Göbekli Tepe (Turkish pronunciation: [ ɟœbecˈli teˈpe ]; Kurdish: Girê Mirazan or Xerabreşkê) is an ancient site from the Neolithic period in Upper Mesopotamia (al-Jazira), now part of modern-day Turkey. People lived there from about 9500 BCE to at least 8000 BCE during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic era. The site is famous for its large circular buildings with tall stone pillars, some of the oldest known large stone structures in the world. Many pillars have carvings of human-like figures, clothing, and wild animals, which help archaeologists learn about early religious beliefs and artwork from that time. The site covers an area of 8 hectares (20 acres) and includes ancient homes, small buildings, stone quarries, and water storage systems from the Neolithic period, along with some remains from later times.
Göbekli Tepe was first used during the beginning of the Neolithic period in Southwest Asia, a time when the first permanent human settlements appeared anywhere in the world. Experts debate whether the development of agriculture led people to settle in one place or if living in one place encouraged the start of farming. Göbekli Tepe, built on a rocky hill with no clear signs of farming, is important in this discussion.
Recent discoveries show that the site had homes, tools for daily use, a water supply, and evidence of grain processing. This challenges earlier ideas that the site was only a place for nomads to gather, with no permanent residents. The purpose of the large stone structures is still unknown, though they are sometimes called the "world's first temples." These buildings likely had roofs and were damaged by landslides, then repaired or rebuilt. Their design and artwork are similar to nearby sites like Karahan Tepe.
The site was first noticed in a 1963 survey. German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt recognized its importance in 1994 and started excavations the next year. After his death in 2014, work continued as a joint project by Istanbul University, Şanlıurfa Museum, and the German Archaeological Institute, led by Turkish archaeologist Necmi Karul. In 2018, Göbekli Tepe was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its value as one of the earliest examples of human-made large buildings. As of 2021, about 10% of the site has been explored, and geophysical surveys suggest the mound contains at least 20 large enclosures.
Geography and environment
Göbekli Tepe is located near the village of Örencik in Şanliurfa Province, within the Taş Tepeler (Stone Hills), in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains. It overlooks the Harran plain and the headwaters of the Balikh River, which flows into the Euphrates. The site is an artificial mound (called a tell) built on a flat limestone plateau. A narrow landform connects the plateau to nearby mountains in the north, while the rest of the area slopes steeply downward into cliffs and slopes.
When Göbekli Tepe was occupied, the climate was wetter than it is today. The area was covered with open grasslands, known as a steppe, where wild grains such as einkorn, wheat, and barley grew in abundance. Herds of grazing animals, including wild sheep, goats, gazelle, and equids, lived nearby. Large groups of goitered gazelle may have passed through the area during seasonal migrations. There is no evidence of nearby forests; 90% of the charcoal found at the site came from pistachio or almond trees.
Like many Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) sites in the Urfa region, Göbekli Tepe was built on a high point near the mountains, offering a wide view of the plain below and visibility from the plain itself. This location also provided access to materials needed for construction, such as soft limestone from the bedrock and flint for tools. The ancient village collected drinking water using a rainwater harvesting system. This system included carved channels that directed water into cisterns dug into the bedrock beneath the site, which could hold at least 150 cubic meters (5,300 cubic feet) of water. The local water table may have been higher in the past, causing springs near the site to flow, even though they are dry today.
Archaeologists have excavated the southern slope of the tell, as well as areas south and west of a mulberry tree that marks an Islamic pilgrimage site. However, artifacts have been found across the entire plateau. Many tools that were used remain at the site. At the western escarpment, a small cave was discovered, and inside it, a small carving of a bovid (a type of cattle) was found. This is the only relief discovered in that cave.
Dawn of village life
Göbekli Tepe was built and used during the earliest part of the Neolithic period in Southwest Asia, known as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN, around 9600 to 7000 BCE). This time began at the end of the last Ice Age and is called "the beginnings of village life," as it shows the earliest known examples of permanent human settlements. One of the earliest sites is Körtik Tepe, dated to 10,700–9250 BCE, which may have influenced the artistic and material culture of the PPN in Upper Mesopotamia, including Göbekli Tepe and other Taş Tepeler sites.
