"A solar calendar at Gobekli Tepe and a comet cult at the origin of civilisation": A Seminar at La Sapienza University, Rome

I recently gave a seminar at the University of Rome, "La Sapienza", as part of their Syn_Nat research programme, which focuses on representations of time in early history and prehistory.

There was an error with the slides, noticed at ~7 min. Nevermind, we recovered from it.

Synchronized with Nature - SYN_NAT Seminars Records

Below is the paper contribution. I have never before converted a seminar to a paper like this - I suppose it is like a conference paper. The paper is essentially a condensed version of the Time and Mind paper.

A solar calendar at Göbekli Tepe, and a comet cult at the origin of civilisation 

Martin B. Sweatman 

Institute for Materials and Processes, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FB, UK.

Abstract: An earlier 2017 interpretation of Göbekli Tepe's symbolism (Sweatman and Tsikritsis, 2017) suggested that it was largely astronomical, and in particular that Pillar 43 in Enclosure D displayed a date using precession of the equinoxes and constellations similar to ones we still use today. This date, around 10,950 BCE, was interpreted to correspond to the Younger Dryas impact, a proposed comet impact thought to have triggered many environmental and social changes across the world including the Younger Dryas climate change. New work (Sweatman, 2024) shows how the discovery of a solar calendar on Pillar 43 substantially supports this initial interpretation. The calendar is written using geometric symbols and corresponds to 12 lunar cycles plus 10 additional days (which adds to 364 days). The missing day which completes the solar year is interpreted to be the date "written" on the pillar. Therefore, Pillar 43 appears to use constants of nature (the lunar and solar cycles) to ensure its message cannot be misunderstood, i.e. that it represents a date. It therefore appears to display astronomical knowledge not thought to be available for another 10,000 years along with a clever design that incorporates the earliest evidence yet of arithmetic. This discovery also supports the hypothesis that a comet cult played an important role in the origin of civilisation.

Keywords: Göbekli Tepe, Younger Dryas impact, Pillar 43, solar calendar, comet cult, origin of civilization

 

Introduction

Sweatman and Tsikritsis (2017) explain how Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe can be viewed as a memorial to the Younger Dryas impact event because its symbols likely describe the date of the impact event using precession of the equinoxes and animal symbols to represent constellations similar to the ancient Greek ones. Recent work by Sweatman (2024) shows that Pillar 43 also appears to display a solar calendar, and that this interpretation dovetails perfectly with the earlier one.

Here, I will explain how these ideas are mutually supporting and why this solar calendar appears on Pillar 43. To achieve this, a great deal of background material must be covered first before these ideas can be discussed in their proper context.

The Younger Dryas impact

Multiple fragments of a broken comet are thought to have impacted Earth around 10,850 ± 50 BC causing global devastation (Firestone et al., 2007). Among other effects, this event is claimed to have been the trigger for the Younger Dryas (YD) cooling which seems to have resulted in a return to near ice-age conditions across Northern continents for over 1000 years.

The best evidence for the YD impact is found at the base of the YD black mat. This layer of discoloured sediment appears widely across North America and Western Europe, but it has also been found in Central and South America and in Turkey and Syria. Although its appearance varies considerably with location, the microscopic signals of what is interpreted to be a cosmic impact are often found at the base of this boundary layer. These signals include excess nanodiamonds, platinum and iron-rich microspherules (which look just like impact microspherules) along with other kinds of melted and shocked mineral. While the YD impact theory remains controversial, with a series of critical papers and rebuttals published over the last 15 years, evidence in favour of the event remains extremely strong (Sweatman, 2021; Powell, 2022; Holiday et al., 2023; Sweatman et al., 2024a; Sweatman et al., 2024b).

Clear evidence for this event is found in the region around Göbekli Tepe. For example, excess nanodiamonds, platinum, impact-like microspherules and high-temperature melts have been found in a debris layer of Younger Dryas boundary age at Abu Hureyra, one of the world’s earliest settlements and only around 100 miles south of Göbekli Tepe (Moore et al., 2020). Also, anomalously thick layers of charcoal with compatible YD impact radiocarbon dates occur in several Lakes in central Turkey (Turner et al., 2010). These layers could signal the extension of the YD black mat to Turkey.

Göbekli Tepe

Göbekli Tepe is an archaeological site located in southern Turkey, just north of Syria. It lies at the heart of the ancient Fertile Crescent at the eastern end of the Mediterranean and currently dates to around 9500 BC. It sits at the southern edge of a hill overlooking the Harran plain and is therefore an excellent place for naked-eye astronomy.

Only a fraction of the site has been excavated to date, but this has revealed the existence of many megalithic T-shaped pillars that form sub-circular enclosures. The main excavation area includes four such enclosures, labelled A – D. Pillar 43, the most highly decorated of all the T-shaped pillars uncovered so far, is located on the north-west edge of Enclosure D (see Figure 1).

