# Göbekli Tepe > Göbekli Tepe is a mound near Şanlıurfa in southeastern Turkey where hunter-gatherers raised circular buildings of carved T-shaped limestone pillars, the… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:47:26+00:00 --- **MYS** 0D956PC0137E·Mystery · site # Göbekli Tepe **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=gobekli-tepe) Göbekli Tepe ![Göbekli Tepe, Şanlıurfa](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/gobekli-tepe-lead) Teomancimit · CC BY-SA 3.0 Where Germuş range, 15 km north-east of Şanlıurfa, Turkey⁠[[1]] Built Enclosure D about 9500 BC; use into the 8th millennium BC⁠[[3]] Period Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and B⁠[[2]] Excavated 1995 to date (Klaus Schmidt to 2014; DAI with Lee Clare since)⁠[[7]] Largest pillars Enclosure D central pillars, about 5.5 m, about 10 tonnes⁠[[2]] World Heritage Inscribed 1 July 2018⁠[[26]] Status Partly explained Questions 0 of 5 answered People [**Klaus Schmidt** Excavator 1995–2014, DAI](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/people/FIG0D956QK228FP/klaus-schmidt)[**E. B. Banning** Archaeologist, University of Toronto; author of the house reading](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/people/FIG0D956R2P7SPH/e-b-banning)[**Necmi Karul** Director of the Karahan Tepe excavations and the Taş Tepeler project, Istanbul University](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/people/FIG0D956RAG5W8T/necmi-karul)[**Lee Clare** Director of the DAI Göbekli Tepe project](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/people/FIG0D956QTW1332/lee-clare)[**Moritz Kinzel** Building archaeologist, DAI Istanbul](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/people/FIG0D956RJA1HP4/moritz-kinzel) Catalog key**MYS** 0D956PC0137E Göbekli Tepe is an artificial mound about 15 m high and 300 m across on the highest point of the Germuş range, overlooking the Harran plain north-east of Şanlıurfa⁠[[1]]. Klaus Schmidt of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) began excavating in 1995 and found circular and oval buildings whose walls hold T-shaped limestone pillars, with two taller pillars standing at the centre of each. Many pillars carry reliefs of foxes, boars, snakes, aurochs, cranes, vultures and scorpions, and a few show arms and hands that make the pillar a stylised human figure⁠[[2]]. Radiocarbon dates on wall plaster put the construction of Enclosure D in the mid-10th millennium BC, roughly 9500 BC, which makes these the oldest known monumental buildings anywhere⁠[[3]]. The people who built them hunted gazelle and wild cattle and gathered wild cereals; there is no evidence of domesticated plants or animals in the early layers⁠[[4]]. Schmidt argued that the site was a sanctuary built by hunter-gatherers who gathered here from a wide region and that no one lived on the mound: "first came the temple, then the city"⁠[[2]]. That reading has been contested since 2011, and the excavators who followed Schmidt have revised it. Edward Banning argued the buildings were large roofed houses in a society that did not separate sacred from domestic space⁠[[5]]. The DAI team now describes the mound as a settlement with domestic buildings, cisterns and thousands of grinding stones, in which the pillar buildings were special communal structures, rebuilt and repaired over centuries rather than built and then quickly buried⁠[[6]]⁠[[7]]. In 2026 the team published the site's first intact burials, dated to the mid-9th millennium BC⁠[[8]]. Since 2021 the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Taş Tepeler ("Stone Hills") project has excavated a dozen related sites in Şanlıurfa province, chiefly Karahan Tepe, where Necmi Karul's team has found pillar buildings, monumental statues and houses of the same period⁠[[9]]⁠[[10]]. Göbekli Tepe is no longer unique, and the question has shifted from "why a temple in the wilderness" to "what kind of community built these places, and what were the pillar buildings for". Of the 5 questions on this site, 0 are answered. The most likely answer to “What were the pillar buildings of Göbekli Tepe for?”, not yet confirmed: the enclosures were roofed communal and ritual buildings within a permanent hunter-gatherer settlement. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**What were the pillar buildings of Göbekli Tepe for?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/questions/QST0D956VG255C1/what-were-the-pillar-buildings-of-gobekli-tepe-for)Most likely: the enclosures were roofed communal and ritual buildings within a permanent hunter-gatherer settlement [**When were the enclosures built, and in what order?