Göbekli Tepe Is Oldest Known Religious Temple Dating From The Dawn Of The Anthropcene At The End Of The Last Ice Age.



https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/16/world/gobekli-tepe-building-discovery-trnd-scn/index.html


Researchers have discovered part of the mystery behind the construction of the earliest known temple in human history.

The Göbekli Tepe complex in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, is a 11,500-year-old stone structure that predates Stonehenge, according to a news release.
The researchers used a computer algorithm to trace the architectural design, especially three of the complex's monumental round structures, to determine that the pillars were placed in their particular positions on purpose.

"The layout of the complex is characterized by spatial and symbolic hierarchies that reflect changes in the spiritual world and in the social structure," researcher Gil Haklay from the Israel Antiquities Authority explained.
Haklay and Avi Gopher, an archaeology professor at Tel Aviv University, led the project. Their findings were published in the May volume of the Cambridge Archaeological Journal.


https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/afot-ggc051220.php


Geometry guided construction of earliest known temple, built 6,000 years before Stonehenge
Hunter-gatherers built colossal Göbekli Tepe 11,500 years ago in today's Turkey as a single structure of ritual significance, say Tel Aviv University researchers

The sprawling 11,500-year-old stone Göbekli Tepe complex in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, is the earliest known temple in human history and one of the most important discoveries of Neolithic research.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority have now used architectural analysis to discover that geometry informed the layout of Göbekli Tepe's impressive round stone structures and enormous assembly of limestone pillars, which they say were initially planned as a single structure.

Three of the Göbekli Tepe's monumental round structures, the largest of which are 20 meters in diameter, were initially planned as a single project, according to researchers Gil Haklay of the Israel Antiquities Authority, a PhD candidate at Tel Aviv University, and Prof. Avi Gopher of TAU's Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations. They used a computer algorithm to trace aspects of the architectural design processes involved in the construction of these enclosures in this early Neolithic site.

Their findings were published in Cambridge Archaeological Journal in May.

"Göbekli Tepe is an archaeological wonder," Prof. Gopher explains. "Built by Neolithic communities 11,500 to 11,000 years ago, it features enormous, round stone structures and monumental stone pillars up to 5.5 meters high. Since there is no evidence of farming or animal domestication at the time, the site is believed to have been built by hunter-gatherers. However, its architectural complexity is highly unusual for them."

Discovered by German archaeologist Dr. Klaus Schmidt in 1994, Göbekli Tepe has since been the subject of hot archaeological debate. But while these, and other early Neolithic remains, have been intensively studied, the issue of architectural planning during these periods and its cultural ramifications have not.

Most researchers have made the case that the Göbekli Tepe enclosures at the main excavation area were constructed over time. However, Haklay and Prof. Gopher say that three of the structures were designed as a single project and according to a coherent geometric pattern.

"The layout of the complex is characterized by spatial and symbolic hierarchies that reflect changes in the spiritual world and in the social structure," Haklay explains. "In our research, we used an analytic tool -- an algorithm based on standard deviation mapping -- to identify an underlying geometric pattern that regulated the design."

"This research introduces important information regarding the early development of architectural planning in the Levant and in the world," Prof. Gopher adds. "It opens the door to new interpretations of this site in general, and of the nature of its megalithic anthropomorphic pillars specifically."

Certain planning capabilities and practices, such as the use of geometry and the formulation of floor plans, were traditionally assumed to have emerged much later than the period during which the Göbekli Tepe was constructed -- after hunter-gatherers transformed into food-producing farmers some 10,500 years ago. Notably, one of the characteristics of early farmers is their use of rectangular architecture.

"This case of early architectural planning may serve as an example of the dynamics of cultural changes during the early parts of the Neolithic period," Haklay says. "Our findings suggest that major architectural transformations during this period, such as the transition to rectangular architecture, were knowledge-based, top-down processes carried out by specialists.

"The most important and basic methods of architectural planning were devised in the Levant in the Late Epipaleolithic period as part of the Natufian culture and through the early Neolithic period. Our new research indicates that the methods of architectural planning, abstract design rules and organizational patterns were already being used during this formative period in human history."