Archaeologists have long linked the rise of these settlements to the Neolithic Revolution—the shift from hunting and gathering to farming—but they disagree about whether farming caused people to settle or if settling caused farming. Despite its name, the Neolithic Revolution in Southwest Asia happened slowly and varied by region. Some evidence of village life appeared thousands of years before the Neolithic period, and the move to farming took many years with different speeds in different areas. The Pre-Pottery Neolithic is divided into two subperiods: Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA, around 9600–8800 BCE) and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB, around 8800–7000 BCE). The earliest parts of Göbekli Tepe date to the PPNA, while later parts date to the PPNB.
Evidence suggests that the people who lived at Göbekli Tepe were hunter-gatherers who also used early forms of domesticated grains and lived in villages for part of the year. Tools such as grinding stones, mortars, and pestles found at the site show that they processed large amounts of cereal. Animal remains suggest that they hunted gazelle heavily between midsummer and autumn.
PPN villages were mostly groups of stone or mud brick houses, but sometimes included large monuments and buildings. Examples include the tower and walls at Tell es-Sultan (Jericho) and large circular buildings at Göbekli Tepe, Nevalı Çori, Çayönü, Wadi Feynan 16, Jerf el-Ahmar, Tell 'Abr 3, and Tepe Asiab. These structures are often linked to community activities that helped people stay connected as their communities grew.
The T-shaped pillar tradition at Göbekli Tepe is unique to the Urfa region but appears at most PPN sites, including Nevalı Çori, Hamzan Tepe, Karahan Tepe, Harbetsuvan Tepesi, Sefer Tepe, and Taslı Tepe. Other stone stelae without the T shape have been found at nearby sites such as Çayönü, Qermez Dere, and Gusir Höyük.
Chronology
Radiocarbon dating shows that the earliest buildings at Göbekli Tepe were constructed between 9500 and 9000 BCE, near the end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period. The site was greatly expanded in the early 9th millennium BCE and continued to be used until about 8000 BCE, or possibly a bit later, during the early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) period. Evidence suggests that small groups later lived among the ruins after the Neolithic structures were no longer used.
Schmidt first believed the site was from the PPNA period based on the types of stone tools found there, and he thought a PPNA date was most likely. Determining the exact timeline of the site was difficult because of challenges in the dating process. The first two radiocarbon dates, published in 1998, showed that materials from inside the structures dated to the late 10th and early 9th millennium BCE—500 to 1,000 years later than expected for a PPNA site. Schmidt’s team explained this difference by suggesting the materials might have been brought to the site from elsewhere when it was abandoned and did not reflect the actual time the structures were used. Instead, they used a new method to date organic material in the plaster on the walls, which gave results more consistent with a PPNA occupation in the middle or early 10th millennium BCE. Later research changed this view, showing that the materials inside the structures were not from elsewhere and that dating plaster was affected by the "old wood effect." With new radiocarbon dates, the site’s timeline is now confirmed to be between 9500 and 8000 BCE, covering the late PPNA and PPNB periods.
Schmidt’s early model of the site’s layers was later changed. His original model had three layers: the large circular enclosures were in Layer III, dated to the 10th millennium BCE (PPNA). The smaller rectangular buildings and the site’s abandonment were in Layer II, dated to the 9th millennium BCE (early to middle PPNB). Layer I included all activities after the Neolithic period up to the present day.
The updated timeline includes eight phases over at least 1,500 years. It describes the history of the large circular enclosures, including events that caused them to change or be abandoned, as well as the development of the homes built around them.
Architecture
The first circular structures appeared around the middle of the 10th millennium BCE. These structures range from 10 to 30 meters (33 to 98 feet) in diameter. The most noticeable part of these structures is the T-shaped limestone pillars placed evenly inside thick walls made of unworked stone. Four such circular buildings have been discovered so far. Geophysical surveys suggest that 16 more structures may exist, each enclosing up to eight pillars, totaling nearly 200. The stone slabs were transported from bedrock pits about 100 meters (330 feet) away from the hilltop, with workers using flint tools to cut through the limestone. These pillars are the oldest known megaliths in the world.
