Clepeotepi, is what I'm attempting to spell. I'm watching that crazy Ancient Aliens show on History and I just want to be able to spell it so I can google and search real information from bonified archeological websites. Its that site in Turkey that is from 12,000 years ago with carvings on the same level as the Egyptians some 9,000 years later. Also they said it appears the inhabitants buried the place intentionally on their own. There are no carving tools or signs of argiculture to support the society that built this place yet discovered. Do I believe anything the show actually says? Not really. Just nothing else on at the moment.
??? Spelling of Turkish Ruins
- Thread starter The Doctor
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Gobekli Tepe:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...-mysterious-stones-mark-site-Garden-Eden.html
I hate that show. It's not Gods you superstitious hicks! It's clearly aliens.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...-mysterious-stones-mark-site-Garden-Eden.html
I hate that show. It's not Gods you superstitious hicks! It's clearly aliens.
If I recall correctly, there was an article on it in Archaeology some time in the last couple of years. I don't know if they keep their old articles on their website (archaeology.org), so you might have to do some digging at a library.
Yeah, it must have been aliens or gods, because no human being could have built something that big and complex.
Yeah, it must have been aliens or gods, because no human being could have built something that big and complex.
Obviously Gobekli Tepe was built by humans, not gods or aliens but it is still the single most important archaeological find of the past 100 years.
It appears to have been founded very shortly before the Neolithic transition to agriculture, and it is quite possible that it in fact sparked the transition itself: the fairly large labour force required to build Gobekli Tepe would have stripped the neighboring area clean of game in a relatively short time, if they were fed only by hunting and gathering, and all the earliest forms of domesticated plants and animals apparently originated within a short distance of the temple, at about the same time as its construction.
I think it is quite possible that agriculture itself was first developed in order to provide a stable, steady source of food for the "construction crew" and others staying at the site. In which case Gobekli Tepe has to rank as the most important human-built structure EVER, judging by its ultimate impact on human history.
but it is still the single most important archaeological find of the past 100 years.It appears to have been founded very shortly before the Neolithic transition to agriculture, and it is quite possible that it in fact sparked the transition itself: the fairly large labour force required to build Gobekli Tepe would have stripped the neighboring area clean of game in a relatively short time, if they were fed only by hunting and gathering, and all the earliest forms of domesticated plants and animals apparently originated within a short distance of the temple, at about the same time as its construction.
I think it is quite possible that agriculture itself was first developed in order to provide a stable, steady source of food for the "construction crew" and others staying at the site. In which case Gobekli Tepe has to rank as the most important human-built structure EVER, judging by its ultimate impact on human history.
Obviously Gobekli Tepe was built by humans, not gods or aliens
It appears to have been founded very shortly before the Neolithic transition to agriculture, and it is quite possible that it in fact sparked the transition itself: the fairly large labour force required to build Gobekli Tepe would have stripped the neighboring area clean of game in a relatively short time, if they were fed only by hunting and gathering, and all the earliest forms of domesticated plants and animals apparently originated within a short distance of the temple, at about the same time as its construction.
I think it is quite possible that agriculture itself was first developed in order to provide a stable, steady source of food for the "construction crew" and others staying at the site. In which case Gobekli Tepe has to rank as the most important human-built structure EVER, judging by its ultimate impact on human history.
Sorry for such a stupid question, but does that make Gobekli Tepe the closest thing in real history to the Biblical Tower of Babel?
What this tells us is that human beings in the immediate post Ice Age world was doing more sophisticated things than anyone expected. It means there were probably a lot going on at the time that didn't get buried and preserved. After all not all structures were made of stone. Had people built wooden halls 12,000 years ago there would be evidence after all this time. Anything built near the tropics would dissapear even faster. Indeed during the Ice Age itself there would have been perfectly habitable places in the tropics that would be underwater after the ice restreated, burying any trace of civilization in the process.
I think that it is significant that Gobekli Tepe was started within a couple of centuries after the end of the most recent ice age.
There is evidence of other Neolithic-style revolutions starting even earlier, during temporary interstadial (warm) periods within the former ice age, including such things as permanent settlements, pottery, and possible plant and animal pre-domestication efforts. Of course these efforts were abandoned when the climate worsened again, but it seems that every warm interval of more than a few centuries duration saw movement toward a Neolithic-style revolution. The big difference for the most recent time was that the climate continued to be warm and stable until the present day, a period of a bit over 12,000 years so far.
It is likely to be significant that the earliest evidence (that I am aware of) of these proto-Neolithic movements is dated to the first interstadial after the so-called Upper Palaeolithic Revolution (c. 50,000 BP), when evidence of roughly modern levels of abstract thought, art, religion, and language first appear. So once humans had the linguistic and cognitive tools to support more advanced technology, the main factor holding them back was the ice age climate. (Not just the cold, which can be compensated for by moving toward the equator, but more importantly the extreme worldwide year-to-year variability in weather, which made agriculture impossible to sustain.)
There is evidence of other Neolithic-style revolutions starting even earlier, during temporary interstadial (warm) periods within the former ice age, including such things as permanent settlements, pottery, and possible plant and animal pre-domestication efforts. Of course these efforts were abandoned when the climate worsened again, but it seems that every warm interval of more than a few centuries duration saw movement toward a Neolithic-style revolution. The big difference for the most recent time was that the climate continued to be warm and stable until the present day, a period of a bit over 12,000 years so far.
It is likely to be significant that the earliest evidence (that I am aware of) of these proto-Neolithic movements is dated to the first interstadial after the so-called Upper Palaeolithic Revolution (c. 50,000 BP), when evidence of roughly modern levels of abstract thought, art, religion, and language first appear. So once humans had the linguistic and cognitive tools to support more advanced technology, the main factor holding them back was the ice age climate. (Not just the cold, which can be compensated for by moving toward the equator, but more importantly the extreme worldwide year-to-year variability in weather, which made agriculture impossible to sustain.)
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That's a potentially very intriguing idea. I'd love to see information on those Neolithics-that-nearly-happened. Cite?
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The History of the Gravettian Culture
http://www2.ulg.ac.be/prehist/PUBLICATIONS/PDF/E97 Svoboda.pdf
So not the full Neolithic package, but definitely heading in that direction. Of course the worsening climate pit an end to these early technological experiments.
Very intriguing. I might have to look into this when I have the time. Thanks for all the article links, everyone