Next, the researchers intend to investigate the architectural remains of other Neolithic sites throughout the Levant.

I bet they used Masonic handshakes there.

That complex came from the remnants of another world, along with all the dinosaur bones.

11,000 year old buildings on a 6,000-year-old world! Ha! What a bunch of obviously non-observant Israelites!!!

https://ahotcupofjoe.net/2020/02/buzzwords-bogeymen-and-banalities-of-pseudoarchaeology-gobekli-tepe-2/

In the realm and imaginations of those who disseminate fake, fraudulent, and fantastic archaeological claims, there are some things that are just cliche in their discussions: the go-to bogeymen for blame or rancorous contempt, or just statements they find profound which barely rise to a level of trite reality.

One of these is “Göbekli Tepe,” the name of a Neolithic archaeological site discovered in Turkey in 1963. It’s a very special site for a couple of reasons, perhaps most notably that there appears to be monumental architecture present that precedes agriculture. Until the structures at this site were dated, it was thought that agriculture logically preceded monumental architecture in societies and, in general, it probably does. One of the supposed reasons for this is that agriculture allows for increased production and storage of food as a source of calories, and the opportunities for social stratification and skill or trade specialization.

While this may still be sufficiently true in many societies of the ancient past, Göbekli Tepe shows us that it isn’t necessarily true.

Another, related, reason why Göbekli Tepe is a very special site is its age. Earliest levels of the site date to about 9600-8800 BCE. That’s a little more than 11,000 years ago.


In his book Magicians of the Gods, Graham Hancock writes this about Göbekli Tepe:

“Göbekli Tepe is the oldest work of monumental architecture so far found anywhere in the world, or at any rate the oldest accepted as such by archaeologists. […] the problem at Göbekli Tepe is the pristine, sudden appearance, like Athena springing full-grown and fully armed from the brow of Zeus, of what appears to be an already seasoned civilization so accomplished that it “invents” both agriculture and monumental architecture at the apparent moment of its birth. […] Archaeology can no more explain that than it can explain why the earliest monuments, art, sculptures, hieroglyphs, mathematics, medicine, astronomy and architecture of Ancient Egypt are perfect at the beginning without any traces of evolution from simple to sophisticated. “

Hancock, Graham (2012). Magicians of the Gods. London: Coronet, pp. 5, 10.
About both Göbekli Tepe and Egypt, Hancock is, of course, wrong.

Egyptian monuments, writing, architecture, etc. all show varied degrees of cultural evolution. Early tombs show a Mesopotamian influence in brickwork such as with the pre-dynastic tomb 100 in Hierakonpolis. Burials themselves evolve from round, pit graves with simple grave goods, to rectangular graves with increased numbers and varieties of goods. Initially jars were painted with funeral processions, which evolved later into entire temple murals.

By the Early Dynastic Period, tombs over graves began to appear as certain members of Egyptian society attained increased wealth and status. These were rectangular mastabas with burial chambers placed underground. Grave goods are even more evolved, including furniture, weapons, cosmetics, jewelry, and so on. The first pyramids begin to show up in the Old Kingdom and even these are clearly a progression of trial and error as architects experiment with style, form, and function with varied success.

They never actually bother to understand their own doctrine and how anthropology regularly disproves it.

Mormons be like “Oh look, that must be the baptismal font.”

This caught my eye.

> Since there is no
> evidence of farming or animal domestication at the
> time, the site is believed to have been built by
> hunter-gatherers. However, its architectural
> complexity is highly unusual for them."

Am I right in thinking that the earlier Stonehenge monuments and some of the other megaliths in northwestern Europe were also pre-agricultural? Farming entered Britain closer to 2,000 BCE and the earliest megaliths were more like 3,000 BCE?

True

Things changed after the introduction of agriculture.

Staying in one place to grow food was risky.

What if the rains don't come? What if the crops fail?

All this worrying is what started what we think of as religion.

> Things changed after the introduction of
> agriculture.

