Göbekli Tepe at the World Neolithic Congress

One of our site visits during the World Neolithic Congress at Şanlıurfa was to the famous and spectacular site of Göbekli Tepe. Here I give a brief tour of the site from the perspective of the boardwalk.
#gobeklitepe #neolithic #türkiye #sanliurfa #urfa #turkey #worldneolithicongress #gremirazan #mirazan
Chapters
00:02 Introduction
00:30 Göbekli Tepe's cultural influence
01:17 Travelling to Göbekli Tepe
02:02 Arrival and the "stone garden"
02:20 The Boardwalk and Roofing structure
03:20 Building C
05:48 Building D
10:30 Building B
12:26 Building A
13:49 Evidence for Roofing?
15:10 PPNB buildings north of the main excavation & Lion Building
15:44 Path to the summit of "Belly Hill"
16:00 Northwest excavation area and Building E
16:38 The Southwest Mound and Building F
17:55 Bedrock mortars and return to buses
18:17 Credits

[@kurushdalal]

Thank you so very much for this. For all of us archaeologists and archaeology enthusiasts who cannot visit Gobekli Tepe this was a fabulous virtual trip.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I'm really glad you enjoyed it. I certainly enjoyed being there.

[@HouseRavensong]

You took the words out of my mouth!

[@SeorkMaxx]

The true size of the pillars and banks was much appreciated, I did not think the banks were that high. Now I must rethink my earlier observations about this amazing site. Thank you so much for taking us on this tour❤

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I wouldn't want to leave you with the impression that they're all that high, just some of them. But they are often higher than I'd expected.

[@brahmburgers]

1.5 meters high walls - that's about the height of the average adult of that time.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Here's my continuation of my series on sites we visited during the World Neolithic Congress on November 6

[@fortheearth]

This is the best overview of the site that I've ever seen. Truly wonderfil. I have subscribed. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thank you so much for your kind words. Much appreciated!

[@gaziosman67]

Thanks for the excellent presentation. According to the latest news, a female statue was also found. As it is known, all the statues and images found contained male motifs.Taş Tepeler region is very large, it is estimated that there are around 50 neolitic sites, but only 12 of them are currently under study. Also in the Göbeklitepe there are 24 circle. I think these excavations will continue for many years and we look forward to what the lower layers and other sites will show us.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Many thanks for the positive feedback, and for the news about the female statue. I haven't seen that yet.

[@judeangione3732]

Great video! This site is just mind-blowing.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thanks!

[@VINTERIUM..EXPLORIUM.1]

,👍

[@hansspiegl8684]

Thank you for this great walk throu Göbekli Tepe! I had the feeling of being there! Greetings from Austria

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Glad you enjoyed it! And thank you.

[@jameslong9921]

The lager T shaped stones are truely impressive but its the millions upon millions of smaller rocks that go into creating the overall shape of the structure that blows my mind, grunt work at its most spectacular.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Certainly, it's a big effort, but one that we see repeated across many kinds of Neolithic sites in the region where stone was widely available. And you have to keep in mind that quarrying the big slabs, as well as clearing stones from fields for growing wild wheat, would have had the by-product of a lot of stone rubble that could be used for building these walls. Modern people in the region still build stone terrace walls from field stones and they're quite good at it.

[@junestanich7888]

Wow, they’ve done a nice job of protecting it and making it accessible to the public! Thank you for this.

[@russellmillar7132]

Thanks for this informative video. I've been following the excavation since 2007 or so and am always happy to get this type of update. I find this and other sites of the Tas Tepeler culture fascinating. This period in human evolution saw a revolutionary and fundamental change in how people envisioned living spaces and how they drew sustenance from their environment. The fact that the artisans among them had the time to devote to carving and sculpture indicates that they were truly affluent hunter-gatherers. The time you took in describing how the sheltering structures are built to have as little impact on the site was brilliant. Cheers!

[@tedbanning9090]

Thanks for your very kind comments. And you're right that this was a fascinating era in the region's history, probably with all kinds of social developments that we've barely started to figure out.

