Göbekli Tepe sits on a star-shaped limestone plateau at the highest point of the Germis range in southeastern Türkiye, ringed by cliffs. Mapping done in 1995 and refined with geomorphology in 1997 (published 2022) shows two formations nearby: Oligocene Gaziantep rock and Early Miocene Firat formation. The T-pillars come from the Firat limestone — porous, white to cream, bedded 10–130 cm thick, and criss-crossed by fractures. 🏔️
Unfinished 50-ton T-pillar still in bedrock at Göbekli Tepe quarry
TürkiyeGeneral
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Key facts
- An unfinished T-shaped pillar remains in situ in a quarry at Göbekli Tepe, surrounded by U-shaped trenches marking out its shape; it was never levered free of the bedrock.
- The unfinished pillar measures around 7 m (23 ft) in length, with a T-head about 3 m wide and a pillar thickness of 1.5 m.
- The unfinished block is estimated at roughly 50 tons in weight.
- Its size exceeds the central pillars of Building D at Göbekli Tepe and the central pillars of Building A at Karahan Tepe.
- Two smaller T-pillars remain unfinished in a quarry on the southern plateau of Göbekli Tepe.
- Mid-1990s exploration identified numerous quarried rock surfaces; some worked faces are Roman in origin (regular blocks of about 10 x 20 cm), while the vast majority are Pre-Pottery Neolithic quarry faces.
- The video suggests the abandoned pillar may have been left because of a crack or natural flaw, or because it proved too large.
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