A 11,000-year-old human figure and head carvings have been discovered in Turkey.
Excavators in Turkey unearthed sculptures of human forms and heads at Karahantepe in the country’s southeastern province of Sanliurfa. The 11,000-year-old carvings are considered to be a significant discovery regarding people’s creative abilities at the period. More than 250 T-shaped megaliths with animal representations and several three-dimensional human sculptures were discovered during the excavations. A structure with a circumference of 75 metres and a depth of 18 feet was also uncovered.
The excavation, led by Professor Necmi Karl, began in 2019 and is considered to be a significant finding regarding the Neolithic period. In an interview with the state-run Anadolu Agency, Professor Karl suggested that individuals at the period had developed some creative talents.
The Karahantepe site is next to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Gobekli Tepe. The Gobekli Tepe temple site is said to be the world’s oldest, having megalithic buildings reaching back to the 10th millennium BC. Archaeologists are currently researching not only the existing excavation at Karahantepe but also the Gobekli Tepe, thanks to this excavation.
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According to Professor Karl, the items discovered at the Karahantepe excavation are comparable to those discovered at the Gobekli Tepe site. The excavations at the Gobekli Tepe began 25 years ago. It isn’t much known about the inhabitants of Gobekli Tepe. Some archaeologists believe that hunter-gatherers from the time assembled to carve the T-shaped pillar. Another theory is that people from diverse tribes would have come together to create such projects for ritual purposes before returning to their homes. Archaeologists hope to learn more about the Gobekli Tepe as a result of the excavation at Karahantepe.
Some of the items unearthed at the Karahantepe site are also on display in the Sanliurfa Archaeological Museum.
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Karahantepe is located in the ‘Taş Tepeler’ region, which consists of 200 kilometres of Stone Hills.
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