[@theosisinstituteofhealinga6528]

Your videos are so refreshing! Thanks.

[@tedbanning9090]

Thank you so much

[@ranradd]

Thank you so much. Great views and information on the site.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Glad you found it of interest!

[@patriotUSA2007]

Thank you for the wonderful photos in this video. The wild boar statue is fantastic. To think of the artist or artists who made it, long lost, then discovered spectacular.

[@tedbanning9090]

Thanks! The sculptures are indeed very impressive.

[@marchuvfulz]

Nice vid. I think the Turkish authorities have done a remarkable job combining preservation, ongoing archeology, and public access and education.

[@ibrahimturan28]

i wished they dig more and more excevate more places. This region is bigger then Belgium and göbeklitepe is only one of them...

[@helenamcginty4920]

​​@@ibrahimturan28 archaeology is a slow, painstaking undertaking. No longer do men like Schlieman at Troy just bulldoze their way through a site. There are also specimens and artifacts to be analised. Reports to be written. Records to be made. Somewhere is needed to store artefacts. It all costs money. Much of the surrounding area is housing. The excavations here have really only just started. They will tell us more about the lives of the inhabitants. Eg did they live here all year or only seasonally. But it will take years. Be patient.

[@rufioswitch2132]

And yet the liars like Jimmy Corsetti say it’s being covered up by the Turkish government because they are Muslim 😂😂

[@eh1702]

@@ibrahimturan28 It is good that they go cautiously. The true value of archaeology is in the analysis, and that takes years. And every year there are new techniques developed to extract new information from old finds, or to make new projects. Less destructive. Archaeologists have a duty to leave some areas untouched for the future.

[@MMK86]

@@ibrahimturan28 the site is now managed by people tied to the World Economic Forum, they seem more interested in gate keeping the site and extracting as much money from tourism instead of digging further. I also dont understand why they planted that group of trees nearby when there are still things below that spot to excavate and investigate

[@junestanich7888]

This is the best coverage of GT I’ve seen, lovely video d narration.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thanks a ton!

[@fortheearth]

Thanks!

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Many thanks for your interest!

[@tjav001]

I can’t wait to go to this site. Do you recommend any other sites nearby or in Turkey?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Yes I do, and I've been making short videos on several that I visited recently. I especially recommend Sayburç and Karahan Tepe.

[@gaziosman67]

According to the latest research and x-ray analysis, it has been determined that there are around 50 neolithic sites in the Taş Tepeler region of Turkey. Work is currently being carried out on 10 of them. I hope that work will start on the others as soon as possible. Of course, archaeological excavations are very demanding and require a microsurgical approach. Otherwise, you'll end up with something like entering a cup shop with an elephant. I estimate that the Stone Hills civilization will remain on the agenda of archeology for many years and perhaps dates can reach as far back as 20,000 years ago or more.

[@denisovan1955]

Thankyou very much. Q: Pillar 43: the handbags. We find exactly same handbags on different sites in many other cultures at different time. Any explanation or theory ?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I dealt with these issues in another video about a year ago, where I give my views on some problems with the "handbags" interpretation and offer an alternative hypothesis.

[@denisovan1955]

@thearchaeologistslaborator6591 thankyou for taking time to respond. Saw your other video about "handbags". Very good Interpretation of the iconography of such symbols. My own speculation: cargo-cult-symbol. Greetings from Germany.

[@johanbruinsma8243]

just wondering , could the holes found in various stones be used to hold wooden poles and support a roof of the various sites? and am i the only one who feels drawn to sites like gobekli tepe and karahan tepe ?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I have also drawn attention to those holes and grooves and their possible role in supporting timbers or roof structures. I think that's exactly what they're for.

[@johanbruinsma8243]

@@thearchaeologistslaborator6591 i am by no means an expert, just someone fascinated with ancient history, but looking at a site like Gobekli tepe, the size, the detailed work, this can't be humanity's first go at building a temple.