Recent work by the site’s excavators reveals that these enclosures were built and rebuilt many times (Kinzel and Clare, 2020). The oldest radiocarbon dates so far (9530 ± 200 BC) published for Göbekli Tepe correspond to a section of Enclosure D’s boundary wall and a hearth outside of Enclosure D close to bedrock (Dietrich et al., 2013). However, Kinzel and Clare (2020) show that another section of Enclosure D’s wall was built at an even earlier date.

Enclosure E, which lies outside the main excavation area, could also be older. Although its pillars are missing, the remaining smoothed region of bedrock with a central pair of stone sockets clearly show that it existed at some point. Perhaps its pillars were re-used in other enclosures. It is therefore possible that Göbekli Tepe began as a Palaeolithic construction.

Pillar 18

Figure 2 compares Pillar 18 in Enclosure D with the Nebra sky-disk, a bronze or iron-Age artefact from Europe widely recognised to show astronomical symbols. On the sky-disk we can clearly see symbols for the sun and the moon. We can also see a group of seven dots which are widely considered to symbolise the Pleiades star cluster. Although it is not clear what the curved streak at the bottom of the sky disk represents, it might be a comet. Similar symbolism is found on Pillar 18 in enclosure D. We have what appear to be the moon and sun at the top of the pillar under the T-shaped head. We also see seven small birds at the base of the pillar. It is worth noting that in widespread myths the Pleiades are usually represented by either six or seven sisters or birds. We also see a belt buckle and loincloth that look somewhat like the head and tail of a comet. Therefore, since Pillar 18 has some similarities to the Nebra sky-disk which is accepted to show astronomical symbols, perhaps the front of Pillar 18 also shows astronomical symbols. Clearly, we should be alert to the possibility of more astronomical symbolism at Göbekli Tepe.

Pillar 43

Figure 1 shows the main artefact under discussion in this work, Pillar 43 from Enclosure D. Clearly, the disk at the centre of Pillar 43 could have the same meaning as the disk on Pillar 18, although the one on Pillar 18 seems to have a hole in it which presumably carries some additional meaning. It is therefore reasonable to propose that the disk on Pillar 43 might also symbolise the sun and therefore it’s possible that the accompanying animal symbols might be constellation symbols.

This proposal should not be very surprising. It’s frequently argued that the symbolism at Göbekli Tepe is consistent with shamanism (Dietrich, 2023). Yet, there are well-established associations between shamanism and astronomy (Krupp, 1999). Moreover, Hayden and Villeneuve (2011) find evidence that “complex” hunter-gatherers likely tracked the solstices and equinoxes, even in the Palaeolithic period. And, given Göbekli Tepe’s architecture, it’s reasonable to propose that its builders were complex hunter gatherers.

Therefore, if the disk represents the sun, then we should not be too surprised to also find symbolism for the solstices and equinoxes on Pillar 43. This reasoning supports the identification of the four circular and semi-circular symbols on Pillar 43 as solstice and equinox markers. That is, the disk on the main part of the pillar could represent the sun on the summer solstice while the three semi-circles at the top of the pillar, each adjacent to another animal symbol, might represent sunsets linked with the two equinoxes and the winter solstice.

We find similar disk-like symbols on artefacts found at other early settlements too. For example, a chlorite vessel from Kortik Tepe in southern Turkey, which currently pre-dates Göbekli Tepe, displays a similar scene to Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe (Benz and Bauer, 2015). Indeed, there appears to be a bird-of-prey with outstretched wings above which is a disk symbol, and next to it is a tall bird-man and a snake.

More examples of disk symbols are found at Çatalhöyük, which post-dates Göbekli Tepe by around 1000 years (Hodder, 2011). For example, there is the well-known mistress-of-animals statuette with circles on her belly and knees (see Figure 3b). Perhaps she is a female solar deity or a spring equinox fertility deity. Moreover, wall reliefs, or shrines, in the form of a splayed bear at Çatalhöyük always display circles on their tummies (see Figure 4c). Perhaps this splayed bear shape symbolises a constellation similar to the Greek Virgo, which was the summer solstice constellation at the time Çatalhöyük was occupied. We will return to this symbol later, as it also seems to appear on Pillar 43 (see Figure 4a).

Constellation - animal symbol - myth

Some scholars make the case for a very deep time connection between constellations, animal symbols and myth (d’Huy, 2016; d’Huy and Berezkin, 2017; Norris and Norris, 2021). They make these claims based on analysis of widely dispersed myths from across the world. Many of these myths are so similar and so widespread, it’s argued they likely originated before ancient hunter-gathers migrated across the world. As already mentioned, the Pleiades are often symbolised mythologically in terms of six or seven sisters or birds, and stories that connect the plough or big dipper constellation with an animal hunt, often involving a bear, are also common. Given these similarities, these myths could be incredibly old, perhaps > 50,000 years, and yet they have survived until today. This suggests some kinds of astronomical symbolism might be very persistent.

