Göbekli Tepe: ~72 T-shaped pillars excavated (~200 estimated on site), ~11,600 years old. Only ~10% excavated. Full excavation may take 150 years. Ground penetrating radar reveals additional subsurface structures. (Current excavations under direction of Turkish archaeology teams)
Göbekli Tepe excavations deferred 150 years with no full excavation plan
TürkiyeGeneral
Key facts
- Göbekli Tepe is dated at approximately 11,600 years old
- Site has approximately 200 T-shaped pillars, only 72 excavated
- Full excavation deferred - may take 150 years
- Several hundred olive trees planted on ancient ruins
- Infrastructure including roads, sidewalks, viewing platforms, and roofs built over site
- Roof installed with shoddy craftsmanship, on verge of collapse
- Ground penetrating radar shows what lies beneath but no excavation planned
- Site director Dr Nec Kuru and fieldwork director Dr Lee Clare deny controversies
- Site now generates nearly 500,000 tourists per year, millions in revenue
Site mentioned
Sources
Göbekli Tepe - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Göbekli Tepe is a Neolithic archaeological site in Upper Mesopotamia (al-Jazira) in modern-day Turkey. The settlement was inhabited from around 9500 BCE to ...
Göbekli Tepe - UNESCO World Heritage Centrewhc.unesco.org
Distinctive T-shaped pillars are carved with images of wild animals, providing insight into the way of life and beliefs of people living in Upper Mesopotamia ...
An immense mystery older than Stonehenge - BBCbbc.com
Schmidt thought these hunter-gatherers had come together 11,500 years ago to carve Gobekli Tepe's T-shaped pillars with stone tools, using the ...
Göbekli Tepe: The Mysterious Site Older Than Stonehenge | HISTORYhistory.com
More than 11,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers built a monumental stone complex that is thought to be the world's first temple.
Excavations at Göbekli Tepe continue to yield findingsjpost.com
So far, only about 10% of the Göbekli Tepe site was excavated, and it is likely to take around 150 years to excavate the full site.
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