Göbekli Tepe (Potbelly Hill in Turkish) in south eastern Turkey is a Neolithic site located on an artificial hill (around 15 m high) in the Şanlıurfa Province, where it stretches across about 9 ha of land. It features distinctive megalithic architecture consisting of T-shaped pillars carved with images of animals (such as serpents, foxes, boars, and others). The work of highly skilled craftsmen, these carvings work together to produce meanings that were probably associated with rituals and other culturally important events.
This unique and important archaeological site likely dates from approximately 11000 – 11500 years ago, and is one of the earliest known man-made constructions. Its complexity is very unusual for that period of prehistory; it is thought to have been built by hunters and gatherers, communities that generally did not create such sophisticated monuments. Also surprising is the site’s advanced and well planned use of geometry, revealing a mathematical expertise more usually associated with later periods of history. It is an unrivaled instance of the creativity, architectural sophistication, innovative building techniques, and advanced planning in the Neolithic.
Natthimmel, Strange Machines (Saskia Rieko)
We built our own interpretation of Göbekli Tepe to perhaps have a look at history in a different perspective. We were always thaught history was “a set in stone” sort of science, and periods in history are a fixed matter. Lately lots of studies show us that is not the case: the age of Gobekli Tepe outdates any theory about cities we are familiar with and have known this far, footprints recently found in New Mexico date back to 22.000 years ago. Which is thousands of years earlier than scientists assumed possible. How did those people get there? Why is Gobekli Tepe 5000 years older than what we knew before finding that?
We at Natthimmel do not wish to create art sims, but rather share our fascination about this strange and ever evolving planet we were accidentally were born into.
The site was open between 12th of April 2023 and 2nd of June 2023.
See here our gallery on Flickr (pictures by Saskia Rieko)
See here the gallery gathering pictures of Göbekli Tepe as seen by our visitors
Natthimmel 