Now, let’s consider Bronze Age Mesopotamia, several millennia after Göbekli Tepe. We find in the historical Babylonian texts the names of at least 46 constellations, which are mostly Sumerian (Kurtik, 2021). This indicates they could originate in the 3^rd or even 4^th millennium BC. These constellation names are mostly the names of animals and mythological characters or deities. We find a similar pattern in ancient Egypt. We know their deities were associated with zodiac-like animals, and we know their religion was strongly related to astronomy, although we don’t have a record of their pre-dynastic constellations. Nevertheless, in Egypt we also see the association of astronomy, religion and animal symbols (Brady, 2015). Thus, it appears that there are strong links between constellations, animal symbols and myths, both long before and millennia after Göbekli Tepe. And since Göbekli Tepe is thought to be a cultic centre where the animal symbols likely represent mythological creatures, it is sensible to propose they could also be constellation symbols, especially when we see them next to geometric symbols which might symbolise the sun.

Gurshtein’s prediction

Hughes (2005) argues that any ancient culture that tracks the solstices and equinoxes for more than a few generations (~ 100 years) is likely to notice precession of the equinoxes. He was thinking especially of the builders of Stonehenge, but his argument can be extended to any tribe that carefully observes the solstices and equinoxes over a sufficiently long period. Since Hayden and Villeneuve (2011) argue that many hunter-gatherer tribes would also have tracked the solstices and equinoxes over very long periods, we can expect many of these ancient tribes might have known about precession as well.

Normally, discovery of precession is credited to the 2^nd Century BC Greek astronomer Hipparchus. But Magli (2004) documents several cases where he thinks it’s obvious that precession would have been known long before this, for example by the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians and Indus Valley cultures, due to the sophistication of their astronomical observations. De Santillana and von Dechend (1969) reach a similar conclusion based on their analysis of worldwide myths.

Using similar arguments, Gurshtein predicted a system of writing “world ages” using precession and the four solsticial and equinoctial constellations (Gurshtein, 2005). Indeed, he thought this system should have been invented by the world’s first farmers in the Neolithic period to support their farming activities. However, Gurshtein’s (2005) reasons for the origin of this system can be applied equally to hunter-gatherers, as their lives were just as dependant on the seasons as those of Neolithic farmers (since all resources are seasonal, even for hunter gatherers, far from the equator). If this is correct, then we could find a system of writing world ages using precession existed even in the Palaeolithic era, long before Göbekli Tepe.

Indeed, this is exactly how Pillar 43 was interpreted by Sweatman and Tsikritsis (2017). They picked out Sagittarius, Pisces, Gemini and Virgo as the four solsticial and equinoctial constellations represented by animal symbols on Pillar 43. In fact, Pillar 43 seems to be even more sophisticated than Gurshtein (2005) predicted, because it appears to use an even more advanced idea, which is that the precise position of the sun against the summer solstice constellation can be used to write a date more accurately than by simply using the four cardinal constellations.

The correlation

The strongest evidence that Sweatman and Tsikritsis (2017) have the correct interpretation of Pillar 43 is obtained by comparing Pillar 43 with the predictions of their hypothesis.

If we use astronomical software like Stellarium (2022), which shows reconstructions of the Greek constellations, we find that the only Greek constellation that has a pattern like that of the bird-of-prey on Pillar 43 that is also on the path of the sun through the sky, known as the ecliptic, is the ‘teapot’ asterism of the Sagittarius constellation (see Figure 5). It can also be seen that on the summer solstice this position of the sun relative to the teapot asterism of Sagittarius corresponds to around 10,950 BCE, to within a few hundred years, which is close to the suggested date of the YD impact. This choice also orients the scene on the pillar; we should look at the sky at sunset on the western horizon. If we take this association to be correct, then;

·       We expect to find a scorpion (representing Scorpius) directly below the bird-of-prey (representing Sagittarius). This is confirmed, although it’s expected orientation is reversed. Nevertheless, this should be viewed as a very strong correlation.

·       We expect to see a canid (representing Lupus) just to the left of the scorpion. This is also confirmed. In fact, the posture of this canine symbol is perfect for Lupus, which produces another very strong correlation.

·       We expect to see Ophiuchus struggling with his giant serpent to the top-right of the scorpion. Instead, we find a tall bird struggling with a snake, which is only a partial match. Nevertheless, the shape of the symbol is not very different to the Ophiuchus constellation. This can be viewed as a moderate correlation.

·       We expect to see an animal symbol with the shape of Greek Libra below the scorpion. Unfortunately, only the head and neck of a goose can be seen, the remainder of this animal remains obscured, and therefore the strength of this particular correlation cannot be decided without further excavations.

Furthermore, according to Sweatman and Tsikritsis’ (2017) hypothesis, we expect to find the following animal symbols next to the supposed sunset icons at the top of the pillar;

·       We expect to find Pisces next to the top-left sunset icon. Although we don’t find two fish tied together by their tails, we do find a bending bird with a very similar general shape to Pisces, i.e. a right-angle shape. This should be viewed as a strong correlation, since only one other Greek constellation (Aquarius) has this general shape.

