L. P.

Troiano

Göbekli Tepe
and the spirit world of hunter-gatherers

Key Themes in Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology.

Instructor: Konstantinos Kopanias

Location

Locator map of Göbekli Tepe. Copyright The Fertile crescent Neolithic B circa 7500 BC; black squares
Smithsonian Institution. indicate pre-agricultural sites.- Creative Commons

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

 The mound of Göbekli Tepe seen from the southeast (Photo: N. Becker, DAI)

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

Chronology

Anno
Domini

Göbekli Ziggurats Pyramids Stonehenge Present

Tepe (Mesopotamia) 2.600 B.C. 2.500 B.C. Day
10.000 B.C. 4.000 B.C.

Pre-pottery Neolithic
10.000B.C-8.500B.C.

Linear timeline. L.P. Troiano

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

Note on chronology

Kathleen Kenyon:
Based of the stratigraphy of Jericho:
Fundamental distinction in the ground
plans of buildings:
-Round constructions in the earlier PPN
A
-Rectangular buildings in the later PPN
B.

Subdivision on differences in the material

culture: projectile points.
El-Khiam-, Helwan- (PPN A types)
Nemrik- and Byblos-Points (PPN B types)
from Göbekli Tepe (Photo: Irmgard Wagner, DAI).

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

Two layers which differ in the type of
architecture appearing in them:

-Layer III: lower and older, includes the circular

enclosures with the T-shaped pillars.
-Layer II: smaller buildings with rectangular
groundplans. Sometimes smaller pillars appear.

The main excavation area at Göbekli Tepe with

origin of C14 samples (DAI).

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

The Site

Enclosure D (Photo: N. Becker, DAI)

Main excavation area - PPN A (Photo: N. Becker, DAI).

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

-The location was known locally as Girê Mirazan/Xerabreşk.
-1963, Peter Benedict identified stone tools of the Aceramic Neolithic, mistook the upper
parts of the T-shaped pillars for grave markers
-1994, Klaus Schmidt (†, 2014) unearthed the first T-shaped pillar and directed excavations

at the site on behalf of the Şanlıurfa

Museum and the German Archaeological
Institute (DAI).
- After 2014, DAI's research at the site
has been coordinated by Lee Clare and
as in 2021, work in Göbekli Tepe is
conducted by the Istanbul University,
the Şanlıurfa Museum, and the DAI.

Image credit: mfatih5er/Getty Images)

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

 Photo credit Nick Becker, German Archeological Institute.

Photo credit Nick Becker, German Archeological Institute.

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

 Gobekli Tepe's enclosures A, B, C, D, E,
F; the pillars and orthostates' numbers.

Image by Rodney Hale

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

 Illustration by Fernando Baptista - National Geographic

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

 Reconstruction of the final EPPNB phase (layer II) at Göbekli Tepe. Although the enclosures
(A–D) had been ritually buried by this time, the top ends of some pillars of Enclosures B and
D (and probably the central pillars of Enclosure C) were visible to later generations. Image: D.
Kurapkat (2015: fig. 248)

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

The Pillars and reliefs
-69 known pillars: animal motifs and
abstract signs.

Enclosure A: snakes.
Enclosure B: foxes.
Enclosure C: boars.
Enclosure D: birds, especially vultures.
Enclosure H: felines.

-Most human depictions are marked as

male
-Almost no clearly recognizable female
depictions

View into Göbekli Tepe’s Enclosure C. (Photo: German Archaeological Institute, Nico Becker)

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

 Boar statuette with legs. - CC BY-SA 4.0 Pillar 10, Enclosure B: fox.
- CC BY-SA 4.0

Background: Pillar 12, Enclosure C: birds.

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

 Sites with T-shaped pillars and with simple limestone stelae (modified after Schmidt
2006; Copyright DAI).

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

 Pillar 56 from Göbekli Tepe’s Enclosure H. (Photo: Nico Becker, DAI)

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

 1 2

1. Pillar 6 from Göbekli Tepe’ s Enclosure B. (Photo: German Archaeological Institute, Irmgard Wagner)
2. Detail of Pillar 27 in Enclosure C: high relief of a snarling predator.(Photo: Dieter Johannes, DAI)

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

 Pillar 43 (P43) Building D (Photo: DAI,
Göbekli Tepe Archive)

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

 (A) Intentionally decapitated human statue (height, 60 cm).
Credit: Nico Becker, Göbekli Tepe Archive, DAI.

(B) The gift bearer holds a human head in his hands (height, 26
cm). Credit: Dieter Johannes, Göbekli Tepe Archive, DAI.

(C) Detail of Pillar 43 (building D): low relief of a headless

individual with its penis erected. Modified after Klaus Schmidt,
Göbekli Tepe Archive, DAI.

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano

Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano
Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano
Göbekli Tepe - Presentation by L. P. Troiano