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Göbekli Tepe Cartolano, Mattia
Description
UNESCO World Heritage Site located near the city of Şanlıurfa (Turkey). It is one of the most spectacular early Neolithic settlements in the entire Near East. The tell is 9 ha and has more than 10 metres of archaeological deposits dating back to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period (9500 BCE - 8000 BCE approximately). Due to the large number of decorated stone monuments, sculptures and massive elliptical architectural installations this site is considered an important ritual centre. Some claim that the enclosures at Göbekli Tepe are the world's first temples, while others believe that they are the result of social practices of hunter-gatherers of the region as similar stone monuments and structures have been found in other nearby settlements such as Karahan Tepe, Harbetsuvan Tepesi and Hamzan Tepe. Since the early 1990s, excavations at Göbekli Tepe supported by the German Archaeological Institute and the Turkish authorities have brought to light hundreds of decorated limestone pillars, sculptures and reliefs. Many of the figures depicted are wild animal such as foxes, felines, birds and scorpions. The T-shaped pillars that characterised most of the buildings are believed to represent human beings due to the anthropomorphic motifs carved on some of these limestone monuments. It is unknown what they might represent, whether deities, guardians, ancestors or perhaps other creatures. So far, only a few human remains have been unearthed and it is still not entirely clear what kind of mortuary practices and other ritual forms were performed at the site. Feasting and shamanism are activities hypothesised in light of the iconography and published archaeological evidence, but alternative interpretations are equally possible. Future excavations and ongoing archaeological investigations will shed light on the life of this renown settlement.
Item Metadata
| Title |
Göbekli Tepe
|
| Creator | |
| Contributor | |
| Publisher |
Database of Religious History (DRH)
|
| Date Issued |
2022-12-24
|
| Description |
UNESCO World Heritage Site located near the city of Şanlıurfa (Turkey). It is one of the most spectacular
early Neolithic settlements in the entire Near East. The tell is 9 ha and has more than 10 metres of
archaeological deposits dating back to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period (9500 BCE - 8000 BCE
approximately). Due to the large number of decorated stone monuments, sculptures and massive elliptical
architectural installations this site is considered an important ritual centre. Some claim that the enclosures
at Göbekli Tepe are the world's first temples, while others believe that they are the result of social practices
of hunter-gatherers of the region as similar stone monuments and structures have been found in other
nearby settlements such as Karahan Tepe, Harbetsuvan Tepesi and Hamzan Tepe. Since the early 1990s,
excavations at Göbekli Tepe supported by the German Archaeological Institute and the Turkish authorities
have brought to light hundreds of decorated limestone pillars, sculptures and reliefs. Many of the figures
depicted are wild animal such as foxes, felines, birds and scorpions. The T-shaped pillars that characterised
most of the buildings are believed to represent human beings due to the anthropomorphic motifs carved
on some of these limestone monuments. It is unknown what they might represent, whether deities,
guardians, ancestors or perhaps other creatures. So far, only a few human remains have been unearthed
and it is still not entirely clear what kind of mortuary practices and other ritual forms were performed at the
site. Feasting and shamanism are activities hypothesised in light of the iconography and published
archaeological evidence, but alternative interpretations are equally possible. Future excavations and ongoing archaeological investigations will shed light on the life of this renown settlement.
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| Subject | |
| Genre | |
| Type | |
| Language |
eng
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| Date Available |
2023-01-20
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| Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
| Rights |
Attribution 4.0 International
|
| DOI |
10.14288/1.0423221
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| URI | |
| Affiliation | |
| Citation |
Mattia Cartolano. (2022). Göbekli Tepe. Database of Religious History, Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia.
|
| Peer Review Status |
Unreviewed
|
| Scholarly Level |
Postdoctoral
|
| Rights URI | |
| Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International