Gobekli Tepe Excavation in Turkey. National Geographic.
In our posts up till now, our investigation into the civilizations on the cusp of literacy took us back six millennia. We learned a lot about the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Harappans. It would be easy to think, since these civilizations produced impressive strides in agriculture, architecture, and tools, that the progress we’ve seen since the last Ice Age started with organized agriculture 6000 years ago. That was pretty much “settled science” 25 years ago. However, as I’ve said before, there is no such thing as “settled science.” Science incorporates the latest facts, and archaeologists have not stopped digging.
In 1963, an archaeological survey examined the site of Gobekli Tepe. In 1980, the survey was finally published and concluded it was a minor Neolithic site based on surface analysis. In 1994, archaeologist Klaus Schmidt visited the site and recognized monumental architecture. His excavation started the next year. Since then, his findings have upended prior theories hypothesizing the agricultural revolution as the stimulus for the Neolithic breakthrough 6,000 years ago in the Middle East. The excavations at Gobekli Tepe suggest that the Neolithic breakthrough started with religion 12,000 years ago. The graph below comes from my first post, and you’ll note Gobekli Tepe and Jericho were founded before global warming from the Last Glacial Maximum had reached the plateau of the Holocene, and long before the Holocene Climatic Optimum.
After reviewing the books offered about Gobekli Tepe with reviewers ratings and comments, I suggest that the 20 years since excavations began are insufficient to produce good books on the subject. I was ready to order Klaus Schmidt’s book until I realized it was written in the Turkish language. I must wait to buy it when there is an English translation. Consequently, I searched the web and found several good sites to provide you with a substantial introduction to the excavation and its implications. I’ve ordered the sites below from Superb to Good. I think you’ll enjoy them all—and learn what’s available at this early date. Archaeological publication to the public (who’s usually paying for it) is very slow.
55 minute YouTube video. Good introduction to the excavation. National Geographic.
Article: “The Birth of Religion.” National Geographic, June 2011.
Picture gallery. National Geographic, June 2011.
Stone Totem: July 9, 2012. abovetopsecret.com
The World’s First Temple? Smithsonian Magazine. November 2008.
The Archaeological Site of Göbeklitepe. UNESCO. April 15, 2011.
80 minute Video. “Gobeklitepe Dunyanin Ilk Tapinagi.” 2014. Turkish with English subtitles.
Thanks for visiting.
R. E. J. Burke