[@kira_draws_and_digs]

Thank you so much! I wonder how to join the excavation team there...

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Not sure, but you might want to contact the German Archaeological Institute (DAI).

[@gaziosman67]

I am not an archaeologist, but I try to be closely interested in archaeology. When I look at the artifacts and the whole of the structures, I believe that Göbeklitepe, Karahantepe and others are temple centers. The presence of many symbolic objects, images and similar decorations and objects in all flats seem to support this opinion. Of course, we need to wait for the results of the excavations to reach a definitive conclusion. This question comes to mind. If people were using this place for worship, where did they live? If these places are temples, there should also be living centers nearby.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Klaus Schmidt popularized this idea that GT was only temples. Now, however, we have tons of evidence that GT, Karahan Tepe and the other Taş Tepeler sites were Neolithic villages that housed hundreds of people.

[@gaziosman67]

@@thearchaeologistslaborator6591 Thanks a lot.

[@zaharizahariev]

Thanks a lot marvellous film and narration.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Many thanks!

[@brahmburgers]

Thanks for the tour. It's rare, nowadays, to get an informative video that's fact-based and not dramatized. ...and doesn't use AI narration, with too-youthful sounding voices.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thanks!

[@danielpaulson8838]

Thank you for sharing this video with us.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@Eliasundluise]

This is a very Informativ Video! Thank you! I have a question, the trees that are in Lines plantet destroy everything what is in the ground, so why are they doing that? The roots will mess up the past! What do you think?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

This has come up a lot. Although tree roots can cause a certain amount of damage if the archaeology is close to the surface, they also help to prevent erosion, which is even more damaging on a very sloped site like this. I'm told that the Neolithic layers in that part of the site are deep enough that the roots won't be a major problem, although I can't say what the basis for that claim is. Another factor is that those trees are on private land and, unless the government wants to spend the money to expropriate it, the farmer is free to develop the land as he sees fit, within reason.

[@Eliasundluise]

Thank you for the Information, i didt think of the other Aspekt, privat Land etc.

[@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895]

@Eliasundluisehes not going to give you a good or reasonable explanation for the trees. They/them is apart of people gatekeeping humanity from us.

[@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895]

@Eliasundluise why are you so willing to accept this random guys explanation from the empirical evidence?

[@taylorw]

This is the best overview of this site I’ve come across! Congrats. Thanks for taking the time to make it so coherent and as comprehensive as one could from the boardwalk!

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Many thanks! Much appreciated.

[@ChambersWineandTravel]

Thank you! “…that are cut out of the bedrock.” How can you do that without iron? I think redating the Iron Age is now imperative to understanding history. I think what we consider the iron age is the abundance of iron age. With the define corners and smoothness of the pillar bases, there’s no doubt that Irene was available when this prehistoric, pre-neolithic site was built.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I'm sorry I have to disagree with that. The beginnings of ironworking are quite well documented, and it's thousands of years after these sites were occupied. In any case, limestone is not a particularly hard stone, it also breaks easily into flat pieces, and it's not very hard so you can cut and chip it with flint adzes and stone hammers. You can also use drills to drill holes in it and then use levers to break out the pieces between the holes. They would then use grinding stones to smooth and polish them.

[@ChambersWineandTravel]

@ , thank you for your thoughtful reply. Science doesn’t grow out of consensus. Science takes theories and beats the hell out of them until they are disproven or become law. Let’s continue to disagree thoughtfully for the benefit of science and the future! 🙏❤️

[@danjensen2695]

For me the question is where did Hunter gatherers gain this knowledge of advanced stonework and construction, not too mention astronomy, when the conventional paradigm describes this time period as one of transience. Gobekli tepi has all the hall marks of civilisation or precursor civilisation which archeology really needs to start addressing. The current theory of how and when civilisation started must be re considered.

[@ZachFury]

Great video and very informative!

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you.

