18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

9,300-year-old Gre Filla Mound in southeastern Turkey to be relocated

While public criticism continues due to the fact that Gre Filla, known as Diyarbakır’s Göbeklitepe, is under the dam, Diyarbakır Culture and Tourism Provincial Director Cemil Alp in a statement to the newspaper Mücadele Gazete that Gre Filla will be moved as it is.

As is known, the salvage excavation at Gre Filla, carried out within the Ambar dam project brought out a PrPottery Neolithic (PPN) settlement, located on the northern border of the alluvial plain formed by the tributaries of the Upper Tigris valley.

Gre Filla Höyük in the Kocaköy district of Diyarbakır province in southeast Turkey is known as a second Hasankeyf case. Despite local and international objections, Hasankeyf’s city and its archaeological sites have been flooded as part of the Ilısu Dam project in 2020.

While the fact that the historical area will be under the dam has caused the reaction of the citizens, intensive work has started in the region in 2019, and 2022 continues, as the last excavation season. Because the dam waters began to fill slowly.

On this issue, Diyarbakır Culture and Tourism Provincial Director Cemil Alp made important statements. Emphasizing the importance of preserving Gre Filla rather than being destroyed, Alp said that the entire temple will be moved, especially as it is.

Alp said that the temple, which is the same age as Göbeklitepe that was unearthed during the excavations, is a very valuable artifact and that they recommended to the ministry that the artifacts be transported in the same manner before the historical site was flooded.

Alp stated that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism gave a positive response on the subject and said, “Our Ministry found it appropriate to provide a place belonging to the treasury and move it. We are also looking for a place. We thought of İçkale, but it is a protected area. So now our search continues. Let’s not forget, that Zeynel Bey Tomb, Mosque, minaret, and other historical buildings were moved in Hasankeyf. Preservation of artifacts is more important.”

As many as 2,687 artifacts have been unearthed after four-year-long excavations at the Gre Filla mound. The settlement was established on the virgin soil in ca. 9300 cal.BC.

The Gre Filla Höyük excavations are under the presidency of the Diyarbakır Museum Directorate and under the scientific consultancy of Professor Ayşe Tuba Ökse from Kocaeli University.

Related Articles

A metal detectorist unearthed a Roman silver “ligula” or “Toilet Spoon” in Wales

30 January 2024

30 January 2024

A metal detectorist in Wales unearthed a Roman silver “ligula”, commonly known as a “toilet spoon”. The discovery, made in...

Exploring the life story of a high-status woman from isotope data in Hungary’s largest Bronze Age cemetery

29 July 2021

29 July 2021

Researchers examined 29 tombs from Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy, one of Hungary’s largest Middle Bronze Age cemeteries, and one of them, a high-status...

Excavations show the Temple of Poseidon at Samikon is more Monumental than Previously Assumed -New Discoveries

3 November 2024

3 November 2024

New excavations by archaeologists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Greek Ministry of Culture in Kleidi-Samikon in the...

Europe’s Oldest Megalithic Alignments Dated with Unprecedented Precision

28 June 2025

28 June 2025

New research reveals that the Carnac alignments in Brittany may be Europe’s oldest megalithic monuments, pushing back the timeline of...

Complex Of Early Neolithic Monuments Discovered In Herefordshire, England

22 July 2023

22 July 2023

Archaeologists discovered a remarkable complex of early Neolithic monuments while investigating the area around Dorstone Hill in Herefordshire, England. The...

Rich Votive Deposit Discovered in the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento

10 August 2023

10 August 2023

At least sixty terracotta figurines, female protomes, and busts, oil lamps, and small vases, a rich votive deposit of bronze...

As Thin as Modern Tools: World’s Oldest Steel Acupuncture Needles Discovered in China

6 July 2025

6 July 2025

In a discovery that reshapes the history of traditional Chinese medicine, archaeologists have unearthed what experts now confirm to be...

An ancient Roman road has been discovered in the Venice Lagoon

24 July 2021

24 July 2021

Researchers discovered a Roman road submerged in the Venice Lagoon. The finding suggests that substantial communities may have existed in...

Beautiful’ Water-Nymph statue turns out to be Aphrodite

20 October 2023

20 October 2023

The statue of a nymph (water fairy) discovered last month during excavations in the Ancient City of Amastris was identified...

Romania’s 1.95 Million-Year-Old Hominin Evidence Pushes Back the Timeline of Human Presence in Europe

25 January 2025

25 January 2025

A recent study revealed evidence of “hominin activity” in Romania that dates back at least 1.95 million years, making it...

Ancient Roman city of Pompeii, archaeologists have unearthed a fresco depicting the Greek mythological siblings Phrixus and Helle

2 March 2024

2 March 2024

Archaeologists excavating a house adjacent to the House of Leda in Insula 6, Regio V, in the ancient Roman city...

Parts of the City of the old city of Ghadames called the pearl of the desert collapsed due to rainfall

28 January 2022

28 January 2022

Some parts of the Old City of Ghadames, located in an oasis about 600km southwest of Tripoli near Libya’s border...

New Insights From Researchers About The World’s Longest Aqueduct

11 May 2021

11 May 2021

The Roman Empire’s aqueducts are magnificent specimens of the art of architecture. Although centuries have passed since these aqueducts were...

Remains of a 3,700-year-old domed oven were discovered in the ancient city of Troy

10 September 2022

10 September 2022

Remains of a 3,700-year-old domed oven were found in the ancient city of Troy, located in the Tevfikiye district of Çanakkale...

Archaeologists discovered the earliest Iron Age house in Athens and Attica

26 May 2023

26 May 2023

A research team from the University of Göttingen discovered the earliest  Iron Age house in Athens and Attica. Archaeologists from...