ForbiddenKnowledgeTV
Alexandra Bruce
September 4, 2011
In 1994, in southeastern Turkey, a Kurdish shepherd discovered the remains of one of the most astonishing archeological finds of our times. Gbekli Tepe
19-foot columns expertly carved out of stone, decorated with sculpted animals that do not and may never have lived in the region have baffled the German archeological team who came to unearth this spectacular find. The scientists estimate that the structures at this site are between 11,000 and 12,000 years old.
This would be 8,000 years before Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids were built!
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Gbekli Tepe
Wikipedia
Chronological Context
All statements about the site must be considered preliminary, as only about 5% of the site's total area has been excavated as yet; floor levels have been reached in only the second complex (complex B), which also contains a terrazzo-like floor. It is believed that the dig could well continue for another fifty years, "and barely scratch the surface." So far, excavations have revealed very little evidence for residential use. Through the radiocarbon method, the end of stratum III can be fixed at c. 9000 BC; its beginnings are estimated to 11,000 BC or earlier, making it the oldest man-made structures yet discovered.
The structures not only predate pottery, metallurgy, and the invention of writing or the wheel; they were built before the so-called Neolithic Revolution, i.e., the beginning of agriculture and animal husbandry around 9000 BC. But the construction of Gbekli Tepe implies organisation of an order of complexity not hitherto associated with Paleolithic societies. The archaeologists estimate that up to 500 persons were required to extract the heavy pillars from local quarries and move them 100500 metres (3301,600 ft) to the site. The pillars weigh 1020-metric-ton (9.820 long tons; 1122 short tons);with one found still in its quarry weighing 50 tons. It is generally believed that an elite class of religious leaders supervised the work and later controlled whatever ceremonies took place here. If so, this would be the oldest known evidence for a priestly castemuch earlier than such social distinctions developed elsewhere in the Near East.
The complex was not simply abandoned and forgotten, to be gradually destroyed by the elements. Instead, it was deliberately buried under 300 to 500 cubic metres (390 to 650 cubic yards) of sand. Why this was done is unknown, but it preserved the monuments for posterity.
Interpretation and Importance
Gbekli Tepe is regarded as an archaeological discovery of the greatest importance since it could profoundly change our understanding of a crucial stage in the development of human societies.
Not only its large dimensions, but the side-by-side existence of multiple pillar shrines makes the location unique. There are no comparable monumental complexes from its time. atalhyk, perhaps the most famous of all Anatolian Neolithic villages, is 2,000 years younger.
At present, Gbekli Tepe raises more questions for archaeology and prehistory than it answers. We do not know how a force large enough to construct, augment, and maintain such a substantial complex was mobilized and rewarded or fed in the conditions of pre-Neolithic society. We cannot "read" the pictograms, and do not know for certain what meaning the animal reliefs had for visitors to the site; the variety of fauna depicted, from lions and boars to birds and insects, makes any single explanation problematic. As there seems to be little or no evidence of habitation, and the animals depicted on the stones are mainly predators, the stones may have been intended to stave off evils through some form of magic representation; it is also possible that they served as totems. The reason the complex was eventually buried remains unexplained. Until more evidence is gathered, it is difficult to deduce anything certain about the originating culture.
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Uploaded with Comments by hka1984
February 18, 2011
Gbekli Tepe, is a hilltop sanctuary erected on the highest point of an elongated mountain ridge some 15 km northeast of the town of Şanlıurfa, in southeastern Turkey and 500 miles away from Istanbul, Turkey. It is the most astonishing archaeological discovery in modern times and also thought to be the oldest advanced civilization on Earth.
'Ancient Aliens' Season - 02, Episode - 08 ('Unexplained Structures')