[@yvelaine]

could the animal carvings be constellations

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Martin Sweatman has argued that for a great many of them. Personally, I don't think it's a strong argument, as there are many potential reasons for depicting animals and these ones are not shown in consistent relations to one another, as I would expect if they were intended to represent parts of the sky.

[@thegroove2000]

What is the most convincing speculation for what the purpose of this site was used for?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

After a lot of debate and new excavation data, it is now very clear that Göbekli Tepe, like the other Taş Tepeler sites, is a settlement (a village) that was occupied by probably a few hundred people at least. There is still debate about what the "special buildings" were, but there are plenty of houses at the site with evidence for ordinary domestic activities, such as food preparation.

[@TubeOnRichard]

I'd bet that all the "pillars" were painted and the stone walls were plastered smooth and painted as well. Despite the dim view we have of the ancients, the place would have been as nice as any modern mall or centre

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Although I don't think they've found evidence for wall plastering at GT, it does seem likely that at least some of the reliefs were painted (one boar sculpture definitely was), and we know from roughly contemporary sites like Dja’de el-Mughara that the walls could be richly decorated with painted designs.

[@TubeOnRichard]

@@thearchaeologistslaborator6591 Funny thing that, evidence. No pottery was found either yet I have no doubt the people there ate and drank as well

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

No pottery, or at least no significant use of pottery, but the people at GT would have had stone bowls and probably wooden ones as well. As I show in my video on Karahan Tepe, that site has been particularly rich in beautifully made stone bowls, but they also occur at other sites from this period (PPNA and PPNB).

[@NuriLeflef-ll8vs]

Calling the era as "pre-pottery...something" needs to be reconsidered, I must say. Great video, thank you.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I don't think anyone will want to change the names just because a few pottery sherds turn up from time to time in Pre-Pottery Neolithic B sites. As I mention in the video, the beginning of the Pottery Neolithic marks a huge change, as suddenly there are thousands of pots everywhere, and they're better made as well.

[@brianmalady1190]

Best footage I have seen on the site. I actually wondered if the walls were put up around the pillars. Fine workmanship but the walls just look like rocks stacked up.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Many thanks. You're right that many of the infilled walls around the pillars are constructed somewhat crudely from ordinary field stones. You can see that many of the walls from PPNB structures here and other sites (e.g., Sefer Tepe) are built more carefully, using as many flat stones an even intentionally squared stones as possible.

[@Tshagah]

Soooooo, what cultural, and or ethnic group is responsible for creating and building this site?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

On archaeological grounds, we can't know what ethnic group this was, in the sense of what language they spoke. Archaeologists define "cultures" that are based on characteristics that we consider important, but they don't necessarily align with how the ancient people would have seen themselves. Eventually, there may be DNA evidence for the genetic relationships of the people here with people in other sites and regions.

[@antandros69]

I hope they never find any clues about that. We have enough ethnic elitism going around in the world, it is making me sick. I have seen so many negative comments here about how people are sure that turks have probably clumsily botched the escavation works although this has been a multinational effort. I have seen so many relics from this region in major museums around europe, that were ripped out from the original sites without any respect, I would rather not place much trust in who is more clumsy or greedy after all.

[@LJ7000]

Something about the design is a bit baffling - the inner + outer wall design is similar to Stonehenge. But this means we are surely missing some big thing about how these originally looked or were used. I think it indicates a sloped roof, but that raises more questions, also about how these pillars could function as supports. Also the animals appear to be highly symbolic, but symbolic of what? And why were animals so extensively used as symbols, rather than anything else?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Sloped roof, definitely. One similarity to Stonehenge is that what we see today was not built all at once. The inner walls are much later additions in the case of GT. They apparently reduced the sizes of the buildings and perhaps one reason for building those walls between the pillars is that the pillars were not very stable, and needed further support. The pillars are fairly thin, relative to their height, and not inserted very much into the ground, which is why so many of them now need timbers and cables to keep them from toppling over. As for the animal motifs, I don't find that very surprising; just think of the icons for modern sports teams - they're also mostly ferocious animals. I think they might be something like clan symbols, but really we don't know.