·       We expect to find an animal symbol corresponding to the Greek “Twins” constellation of Gemini next to the middle sunset icon. We should therefore expect to find a quadruped viewed from the side with legs below. This is exactly what is found on Pillar 43. But, since there are several Greek constellations corresponding to horizontal quadrupeds, this is only a weak correlation.

·       We expect to find an animal symbol similar to the Greek Virgo constellation next to the right-most sunset icon. Virgo is a vertically-oriented splayed quadruped, which is exactly what is observed on Pillar 43. As there are only a few Greek constellations with this overall form, this should be viewed as another strong correlation.

In total, we have four strong correlations and two weaker ones. Of course, some of these correlations could occur by pure chance. However, it’s highly unlikely that they could all occur by pure chance. A much better explanation is that the hypothesis is correct, especially when the animal symbols are already expected to represent constellations.

Göbekli Tepe’s excavators (Notroff et al., 2017) suggested it was highly unlikely that constellations similar to the Greek ones could appear at Göbekli Tepe. However, they didn’t provide any evidence to support that view. It is therefore worth considering the facts. What is actually known about the origin of the Greek constellations?

The most cited papers on the origin of the Greek constellations are a pair of papers by Rogers (1998a, 1998b). He argues that the Greek zodiacal constellations were very likely imported from Babylon around 500 BCE, while all the other non-zodiacal constellations were probably assembled from various sources; a few of them are mentioned in tales by Homer and Hesiod for example. However, his view is conjecture. It relies on the pre-existence of a complete set of zodiacal constellations very similar to the Greek ones in Babylon. But, obviously, these could have arrived in both Greece and Babylon from a third source. The historical record is far too incomplete to draw strong conclusions in this respect.

In fact, Rogers’ (1998a, 1998b) story is directly contradicted by a 2^nd Century BC account by Pseudo-Eratosthenes who recounts an earlier tale by Hesiod (Condos, 1997), which means the tale likely dates to the 7^th or 8^th Century BC, in which he already mentions the Scorpius constellation, thus contradicting Rogers (1998a, 1998b). From excavations at Hattusa, we also know that many Greek myths were shared with or acquired from Anatolia in the preceding millennium (Petropoulos, E.K., 2018). It is therefore possible that both the Greeks and lower Mesopotamians could have obtained their constellations from Upper Mesopotamian in Anatolia, which is where Göbekli Tepe is located. In summary, it is reasonable to suggest that pre-cursors to the Greek constellations could appear at Göbekli Tepe. Indeed, Klauss Schmidt, the site’s first director of excavations, hinted several times that symbolism seen at Göbekli Tepe could be ancestral to some well-known Greek and Egyptian symbolism (Schmidt, 2011). The site’s current excavators seem to have over-looked this.

The Master-of-Animals

The Master-of-Animals symbol is seen across many cultures over thousands of years, both in the Bronze and Iron cultures in the Near East and in Celtic regions and beyond (Counts and Arnold, 2010). Figure 6 shows examples from the east Mediterranean region. Usually, the Master, who is sometimes a Mistress, is shown between two opposing animals and is often holding them at arms’ length. Rogers (1998a, 1998b) argues that Bronze Age symbols like these could be related to the Greek constellations. Indeed, for some of these cultures we know there are direct links between constellations and animal symbols.

Figure 6 shows examples that date from ancient Greece (~ 600 BC) through to pre-dynastic Egypt (~ 3500 BC). They typically support Gurshtein’s (2005) prediction about the early existence of a system of writing world ages using the cardinal constellations. But even earlier examples are also known. For example, Figure 3 shows examples from Iran (Tepe Guyan, 5^th millennium BC) and Anatolia (Çatalhöyük, 7^th millennium BC). For the Iranian example, the Master has the form of a tall bird-man holding a serpent. A similar figure is seen with stars in the background. This therefore appears to be a mid-point in the transition from the “bird with snake” symbol on Pillar 43 to the Greek Ophiuchus constellation, which supports the identification discussed earlier. It is also worth noting that Ophiuchus was the autumn equinox constellation at the end of the 5^th millennium BC.

As discussed earlier, the seated Mistress-of-Animals, or Potnia Theron, from Çatalhöyük might symbolise a solar fertility goddess. The pair of felines she is grasping by the neck are also one of four kinds of zoomorphic wall relief, or shrine, found at Çatalhöyük (Hodder, 2011). These shrines are thought to have been re-plastered and re-painted each year by Çatalhöyük’s occupants. The three other kinds of shrine are the bear, bull and ram, which can all be interpreted as zodiacal symbols. Thus, Çatalhöyük’s zoomorphic wall shrines also lend support to Gurshtein’s (2005) hypothesis.