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/questions/QST0D956VQW0DZC/when-were-the-enclosures-built-and-in-what-order)Most likely: enclosure D was built about 9500 BC and the others followed over several centuries, not at once [All 5 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=gobekli-tepe) ## The site The mound sits on a limestone plateau with no spring on the hill; water came from rain, caught in cisterns cut into the bedrock⁠[[11]]⁠[[6]]. Schmidt distinguished three layers. Layer III, the oldest, holds the large circular enclosures, lettered A to D in the main excavation area and others found by geophysics across the mound. Layer II holds smaller rectangular buildings with one or two short pillars or none. Layer I is the plough soil⁠[[1]]⁠[[2]]. Enclosure D is the best preserved: an oval about 20 m across, eleven pillars in its wall and two central pillars (P18 and P31) about 5.5 m tall, each with arms, hands, a belt and a fox-pelt loincloth carved in relief⁠[[2]]. Pillar 43, the "Vulture Stone", in the same enclosure, carries vultures, a scorpion, a headless man and rows of V marks and boxes, and is the most argued-over object at the site⁠[[12]]⁠[[13]]. The pillars were quarried from the plateau around the mound, where unfinished pillars still lie⁠[[2]]. [![Pillar 43, the "Vulture Stone"](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/189eb46ba124fab5f4ee982aecbdb665a9f2c170724e591cc27755c645e14146/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D9578E46JFB/pillar-43-the-vulture-stone) Pillar 43, the "Vulture Stone"Sue Fleckney. CC BY-SA 2.0[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D9578E46JFB/pillar-43-the-vulture-stone) The buildings stand within a settlement. The DAI team has documented rectangular domestic structures, rock-cut cisterns and channels for collecting rainwater, hearths, and more than 7,000 grinding stones, mortars and stone vessels on the mound⁠[[4]]⁠[[6]]. The special buildings were repaired and rebuilt after damage, some of it apparently from earthquakes⁠[[14]]. **Map of the area** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/map) [Area][Region] [+][−] 1 **Göbekli Tepe** Archaeological mound Mapped 2 **Sayburç** Archaeological site under a village Within 1 km 3 **Karahan Tepe** Archaeological site Within 1 km MappedWithin 1 kmNatural Earth ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## What was found The find record is dominated by animal bone and stone tools. Gazelle, aurochs, wild boar and wild ass were hunted; the sheer quantity of bone, the large limestone troughs holding up to 160 litres, and oxalate residues in some vessels led the team to argue that large feasts were held here, possibly with fermented cereal drinks⁠[[15]]. Later residue work on the troughs was consistent with cereal processing but did not prove brewing⁠[[16]]. Use-wear and phytoliths on the grinding stones show wild cereals were processed on a scale that would feed many people⁠[[4]]. Human bone was found scattered in the fills, including three skull fragments with deliberate deep grooves and a drilled hole, read in 2017 as evidence that skulls were displayed or hung⁠[[17]]. In 2026 the team reported the first two intact burials, Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, mid-9th millennium BC: one pit with an adult woman, a young man and an adolescent girl, another with a middle-aged woman. Taphonomic study suggests the scattered bone came partly from burials that slid downslope with settlement deposits into the sunken buildings⁠[[8]]. [![Seated male statue, 2.3 m, Karahan Tepe](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/3ddb6f329a3c94a6f4d11124e1aedf087a9a81634c48dd5cbaf8cdc8ed704943/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D957AW85845/seated-male-statue-2-3-m-karahan-tepe) Seated male statue, 2.3 m, Karahan TepeMarco Restano, 2023. CC BY-SA 4.0[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D957AW85845/seated-male-statue-2-3-m-karahan-tepe) Sculpture in the round includes a life-size wild boar found in 2023 on a bench in Enclosure D with traces of red, white and black pigment, the first painted Neolithic statue known from the region⁠[[9]]. Across the Taş Tepeler sites, Karahan Tepe has produced a building with eleven phallic pillars and a carved human head (2021), a 2.3 m seated male statue (2023), small T-pillars inside a house, one with a carved face (2025), and a round structure 17 m across (2025)⁠[[18]]⁠[[9]]⁠[[19]]⁠[[10]]. At Sayburç a wall relief shows two men confronting leopards and a bull, the earliest narrative scene in the region⁠[[20]]. ## What is known Dating rests on radiocarbon. A sample of wall plaster from the ring wall of Enclosure D (KIA-44149) gave 9984 ± 42 BP, 9745–9314 cal BC at 95.4%; charcoal from the same enclosure clusters at 9664–9311 cal BC. A humus horizon over Layer II gave 8241–7795 cal BC as a limit for that layer. The team concluded that the Layer III enclosures were not all contemporary: D was built around the mid-10th millennium, C may be younger, and A younger still⁠[[3]]. Earlier dates on carbonate crusts that formed on the stones after burial only say when the stone was already covered⁠[[21]]. The centre points of enclosures B, C and D form a near-equilateral triangle, which Haklay and Gopher read as evidence they were laid out together⁠[[22]]; this sits uneasily with the staggered radiocarbon dates and is not resolved. The sequence of use is now understood as longer and more complicated than Schmidt described. The buildings were modified, pillars were moved and re-used, walls were rebuilt, and the fills formed over time rather than in one burial event⁠[[6]]⁠[[8]]. Karul reports that Karahan Tepe was settled from about 9400 BC into the 8000s BC, with circular buildings first, then rounded rectangles, then rectangles