[@LJ7000]

@@thearchaeologistslaborator6591 The lack of stability of the pillars has always baffled me. Why were they not put further into ground? It's hard to beleive they ever actually stood up. For me any interpretation of the imagery is just almost impossible as these people are culturally, and therefore psychologically, must be so incredibly alien to modern man. Even today, trying to interpret images from unfamiliar cultures is going to fail. One thing is certain, before modern lighting obscured our views, the stars in night sky would've been a huge part and mystery of everyday life. Sweatman etc are right to try that direction, because it is just logical that man would be potentially obsessed with interpreting and watching the night sky.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Although I completely agree that ancient people would have been very aware of the night sky, and likely had some concepts of constellations and the planets that are visible to the naked eye, as well as seasonal changes to the sky's appearance, I don't buy the rest of Sweatman's theories. He sees pretty much everything in terms of constellations, as though there's no other reason that people could have wanted to depict birds or foxes.

[@justinlawrence111]

Do we date the first rock we think they laid or what we can carbon date? Because that could have taken thousands of years. A very long time to build with stone tool

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I discuss dating methods in some detail in a couple of other videos on my channel, but dating sites like this can be a bit difficult because the events we can date are not always the ones we really want to know. For example, we can try to date the residues that build up on the big stones after they're buried, but those will also be younger than the construction of the buildings, possibly much younger. In some cases, we can date charcoal or bone that's under a stone wall, but those will be earlier. So we need a lot of dating evidence and to interpret it carefully. In any case, there is good reason to think that these buildings were constructed, modified and renovated over a few centuries, so there was lots of time to work on them.

[@danjensen2695]

My understanding is that this site was deliberately covered up and organic debris uncovered at the base of these structures puts the date of its inhumation at about 9600bc which places it at the end of the younger dryas. It's unbelievably old which I'm not sure you are conveying particularly well in this video, just how paradigm shattering gobekli tepi is

[@colbyerau]

I am a layman watching this video, but the one thing that really stood out to me was the seating steps are 1.4 meters tall? It must have been a table of sorts? I feel like the average height of people then was slightly shorter so 1.4 meters is pretty high for someone that stands 5'-6" tall

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I wouldn't want to give the impression that they're all that high, although several seem pretty high. My point was that some of them are high enough that they don't strike me as being suitable for seating, as most people have assumed. Whatever the benches were for, I think it's something else.

[@colbyerau]

@thearchaeologistslaborator6591 I understand, and that was what I was alluding to. Merely that it's not likely to be a seat in my opinion. I loved the video, I meant not to criticize, just observe. I appreciate the clarification thiugh!

[@Nochancet.v]

The pillars are reused you can tell how they are built into later walls to support them

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

One possibility is that the walls between pillars (which are usually more recent than the rest of the structure) were intended to stabilize the pillars when people noticed they were getting wobbly. The resulting reduction in the size of the structure would also reduce the weight of the roof.

[@Nochancet.v]

@thearchaeologistslaborator6591 I think they were found and put to use

[@helenamcginty4920]

​@@Nochancet.vthinking is fine but you need evidence. The archaeologists are skilled at working out what was built first and what came later. They look at the evidence in and on the ground. Not just photos or videos. Or even a short visit.

[@joachimgoethe7864]

Why plant olive trees directly over the sight? Someone doesn't want this area dug up. Why? For future archeologists with more advanced techniques. How do you improve a Pic and shovel?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

First, that's private land, and unless the government wants to expropriate it, the farmer is free to plant trees on it. Second, the trees help prevent erosion on the site, and there's still plenty of area open for excavation. Third, archaeology isn't just pick and shovel. For example, new dating methods and new methods like chemical residue analysis, are added to archaeologists' toolkits all the time. Today, we can't do a lot of things with data from 1930s excavations because the archaeologists at the time didn't know, for example, that they should save charcoal or seeds for radiocarbon dating. Most sites the size of GT take many decades to excavate anyway, and in fact almost never get fully excavated both for preservation reasons and because of the immense costs. This is not a conspiracy; it's perfectly normal.

