The Mysteries of Göbekli Tepe

19 Giugno 2014

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  1. Sylvhia
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    The Mysteries of Göbekli Tepe




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    At about 18 km north-east from the city of Şanlıurfa in today's Turkey, near the border with Syria, an archaeological site dating from the early Neolithic (preceramic Neolithic A) or at the end of the Mesolithic was found , Göbekli Tepe.

    It consists of an artificial hill about 15 meters high with a diameter of about 300 m, situated on the highest point of elevation of an elongated shape, which dominates the surrounding region, between the Taurus Mountains and the Karaca Dag and the valley where is the city of Harran, the man would have used an extension from 300 to 500 sqm.


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    Here it was discovered the oldest example of a temple in stone began around 9500 BC, its construction had to affect hundreds of men over a period of three or five centuries. The oldest architectural remains were previously known in the Babylonian ziggurats (characteristic temples of the Mesopotamian religions), dated 5000 years later.


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    Around 8000 B.C. the site was abandoned deliberately and voluntarily buried with earth brought by man.


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    History of excavations

    The archaeological importance of this area was recognized in 1963 by a research turkish-American group, which noticed several piles consisting of fragments of flint, a sign of human activity in the Stone Age.

    The site was rediscovered thirty years later by a local pastor, he noticed some odd shaped stones protruding from the ground. The news came at the head of the museum of the city of Şanlıurfa, who contacted the ministry, who, in turn, got in touch with the head of the German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul.


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    Excavations were begun in 1995 by a joint mission of the Museum of Şanlıurfa and the German Archaeological Institute under the direction of Klaus Schmidt, who was working in the previous year some archaeological sites in the region. In 2006, the excavations went to German universities of Heidelberg and Karlsruhe.


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    Archaeological Remains

    Excavations resumed in light a monumental megalithic sanctuary, consisting of an artificial hill bordered by rough dry-stone walls.

    There were also found four circular enclosures, bordered by huge limestone pillars weighing over 15 tons each, probably plucked with the use of stone tools. According to the director of the excavation, the stones, pricked up and arranged in a circle, symbolize the assemblies of men.


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    There have been reported in light about 40 T-shaped stones, that reach 3 m in height. For the most part are engraved and there are depicted various animals (snakes, ducks, cranes, bulls, foxes, lions, boars, cows, scorpions, ants). Some recordings were voluntarily canceled, perhaps to prepare the stone to receive new ones. There are also decorative elements such as patterns of dots and geometric patterns.
    Geomagnetic surveys have indicated the presence of other stones 250 still buried in the ground.


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    Another T-shaped stone, extracted only half of the quarry, was found about 1 km from the site. It had a length of about 9 m and was probably intended for the sanctuary, but a break forced him to abandon the work.

    In addition to the stone, there are isolated sculptures , clay made, very ruined by time, which probably represent a boar or a fox. Comparisons can be made with statues of the same type found in the sites of Nevali choirs and Nahal Hemar.


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    The sculptors had to do their work directly on the plateau of the sanctuary, where stones were also found unfinished and bowl-shaped cavity in the shale, like a technique already used during the Epipaleolithic to obtain clay for sculptures or the clay binder used in the masonry.


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    In the rock there are also depictions of phallic shapes, which perhaps date back to later periods, like in the Sumerian and Mesopotamian cultures (sites of Byblos, Nemrik, Helwan and Aswad).

    The depictions of animals allowed to assume a kind of shamanic cult, cults organized prior to the pantheon of deities of the Sumerian and Mesopotamian cultures.


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    The study of the layers of accumulated debris on the bottom of Lake Van in Anatolia has produced important information on climate change for the period, identifying a significant increase in temperature around 9500 BC. The remains of pollen present in sediments allowed to reconstruct a flora composed of oaks, junipers and almond trees.

    It was perhaps the climate change to bring about a gradual settling of the people who built the site. In the early nineties the student of prehistory Jacques Cauvin has suggested that the development of religious ideas would have been a boost to the sedentary, pushing people to congregate to celebrate community rites.


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    The presence of a monumental structure shows that even prior to the development of agriculture and in the context of an economy of hunting and gathering, men possessed sufficient means to erect monumental structures.

    According to the director of the excavation it was the social organization needed for the creation of this structure to promote a planned exploitation of food resources and the development of early agricultural practices. The site is in fact in the region of the Fertile Crescent, where there was of course the wild wheat.
    No traces of plants or pets, however, were found in the excavations, and also lacks the remains of houses.


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    At about 4 m depth, ie at a level corresponding to that of the construction of the sanctuary, were found traces of stone tools (scrapers and points for arrows), along with the bones of wild animals (gazelles and hares), seeds wild and charred wood, which testify to the presence in this period of a permanent settlement.


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    Klaus Schmidt in his "They built the first temples" ,as speculative proposed, suggests that civilization developed in the province of Urfa, which had here one of the main temples known (often described as the archetype of anfizonia, or "age anfizonia stone "), was transformed into the myth of the mountains of Du-Ku of the Sumerian cosmogony: these mountains would have existed in the first deity (that do not have individual names, but mere spirits, shamanic legacy of the spirits) and the Sumerians believed that the man had learned agriculture, farming and weaving (there are strong indications that at least the first two of these elements are actually appeared in this area towards the end, or during, the construction of megalithic complex).


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    Ian Hodder, of the archaeological program at Stanford University, said about the site: "Many people think that this could change everything. It completely change the cards on the table. All our theories were wrong.

    Theories on the 'Neolithic revolution' have always maintained that between 10 and 12 thousand years ago farmers and ranchers have started to create villages, cities, specialized jobs, writing, and all that we know of ancient civilizations.


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    But one of the highlights of the old theory is that it began before the city, and only after the places of worship. Now, however, it seems that religion has appeared before the civilized life and organized in urban centers; indeed, it's almost been the prime mover for the creation of the city. "


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