Göbekli Tepe builders were only 2-3 generations removed from mammoth hunters. Last woolly mammoths disappeared from mainland Europe around 10,000 BC Göbekli Tepe was under construction in present-day Turkey at the same time as the last mainland European mammoths disappeared Göbekli Tepe features massive carved limestone pillars raised in ceremonial circles
Around 10,000 BC, the last woolly mammoths vanished from mainland Europe. At almost the exact same moment, people in present-day Turkey were raising massive carved limestone pillars at Göbekli Tepe. No metal tools, no written language, just animal reliefs honoring the world around them. Wildly enough, the temple builders' grandparents could well have hunted mammoths.
Key Facts
- Last woolly mammoths disappeared from mainland Europe around 10,000 BC
- Göbekli Tepe was under construction in present-day Turkey at the same time as the last mainland European mammoths disappeared
- Göbekli Tepe features massive carved limestone pillars raised in ceremonial circles
- Builders had no metal tools and no known written language
- People carving elaborate animal reliefs into stone had recent ancestors who hunted mammoths
- The distance between mammoth hunter and temple builder was only two or three generations
- The temple builders of Göbekli Tepe likely heard stories from their grandparents about woolly mammoths
- Local wildlife, likely including mammoths, played into the builders' reverence as seen in their animal reliefs
Related site: Göbekli Tepe — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.
Source: Humans never found the Last Mammoths on this frozen Siberian island... by Luke Caverns