Two intact burials roughly 12,000 years old turned up at Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey — the site's first. One (found 2017) held at least three people: a woman near 35, a man of 20-30, and a girl of 11-14, with skulls stacked in a corner. Researchers suggest bodies were originally buried under higher floors and slid downhill. 🪦🏛️
Two intact 12,000-year-old burials uncovered at Göbekli Tepe
TürkiyeBioarchaeology
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Key facts
- Two intact burials around 12,000 years old were found at Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey, the first intact burials from the site
- Excavations at the site began in 1995 and have produced hundreds of human bone fragments scattered across the mound, including in the fill of monumental buildings, from males, females and all ages
- The 2017 find, made during construction of a protective shelter, lay in a kidney-shaped pit cut into a building's plaster floor and held at least three individuals: a woman of about 35, a man aged 20-30 and a girl aged 11-14; skulls were stacked in one corner, other bones piled in the centre with long bones lined up along a wall
- A second burial found in 2012 but not excavated until 2022 contained a young woman aged 20-30 placed on her side in a flexed position facing east, with most bones in anatomical position
- Both burials suffered calcareous mineral encrustation and rodent gnawing matching the wider scattered bone fragments from the site
- Researchers support the hypothesis that burials were originally made beneath floors of buildings higher up the settlement, with soil and debris moving remains downhill through erosion and slope slides into the monumental buildings below
- Increasing evidence of dwellings and domestic activity is re-evaluating the older view of Göbekli Tepe as a purely ritual centre without permanent occupation
Sources
The first intact burials have been found at Göbekli Tepe ...unn.ua
People may have lived at Göbekli Tepe. Previously, archaeologists had found only isolated fragments of human bones in the fill of the buildings.
Göbekli Tepeen.wikipedia.org
Burials. Before any burials were found, Schmidt speculated that graves could have been located in niches behind the walls of the circular building. In ...
News - Intact Burials Excavated at Göbekli Tepearchaeology.org
A kidney-shaped pit was found to contain the remains of a woman, a young man, and an adolescent girl. The remains of a young woman were found in ...
DAI - Human bones at Göbekli Tepedainst.org
However, so far, no undisturbed burials have been found at Göbekli Tepe. In spite of this absence, finds of human bone are not entirely lacking. Since the ...
Why Was Göbekli Tepe Buried? Evidence and Leading Theoriesgobekli-tepe.com
Göbekli Tepe was deliberately buried by its builders. Explore four theories: ritual closure, cosmological ending, social change, ...
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