with sharp corners⁠[[10]]. The economy was hunting and gathering throughout the main period. The absence of domesticates and the scale of wild cereal processing make the site central to the question of how farming began in the Fertile Crescent⁠[[4]]⁠[[7]]. ## The explanations Schmidt's reading is that the enclosures were open-air sanctuaries built and used by mobile hunter-gatherers who lived elsewhere, that the central pillars are supernatural beings, and that the need to feed the builders pushed people toward cultivation⁠[[2]]⁠[[15]]. It predicts no houses, hearths or burials on the mound and a wide catchment of visitors. Banning's reading is that the enclosures were roofed communal houses: the lithics, bone and grinding tools are what a settlement leaves, and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic did not separate sacred from domestic space⁠[[5]]. The excavation team replied that the pillar buildings lack the hearths, floors and installations of houses and are far larger than any dwelling⁠[[23]]. The current DAI position lies between them: a permanent settlement of hunter-gatherers whose monumental buildings were communal and ritual structures, roofed, repaired and used for generations, within a wider network of similar settlements now being excavated under Taş Tepeler⁠[[6]]⁠[[7]]. The cisterns, domestic buildings, grinding stones and now the burials support it⁠[[4]]⁠[[8]]. Pillars inside an ordinary house at Karahan Tepe, one carrying a face, show the same symbolism in a domestic setting⁠[[19]]. Astronomical readings treat the reliefs as star maps or calendars. Sweatman and Tsikritsis read Pillar 43 as a record of a comet impact dated to about 10950 BC⁠[[12]]; Sweatman later counted V marks on the same pillar as a 365-day calendar⁠[[24]]. The excavators object that the pillar's date is 700 to 1,000 years younger than the proposed event, that pillars were moved and re-used, that the buildings were probably roofed, that there is no reason to assume modern constellations, and that the reading uses a few pillars out of more than sixty⁠[[13]]. No peer-reviewed archaeological study supports the calendar reading. Claims that the site was built by a lost civilisation or records the biblical Eden have no evidential basis; the technology is Neolithic flint and stone, the dates are secure, and there is a 9,000-year gap to any written text⁠[[13]]. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 2000 | Klaus Schmidt⁠[1] | Göbekli Tepe was a mountain sanctuary, a cult centre built by hunter-gatherers who lived elsewhere. | Disputed | Houses, cisterns, grinding stones and now burials have been found on the mound, though their contemporaneity with Enclosure D is not yet published⁠[6]⁠[8] | | 2010 | Klaus Schmidt⁠[2] | The central T-pillars represent anthropomorphic supernatural beings, and the animal reliefs belong to the builders' myths and symbols. | Most likely | The anthropomorphic reliefs on the central pillars are not in doubt, and no astronomical reading has survived review⁠[2]⁠[13] | | 2011 | E. B. Banning⁠[5] | The enclosures were large roofed houses, and the finds in them are ordinary settlement debris. | Disputed | The excavators showed that the enclosures lack hearths and domestic installations and are far larger than any dwelling of the period⁠[23] | | 2012 | Oliver Dietrich and colleagues⁠[15] | Large feasts, possibly with fermented cereal drinks, drew the work parties that built the enclosures. | Still possible | Feasting is well evidenced by the animal bone, but residue work on the troughs is consistent with cereal processing and does not demonstrate brewing⁠[16] | | 2013 | Oliver Dietrich, Çiğdem Köksal-Schmidt, Jens Notroff and Klaus Schmidt⁠[3] | Enclosure D was built about 9500 BC, and the enclosures were not all built at the same time. | Accepted | The dates have not been challenged and the public radiocarbon databases carry them; only the planning argument reads the enclosures as one project⁠[27]⁠[22] | | 2015 | Oliver Dietrich and Jens Notroff⁠[23] | The pillar enclosures were not dwellings: they are far larger than PPN houses and lack hearths, floors and domestic installations. | Accepted | Ordinary houses with small pillars at Karahan Tepe show the house and the pillar building as distinct types⁠[19] | | 2017 | Julia Gresky, Juliane Haelm and Lee Clare⁠[17] | Three skull fragments with deep incisions and a drilled hole show a new form of Neolithic skull cult, with skulls displayed after death. | Accepted | The 2026 burials add normal burial on the mound but keep skull modification among the rites⁠[8] | | 2017 | Martin Sweatman and Dimitrios Tsikritsis⁠[12] | The animals on Pillar 43 are constellations recording a comet impact of about 10950 BC. | Disputed | The excavators showed the pillar is 700 to 1,000 years younger than the proposed event and the reading picks a few pillars out of more than sixty⁠[13] | | 2017 | Jens Notroff, Oliver Dietrich, Lee Clare and colleagues⁠[13] | The astronomical reading of Pillar 43 fails on the dates, the re-use of pillars and roofing, and its selective use of the reliefs. | Accepted | No peer-reviewed archaeological study has since supported the star-map reading⁠[24] | | 2019 | Laura Dietrich and colleagues⁠[4] | More