However, an even earlier example of the Master was discovered at Sayburç, a small village not far from Göbekli Tepe, recently (see Figure 3c). Evidence suggests this find is contemporaneous with Göbekli Tepe. Thus, it appears that symbolism can survive from the time of Göbekli Tepe through to the Bronze Age and to ancient Greece because we see apparent continuity in the Master/Mistress-of-animals throughout this period. Moreover, since it is generally accepted that the animal symbols in later Bronze Age examples might be related to the Greek constellations, this reinforces the possibility that the animal symbols at Göbekli Tepe could be distantly related to the Greek constellations as well.

The Master is also conspicuous on some handbag-like stone objects from 3^rd millennium BC Jiroft, Iran (see Figure 7a). Zodiac-like animal symbols and serpents are also common on these objects. Again, they are consistent with Gurshtein’s (2005) prediction for the existence of a system of writing world ages. It is therefore possible that the semi-circular shapes of these stones also allude to the sunset, just like those at the top of Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe. If this is correct, then it indicates that another symbol could have survived the millennia from Göbekli Tepe to the Bronze Age.

But sunset-like semi-circles are found next to zodiacal-like animals on even earlier artefacts. Consider the 4^th millennium BC Uruk Vase shown in Figure 7b, for example. However, in this case we have an unfamiliar goat or ibex next to a more familiar feline symbol, both standing above sunset-like symbols. Hartner (1965) suggested the ibex symbol in this kind of context likely symbolises a constellation similar to Aquarius. This would also support Gurshtein’s (2005) hypothesis since Aquarius is the winter solstice constellation at that time.

Furthermore, we know that in an early form of Sumerian writing, or protowriting, which preceded Cuneiform script that a semi-circle means the sun (Encylopedia Brittanica, Sumerian Writing). The semi-circle was also used to denote units of time (woods, 2010); see Figure 7c. Thus, interpretation of other semi-circular shapes as sunset icons is reasonable.

A further example (see Figure 8) was discovered in the desert near Thebes in Egypt (Darnell and Darnell, 2002). Darnell and Darnell (2002) thought this rock “graffiti” signified the mythical pre-dynastic Scorpion King. But a zodiacal interpretation indicated by the semi-circle at top-left provides a more complete and detailed interpretation. In this case, the human figure is interpreted as belted Orion, the tall birds as pseudo-Pisces and the ibex as pseudo-Aquarius. The bird-of-prey and scorpion are interpreted as pseudo-Sagittarius and pseudo-Scorpius, respectively, while the bird-with-snake is interpreted as pseudo-Ophiuchus, just as for Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe.

Now let’s look again at Pillar 43 (see Figure 5). We have exactly the same kind of sunset symbols next to the same kind of animal symbols, all of which are consistent with Gurshtein’s (2005) prediction. In particular, let’s focus on the splayed quadruped symbol at the top-right of Pillar 43 next to the right-most sunset icon. It’s probably the same symbol that appears as one of the four shrines at Çatalhöyük (see Figure 4). This is easily explained by Gurshtein’s (2005) hypothesis; at the time of Göbekli Tepe, Virgo (the splayed bear) is the autumn equinox constellation while at the time of Çatalhöyük it is the summer solstice constellations. Hence the semi-circle on Pillar 43 and the full concentric circles at Çatalhöyük.

A solar calendar on Pillar 43

We now have sufficient context to examine the likely solar calendar on Pillar 43. Consider the top row of V-symbols above the disk on Pillar 43 in Figure 9. There are 14 double Vs, with alternating vertical orientation, with a single V at the end. This is likely counting the days of a lunar cycle, as follows (Gordon, 2021). Counting the upright Vs gives 15, left-to-right, and 15 back again, totalling 30. But counting the 15 upright Vs left-to-right and the 14 upside-down Vs back again gives 29. In fact, the lunar cycle alternates nearly perfectly between 29 and 30 days. Therefore, this design allows repeated counting of the lunar cycle. A very similar counting device carved into a Palaeolithic deer antler was reported by Marshack (1972). It therefore appears people were counting the lunar cycle for millennia even before Göbekli Tepe, as expected.

Underneath this row of V-symbols are 11 small square symbols. If we take each square to mean ‘repeat the above count’ then we have 11 more lunar cycles, which totals 354 days. Underneath the 11 small squares are 10 more V-symbols. Adding them to the count gives 364 days, which is just one day short of a solar year. But, notice how the geometric symbols seem to focus downwards towards the disk symbol. It seems clear that this is deliberate and intended to indicate that the scene on the pillar is a special day in the year, presumably the summer solstice, which completes the count of 365 days for a solar year. To reinforce this view, note the V-symbol at the neck of the bird-of-prey (Murdoch, 2021). This V-symbol could be telling us directly that this scene is a special day; the final day in the solar calendar.