Two taller pillars face each other at the center of each circle. It is not clear if the circles had a roof. Stone benches for sitting are found inside the structures. Many pillars are decorated with abstract, mysterious pictograms and carved images of animals. These pictograms may represent sacred symbols similar to those found in Neolithic cave paintings. The carvings show mammals like lions, bulls, boars, foxes, gazelles, and donkeys; snakes and reptiles; insects and spiders; and birds, especially vultures. Vultures also appear in artwork from Çatalhöyük and Jericho.
Few human figures are shown in the art at Göbekli Tepe. Some T-shaped pillars have human arms carved on their lower parts, leading excavator Schmidt to believe they represented stylized human figures or deities. Loincloths are carved on the lower parts of a few pillars. Schmidt thought the horizontal stone slabs on top represented shoulders, suggesting the figures were headless. It is unknown whether these figures were meant to represent worshippers, ancestors, or supernatural beings.
Some floors in the oldest layer are made of terrazzo (burnt lime); others are made from bedrock, which supports the large central pillars carved in high relief. Radiocarbon dating shows these early circles were built around 9000 BCE.
Later structures were rectangular, possibly to use space more efficiently than circular buildings. These structures are often linked to the Neolithic period, but the T-shaped pillars, a key feature of the older enclosures, also appear here, showing that these buildings continued to serve the same purpose during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB). Rooms attached to these structures have polished lime floors similar to Roman terrazzo floors. Carbon dating places their construction between 8800 and 8000 BCE. Some rooms contain T-shaped pillars up to 1.5 meters tall. A pair of pillars decorated with lions is why this area is called the "lion pillar building."
In the earliest phase of occupation, round or oval homes were built near the large enclosures, suggesting a semi-sedentary lifestyle. Over time, these homes became more rectangular. In the final stage of the settlement, only small buildings were constructed.
Before human remains were found, Schmidt thought graves might have been placed in niches behind the walls of the circular structures. In 2017, pieces of human skulls with cuts were discovered, linked to a Neolithic practice of preparing skulls. This practice is known from sites like Tell es-Sultan (Jericho), Tell Aswad, Yiftahel, and later at Çatalhöyük.
At the western edge of the hill, a lion-like figure was found. Flint and limestone fragments are more common here, leading some to believe this area might have been a sculpture workshop. However, the purpose of three phallic-shaped carvings found on the southern plateau is unclear. These carvings are near classical-era quarries, making their dating difficult.
Besides the main mound, there is a flat platform with two sockets that might have held pillars and a surrounding bench. This platform is part of the oldest sections of the site and is called "complex E." It is also named the "Temple of the Rock" because it resembles the cult buildings at Nevalı Çori. The floor was carefully carved from bedrock and smoothed, similar to the terrazzo floors of later structures at Göbekli Tepe. Northwest of this area are two pit-like structures believed to be part of complex E. One pit has a table-high pin and a staircase with five steps.
Construction
The plateau where Göbekli Tepe is located has been shaped by erosion and digging since the Neolithic period. On the southern part of the plateau, there are four channels that are 10 meters long and 20 centimeters wide. These channels are believed to be the remains of an ancient quarry where rectangular stone blocks were taken. These blocks may be connected to a nearby square building, of which only the foundation remains. This building might be the remains of a Roman watchtower that was part of the Limes Arabicus. Most structures on the plateau appear to have been created during the Neolithic period, with quarries serving as sources for large, single-stone architectural pieces. These stones were carved into the rock and then pulled out using tools.
Archaeologists disagree about how much labor was needed to build the site. Schmidt believed that "the work of digging, moving, and setting up heavy, large, and well-prepared limestone pillars […] was not possible for a small group of people." Using experiments with statues on Rapa Nui as a reference, he estimated that moving the pillars alone would require hundreds of people. According to these experiments, one statue of a similar size to a T-shaped pillar at Göbekli Tepe would take 20 people a year to carve and 50–75 people a week to move 15 kilometers. Schmidt’s team also cited a 1917 account of building a large stone structure on the island of Nias, which took 525 people three days. These estimates support the idea that the site was built by a large group of workers, who may have been forced or encouraged to come by a small religious group. However, others believe that 7–14 people could have moved the pillars using ropes and water or other lubricants, similar to methods used for other ancient structures like Stonehenge. Experiments at Göbekli Tepe suggest that all the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B structures exposed could have been built by 12–24 people in less than four months, including time for digging, gathering food, and preparing meals. These numbers are thought to be achievable by a single extended family or village group during the Neolithic period. They also match the number of people who could fit inside one of the buildings at the same time.