[@desertlillie9659]

Great job in damage control. I’d like to see a better view of the roads leading to the ruins as well as the possibility of ruins beneath the olive tree orchard. I watched a video of massive construction of roads and paths paved directly over the ruins. Were these removed?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Hi. I actually just did a video on this very topic. And, yes, the construction roads have been removed.

[@DursunX]

a visual feast for the curious mind. many thanks 🇹🇷

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

And thank you for the nice comment.

[@Aeyekay0]

This was so cool, thanks for sharing

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thanks for watching!

[@davesradiorepairs6344]

Since the estimate age of these sites multiple Tepe sites in Turkey are around 12500 years ago, isn't it possible that this coincides with the the Great Flood that might explain how these sites were filled in and covered over, as opposed to humans covering them back up ??

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

It's actually quite normal for archaeological sites to become buried. There are multiple processes, besides intentional burial (which happens occasionally) that can do this, but erosion upslope is one of the more common sources of sediment.

[@danielpaulson8838]

The flood is a metaphorical and not historical. It’s a religious claim and has no place in history or where people are looking for truth.

[@trollerroller-l5e]

I don't mind that hunter-gatherers did all that without iron, but from where did they get all the mathematical, astronomy, crafting and building skills? sounds insane to think about it.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

First, they were Neolithic villagers, who got their food from a mixture of hunting animals, gathering wild plants, and a sort of primitive farming of wild wheat and barley. And you don't need Iron to carve and smooth limestone. But what mathematics are you talking about? There is no evidence for math in these structures. Spacing the pillars, for example by pacing, would not have required any kind of precise measurements, let alone math. And, while some authors have been arguing that some of the imagery has to do with constellations, making naked-eye observations of things in the sky is something well within the abilities of both hunter-gatherers and Neolithic people.

[@davidkelley1555]

Some dates for interested but uneducated persons would be nice. We don't all know the dates of PPNB etc.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Fair point. I tend to avoid being too specific about dates, since the exact dates shift a bit with new evidence and some of the buildings aren't as preciselly dated as we'd like, simply because our dates are on things like seeds and bits of charcoal, not on pillars or walls. However, the Late PPNA/Early PPNB ones should be around 9500 to 8800 BC or so, while the somewhat later PPNB ones would be about 8800 to 8200 BC, very roughly.

[@davidkelley1555]

@@thearchaeologistslaborator6591 Thank you, very roughly is very helpful.

[@blueeyedsoulman]

Pottery? Any signs of writing?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

On current evidence, there was no writing at this early time. There are some symbols on some of the pillars that some people have tried to interpret as "writing-like," but they'll take a lot more research to interpret and, in any case, they're individual symbols, not a full-fledged writing system.

[@IsaacUllah_GIS_Tutorials]

Great video Ted!

[@tedbanning9090]

Thanks!

[@ZacLowing]

The 'game board' you thought you saw near the beginning can be seen on the tops of the Ts at 6:21

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

That's something different. I think those hollows on top of some of the pillars are just traces of the way the stonecutters shaped the stones, first using drills and then using hammers to break away the stone between the drilled holes. That's a workable method when you don't have stone saws. The stone I pointed out still has fairly deep pockets, possibly to contain pebbles that players moved along in a game similar to backgammon.

[@chrischubb6266]

I thought the same look similar right?

[@spiritedthinker2323]

Pillar 43 is most likely depicting weaves and baskets along side those things to be carried in said baskets ie small animals, dead birds, edible insects and eggs. Gotta stop thinking about everything in terms of relation to the stars. Given the depictions, it's likely that the area was like a school or a daycare in some areas.