In other words, Pillar 43 uses constants of nature, the lunar and solar cycles, to convey two important messages;

1.       A V-symbol represents a single day.

2.       The scene on the pillar represents a special day in the year, presumably the summer solstice.

Of course, this interpretation dovetails perfectly with Sweatman and Tsikritsis (2017), who also concluded that the scene on the pillar represents a date using precession. With two independent ways of arriving at the same conclusion, the likelihood that this interpretation is mistaken is dramatically reduced. Thus, it appears the pillar’s designers used a clever method to ensure its message could not be mistaken.

It’s also worth noting that the Urfa Man statue (see Figure 10) discovered in Sanliurfa near Göbekli Tepe and the Sayburç wall carving (see Figure 3c) both have V-symbols at their neck. Therefore, V-symbols at the neck are probably not just decorative. Instead, they likely mean something related to time, which supports the idea that the V-symbol at the neck of the bird-of-prey on Pillar 43 also means something important, i.e. it is probably not just decoration.

Pillar 33

Now consider Pillar 33 in Enclosure D (see Figure 11). On one face of this pillar we see bunches of snakes leaping or radiating from the legs and torso of a fox. On the other side of this pillar is a similar scene, where the snakes are projecting from the legs and torso of a tall bending bird. Given the strong evidence that these animal symbols represent constellations, these snakes almost certainly symbolise meteors. Therefore, Pillar 33 is probably a very nice picture of a meteor stream. But which one?

The tall bending bird also appears at the top-left of Pillar 43 where it is thought to symbolise a constellation similar to Pisces. The fox on the other side of the pillar, on the other hand, is very similar to the northern part of Aquarius. Note that the Taurid meteor stream at the time Göbekli Tepe was occupied would likely have radiated from the directions of Aquarius and then Pisces over the course of several weeks. So, this pillar could represent the Taurid meteor stream, the same meteor stream that is blamed for the Younger Dryas impact (Sweatman and Tsikritsis, 2017).

The snakes on Pillar 33 converge on the inner narrow face of this pillar (see Figure 12). Above their converging heads are two columns of upturned V-symbols, with 14 V-symbols on the left and 13 V-symbols on the right. Does this mean that the Taurid meteor stream was visible for 13 days from the direction of Aquarius and then 14 days from the direction of Pisces?

A comet cult at the origin of civilisation

Pillar 43 appears to display a date using precession consistent with the Younger Dryas impact. This is supported by considering both the animal symbols and the geometric symbols on Pillar 43 which have a coherent and mutually supporting interpretation. In particular, it is clear that both lunar and solar calendars are carved on Pillar 43.

Also, at the bottom of Pillar 43 we find a headless man that probably symbolises death. Moreover, on Pillar 33 we find what is probably a picture of the Taurid meteor stream. If this interpretation is correct, then it is clear that Enclosure D is designed to memorialise the Younger Dryas impact and that the message is of remembrance.

Returning to Pillar 18 (see Figure 2), it seems that we guessed correctly that these symbols are astronomical. In that case, does Pillar 18 symbolise a comet deity, with the belt buckle as the comet’s head and the loincloth as the comet’s tail? Given there is a fox carved into the side of this pillar, is this comet also from the direction of Aquarius and therefore a comet in the Taurid meteor stream? Is it the Younger Dryas comet perhaps?

Conclusions

·       Cosmic impacts could have been recorded in prehistory using artworks and an astronomical code consisting of:

o   Four zodiacal animals that signal a world age (consistent with Gurshtein’s (2005) hypothesis)

o   Depictions of death

o   Depictions of meteors

·       Göbekli Tepe’s grand architecture might have been motivated by a comet cult after the Younger Dryas impact (note that fear is a highly motivating force).

·       It appears that Palaeolithic people knew how to count and record lunar and solar calendars and write a ‘zodiacal’ date using constellations and precession.

·       It seems that we can trace the origin of several Greek constellations back into the Palaeolithic.

Figures

Figure 1. Left: Plan of Enclosures A to D at Göbekli Tepe. Right: Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe, Enclosure D (image courtesy of Alistair Coombs).

Figure 2. a) Likely moon and sun symbols below an ‘H-symbol’ underneath the ‘head’ of Pillar 18 in Enclosure D. b) 7 birds possibly symbolising the Pleiades on the base of Pillar 18. c) Belt buckle and fox-pelt loincloth, both reminiscent of a comet, on the narrow, inner face of Pillar 18. d) The Nebra sky-disk, displaying symbols for the sun, moon, Pleiades and, possibly, a comet (image from Wikipedia, CC-by-4.0). Images a, b and c courtesy of Alistair Coombs.

Figure 3. Neolithic Master-of-Animals symbols. a) Stone plaquettes from Tepe Guyan (5th millennium BC) possibly showing Ophiuchus as the Master-of-Animals; b) A Mistress-of-Animals from Çatalhöyük, 7,100 – 6,000 BC; c) A Master-of-Animals from Sayburç near Göbekli Tepe. (Images a and b from Wikipedia, CC-BY-4.0, image c adapted from Özdoğan (2022)).