Enclosures B, C, and D were originally planned as a single, organized complex that forms an equilateral triangle, according to Haklay and Gopher.
The enclosures, located more than 10 meters below the highest parts of the settlement, experienced several landslides during the time Göbekli Tepe was occupied. A major landslide occurred at the end of the early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period, burying enclosure D with rubble, sediments, and remains from homes, including burials and waste deposits. This caused serious damage to the enclosure, requiring repairs and stabilization work. Later, during Building Phase 5, terrace walls were built to prevent future landslides. However, these efforts failed when a second major landslide likely caused the enclosure to be abandoned during Building Phase 6, around the late 9th millennium BCE. Other enclosures suffered similar damage, possibly leading to the construction of new enclosures to replace them.
Previously, it was thought that the large enclosures were intentionally filled with earth, but this idea is no longer widely accepted after Klaus Schmidt’s death.
Tools
Göbekli Tepe has many flint tools scattered across the ridge-top site and its slopes. The collection of tools found there is similar to those from other nearby Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites in the Northern Levant.
In 1963, more than 3,000 Neolithic tools were discovered. Most were made of high-quality flint, with only a few made of obsidian. Common tool types included cores, blades, flakes, scrapers, burins, and projectile points.
During excavations of Space 16, a small building near enclosure D, nearly 700 tools were found. The most common items were retouched artifacts, followed by scrapers, perforators, and tools with a glossy surface. Other tools included heavy-duty items like burins and microliths.
Over 7,000 grinding stones have been found at the site. These stones were likely used to process cereal, as evidence from soil suggests the presence of cereal grains. However, it is unclear whether the cereal was wild or cultivated.
Iconography
The stone pillars inside the enclosures at Göbekli Tepe are shaped like the letter T, similar to those found at other Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites nearby. However, unlike these other sites, many of the pillars at Göbekli Tepe are carved. These carvings are usually in low relief, but sometimes in high relief. Most of the carvings show animals, including serpents, foxes, boars, gazelle, mouflon (wild sheep), onagers, ducks, and vultures. When possible, the animals are identified as male and are often shown in aggressive poses.
Other carvings include abstract shapes such as upright or horizontal H-shaped symbols, crescents, and disks. Human figures are rarely shown. One example is a headless man with an erect phallus on pillar 43 in enclosure D. Other phallic figures have been found at Göbekli Tepe and at other Taş Tepeler sites. The T-shape of the pillars themselves is human-like, with the vertical shaft representing a body and the top representing a head. Some pillars also have carvings of arms, hands, and loincloths.
The two central pillars in each enclosure held special importance in the symbolic design of the structures. In enclosure D, these pillars show human figures with arms, belts, and cloth covering their genitals. The sex of the people shown cannot be determined, though Schmidt suggested they might be men because the belts worn are a male feature from that time. Only one clear image of a woman has been found, showing a naked female figure on a stone slab.
Schmidt and zooarchaeologist Joris Peters believe the variety of animals carved on the pillars suggests they do not all share the same symbolic meaning. They suggest that because many of the animals are predators, the carvings might have been used to protect against harm through magical symbols or as totems.
Smaller carved stones found at Göbekli Tepe are difficult to date, as they do not clearly belong to one time period. These stones often show animals, and sometimes humans, mostly male figures.
One structure contained a "totem pole" from the early PPNB period. When reassembled, it is 192 centimeters (6.30 feet) tall and 30 centimeters (0.98 feet) wide. It shows three figures, from top to bottom: a predator (a bear or large cat) missing its head, with human arms; another figure missing its head, with human arms, likely male; and a third figure with a complete head. Snakes are carved on both sides of the pole.
