Göbekli Tepe Geek’d
April 15, 2011 2 Comments
I’m just gunna geek out here for a minute, but when I first read about Gobekli Tepe, I was, well, excited. Here’s the wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe. Turns out there was a recent archaeological discovery of what seems to be a temple of sorts that was most likely first built around 11,000 B.C. Just to put that into perspective, the human race, at that time, was still a nomadic, hunter-gatherer species that had still not domesticated plants or herded animals. It wasn’t until about 8,000 or 7,000 B.C. that homo sapiens first discovered these things, which led to the explosion of civilization and permanent dwellings, then villages, towns, cities, governments, etc. – the beginning of known, written human history.
But this discovery in Gobekli Tepe predates all of that by a few millennia. In case you don’t feel like reading the article (do it!), it’s what appears to be a very large temple of sorts. There’s no writing so as to disclose to us its exact purpose, but there are carvings of many indigenous animals, and even some elaborately carved statues of animals. All of this from a people who were generally nomadic and had neither the aid of the wheel or metal tools. The quarry for the rock used was some distance away, so the making of this indicates organization, which indicates some type of hierarchical society – something we didn’t believe existed at that stage in human development.
So, yeah, I’m intellectually aroused just thinking about this.
The mysteries of these ancient civilizations are just exciting to me. Who were they? What were they like? What did they believe? I think understanding these things is key to our development as humans. I have a hard time even understanding who I am without first trying to understand where we all came from. The ultimate question of Man.
The answer is 42, we know.
A very interesting fact about this site: we wouldn’t have it still in existence if it weren’t for the strange fact that a people, around 8,000 B.C., buried the entire thing with soil from another location. Were they trying to hide it? or did they intend to preserve it?
It’s all just so very exciting! Woohoo!!
About Joshua Blankenship
There are some who always believed that humanity started out anew in that very region. With the discovery of Gobekli Tepe, I believe the whole area of Eastern Turkey deserve careful scrunity. Thorough research, and I mean thorough, not excluding that particular area which has a boat-like formation in the more easterly region. In the past that area has also been dismissed without any serious archaeological excavations.
Quite right. It’s interesting how the most major developments of homo sapiens into the current form we see ourselves as now seemed to have all originated in that area, according to our archaeological knowledge. I would like to see more excavation in that area as well. I do also, however, understand the complexity in such a task. Not only is it difficult to get the consent of local governments, but initiating and funding an archaeological dig is nothing too simple. We’re talking getting a university or organization to back a project that may potentially take decades without much to show for it. Even when discoveries are made, such as GT, it’s no small endeavor indeed. The historian in charge of the GT project has claimed it may take 40-60 years before we can even uncover the major part of that site. I do, however, believe that good effort should be placed into archaeological expedition of that Mesopotamian/Turkey area. Maybe, in the coming years, we’ll find something unexpected in the GT dig that would incite more wide-spread interest.