[@benlevinson1949]

These videos never ‘boar’ me😊

[@Nochancet.v]

Hogging all the limes light

[@ronni9443]

why has exploration ceased at this important site

[@MarkGovern]

It hasn’t ceased, it is ongoing.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Others have asked this too, because they've been listening to misinformation. Excavations have NOT stopped. There has been some in the main area, both before the new roof was erected, mostly where the big posts had to be put, but also some more recent work exposing more floor area in the structures. And excavations are scheduled to resume in the Northwest area in 2026.

[@ronni9443]

@@thearchaeologistslaborator6591 great thx

[@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895]

@@ronni9443why are you so willing to accept this random guys explanation from the empirical evidence?

[@ronni9443]

@@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895 good question and to answer, I did thank them for their response but to suggest I agree is not correct. I did view another video two days ago that is pushing a similar narrative, i.e. preventing further work for the main reason that it'll cause more damage, knowledge will be overlooked and the tech will be better in the future. Do I believe it? I guess I believe that's what they would have us believe. I remain suspicious. Best regards

[@carlito2480]

The cave of Bruniquel in France do have the same layout as Gobeklitepe (sealed for 175000 years) and used by Neanderthals

[@filmbuffo5616]

The benches seem high enough at 1.6 meters to serve as walkways or gantrys around the inner area; perhaps they kept animals in the central area using the gantrys/benches as places to feed/hunt them from in a ritual; have any animal remains been found on the site?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Animal remains are extremely common at the site, and most of it undoubtedly is the waste from food consumption.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Incidentally, I shouldn't leave you with the impression that all the benches are that high. Many are a lot lower.

[@Rhythm911]

In the NEWS .... Not really... But definitely in Pop-Culture as a paradigm of TRUTH !!!

[@elwirfankor4570]

Thank you for current sights of Gobekli Tepe area. Best regards from Poland.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thank you too!

[@delphinazizumbo8674]

WHY is the Middle East covered with rocks all about the same size? glacier?

[@allangibson8494]

The Middle East is a collision zone between the African, Arabian and Eurasian plates. Major earthquakes in this exact region are very very common.

[@johnwagner8132]

Thank you, very informative. I'm relieved to hear they'll still be excavating. Who knows what they'll find. I'm excited to see!!!

[@dennissalisbury496]

720p, really can't afford 4k? The cost of 4k wouldn't even be measurable in the total cost of production.

[@Voltaire8559]

Hello Professor Banning. Thank you so much for your amazing, informative and well edited video. May I ask for a special episode to tour your office and labs to see what books you keep, recommend or collect, as well as any interesting artifacts or objects that you have amazing stories to tell about?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

All good suggestions. I'll see what I can do in 2025.

[@kbreckan]

Thank you for this presentation. I find this site endlessly fascinating even though I am not an archaeologist.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thanks for the positive feedback

[@brucejefferson3257]

The world economic forum does not want you to learn much about this site. Looks like the producers of this film and the Turkish government agree.

[@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895]

Hes gatekeeping hard for wef in these comments

[@RingoBars]

What is the implication of that statement? Access to study has and is being granted (as demonstrated in this very video) - protection of historical sites so that we can CONTINUE learning about them is standard and reasonable practice.

[@vipermanboy]

I can't wait until AI can figure all of this out... start finding all of the 1000s of other lost sights around the world and piece this enigma together... it can and it will. exciting times

[@Skyenchantment8]

Every body has to eat but kind of sad to see the commercialism from such an amazing site

[@MarkGovern]

Nothing wrong with charging people a few who visit. It helps to pay for the preservation and exploration of the site.

[@Skyenchantment8]

@MarkGovern That isn’t what I’m referring to, did you watch it ? I was referring to everything , businesses being named for the site, but like I said Everyone has to eat…

[@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895]

WEF would rather squeeze some shekels over revealing the history

[@calinpuiu8501]

Today you have plenty of advertisements everywhere. This could be a market place with it's own advertisements. I sell this and that. They didn't have neon lights. Periodically meeting at the market makes us happy even today.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Interesting idea but, at least on current evidence, there were no markets or money at the time this site was occupied. Money economies and markets arose in state societies, several millennia later.