than 7,000 grinding tools show that cereals were processed on the mound on a large scale. | Accepted | The count and the use-wear analysis are published and unchallenged, and the troughs fit the same pattern⁠[16] | | 2020 | Gil Haklay and Avi Gopher⁠[22] | The centres of Enclosures B, C and D form a near-equilateral triangle, so the three were planned together as one project. | Disputed | The radiocarbon sequence puts Enclosure D before the others, which a single planned project does not predict⁠[3] | | 2020 | Moritz Kinzel and Lee Clare⁠[6] | Göbekli Tepe was a permanent settlement whose monumental buildings were roofed communal and ritual structures used for generations. | Most likely | Houses, cisterns, grinding stones and burials support it, but no published chronology yet shows the houses were contemporary with Enclosure D⁠[4]⁠[8] | | 2024 | Moritz Kinzel⁠[14] | Tilted pillars, cracked walls and repairs show the buildings were damaged by earthquakes and rebuilt. | Most likely | No published study disputes it, and it fits the long use-lives the building archaeology shows⁠[6] | | 2024 | Lee Clare⁠[7] | A resident hunter-gatherer community, led by charismatic individuals at a time of crisis, built the monuments and maintained them over generations. | Still possible | The settlement evidence fits a resident community, but seasonality studies that would test year-round occupation are not yet published⁠[4] | | 2024 | Martin Sweatman⁠[24] | The V marks on Pillar 43 count out a 365-day lunisolar calendar. | Disputed | The excavators' objections to the astronomical reading of the same pillar apply, and no archaeological study has supported it⁠[13] | | 2026 | Julia Gresky and Lee Clare⁠[8] | Two intact burials show that people were buried in the settlement, and much of the scattered bone in the enclosures slid there from displaced burials. | Most likely | The burials are firm; the displacement explanation rests on taphonomy of part of the bone and awaits study of the whole assemblage⁠[8] | ## What would settle it The temple-versus-settlement question is now mostly about degree and would be settled by publishing the full plan and stratigraphy of the mound: how many domestic buildings, how they relate in time to the pillar buildings, and whether people lived here year-round. Seasonality studies on animal teeth and plant remains, and strontium and oxygen isotopes on the new burials, would show whether the dead grew up locally⁠[[8]]⁠[[6]]. The chronology would be settled by many more short-lived samples from secure construction contexts across all enclosures, published as a Bayesian model, so that the order of A, B, C and D and the relation to Karahan Tepe are no longer inferred from a few plaster and charcoal dates⁠[[3]]⁠[[10]]. The astronomical readings would be tested by a blind study of the whole corpus of reliefs, not a chosen few, with the pillars' original positions and roofing taken into account⁠[[13]]. Taş Tepeler's monographs for Karahan Tepe, Sayburç and the other sites, still largely unpublished, are the single biggest gap⁠[[25]]. ## Questions 0 of 5 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 5](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=gobekli-tepe) **0** [What were the pillar buildings of Göbekli Tepe for?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/questions/QST0D956VG255C1/what-were-the-pillar-buildings-of-gobekli-tepe-for) 0 of 3 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: the enclosures were roofed communal and ritual buildings within a permanent hunter-gatherer settlement **0** [When were the enclosures built, and in what order?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/questions/QST0D956VQW0DZC/when-were-the-enclosures-built-and-in-what-order) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: enclosure D was built about 9500 BC and the others followed over several centuries, not at once ## Evidence 28 findings [What were the pillar buildings of Göbekli Tepe for?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/questions/QST0D956VG255C1/what-were-the-pillar-buildings-of-gobekli-tepe-for)15 findings [The enclosures were open-air sanctuaries used by mobile hunter-gatherers who did not live on the mound.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D956WQ42DNK/the-enclosures-were-open-air-sanctuaries-used-by-mobile)Disputed +[Central pillars 5.5 m tall with anthropomorphic reliefs, far larger than any PPN dwelling.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D956WYY0PWM/central-pillars-5-5-m-tall-with-anthropomorphic-reliefs-far)Established +[The enclosures lack the hearths, floors and installations found in PPN houses.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D956X6R1WNM/the-enclosures-lack-the-hearths-floors-and-installations)Supported −[Domestic buildings, rock-cut cisterns and more than 7,000 grinding stones are present on the mound.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D956XEJ41J4/domestic-buildings-rock-cut-cisterns-and-more-than-7-000)Established −[Two intact PPNB burials were found on the mound in settlement deposits.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D956XPC7605/two-intact-ppnb-burials-were-found-on-the-mound-in)Established −[Building archaeology indicates the enclosures were roofed and repeatedly repaired, and the fills formed over time.