Interpretation
Klaus Schmidt believed that Göbekli Tepe was a place for rituals. As the first person to lead the excavation in 1995, he thought it was a central meeting place for small groups of hunter-gatherers who lived in the area before pottery was used. These groups would come together on the hilltop to build structures, hold feasts, and then return to their nomadic lives.
Many bones from local animals, such as deer, gazelle, pigs, and geese, were found at the site. These bones were from food that was hunted, cooked, or otherwise prepared for the people who gathered there. Studies of these bones showed that gazelle were only present in the region during certain seasons. This suggests that rituals and feasts likely happened when animals were most available. Schmidt believed that the construction of Göbekli Tepe helped lead to the development of cities later on.
Schmidt also thought that the nomadic groups who built Göbekli Tepe had belief systems similar to shamanic practices. He believed the T-shaped pillars might represent human figures, possibly ancestors. He thought belief in gods came later, in Mesopotamia, where large temples and palaces were built. This matches an old Sumerian story that said gods from the sacred mountain Ekur gave humans farming, animal care, and weaving. Schmidt saw this story as a memory of the early Neolithic period. The carvings on the pillars do not show violence, such as hunting raids or injured animals. Instead, they focus on powerful creatures like lions, snakes, spiders, and scorpions, not the animals the society relied on, like deer.
Gheorghiu suggested that the round enclosures might have been places of worship. He thought the symbols at Göbekli Tepe could represent a map of the world and the sky, connecting the people to their environment.
After Schmidt died in 2014, some experts questioned whether the site was only used for religious purposes. Others thought the structures might have been large communal homes, similar to big houses on the Northwest Coast of North America with tall posts and totems. It is unclear why the pillars were buried every few decades and replaced with new stones in smaller circles inside the older ones. Rémi Hadad noted that recent discoveries, such as homes and rainwater systems, have changed the idea that Göbekli Tepe was only a temple. Some people once thought it was an ancient astronomical observatory, but the team working at the site has mostly rejected this idea.
Research history
Before archaeologists studied it, the hill where Göbekli Tepe is located was known locally in Kurdish as Girê Mirazan or Xerabreşkê. Girê Mirazan means "Wish Hill."
The site was first noticed in 1963 during an archaeological survey led by Halet Çambel of Istanbul University and Robert John Braidwood of the University of Chicago. American archaeologist Peter Benedict examined stone tools found on the surface and identified them as from the Aceramic Neolithic period. However, he incorrectly thought the top parts of the T-shaped pillars were grave markers. The hill had been farmed for many years, and local people had often moved rocks to make piles, which might have disturbed the site's upper layers. At some point, farmers broke parts of the pillars, likely because they saw them as ordinary large rocks.
In October 1994, German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, who had previously worked at Nevalı Çori, decided to re-examine the location described by the Chicago researchers in 1963. He asked nearby villagers about hills with flint and was directed to Göbekli Tepe by Mahmut Yıldız, whose family owned the land. The Yıldız family had found artifacts while farming there and reported them to a local museum. Schmidt recognized that the stone slabs might not be grave markers, as Benedict had thought, but could instead be the tops of ancient megaliths. He began excavations the next year and uncovered the first large T-shaped pillars. Eventually, he found only three tombs on the easternmost hill group, which was a place for religious visits. Mahmut Yıldız later worked on the excavations and became the site's guard.
Klaus Schmidt led excavations for the Şanlıurfa Museum and the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) until his death in 2014. Afterward, Lee Clare coordinated the DAI's research. As of 2021, the site is studied jointly by Istanbul University, the Şanlıurfa Museum, and the DAI, under the leadership of Necmi Karul. Recent work has focused on carefully documenting and preserving already exposed areas, rather than expanding excavations as Schmidt had done.
Conservation
Göbekli Tepe was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018 because it is considered one of the earliest examples of human-made large buildings. As of 2021, about 10% of the site has been uncovered.
In 2018, conservation efforts at the site caused disagreement. Çiğdem Köksal Schmidt, an archaeologist and the wife of Klaus Schmidt, claimed that damage occurred during the construction of a new path due to the use of concrete and heavy machinery. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism stated that no concrete was used and that no damage had taken place.