What is Göbekli Tepe?
Quick answer
Göbekli Tepe is an archaeological site near Şanlıurfa in southeastern Turkey, famous for its huge T-shaped stone pillars arranged in circles. Built around 9500 BC, about 11,600 years ago, it’s roughly 6,000 years older than Stonehenge. It was built by hunter-gatherers, before farming had fully developed.
Key facts
- Location
- Near Şanlıurfa, southeastern Turkey
- Age
- About 9500 BC (roughly 11,600 years old)
- Pillars
- Up to about 5.5 m tall and around 10 tonnes
- UNESCO
- World Heritage Site since 2018
Why it changed history books
Archaeologists long believed people first settled down and farmed, then built temples. Göbekli Tepe suggests the order may have been more complicated: hunter-gatherers came together to build monumental structures, and the need to feed workers may have encouraged early farming. Some of the earliest domesticated wheat grew in this region; see the most widely grown crop.
The pillars
- Arranged in circular or oval enclosures, with two larger pillars in the center
- Many carved with animals: foxes, boars, snakes, vultures, scorpions and cranes
- Some have arms, hands and belts carved on their sides, suggesting they represent stylized human or supernatural figures
- Carved from limestone quarried on the hill, using stone and flint tools
Discovery
The site was noted in a 1960s survey but dismissed as a medieval cemetery. German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt recognized its importance in 1994 and led excavations from 1995 until his death in 2014. Only a small part of the site has been excavated; ground-penetrating radar shows many more enclosures underground.
What was it for?
Schmidt saw it as a ritual center, perhaps the world’s first temple. Recent finds of houses, water cisterns and tools suggest that people also lived there. Researchers still debate its full purpose.
Neighbors: the Taş Tepeler
Nearby sites such as Karahan Tepe have revealed similar pillars and carved human heads. Together these sites, called the Taş Tepeler (“Stone Hills”), form one of the most important prehistoric regions on Earth.
Older than…
| Monument | Approximate date |
|---|---|
| Göbekli Tepe | 9500 BC |
| Earliest writing | ~3200 BC; see the first writing system |
| Stonehenge | ~3000 BC |
| Great Pyramid of Giza | ~2560 BC |
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