Yes. Agriculture allowed massive disruptions to human populations as groups with 10X the population density entered areas previously populated by hunter-gatherers. In addition, the economic surplus supported the development of trades, courts, and larger polities with more advanced cultures.


----------------
> Staying in one place to grow food was risky.

> What if the rains don't come? What if the crops
> fail?

Yes, and the risks were magnified, as Karl Wittfogel noted, by the need to keep water supplies and irrigation systems maintained and protected. Hence the emergence of more extensive states with more extensive police powers as well as greater fortifications.


--------------
> All this worrying is what started what we think of
> as religion.

I may differ here. There is good evidence that archaic humans had religions, a belief in an afterlife or reincarnation, etc. The evidence includes burial rituals, early cave paintings, etc. All of that went into overdrive with the agricultural revolution and the concomitant growth in population size and state sophistication, for people's sense of risk changed and the larger governments needed more robust legitimization.


--------------
My question is about religion before the advent of agriculture. I'm personally skeptical that at 8,500 BCE people suddenly became religious. And I believe that megalithic Europe was megalithic, monumental, religious, albeit in more limited form, before Anatolian farmers and their techniques penetrated Northeastern Europe.

Hence the question about the dating of the earliest monumental structures (implicitly) relative to the introduction of farming. I'm asking if the Göbekli Tepe complex, presumably a hunter-gatherer creation, was typical of other societies that reached a demonstrable level of religions/architectural sophistication before the full development of farming economies.

Humans had religious beliefs before long before agriculture.

Agriculture and civilisation brought patriarchal male hierarchy and patriarchal religion as in Deus Pater = Dyeus Pitar = Father God, a/k/a Invisible Sky Daddy. No more Earth mother fertility goddesses like the Venus of Willendorf.

I should have been more clear.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2020 01:24PM by anybody.

No, this is great.

I would add, though, that the patriarchal pantheon you describe is post-agricultural. It is Indo-European, dating to about five millennia after the agricultural revolution.

Maria Gimbutas did the foundational work on the matriarchal societies of agricultural southeastern Europe and the Levant. In 1985 Colin Renfrew floated the alternative hypothesis that the Indo-European peoples were the ones who introduced agriculture to the regions stretching from India to Ireland, but David Reich and his team at Harvard have now proved that the DNA of the farmers and the Indo-Europeans (Yamnaya and derivatives) were genetically and temporally distinct and Renfrew has acknowledged that Gimbutas was right.

So the timetable would be something like

1) hunter-gatherer societies with (probably matriarchal) religion pre-11,000 YA,

2) agricultural societies with matriarchal and matrilinear traditions and religions from 11,000 to roughly 3,000 YA,

3) Indo-European societies with the patriarchal religion to which you allude.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2020 03:08AM by Lot's Wife.

Agriculture also came with a host of health issues not present in Hunter/Gatherer cultures:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110615094514.htm

Yes, agriculture enabled a massive increase in population but diminished nutrition, new diseases, and worse health. There are parallels to be seen in the impact of the Industrial Revolution as well.

They had memorized everyone's name and stats who had died back then so they didn't need writing to do their temple work.

I have to say, anybody, that I love the stuff you post and your insights. There are few things better in life than getting to discuss with, and learn from, people who really know their fields.

You might be interested in a Neolithic romance/adventure novel called "Daughter Of The Red Deer" by Joan Wolf.

It's about pre-historic humans living in southern France during the last Ice Age.


https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Red-Deer-Joan-Wolf/dp/0525933794

"A skillfully woven story of romance, intrigue, and conflict set in prehistoric southern France. When the women of the Tribe of the Horse die from polluted water, the young men kidnap women from the matriarchal Tribe of the Red Deer to keep their clan from extinction. The success of the raid causes dissention in the male ranks of the Tribe of the Horse. Mar, the leader of the younger men, must deal with the tribal conflict, as well as his feelings for Alin, the beautiful daughter of the Red Deer priestess and ``Chosen One'' of the Mother Goddess. Resolution of the conflict between the generations, the sexes, the gods, and Alin and Mar make fascinating reading."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2020 01:28PM by anybody.