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Turkish archaeology
hundreds of visitors come there
every day. But what do you see
when you reach the high limestone
plateau on which Göbekli Tepe sits
As your vehicle approaches cautiously
along the rough track across
the bare rock, you begin to see a
round brown hill on the pale grey
limestone horizon: Göbekli Tepe.
the name of the site in Turkish,
means ‘belly-like mound’. And if it
is the belly of a giant lying on his
back, then he was some giant. The
hill is entirely man-made. It is composed
of brown soil, in sharp contrast
to the surrounding bare rock,
and it is 330 metres in diameter and
15-17 metres thick in archaeological
deposits. If this were somewhere
more habitable, then archaeologists
would easily recognise it as a typical
settlement mound, where prehistoric
people built and rebuilt
their houses over many centuries.
But Göbekli Tepe is in the wrong
place to be a regular settlement and,
as soon as the visitor walks to the
huge area that Schmidt’s team has
excavated, it becomes clear that
the mound is not made up of the
average domestic buildings of early
Neolithic villages.
The main focus of excavation has
been a cluster of four massive circular
enclosures. Schmidt believes
that they were not free-standing
structures, but were constructed in
cylindrical cavities that were dug
into the already existing mound.
Each circular enclosure has a pair
of T-shaped monoliths at its centre.
Another 12, slightly smaller monoliths
are set into the perimeter wall
of the enclosure. The monoliths
range from three metres to five and
a half metres tall. And the enclosures
are at least 20 metres in diameter,
their perimeter walls standing
four or five metres tall. At first
sight, it is the scale of the enclosures
and the size of the monoliths that
is so striking. And when their age
is taken into consideration
– they date from between
9600 BC and 8800 BC, that
is around 11,000 years ago
– first impressions turn into
culture shock.
The excavators are preparing
for the installation
of a protective roof over
the cluster of enclosures.
Once the giant umbrellalike
roof is in place, the
temporary walkway suspended
above the enclosures
can be replaced by a
permanent walkway that
6. A second small
stone plaque with
incised signs. Between
two horizontal lines,
there are schematic
snakes on either side
of a column of V-signs.
7. Looking down
on Enclosure D,
which is still under
excavation. The floor
and the pedestals
of the two central
monoliths are made
from the living rock;
12 more monoliths
are embedded in the
retaining wall and
the stone ‘bench’
at its foot.
8. A detail of one of
the central pair of
pillars in Enclosure D
(see 1) showing the
H-shaped symbols
on the belt (which
is repeated on the
pendant at its neck).
The details of the
paws of the fox pelt
are also visible.
9. Pillar 33, one of the
peripheral monoliths
of Enclosure D, is
covered with a carpet
of motifs. The narrow
front edge is filled
with multiple snakes,
a spider, and the
H-motif (see 9). On
either side of the
lower part of the
stone, there are
multiple snakes’
heads; their bodies
are interlaced on the
flanks of the stone.
6
7
will take visitors close to the massive
monoliths. A visitor interpretation
centre is also currently under
construction a short distance from
the site. Meanwhile, in the nearby
city of Urfa, a big new museum is
being built (to replace the existing
one) which will have a large gallery
able to display many more of
the sculptures from Göbekli Tepe.
The basic construction work on
the museum is nearing completion,
and the word is that the interpretation
centre at the site, and the new
museum, will be completed before
the end of 2013. Brown tourist
signs for Göbekli Tepe are already
in place on the motorway as you
approach the exit for Urfa,
and the city itself has signs
pointing the way to the site
at every major intersection.
Urfa already attracts
many pilgrims, as in Muslim
tradition it is the birthplace
of Abraham. But now
there are several hundred
visitors each day who
come to see Göbekli Tepe,
and the city eagerly awaits
the visitor facilities at the
site and its new museum
in expectation of many
more tourists in the future.
Only when the enclosures are
protected from winter rain and cold
will Professor Schmidt and his team
be able to carry out the detailed
investigations that may give him the
answers to some pressing questions.
Were all four enclosures built at the
same time, or do they follow one
another in succession Some of the
enclosures have two or three concentric
walls: were these successive
perimeter walls, or were there circular
corridors around the central
enclosure area This year, the excavations
have been concentrated on
digging at the points where the legs
that will support the protective roof
are to reach down into the bedrock.
The temporary wooden walkway
already takes visitors around the
four enclosures but even before they
step on to it, they can see that the
monoliths in the first enclosure bear
animals and birds carved in low,
raised relief on their flat sides.
As the visitor begins to peer into
the other enclosures, it becomes
clear that each monolith is different.
Some are strikingly simple,
with just one animal – a wild boar
with big tusks, a snarling lion, a
massive wild bull – on a smooth,
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Minerva January/February 2013