29 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

At Göbeklitepe, believed to be the earliest known Mesolithic temple complex, grinding stones were discovered

A recent discovery at Göbeklitepe, the oldest known Mesolithic temple complex, has revealed grinding stones, new finds expected to shed light on human history.

“During this year’s work we made a large number of findings such as grinding stones and hammerstones indicating daily use in these places,” Necmi Karul, an archeologist at the Istanbul University and leader of the excavation team, according to the news reported by Anadolu Agency.

Karul stated that the information obtained in archaeological excavations changes as new studies are conducted and data analysis is made. He said that while some of the generally accepted views on Göbeklitepe are still valid, some are likely incorrect in light of new findings from excavations.

Grinding stones were frequently used in ancient times to crush or pulp plants or animals for use in cooking.  “Analysis of these findings will give us an idea of what these activities were,” he said, adding that they plan to do this during the winter.

As the team began to consider other possibilities about the ancient site, he said: “One of the prominent ones is that although it has been suggested that there were only public buildings in Göbeklitepe, called temples by some, it was known that there were places in the form of dwellings and shelters.”

He went on to say: “More of these (dwellings and shelters) have been found. So this has fueled debate over whether this was a gathering center or a settlement where people live at the same time.”

Photo: Arkeonews. by Oğuz Büyükyıldırım

The discovery of residences in Karahantepe and other stone hills that were in existence at the same time as Göbeklitepe, according to Karul, increased the likelihood that these locations were settlements with public structures.

He stated that Göbeklitepe and other sites known as Taş Tepeler “Stone Hills” in Turkish were contemporaneous and spanned a period of about 1,500 years, emphasizing that all findings from these sites reflect the culture of the time. He added that according to those findings, the first agricultural experiments were carried out in this region.

In 2016, German Archaeological Institute archaeologist Laura Dietrich began analyzing thousands of stone grinding tools that had been excavated at Göbekli Tepe over the course of nearly two decades.  Using a combination of use-wear studies, experimental archaeology, and microscopy, Dietrich analyzed the way in which the stones had been worn down over time and showed that they had been used to process grains and legumes. She identified chemical residues on many of the vessels that provided evidence they had been used to cook vats of porridge or perhaps the occasional batch of prehistoric beer. “Most probably,” Dietrich’s study says, “these people were cultivators, or at least had strategies to gather large quantities of wild grain.”

“The existence of tools pointing to agricultural experiments shows us that when the first settlements began to appear at the site, there was no agricultural activity, but wild grains were collected, and that this collection process evolved into the cultivation of plants over time,” Karul said. While the layers at nearby Cakmaktepe are “possibly older” than Gobeklitepe and Karahantepe, architectural remains pointing to the presence of complex societies in Sayburc from the beginning of the Neolithic period were unearthed last year.

Professor Necmi Karul
Professor Necmi Karul

The team also found the remains of a rectangular-planned building from the end of the Neolithic period, which would demonstrate a complex character at the Sefertepe site, adding that findings from the pre-Neolithic period were also unearthed in the Söğüt field.

“It is a fact that both Göbeklitepe and other settlements are sites that were part of an interacting social organization in a wide region about 11,000-11,500 years ago.”

While Karul described the period as the beginning of settled life and living together in larger groups for the first time, he stressed that this brought a new social order, new relationships and a division of labor.

On the presence of a developed workforce organization, Karul said that public buildings are among the best indicators of this and that the figures in these structures and the scenes depicted on the figures are the products of a communal memory based on a distant past.

“When we put all this together, we see the construction of a new society that we have never encountered before.”

Southeast Turkey’s Göbeklitepe is a UNESCO World Heritage site that dates back to 11.7 ka BCE. It consists of circular, doorless rooms that are laterally aligned and supported by five-meter-tall limestone columns that are T-shaped on the interior and exterior. Most columns contain animal drawings.

According to studies, the location may have served a special purpose, such as serving as a temple. After about 2 ka of use, the site was deliberately filled in with stones. The site predates the start of the agricultural era, so it is unclear what civilization built such massive structures using only hand axes and what the figures on the columns represent.

Related Articles

Archaeologists discover rare Caanite inscription on ancient ivory comb

12 November 2022

12 November 2022

Israeli archaeologists discovered a rare inscription on an ivory comb that sheds new light on the Canaanite language’s use some...

Italian Research Team May Have Found Plato’s Burial Site in Athens

23 April 2024

23 April 2024

Graziano Ranocchia, a papyrologist at the University of Pisa, said he found Plato’s exact burial place based on papyri findings...

The Basilica cistern, which is said to have the sarcophagus of Medusa or the Mysterious Snake Woman, was restored

21 July 2022

21 July 2022

The Basilica Cistern, one of the magnificent ancient structures of Istanbul, was restored. Besides being the greatest work of the...

Archaeologists Unearth Prehistoric Fishing Evidence on the Makran Coast of Iran

20 May 2025

20 May 2025

The Makran coast, a historically rich coastal stretch along the Sea of Oman, has once again drawn archaeological attention with...

700 Years After Dante’s Death, His Handwritten Notes Are Discovered

11 July 2021

11 July 2021

Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet, and scholar are best known for his masterwork La Commedia (also known as The Divine...

A 1,700-year-old trident discovered in Assos ancient city in Türkiye

10 October 2023

10 October 2023

An iron trident, believed to be used for fishing, dating to the 3rd or 4th century A.D. has been discovered...

Early humans appreciated geometry and symmetry and were intentionally crafting spherical shapes 1.4 million years ago, according to a new study

7 September 2023

7 September 2023

An examination of 150 round, baseball-sized stones discovered at a site where early humans lived 1.4 million years ago shows...

In Turkey’s Zerzevan Castle, a badge bearing the US national symbol was discovered

4 October 2021

4 October 2021

Recent investigations have led to the discovery of a badge bearing the pattern of the Great Seal of the United...

Turkey Adds New Sites to UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

30 April 2021

30 April 2021

Two additional cultural objects have been added to Turkey’s World Heritage Tentative List, bringing the total number of cultural assets...

A tiny 2,300-year-old votive vessel presented to the gods by the poor was found in the Ancient City of Troy

27 August 2022

27 August 2022

A 3-centimeter in size tiny vessel made of clay was found in the ancient city of Troy located at Hisarlik...

Antibiotic bacteria that fight E. coli and other dangerous bugs found in the Roman Baths at Bath in England, “Bath’s waters may really be good for you”

9 June 2024

9 June 2024

The popular Roman Baths in the city of Bath in southwest England are home to a diverse range of microorganisms...

Using Google Earth and aircraft reconnaissance, archaeologists identify unknown sites and Serbia’s hidden Bronze Age megastructures

17 November 2023

17 November 2023

Using Google Earth and aircraft reconnaissance, archaeologists at University College Dublin identified more than 100 previously unknown sites. Satellite remote...

Archaeologists Discover Fragment of Medieval Inscription of Church in Melnik

1 March 2024

1 March 2024

124 artifacts made of stone, ceramics, and metal were discovered during archaeological excavations in the Church of the Holy Mother...

In France, a burial with six ankle bracelets was uncovered

22 December 2022

22 December 2022

An individual bedecked in copper jewelry was discovered during the excavation of a protohistoric necropolis in Aubagne, southeastern France. The...

The Amazon rainforest was once home to ancient cities – A vast network of 2,500-year-old garden cities

12 January 2024

12 January 2024

Aerial surveys have revealed the largest 2,500-year-old ancient cities in the Amazon, hidden for thousands of years by lush vegetation...