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D956XY60GN0/building-archaeology-indicates-the-enclosures-were-roofed)Supported [The enclosures were large roofed houses in a society that did not separate sacred from domestic space.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D956Y607H42/the-enclosures-were-large-roofed-houses-in-a-society-that)Disputed +[Lithics, bone and grinding tools from the fills look like settlement debris.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D956YDT4QQH/lithics-bone-and-grinding-tools-from-the-fills-look-like)Suggestive −[The enclosures are far larger than known PPN dwellings and lack hearths and domestic installations.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D956YNM1G07/the-enclosures-are-far-larger-than-known-ppn-dwellings-and)Supported −[Ordinary houses with small T-pillars exist at Karahan Tepe alongside much larger pillar buildings, so the two building types are distinct.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D956YXE5KXJ/ordinary-houses-with-small-t-pillars-exist-at-karahan-tepe)Suggestive [The enclosures were roofed communal and ritual buildings within a permanent hunter-gatherer settlement.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D956Z583SWQ/the-enclosures-were-roofed-communal-and-ritual-buildings)Most likely +[Domestic buildings, cisterns and large-scale cereal grinding on the mound.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D956ZD23F8F/domestic-buildings-cisterns-and-large-scale-cereal-grinding)Established +[Repairs, rebuilding, seismic damage and moved pillars show long use-lives.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D956ZMW0MAD/repairs-rebuilding-seismic-damage-and-moved-pillars-show)Supported +[Intact burials in settlement deposits; scattered bone in the enclosures explained by deposits sliding downslope.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D956ZWP0TF4/intact-burials-in-settlement-deposits-scattered-bone-in-the)Supported +[Karahan Tepe combines pillar buildings with houses and was settled from about 9400 BC into the 8000s BC.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D95704G6N4G/karahan-tepe-combines-pillar-buildings-with-houses-and-was)Supported −[Whether the domestic buildings are contemporary with Enclosure D or later has not been shown in a published chronology.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9570CA3PAR/whether-the-domestic-buildings-are-contemporary-with)Suggestive [The enclosures were observatories and the reliefs record constellations and a dated sky event.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D9570M4685S/the-enclosures-were-observatories-and-the-reliefs-record)Disputed −[Pillars were re-used and moved, buildings were modified and probably roofed, and the proposed date is 700 to 1,000 years older than the radiocarbon dates for Enclosure D.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9570VY6PXQ/pillars-were-re-used-and-moved-buildings-were-modified-and)Supported −[The reading uses a few pillars out of more than sixty and assumes modern constellations.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D95713R0H1C/the-reading-uses-a-few-pillars-out-of-more-than-sixty-and)Supported [When were the enclosures built, and in what order?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/questions/QST0D956VQW0DZC/when-were-the-enclosures-built-and-in-what-order)5 findings [Enclosure D was built about 9500 BC and the others followed over several centuries, not at once.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D9571KC2PS9/enclosure-d-was-built-about-9500-bc-and-the-others-followed)Most likely +[Wall plaster from Enclosure D (KIA-44149): 9745–9314 cal BC; charcoal from the same enclosure 9664–9311 cal BC.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9571V620FV/wall-plaster-from-enclosure-d-kia-44149-97459314-cal-bc)Established +[Enclosure A charcoal is late 10th to earliest 9th millennium, with a mid-9th millennium date beneath a fallen pillar.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9572307SR8/enclosure-a-charcoal-is-late-10th-to-earliest-9th-millennium)Supported [Enclosures B, C and D were laid out together as a single planned project.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D9572AT7002/enclosures-b-c-and-d-were-laid-out-together-as-a-single)Disputed +[The centre points of B, C and D form a near-equilateral triangle.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9572JM4APA/the-centre-points-of-b-c-and-d-form-a-near-equilateral)Suggestive −[The radiocarbon sequence suggests C is younger than D and A younger than both.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9572TE1Q8Y/the-radiocarbon-sequence-suggests-c-is-younger-than-d-and-a)Supported [The enclosures are substantially older than the radiocarbon dates, about 11000 BC.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D9573281SZG/the-enclosures-are-substantially-older-than-the-radiocarbon)Disputed −[No radiocarbon date from the site is older than the late 10th millennium BC.