26 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Carvings at Göbeklitepe could be World’s Oldest Calendar

Experts suggest that markings on a stone pillar at the 12,000-year-old Göbeklitepe archaeological site in Türkiye probably represent the oldest solar calendar in history, having been established as a memorial to a catastrophic comet strike.

According to a recent study from the University of Edinburgh, the markings at the location might be a record of an astronomical event that marked a significant turning point in human civilization.

Southeast Türkiye’s Göbeklitepe is well-known for its array of enormous, T-shaped stone pillars adorned with animal and abstract symbol carvings. According to recent analysis, some of these carvings might have functioned as a kind of calendar that tracked important celestial events and marked the positions of the sun, moon, and stars.

This finding suggests that prehistoric humans utilized these engravings to document their observations of the universe, possibly signifying a primitive lunisolar calendar that combined solar and lunar cycles to predict the passage of time.

A fresh analysis of V-shaped symbols carved onto pillars at the site has found that each V could represent a single day. This interpretation allowed researchers to count a solar calendar of 365 days on one of the pillars, consisting of 12 lunar months plus 11 extra days.

Detail of pillar 43 of Göbekli Tepe. Photo: Dr Martin Sweatman
Detail of pillar 43 of Göbekli Tepe. Photo: Dr Martin Sweatman

The summer solstice manifests as a distinct, unique day, symbolized by a V hung around the neck of a creature resembling a bird and believed to symbolize the summer solstice constellation at the time. Other statues nearby, possibly representing deities, have been found with similar V-markings at their necks.

More than a millennium before other known instances of lunisolar calendars, Göbekli Tepe may have had a highly developed calendar. This challenges our understanding into question the accuracy with which early humans were able to track celestial cycles and other astronomical phenomena.

Scientists believe that these carvings at Göbekli Tepe may commemorate a comet impact that occurred around 10,850 BCE, nearly 13,000 years ago. The comet strike is believed to have triggered a mini-ice age lasting over 1,200 years, which caused the extinction of many large animals. This event might also have led to changes in lifestyle and agriculture, paving the way for the rise of civilization in the Fertile Crescent of Western Asia.

It is thought that the Taurid meteor stream is the source of the comet fragments that struck Earth, and this is depicted on another pillar at Göbekli Tepe. Further proof of the ancient people’s astronomical knowledge comes from this 27-day stream that seemed to originate from the constellations of Aquarius and Pisces.

Left: Plan of A-D enclosures in Göbekli Tepe. Right: Pillar 43 in Göbekli Tepe, enclosure D. Image Credit: Alistair Coombs
Left: Plan of A-D enclosures in Göbeklitepe. Right: Pillar 43 in Göbeklitepe, enclosure D. Image Credit: Alistair Coombs

This discovery suggests that ancient people recorded dates using precession, the wobble of Earth’s axis affecting constellation movement, at least 10,000 years before Hipparchus of Ancient Greece documented it in 150 BC.

These carvings held significance for the people of Göbeklitepe for millennia, hinting that the impact event may have triggered a new cult or religion that influenced the development of civilization.

Dr Martin Sweatman of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering, who led the research, said: “It appears the inhabitants of Göbekli Tepe were keen observers of the sky, which is to be expected given their world had been devastated by a comet strike. This event might have triggered civilization by initiating a new religion and by motivating developments in agriculture to cope with the cold climate. Possibly, their attempts to record what they saw are the first steps towards the development of writing millennia later.”

DOI: 10.1080/1751696X.2024.2373876

University of Edinburgh

Related Articles

The Nightmare of the Roman Soldiers “Carnyx”

9 July 2023

9 July 2023

The Carnyx was a brass musical instrument used as a psychological weapon of war by the ancient Celts between 300...

6,000-Year-Old Settlement Was home to Europe’s first megalithic monument makers

22 February 2023

22 February 2023

Archaeologists in France unearthed the remains of a series of wooden buildings within a defensive enclosure that were built at...

Karahantepe will shed light on the mysteries of the Prehistoric period

7 October 2021

7 October 2021

Karahantepe’s ancient site, which is home to Neolithic-era T-shaped obelisks similar to the ones in the world-famous Göbeklitepe, will reveal...

2700-year-old Ancient Blacksmith Workshop Unearthed in Oxfordshire

6 February 2024

6 February 2024

Archaeologists have uncovered a “master blacksmith’s” Iron Age workshop in South Oxfordshire, a local government center in the ceremonial county...

Ancient settlements that challenge traditional thinking “Karahantepe and Taş Tepeler”

5 December 2021

5 December 2021

After Göbeklitepe in Şanlıurfa, which sheds light on 12,000 years ago in human history and is considered one of the...

Excavation in Larissa finds a Hellenistic era sanctuary

27 November 2021

27 November 2021

The Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport reported on Friday the discovery of ancient Greek and Hellenistic era structures at...

Earliest Modern Human Genome Identified

7 April 2021

7 April 2021

The fossilized skull of a woman in the Czech Republic provided the oldest modern human genome to date, which has...

Evidence of textile manufacture dating back millennia was found in an area famous for the Witney Blanket

12 June 2023

12 June 2023

Archaeological excavations at the site of Oxfordshire County Council’s project to build the A40 Science Transit Park and Ride at...

Archaeologists have unearthed two early Aksumite Churches in Africa

11 December 2022

11 December 2022

New discoveries in the port city of Adulis on Eritrea’s Red Sea coast show that two ancient churches discovered more...

The Colossal Nordic Bronze Age Hall Unearthed in Germany May Be the Legendary King Hinz Meeting Hall

5 November 2023

5 November 2023 1

A colossal hall from the Bronze Age was discovered during excavations near the “royal grave” of Seddin (Prignitz district) northwest...

Lost medieval road thought to have been used by famous Scottish king Robert the Bruce found

27 June 2021

27 June 2021

Excavating a hill considered to have played a critical part in the Battle of Bannockburn, archaeologists discovered a forgotten medieval...

A small temple discovered in the ancient city of Selinunte, one of the largest and most important ancient Greek cities in southern Italy

9 August 2024

9 August 2024

Recent excavations in the ancient Magna Graecia city of Selinunte in southwestern Sicily have revealed the presence of a new...

Researchers Suggest That the 5,000-Year-Old Boat-Shaped Mound May Be Fossilized Remains of Noah’s Ark

16 March 2025

16 March 2025

A recent discovery in Türkiye has ignited interest among experts who believe they may have found the fossilized remains of...

An Unusual Artifact Points to Roman Britain Rituals Linked to Fertility, Painted Dog Penis Bone Found in England

9 January 2025

9 January 2025

In a Roman quarry shaft in Surrey, England, archaeologists have discovered one of the most unusual human and animal remains...

The first time in Anatolia, a legionnaires’ cemetery belonging to the Roman Empire unearthed

18 November 2022

18 November 2022

In the ancient city of Satala, in the Kelkit district of Gümüşhane in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey,...