 

Figure 4. Bear symbols from Göbekli Tepe and Çatalhöyük: a) down-crawling quadruped at the top-right of Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe; b) relief sculpture from Göbekli Tepe; c) one of four types of wall relief from Çatalhöyük (from Mellaart, 1967); d) bear seal stamp from Çatalhöyük (image from www.Ҫatalhöyük.com).

 

Figure 5. Left: a scene around Scorpius from Stellarium. The teapot asterism of the Sagittarius constellation is drawn in yellow. Right: a sketch of Pillar 43.

Figure 6. Inter-cultural Master-of-Animals symbols. a) Classical Greece where the Mistress-of-Animals is recognised as Artemis, ~ 500 – 700 BC; b) Minoan Crete, ~ 1,700 – 1,400 BC; c) Seal stamps, Indus Valley, 2,400 – 1,500 BC; d) Ur, Sumer, ~ 2,500 BC; d) the Gebel-Al-Arak knife, Egypt, ~ 3,500 – 3,200 BC; e) Hierakonpolis in Egypt, ~ 3,400 BC. (All images from Wikipedia, CC-BY-4.0)

 

Figure 7. Ancient Iranian Jiroft ‘handbag’ with Master-of-Animals symbol, circa 2500 BC (a, from Wikipedia, CC-BY-4.0). Uruk Vase, Mesopotamia, circa 3500 – 3000 BC (b, from Wikipedia, CC-BY-4.0). Bottom of Figure 2.9 from Woods (2010) showing proto-cuneiform time-keeping symbols that resemble a sunset symbol turned on its side (c, adapted from Figure 41 of Englund (1998)).

Figure 8. Copy of the inscription at the Gebel Djauti rock shelter site discovered by Darnell and Darnell (2002).

 

Figure 9. Lunar and solar calendars at the centre of Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe.

Figure 10. The Urfa Man statue, now in Şanliurfa Museum (image from Wikipedia Wikipedia, CC-BY-4.0).

Figure 11. Sketch of Pillar 33 at Göbekli Tepe, enclosure D, showing the side with a pair of tall birds. The other side of the pillar shows a fox. Snake symbols emanate from these animal symbols, with their heads converging on the narrow inner pillar face.

Figure 12. Sketch of part of the inner face of Pillar 33, Enclosure D, showing the V-symbols.

 

References

Benz, M. and Bauer, J. (2015). On Scorpions, Birds and Snakes - Evidence for Shamanism in Northern Mesopotamia during the Early Holocene. J. Ritual Studies 29 (2), 1-23.

Brady, B. (2015) Star phases: the naked-eye astronomy of the Old Kingdom pyramid text. In: Silva, F. & Campion, N. (eds.) Skyscapes: The Role and Importance of the Sky in Archaeology.

Condos, T., (1997). Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook (Phanes Press, US).

Darnell, J.C. and Darnell, D. (2002). Theban Desert Road Survey in the Egyptian Western Desert, I: Gebel Tjauti Rock Inscriptions 1-45 and Wadi el-Hôl Rock Inscriptions 1-45. Oriental Institute Publications 119.

Dietrich, O., (2023). Shamanism at Early Neolithic Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Turkey. Methodological contributions to an archaeology of belief. Praehistorische Zeitschrift.

Dietrich, O., Koksal-Schmidt, C., Notroff, J., and Schmidt, K., (2013). Establishing a radiocarbon sequence for Göbekli Tepe. State of research and new data. Neo-Lithics 13, 36-41.

Encyclopedia Britannica, Sumerian Writing, https://www.britannica.com/topic/writing/Sumerian-writing, accessed 24/06/2024.

Firestone, R.B., West, A., Kennett, J.P., Becker, L., Bunch, T.E., Revay, Z.S., Schultz, P.H., Belgya, T., Kennett, D.J., Erlandson, J.M., Dickenson, O.J., Goodyear, A.C., Harris, R. S., Howard, G.A., Kloosterman, J.B., Lechler, P., Mayewski, P.A., Montgomery, J., Poreda, R., Darrah, T., Hee, S.S.Q., Smitha, A.R., Stich, A., Topping, W., Wittke, J.H., Wolbach, W.S., (2007). Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago that contributed to the megafaunal extinctions and the Younger Dryas cooling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U. S. A. 104, 16016–16021.

Gordon, J., (2021). Private communication.

Gurshtein, A.A., (2005). Did the Pre-Indo-Europeans Influence the Formation of the Western Zodiac? J. Indo-European Studies 33, 103-150.

Hartner, W., (1965). The earliest history of the constellations in the Near East and the motif of the lion-bull combat. J. Near East. Studies XXIV, 1-32.

Hayden, B., and Villeneuve, S., (2011). Astronomy in the Upper Palaeolithic? Cambridge Archaeological Journal 21, 331-355.

Hodder, I., (2011). Çatalhöyük: The Leopard’s Tale (Thames and Hudson Ltd.).

