Göbekli Tepe: World's oldest known megalithic site, dated to about 9500 BC

Megalithic structures< 4500 BC
The Cygnus Mystery | Life’s Origins in the Cosmos | Andrew Collins | Megalithomania 2006 (Audio)
Source: The Cygnus Mystery | Life’s Origins in the Cosmos | Andrew Collins | Megalithomania 2006 (Audio) by MegalithomaniaUK

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Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Türkiye is the world's oldest known megalithic complex, occupied from about 9500 BCE and excavated by Klaus Schmidt of the German Archaeological Institute. Its T-shaped limestone pillars stood upright in sockets and stone foundations; there is no established progression from buried pillars to standing stones. The video links north–south alignments at Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe to astronomy. Schmidt himself interpreted Göbekli Tepe as a ritual and ancestor-cult complex, not as worship of a non-terrestrial being.

Key facts

  • Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Türkiye is commonly described as the world's oldest known megalithic monumental complex. It was occupied from about 9500 BCE; UNESCO dates the site to roughly 9600–8200 BCE.
  • Klaus Schmidt of the German Archaeological Institute began excavations in 1994 and led them until his death in 2014.
  • The complex challenged older assumptions about when monumental ritual architecture and carved stones appeared.
  • The T-shaped limestone pillars were installed upright in sockets and stone foundations. There is no established sequence in which buried pillars later evolved into standing stones.
  • The video links north–south building alignments at Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe to astronomy; the orientation does not establish that purpose.
  • Schmidt interpreted Göbekli Tepe as a ritual or ancestor-cult complex. The attribution to him of belief in a non-terrestrial being is unsupported.

More about Göbekli Tepe

Sources

andrewcollins.com
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megalithomania.co.uk
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megalithomania.co.uk
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Göbekli Tepeen.wikipedia.org
The settlement was inhabited from around 9500 BCE to at least 8000 BCE, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. It is known for its large circular structures that ...
Echo from the Past: How Göbekli Tepe is Reshaping Our ...popular-archaeology.com
Göbekli Tepe is a prehistoric settlement inhabited from about 9500 BCE to at least 8000 BCE, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic in the ...
Göbekli Tepewhc.unesco.org
Located in the Germuş mountains of south-eastern Anatolia, age between 9,600 and 8,200 BCE.
Gobekli Tepe: The World's First Temple?smithsonianmag.com
Predating Stonehenge by 6000 years, Turkey's stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization.
Göbekli Tepe: The Mysterious Site Older Than Stonehengehistory.com
Gobekli Tepe is a monumental stone complex built more than 11000 years ago by hunter-gatherers in Upper Mesopotamia ...
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