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9573A206JF/no-radiocarbon-date-from-the-site-is-older-than-the-late)Established [How did hunter-gatherers organise the labour to quarry, carve and raise the pillars?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/questions/QST0D956VZP4VS1/how-did-hunter-gatherers-organise-the-labour-to-quarry-carve)3 findings [Work parties were drawn by large feasts, possibly with fermented drinks, that created obligations.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D9573SP6JGQ/work-parties-were-drawn-by-large-feasts-possibly-with)Most likely +[Huge quantities of game bone and 160-litre limestone troughs with oxalate residues.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D95741G1C1E/huge-quantities-of-game-bone-and-160-litre-limestone-troughs)Supported −[Trough residues are consistent with cereal processing but brewing is not demonstrated.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D95749A18WN/trough-residues-are-consistent-with-cereal-processing-but)Suggestive [A resident community built and maintained the structures over generations as part of normal life.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D9574H47FR9/a-resident-community-built-and-maintained-the-structures)Most likely +[Repairs and rebuilding over long periods, and more than 7,000 grinding tools on the mound.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9574RY4DBN/repairs-and-rebuilding-over-long-periods-and-more-than-7-000)Supported [What do the reliefs and the V marks on Pillar 43 mean?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/questions/QST0D956W7G37QZ/what-do-the-reliefs-and-the-v-marks-on-pillar-43-mean)2 findings [The V marks and animals on Pillar 43 record a 365-day lunisolar calendar and a comet impact of about 10950 BC.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D95758J70PN/the-v-marks-and-animals-on-pillar-43-record-a-365-day)Disputed −[Pillars were moved and re-used, the building was probably roofed, and the dated event is centuries earlier than the enclosure.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9575GC7HNV/pillars-were-moved-and-re-used-the-building-was-probably)Supported [The reliefs are the symbolic and mythic repertoire of the builders, varying between enclosures, with no…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D9575R62HCV/the-reliefs-are-the-symbolic-and-mythic-repertoire-of-the)Most likely +[Animal repertoires differ between enclosures; the same beasts appear in narrative scenes at Sayburç.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D957600186B/animal-repertoires-differ-between-enclosures-the-same-beasts)Supported [How were the dead treated at Göbekli Tepe?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/questions/QST0D956WFA3PPH/how-were-the-dead-treated-at-gobekli-tepe)3 findings [Skulls were removed, carved and displayed; bodies were not buried on the mound.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D9576FM00A7/skulls-were-removed-carved-and-displayed-bodies-were-not)Disputed +[Three skull fragments with deep deliberate incisions and a drilled hole.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9576QE2N37/three-skull-fragments-with-deep-deliberate-incisions-and-a)Established −[Two intact burials of mid-9th millennium BC date were found in 2026.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9576Z83AHW/two-intact-burials-of-mid-9th-millennium-bc-date-were-found)Established [People were buried in the settlement; scattered bone in the enclosures came from burials displaced downslope,…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/answers/ANS0D95777272BN/people-were-buried-in-the-settlement-scattered-bone-in-the)Most likely +[Taphonomic analysis of the scattered bone is consistent with displacement by sliding settlement deposits.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/evidence/EVD0D9577EW1WXM/taphonomic-analysis-of-the-scattered-bone-is-consistent-with)Supported ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 20](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts) Photo1 step from object [Pillar 43, the "Vulture Stone"](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D9578E46JFB/pillar-43-the-vulture-stone) Sue Fleckney · CC BY-SA 2.0 Document1 step from object [Pillar 18, eastern central pillar of Enclosure D](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D9578XR3C9Z/pillar-18-eastern-central-pillar-of-enclosure-d) In situ, Enclosure D, Göbekli Tepe Photo1 step from object [The Urfa Man (Balıklıgöl statue)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D95795J2F0Q/the-urfa-man-balklgol-statue) Dosseman · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo2 steps from object [Stela from Enclosure D, now in the Şanlıurfa Museum](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D9579N60C2E/stela-from-enclosure-d-now-in-the-sanlurfa-museum) Dosseman · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo1 step from object [The Göbekli Tepe "totem pole"](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D957A4T46RF/the-gobekli-tepe-totem-pole) Dosseman · CC BY-SA 4.0 Document1 step from object [Painted wild boar statue from Enclosure D](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D957AME1KCN/painted-wild-boar-statue-from-enclosure-d) Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum (announced 2023; display status not confirmed) Photo1 step from object [Seated male statue, 2.3 m, Karahan Tepe](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D957AW85845/seated-male-statue-2-3-m-karahan-tepe) Marco Restano · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo1 step from object [Three modified human skull fragments](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts/ART0D957B4272NW/three-modified-human-skull-fragments) Gresky, Haelm and Clare · CC-BY-NC-4.0 [See all 20 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe/artifacts) ## See also [ **Puma Punku and Tiwanaku** A sixth-century platform of precisely cut andesite at Tiwanaku, Bolivia. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku) [ **Stonehenge** A stone monument on Salisbury Plain built in stages from about 3000 to 2500 BC. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge) [ **Nazca Lines** Lines and figures scraped into the desert of southern Peru between 200 BC and AD 650. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/nazca-lines) [ **Easter Island moai** Nearly a thousand stone figures carved on Rapa Nui and moved to coastal platforms. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai) ## References 1. 1.[Schmidt, K. 2000. Göbekli Tepe, Southeastern Turkey. A Preliminary Report on the 1995-1999 Excavations. Paléorient.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956F9E2GW7/gobekli-tepe-southeastern-turkey-a-preliminary-report-on-the)[doi](https://doi.org/10.3406/paleo.2000.4697)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D956F9E2GW7 1. 2.[Schmidt, K. 2010. Göbekli Tepe – the Stone Age Sanctuaries. New results of ongoing excavations with a special focus on sculptures and high reliefs. Documenta Praehistorica.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956FH8663D/gobekli-tepe-the-stone-age-sanctuaries-new-results-of)[doi](https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.37.21)cited 12 times here**SRC** 0D956FH8663D 1. 3.[Dietrich, O., Köksal-Schmidt, Ç., Notroff, J. et al. 2013. Establishing a Radiocarbon Sequence for Göbekli Tepe. State of Research and New Data. Neo-Lithics 1/13.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956G8P51Z5/establishing-a-radiocarbon-sequence-for-gobekli-tepe-state)cited 11 times here**SRC** 0D956G8P51Z5 1. 4.[Dietrich, L., Meister, J., Dietrich, O. et al. 2019. Cereal processing at Early Neolithic Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Turkey. PLOS ONE.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956H7Y7GRS/cereal-processing-at-early-neolithic-gobekli-tepe)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0215214)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D956H7Y7GRS 1. 5.[Banning, E. 2011. So Fair a House: Göbekli Tepe and the Identification of Temples in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Near East. Current Anthropology.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956FS273DA/so-fair-a-house-gobekli-tepe-and-the-identification-of)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1086/661207)cited 6 times here**SRC** 0D956FS273DA 1. 6.[Kinzel, M., Clare, L. 2020. Monumental – compared to what? A perspective from Göbekli Tepe. Monumentalising Life in the Neolithic: Narratives of Continuity and Change (Oxbow).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956HZC53SW/monumental-compared-to-what-a-perspective-from-gobekli-tepe)[doi](https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv13pk66m.7)cited 6 times here**SRC** 0D956HZC53SW 1. 7.[Clare, L. 2024. Inspired individuals and charismatic leaders: hunter-gatherer crisis and the rise and fall of Göbekli Tepe. Documenta Praehistorica.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956JF01E2Z/inspired-individuals-and-charismatic-leaders-hunter-gatherer)[doi](https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.51.16)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D956JF01E2Z 1. 8.[Gresky, J., Clare, L. 2026. First burials give insights into mortuary rites at Göbeklitepe, Early Neolithic Türkiye. PLOS ONE.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956JPT5KWD/first-burials-give-insights-into-mortuary-rites-at)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358979)cited 8 times here**SRC** 0D956JPT5KWD 1. 9.[HeritageDaily 2023. New monumental statues discovered at Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe. HeritageDaily.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956MNA7X6F/new-monumental-statues-discovered-at-gobeklitepe-and)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0D956MNA7X6F 1. 10.[Bianet 2025. Neolithic 'amphitheater' uncovered at Karahantepe archaeological site. Bianet.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956N4Y6F9A/neolithic-amphitheater-uncovered-at-karahantepe)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D956N4Y6F9A 1. 11.[Knitter, D., Braun, R., Clare, L. et al. 2019. Göbekli Tepe: A Brief Description of the Environmental Development in the Surroundings of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Land.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956KXW2WRA/gobekli-tepe-a-brief-description-of-the-environmental)[doi](https://doi.org/10.3390/land8040072)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0D956KXW2WRA 1. 