Holliday, V.T., Daulton, T.L., Bartlein, P.J., Boslough, M.B., Breslawski, R.P., Fisher, A.E., Jorgeson, I.A., Scott, A.C., Koeberl, C., Marlon, J.R., Severinghaus, J., Petaev, M.I., Claeys, P., (2023). Comprehensive refutation of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH). Earth Science Reviews 247, 104502.

Hughes, D.W. (2005). Neolithic and Early Bronze Age skywatchers and the precession of the equinox. Journal of the British Astronomical Association 115, 29-35.

d’Huy, J. (2016) The Evolution of Myths. Scientific American 315, 62-69.

d’Huy, J., and Berezkin, Y.E., (2017). How did the first humans perceive the starry night? – On the Pleiades. RMN Newsletter 12-13, 100-122.

Kinzel, M. and Clare, L. (2020). Monumental – compared to what? A perspective from Göbekli Tepe. In Monumentalising Life in the Neolithic: Narratives of continuity and change, Eds. Gebauer A.B., Sorensen, L., Teather, A. and Valera, A.C..

Krupp, E.C., (1999). Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings: Astronomy and the Archaeology of Power.

Kurtik, G.E., (2021). On the origin of the 12 zodiac constellation system in ancient Mesopotamia. J. History Astronomy 52, 53-66.

Magli, G., (2004). On the possible discovery of precessional effects in ancient astronomy. Online at https://arxiv.org/ftp/physics/papers/0407/0407108.pdf

Marshack, A., (1972). The Roots of Civilisation (McGraw-Hill).

Moore, A.M.T., Kennett, J.P., Napier, W.M., Bunch, T.E., Weaver, J.C., LeCompte, M., Adedeji, A.V., Hackley, P., Kletetschka, G., Hermes, R.E., Wittke, J.H., Razink, J.J., Gaultois, M.W., West, A., (2020). Evidence of cosmic impact at Abu Hureyra, Syria at the Younger Dryas onset (similar to 12.8 ka): high-temperature melting at > 2200 degrees C. Scientific Reports 10, 4185.

Murdoch, C., (2021). Private communication.

Norris, R., and Norris, B., (2021). Why are there Seven Sisters? In Boutsikas, E., McCluskey, S.C., Steele, J. (eds) Advancing Cultural Astronomy: Historical & Cultural Astronomy (Springer), 223-235.

Notroff, J., Dietrich, O., Dietrich, L., Tvetmarken, C.L., Kinzel, M., Schlindwein, J., Sönmez, D., Clare, L., (2017). More than a vulture: A response to Sweatman and Tsikritsis. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 17 (2), 57-63.

Özdoğan, E., (2022). The Sayburç reliefs: a narrative scene from the Neolithic. Antiquity 96, 1599–1605.

Petropoulos, E.K. (2018). Homer and the East on the Aegean Crossroads: History, Archaeology, Mythology.

Powell, J.L. (2022). Premature rejection in science: the case of the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis. Science Progress 105, 1-43.

Rogers, J.H., (1998a). Origins of the ancient constellations: I. The Mesopotamian traditions. J. British Astron. Assoc. 108, 9-28.

Rogers, J.H., (1998b). Origins of the ancient constellations: II. The Mediterranean traditions. J. British Astron. Assoc. 108, 79-89.

De Santillana, G. and Von Dechend, H., (1969). Hamlet’s Mill (David R. Godine).

Schmidt, K., (2011). Göbekli Tepe: A Neolithic site in southeastern Anantolia. The Oxford handbook of ancient Anatolia (10,000 – 323 BCE), Eds. McMahon and Steadman (Oxford Handbooks Online).

Stellarium, (2022). See www.stellarium.org.

Sweatman, M.B., and Tsikritsis, D., (2017). Decoding Göbekli Tepe with archaeoastronomy: What does the fox say? Mediterranean Archaeometry and Archaeology 17 (1), 233-250.

Sweatman, M.B., (2021). The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis: Review of the impact evidence. Earth-Science Reviews 218, 103677.

Sweatman, M.B. (2024). Representations of calendars and time at Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe support an astronomical interpretation of their symbolism. Time and Mind 17 (3-4), 191-247.

Sweatman, M.B., Powell, J.L., West, A. (2024a). Rebuttal of Holliday et al.’s Comprehensive Gish Gallop of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis. Airbursts and Cratering Impacts 2, 1-64.

Sweatman, M.B., Powell, J.L., West, A. (2024b). Rejection of Holliday et al.'s alleged refutation of the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis. Earth-Science Reviews 258, 104960.

Turner, R., Roberts, N., Eastwood, W.J., Jenkins, E., and Rosen, A., (2010.) Fire, climate and the origins of agriculture: Micro-charcoal records of biomass burning during the last glacial–interglacial transition in Southwest Asia. J. Quaternary Science 25, 371-386.

Woods, C., (2010). Visible Language (University of Chicago Press).