Göbeklitepe archaeological excavations broke the mold: Settled life started agriculture

Göbeklitepe archaeological excavations show that agriculture and animal husbandry result of a sedentary life, not its cause. Archaeologist Prof. Necmi Karul, said: "The findings of the archaeological excavations in Göbeklitepe reveal that agriculture and animal husbandry were the result of the settlement, not the cause of it and that the communities living 12 thousand years ago were not only struggling for survival but also an advanced society in society in architecture, technology, and art"

The findings in Göbeklitepe, which was discovered near the rural Örencik Neighborhood within the borders of Şanlıurfa's central Haliliye district, continue to reveal findings that change history.
The first archaeological investigation at the site in Örencik neighborhood, 18 kilometers from Şanlıurfa city center, was a survey conducted jointly by Istanbul and Chicago universities in 1963 but the project report did not mention any discoveries, only the possibility of a potential neolithic cemetery.

Göbeklitepe was discovered by Prof. Dr. Klaus Schmidt

The actual archaeological discovery that changed history in Göbeklitepe was made in 1995 by Prof. Dr. Klaus Schmidt based on artifacts brought by farmers using the site as a field. In 1995, excavations began at the site under the supervision of the Şanlıurfa Museum Directorate and the ministry of Prof. Dr. Harald Hauptmann from the German Archaeological Institute. Prof. Dr. Klaus Schmidt then took over the excavations until his death.

The results of the excavations in Göbeklitepe, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018 both attracted the world's attention to this area and revealed data that will change the writing of history.

Prof. Dr. Karul: Monumental buildings with public features had a great impact on the archaeological community.

Prof. Dr. Necmi Karul, who is currently the Head of Göbeklitepe Archaeological Excavations, told AA correspondent that the excavations that started in 1995 revealed that Göbeklitepe hosts the monumental structures of the Neolithic Age, and said that the excavations partially uncovered the settlement layers reflecting the approximately 1500-year period between 9600 BC and 8200 BC.
Karul said, "The fact that there are monumental buildings with public features here had a great impact on the archaeology community. The fact that Göbeklitepe has public buildings, including residences where people lived their daily lives, and therefore it was understood that these places were used as a settlement rather than a place where people came together for beliefs.
As a matter of fact, we encountered similar results when the Neolithic research in this region expanded to a wider region with the Stone Hills in 2021. Today, we have uncovered settlements where we see private public buildings and dwellings together in many contemporary settlements around the Harran Plain. Göbeklitepe's most important difference among them was an aspect that triggered the researches in the following process regarding this period. This is especially the monumental structures here, the T-shaped standing stones within them, and more importantly the presence of symbols on the T-shaped stones... When we put all these together, we can say that it showed us how advanced societies were in architecture, technology, and art 12 thousand years ago."

Agriculture and animal husbandry are the result, not the cause, of the transition to settled life

Karul said that with the information obtained from the studies carried out in Göbeklitepe and contemporary areas within the scope of the Stone Hills Project, they reached conclusions contrary to previous ideas about life at that time, and that they saw that communities that lived a hunter-gatherer life adopted a settled life.
Emphasizing that despite the transition to settled life, it was understood that these communities did not yet know agriculture and animal husbandry, Karul pointed out that with the settlement in Göbeklitepe, it was seen that the resources in the environment were utilized more effectively.
Pointing out that they encountered plant cultivation and animal domestication experiments in the later stages of the period, Karul continued his words as follows: "Immediately after settlement, we see that they cultivated plants and domesticated animals. Therefore, the process that started with settlement in Göbeklitepe and similar places has an important place in the history of archaeology as a place where we see the beginning of productive life, which is the most important input in the basis of today's social order.

"What makes Göbeklitepe important is that it shows how wrong our perception of the past is"

What makes Göbeklitepe so important, what attracts the attention of a large part of society, what attracts attention on a world scale, is that it almost reveals how wrong our perception of the past is. In other words, it has hit us in the face.
If you ask how we can explain this a little bit more, we understand that places like Göbeklitepe have radically changed the perception that societies in the past were primitive, underdeveloped societies. Modern man looks at the past in an advanced way and when he thinks about the past, he perceives himself as the most advanced individuals, people, and societies compared to the past because he is at the end of time. Göbeklitepe has shown us that the people who lived here 12 thousand years ago were communities that could build monumental architectures, come together and form assemblies within these structures, and process those standing stones and the scenes they created on them with predominantly animal depictions, and with these, they made some mythological stories a part of their lives.
In this way, it showed that the people in Göbeklitepe 12 thousand years ago had aspects, artists, and storytellers that are not inferior to today's society at all and that the artisans who could engrave those stories on these obelisks were the architects and craftsmen of that period who built and designed these buildings. We can say that it also showed us how condescending our current perspective is towards the past."

Archaeological discoveries at Göbeklitepe and contemporary sites changed historiography

Stating that the findings at Göbeklitepe and contemporary sites can change the writing of history, Karul said: "History books are undoubtedly changing in recent years almost everywhere in the world. In particular, while agriculture and animal husbandry were thought to be the cause of settlement, Göbeklitepe, and contemporary sites are among the places that show that the cause of settlement is not agriculture and animal husbandry, but the result of the settlement of agriculture and animal husbandry. In terms of changing knowledge, this is one of the most important series.
Again, there is a perception in school textbooks that people in the past, 12 thousand years ago, lived a life limited to struggling for survival. There was a perception that people lived in caves and lived in difficulties. We can easily say that Göbeklitepe shows how unrealistic this is and how high the skills and achievements of people 12 thousand years ago were in every sense, in technology and architecture. In this way, we can say that it is one of the archaeological discoveries that corrects the mistakes in historiography to a great extent."

Eşber Ayaydin - AA  -   Translated by archeolojihaber