The T-shaped pillars at Göbekli Tepe are around 11,000 years old — among the oldest known human-like depictions. Researchers suggest they may represent ancestral figures, possibly deities or 'fathers' of the community. A recently discovered 11,000-year-old carved human face was found at Karahantepe, a related Neolithic site. This finding marks the first human face carved onto a T-shaped pillar at any such site. Ancestor worship at these sites kept figures present in ritual life.
T-pillars may have served as ancestor memorials
TürkiyeTheory
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Key facts
- The human statue at Göbekli Tepe is about 11,000 years old - one of the oldest human depictions
- It likely was worshipped and represents a significant ancestral figure
- The 'father of the tribe' concept parallels Maya king progenitor titles
- Ancestor worship is seen as natural religious behavior - keeping ancestors present in daily life
- This practice parallels modern behavior of immortalizing loved ones through photos, tattoos, and memories
Sources
Göbekli Tepe - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
He suggested that the T-shaped pillars represent human forms, perhaps ancestors. In contrast, he saw a fully articulated belief in deities as not developing ...
Discovery of 11000-year-old carved face in Turkey offers new insight ...theartnewspaper.com
It is the first finding of a human face on a T-shaped pillar—a type of monolith found en masse within a constellation of prehistoric ...
A Human Face Was Carved Into This Stone Pillar in Turkey 11,000 ...smithsonianmag.com
This T-shaped pillar is the first with a carved human face to be found in Turkey's Neolithic archaeological site, Karahantepe. Karahantepe, ...
Features - Last Stand of the Hunter-Gatherers? - May/June 2021archaeology.org
The 11,000-year-old stone circles of Göbekli Tepe in modern Turkey may have been monuments to a vanishing way of life. (Vincent J. Musi).
Gobekli Tepe's Carvings Represent World's Oldest Solar Calendar ...sci.news
The carvings could represent the world's earliest so-called lunisolar calendar, based on the phases of the Moon and the position of the Sun.
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