Posted on 04/23/2013 10:17:25 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
"Wow," exclaims the visitor from New Zealand, a place, after all, with a human history shorter than most. For from a wooden walkway were gazing down at an archaeological site of giddying age. Built about 9000 BC, its more than twice as old as Stonehenge or the Pyramids, predating the discovery of metals, pottery or even the wheel. This is Göbekli Tepe in south-eastern Turkey, generally reckoned the most exciting and historically significant archaeological dig currently under way anywhere in the world, and there are neither queues nor tickets to get in.
Wow for a number of reasons, then, though its neither the access nor the staggering implications of the sites age that has particularly impressed the man from distant Auckland. Neolithic Göbekli Tepe is also remarkably beautiful. From the partially excavated pit rise circular arrangements of huge T-shaped obelisks exquisitely carved with foxes, birds, boars and snakes or highly stylised human attributes including belts, loincloths and limbs. Were profoundly moved by this glimpse into a radically recast prehistory, and mystified too. Even the archaeologists hard at work on this September morning can only speculate about its function, not least because the stones appear to have been deliberately buried.
This series of sanctuaries is the oldest known monumental architecture, explains the excavation leader and approachable on-site presence Professor Klaus Schmidt. Maybe burial was already part of their concept from the very beginning.(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
The site has no metal tools, pottery, or wheels.
I think I read they say they have only uncovered what, like 5 percent of what’s there?
No doubt there are still many amazing things to find.
With all the animal motifs and the circles, I’ve been inclined to think...
Is this Planet Earths first zoo?
Do these mysterious stones mark the site of the Garden of Eden?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1157784/Do-mysterious-stones-mark-site-Garden-Eden.html#ixzz2RXeuSDEK
No. The garden of Eden is on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.
Read “The Source” by James Michener, which traces the people of ancient Israel.
Written a few decades ago, it is nevertheless a good read about ancient civilization in the region.
I loved that book.
He intended to write a sequel, but never got around to it.
Perhaps it predates eating?
Thank you for the ping, post, and link to the National Geographic photos.
11,000 years old. Wow!
I think it was an entry portal for working bioengineers among the Ancient Aliens General Operations Division.
Images of the fauna and flora they might be working with or seeing as tourists were placed strategically around the lobby like travel posters today.
And on the seventh cosmic day, the chief of the G.O.D. looked around, said, “That’s a wrap. Let’s leave it to ‘em with G.O.D.s blessing.”
Wouldnt that be obvious to anyone who can think?
It seems obvious when one stops to think about it. People would come together to worship, and needed to be fed.
Thanks for the ping, Civ.
The site has barely been touched, just this group of sculptures, so other than those who claim precognitive powers, there’s more to be found.
People have been eating long before this one site was constructed; there’s no telling what it was used for — someone on the thread suggested it was the first zoo, which is amusing. 8000 years ago, still in preceramic times, a group from the mainland colonized Cyprus, their origin known from their rubbish tip, where bones of the species they brought along for food were found.
My pleasure. :’)
Maybe it wasn’t — that particular claim looked insubstantial when I first read it, and I haven’t seen anything new in support.
I can’t think, and your claim doesn’t make any sense. Agriculture led to larger populations and a need to settle disputes over boundaries, water supplies, and raiding by outsiders and neighboring groups. That necessitated recordkeeping. The rise of literature followed the rise of accounting and title deeds. Agriculture brought about food surpluses, and the rise of other crafts not related to agriculture, as well as standing armies to defend territory and food and water supplies.
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