Martin B. Sweatman and Alastair Tsikritsis have proposed that the markings on Göbekli Tepe’s Pillar 43 encode a 365-day lunisolar calendar. Their reconstruction combines 12 lunar months (354 days) with 11 extra days. The 14 double-V marks and one single V form a 29-mark lunar count, while 11 boxed signs represent the remaining months; 10 further V marks and a small V on the vulture’s neck account for the extra days. Paleolithic flute incisions have also been interpreted as lunar-cycle notation. 📅
Sweatman and Tsikritsis propose a 365-day lunisolar calendar at Göbekli Tepe
TürkiyeTheory
Key facts
- Martin B. Sweatman and Alastair Tsikritsis proposed the interpretation in a 2024 paper in Time and Mind; the surname is Sweatman, not Swatman.
- The proposed system is lunisolar: 12 lunar months totaling 354 days plus 11 additional days, making 365 days.
- The 14 double-V marks and one single V make 29 marks associated with a lunar month, not 365 individual symbols.
- The reconstruction uses 11 boxed signs for the remaining lunar months, then 10 additional V marks and a small V on the vulture's neck for the 11 extra days.
- Similar incisions on Paleolithic flutes have been interpreted as lunar-cycle notation, but that is a separate proposed comparison.
Sources
Ancient Calendar, Recently Discovered, May Document a Long-Ago ...nytimes.com
Each V-shaped symbol could represent a single day, according to Dr. Sweatman's research. “This interpretation allowed researchers to count a ...
Carvings at ancient monument may be world's oldest calendareurekalert.org
Fresh analysis of V-shaped symbols carved onto pillars at the site has found that each V could represent a single day. This interpretation ...
Ancient carvings at Göbekli Tepe may represent world's oldest ...archaeologymag.com
The V-shaped carvings on the pillar at Göbekli Tepe are not mere decorations. According to Dr. Sweatman, they could represent the earliest ...
Ancient carvings may be world's oldest calendar | Newsed.ac.uk
Fresh analysis of V-shaped symbols carved onto pillars at the site has found that each V could represent a single day. This interpretation ...
V-shaped lines on ancient stone may be oldest solar calendarmiamiherald.com
Sweatman believes he may have identified the oldest solar calendar ever found — a series of V-shaped lines ...
"A solar calendar at Gobekli Tepe and a comet cult at the ...martinsweatman.blogspot.com
Pillar 43 appears to display a date using precession consistent with the Younger Dryas impact. This is supported by considering both the animal ...
Gobekli Tepe's Carvings Represent World's Oldest Solar ...sci.news
Gobekli Tepe's Carvings Represent World's Oldest Solar Calendar, New Research Suggests.
Representations of calendars and time at Göbekli Tepe ...research.ed.ac.uk
V-symbols on Pillar 43 in enclosure D at Göbekli Tepe can be interpreted in terms of a lunisolar calendar system with 11 epagomenal days, which ...
Was this story useful?
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.