The construction dates back to 9500 BC. It is 5.5 thousand years older than the first cities of Mesopotamia
German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt discovered in Turkey the Gobekli Tepe temple complex, which is seven thousand years older than Stonehenge. The structures have been preserved in almost perfect condition due to the fact that soon after construction it was buried under tons of soil by the builders themselves.
The stone circles of Gobekli Tepe are small in comparison with Stonehenge. 4 of the estimated 20 have been excavated, all of which are less than 30 meters in diameter. T-shaped pillars lie on the same level as the rest of the finds, and two five-meter stones rise above them by a meter. They are carved with images of wild boars, foxes, lions, birds, snakes and scorpions.
The people who built Gobekli Tepe did not know either writing or wheels, they did not have pottery and agriculture. According to scientists, they lived in the village, but they were not engaged in agriculture, but hunting.
“Everyone was absolutely convinced that such monumental structures could only be erected by a civilization with a complex hierarchy, which only appeared after the invention of agriculture,” says Ian Hodder, professor of anthropology at Stanford University, who led the excavations at Chatal Huyuk, Turkey's most famous site. finds from the Neolithic times. - Finding Gobekli changes everything. This is a sophisticated complex building, erected before the advent of agriculture. The fact in itself makes the find one of the most important archaeological discoveries in a long period of time."
It is not yet clear what Gobekli Tepe was used for. Some believe that the complex was a center for religious rituals associated with childbirth. This idea is pushed by two tall stones, each in its own circle, symbolizing a man and a woman. But Schmidt is rather skeptical about this theory: there are no symbols of fertility found in other similar structures of the Neolithic period, and the T-shaped columns, although anthropomorphic, do not have signs of gender.
According to Schmidt, these are the first images of the gods.
Since no signs of burials or settlements have been found around, Schmidt suggests that Gobekli Tepe was a place of pilgrimage for people living in the area. His colleagues are more cautious in their assumptions, since larger excavations have not yet been carried out in the region.