12.[Sweatman, M., Tsikritsis, D. 2017. Decoding Göbekli Tepe with archaeoastronomy: what does the fox say?. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956JYM7SS4/decoding-gobekli-tepe-with-archaeoastronomy-what-does-the)[doi](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.400780)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D956JYM7SS4 1. 13.[Notroff, J., Dietrich, O., Clare, L. et al. 2017. More than a vulture: A response to Sweatman and Tsikritsis. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956K6E7299/more-than-a-vulture-a-response-to-sweatman-and-tsikritsis)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D956K6E7299 1. 14.[Kinzel, M. 2024. Shaking up the Neolithic - Tracing seismic impact at Neolithic Göbekli Tepe/Southeast-Türkiye. Archaeological Research in Asia.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956J76213C/shaking-up-the-neolithic-tracing-seismic-impact-at-neolithic)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2024.100560)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D956J76213C 1. 15.[Dietrich, O., Heun, M., Notroff, J. et al. 2012. The role of cult and feasting in the emergence of Neolithic communities. New evidence from Göbekli Tepe, south-eastern Turkey. Antiquity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956G0W6MNR/the-role-of-cult-and-feasting-in-the-emergence-of-neolithic)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00047840)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D956G0W6MNR 1. 16.[Dietrich, L., Götting-Martin, E., Hertzog, J. et al. 2020. Investigating the function of Pre-Pottery Neolithic stone troughs from Göbekli Tepe – An integrated approach. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956HFR7WAD/investigating-the-function-of-pre-pottery-neolithic-stone)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102618)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D956HFR7WAD 1. 17.[Gresky, J., Haelm, J., Clare, L. 2017. Modified human crania from Göbekli Tepe provide evidence for a new form of Neolithic skull cult. Science Advances.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956H045S0S/modified-human-crania-from-gobekli-tepe-provide-evidence-for)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700564)cited 6 times here**SRC** 0D956H045S0S 1. 18.[Saraceni, J. 2021. Monumental Pillars Unearthed at Turkey's Karahan Tepe. Archaeology Magazine (Archaeological Institute of America).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956MDG00N9/monumental-pillars-unearthed-at-turkeys-karahan-tepe)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D956MDG00N9 1. 19.[Hürriyet Daily News 2025. Face carving found on T-pillar backs human figure theory. Hürriyet Daily News.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956MX43DPK/face-carving-found-on-t-pillar-backs-human-figure-theory)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D956MX43DPK 1. 20.[Özdoğan, E. 2022. The Sayburç reliefs: a narrative scene from the Neolithic. Antiquity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956KP26VF5/the-sayburc-reliefs-a-narrative-scene-from-the-neolithic)[doi](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2022.125)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D956KP26VF5 1. 21.[Pustovoytov, K., Schmidt, K., Parzinger, H. 2007. Radiocarbon dating of thin pedogenic carbonate laminae from Holocene archaeological sites. The Holocene.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956GGG1RWH/radiocarbon-dating-of-thin-pedogenic-carbonate-laminae-from)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683607080524)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0D956GGG1RWH 1. 22.[Haklay, G., Gopher, A. 2020. Geometry and Architectural Planning at Göbekli Tepe, Turkey. Cambridge Archaeological Journal.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956HQJ25KD/geometry-and-architectural-planning-at-gobekli-tepe-turkey)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774319000660)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D956HQJ25KD 1. 23.[Dietrich, O., Notroff, J. 2015. A sanctuary, or so fair a house? In defense of an archaeology of cult at Pre-Pottery Neolithic Göbekli Tepe. Defining the Sacred: Approaches to the Archaeology of Religion in the Near East (Oxbow).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956GRA37QS/a-sanctuary-or-so-fair-a-house-in-defense-of-an-archaeology)[doi](https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh1dspq.11)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D956GRA37QS 1. 24.[Sweatman, M. 2024. Representations of calendars and time at Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe support an astronomical interpretation of their symbolism. Time and Mind.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D956KE82SEJ/representations-of-calendars-and-time-at-gobekli-tepe-and)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1080/1751696X.2024.2373876)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D956KE82SEJ 1. 25.[Turkish Archaeological News 2025. Archaeology in Turkey - 2025 in review. 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