A new perspective on the 11,500-year-old structural complex Göbekli Tepe in Upper Mesopotamia has reaffirmed that it may simply be the worst site in human history. Archaeologists from the University of Tel Aviv (TAU) and the Archaeological Authority of Israel have applied algorithm-based analysis of the architectural layout of the Göbekli tape and found the prehistoric site, Considered the oldest temple, it was not simply the simple construction of strangely placed structures, but an orchestral complex with an underlying geometric pattern.
Considering this vast temple complex was built about 11,500 years ago – before the massive development of agriculture and about 6,000 years before the construction of Stonehenge – it is quite famous. The findings of the new study were recently published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal.
The earliest architectural monuments have been the subject of controversy and confusion among archaeologists in the Göbekli Tape. The site sits on the edge of a mountain next to the fertile crescent of present-day Turkey. It consists of numerous structures and monuments, some of which are decorated with ornately carved animals and sculptures, built between 9,600 and 8,200 BC in the Neolithic period. The age of the complex is significant, as it indicates that it was built by hunter-gatherers thousands of years before the advent of agriculture and the construction of other complex monuments. It’s tough to have been of ritual significance.
It was widely thought that a society could only acquire such a structure after gaining proficiency in agriculture, but Göbekli taped cold water on those basic assumptions.
Professor Avi Gopher, from TAU’s Department of Archaeology, said in a statement, “An Archaeological Wonder on Göbekli Tape.” He explained, “Built by Neolithic communities 11,500 to 11,000 years ago, it has huge, round stone structures and 5.5-meter (19-foot) tall monument stone pillars.” “Since there was no evidence of agriculture or animal husbandry at the time, the site is believed to have been built by hunter-gatherers. However, its architectural complexity is highly unusual to them.”
As this new study shows, the ability to plan, organize, and knowledge was sufficient to build the site. For one, there must be a perception of geometry in order to create floor plans, which the authors of the study have put into geometric shapes that are no coincidence.
The study further shows that the complex regularly uses rectangular architecture and square shapes, which are not commonly used by Stone Age people but are often seen as features of the early peasantry of the ancient Levant.
Gil Haklay of the Israel Antiquities Authority said, “Our findings prove that major architectural transformations during this period, such as transformation into rectangular architecture, were knowledge-based, expert-led top-down processes.”
“The most important and fundamental method of architectural planning was created as part of the Natufian culture and as part of the Neolithic culture in the Levant in the early Neolithic period. Our new research indicates that methods of architectural planning, abstract design rules, and organizational patterns were already in use during this constructive period of human history.”
