New conference paper: Early Developments in Astronomy, Arithmetic and Proto-writing at Göbekli Tepe

I will present the following paper at the...

Second MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDY DAYS

geo-archaeological on Mediterranean megalithism

(Palermo, Sicily, October 2-4, 2025)


Title: Early Developments in Astronomy, Arithmetic and Proto-writing at Göbekli Tepe, 10,000 BCE

Martin B. Sweatman, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.

 

ABSTRACT

Göbekli Tepe, a megalithic site in southern Anatolia, consists of many sub-circular enclosures formed by megalithic T-shaped pillars and a large number of other rectangular buildings. The pillars of this very early settlement, some standing over 5 m tall, are adorned with a complex system of symbols, including animal symbols and other geometric symbols. It is believed to date to ~ 9,500 BCE, although an older origin date within the Epi-palaeolithic period is likely. Recent analyses of Göbekli Tepe’s iconography suggest that its builders possessed conceptual understanding in astronomy, arithmetic, and proto-writing far earlier than previously recognized. Especially, Pillar 43 of Enclosure D appears to encode both a solar calendar and specific date using a mutually supporting system of geometric and zoomorphic motifs (Sweatman & Tsikritsis, 2017; Sweatman, 2024). The arrangement of geometric symbols, particularly sequences of V-shapes and squares that count lunar and solar cycles, reveals the earliest evidence of arithmetic abstraction in the archaeological record. The recorded date, moreover, indicates knowledge of precession around 10,000 years earlier than Hipparchus.  Together with symbolism on other pillars in Enclosure D, these features portray Göbekli Tepe not merely as a ritual site but as an early centre of scientific knowledge, where astronomy, mathematical reasoning, and symbolic notation coalesced millennia before the rise of Bronze Age civilizations. They also provide insight into events at the dawn of civilisation, when people began to transition to an agricultural lifestyle in the Fertile Crescent.


See the full paper here. 

 

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

M.B.Sweatman (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.

 

 

Figure 1. Right: Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe (photo courtesy of Alistair Coombs). Middle: a sketch showing the symbols uncovered so far on Pillar 43. Left: a scene around Scorpius in Stellarium using the Modern constellation set; the teapot asterism of Sagittarius is in yellow.

 

Figure 2: The solar calendar in the middle of Pillar 43.

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