prehistory DecodedJuly 26, 2019 at 5:19 AM

      I haven't seen anything new for a few years. My understanding is that they are in no hurry, and are happy to wait for advances in technology to occur that might improve their understanding of any new excavations. Of course, being cynical, it is clearly in their interests to go as slowly as possible - to stretch out the funding for as long as possible.

      Delete
  2. UnknownFebruary 28, 2020 at 3:32 AM

    Hi, thanks for the amazing work. Have you looked at the Easter island statues at all? They all face east I believe but the petroglyphs on the them are interesting. There's a massive painting on a rock which has a lot of detail.

    ReplyDelete
  3. punderMarch 31, 2020 at 8:32 AM

    Perhaps this complex was built at Gobekli Tepe because it is the geographic epicenter of the airburst that destroyed Abu Hureyra? Survivors might have triangulated the spot from their various observer locations, or seen evidence such as radially blasted trees, as in Tunguska.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gobekli Tepe's Pillars

Image
Significance: Gobekli Tepe (GT) probably represents the origin of civilisation for most of the world today. Most of us are connected to it in some way, through language and religion (proto-Nostratic), or genetics at least. The Pillars: GT is famous for its anomalous megalithic pillars, and especially the symbols carved on them. Most people think these symbols are telling an important story - they are not just random pictures of animals. Klauss Schmidt, who discovered GT and led its excavation, until his death in 2014, certainly thought so. It follows that the only way we will ever be able to properly understand Gobekli Tepe, and therefore the origin of civilisation, is through reading its pillars. Deutsche Archaeological Institute : the DAI operates the Gobekli Tepe dig. Despite the immense significance of the site, they continue to have a casual disregard for the information encoded on its pillars. Over 60 pillars have been uncovered, but only around 20 are documented by the DAI. Alt
Read more

The meaning of H-symbols at Gobekli Tepe (updated 7th June)

Image
The H and I-symbols at Gobekli Tepe are some of the hardest to decipher, and their precise meaning remains obscure. But there are some good clues, which allow a preliminary interpretation. Let's have a look at all the instances where H and I-symbols occur. Pillar 33: A pair of H-symbols bracket some snakes (meteors) on the inner face. The upper H-symbol is quite faint. An I-symbol appears at ground level below the snake heads, but it is hardly visible here. Also, there are more I-symbols on the side with the tall bending birds. Of course, Pillar 43 has H and I-symbols near the bird with fish/snake. But Pillar 18 has the most H and I-symbols. First, at the top, forming a kind of necklace, together with likely sun and moon symbols. Then on the belt of Pillar 18 surrounded by loops... And then also on the belt buckle surrounding what might be the head of a comet. Pillar 30 has a single H-symbol, ... while Pillar 28 has an H-symbol over another loop, with an I-symbol at the bottom. The
Read more
Image
Decoding Pictish symbols This work is now peer-reviewed and published here . Image from Aberdeenshire.gov.uk/leisure-sport-and-culture/archaeology/sites-to-visit/pictish-symbol-stones/ The Picts lived in Scotland in the 1st millennium AD, and probably before. It is generally thought that the Romans named them after the paint they wore, and they built Hadrian's Wall to protect their lands to the south from them. The Picts are famous for their symbols, which they carved into megalithic pillars. To date, these symbols have remained a mystery, although several people have provided potential interpretations. One of the most well-known is due to Jackson who interpreted them as family crests - he describes his theory in detail in his 1984 book 'The Symbol Stones of Scotland'. In my view, they are instead practically the same system of zodiacal and astronomical symbols we have found across Europe and the Near East, from Palaeolithic caves to Gobekli Tepe, Ca
Read more