[@sYd6point7]

realize that the owners(wef subsidiaries) have damaged the site by making it a tourist attraction now and denying ACTUAL archeology for 150 years. "because we cannot comprehend or safely take care of this site" mhmm. thanks for the tour but the damage done here, the mocking way its been turned into a tourist attraction...yet this is possibly the most important site in human existence. you can speak all you want to say how safe they were... but no... this is a red flag and a red card to archeologists all over the world. the wef has blocked whatever this sitw may teach us and that needs to be investigated. look deeper. the world deserves to know what this site is. preserving it for tourism is not science.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I dealt with these allegations in a separate video

[@MyCatJeff]

Rick Steve's Gobleki Tepe.

[@ZachFury]

I was wondering who his voice sounded like. Good call!

[@michaeljoiner2503]

Thank You

[@greenman77777]

Thanks for sharing

[@johnlindsey-ep6nr]

Question was it a civilization that was underground and it was accessed through the top and ladders next question were they pools full of water was the lowest level full of water next question was it not a village but a zoo or an arc or a barn or a stable to keep animals

[@sitindogmas]

i believe we don't have a good idea of what this world used to be

[@petarswift5089]

I still do not see the meaning of these pillars as well as the pyramids in Ancient Egypt 😔

[@sitindogmas]

he said the "in word"

[@eh1702]

Snakes, or eels in a net?

[@RatBoi-tk2zb]

well narrated. fantastic tour.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Many thanks!

[@drstevej2527]

This is what archeology is supposed to look like on social media. Not the nonsense that is Graham Hancock.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thanks!

[@Elka0201]

Thank you much for this update. It's good to know that excavations are continuing and that the news of them coming to a halt was wrong. .

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thanks1

[@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895]

Youre quite gullible

[@Elka0201]

Seeing your profile, I ask myself what you are.

[@stangilliam7530]

great descriptions

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I'm glad you liked it!

[@matthewc4094]

Great video, thanks for posting. The 'arched structures' that you refer on the reliefs to remind me of conversations conducted here in Europe about rounded hills symbolising pregnant women / female animals. There are myriad examples in the UK alone, most locally to me being that of Moel Famau (mother hill) which is close to me in North Wales. This fertility cut type behaviour would also explain the presence of the T-shaped phallic type stones observed everywhere, and located in enclosures around the hill - creating the union of male and female, and later bringing forth offspring. This starts in the Mesolithic in Europe, with piles of semen-like white quartz pebbles adorning prehistoric monuments in annual layers at some archaeological sites, notably at sites that I have myself excavated in the Boyne Valley in Ireland in the past. Same thing at Meso sites in Lancashire, dug by Ron Cowell. Even the name of Britain (root - 'breed - ain') shows the importance of fertility worship and the cycle of marriage, birth and death. That's my take on the monument anyway, for what it's worth, a place that I hope to visit sometime in 2025-6.

[@williamwillaims]

So... they built this in between....hunting and gathering.....🎉riiight

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Göbekli Tepe was a Neolithic village, with hundreds of residents. Klaus Schmidt's claim that it was only a pilgrimage spot for roving hunter-gatherers has been discredited.

[@chrisrose_krii_lun_aus]

Its sad from what ive heard it was taken over by a private owned or state owned corporation and almost all digging has been shut down and the place has just been turned into a tourist destination. Maybe ive heard wrong or had some information i got wrong but who knows what else could be discovered of they kept on excavation of the site. I think i heard Kerhan Tepe( i know i spelled it wrong) was still having digs done im pretty sure. I could be wrong about that also. It always seems strange to me any archeological site that could change the taught history of man and completely make a lot of what is known and taught today to be incorrect and people that have staked their names in what has been taught up until now dont want these sites dug. Just like Egypt, they will shut down anything that doesnt go along with the narrative that they have set. They hide a lot of truth of what they find and already know about so those higher ups that have staked their reputations on doesnt get debunked. We will never get straight answers from most of these governments and experts in our lifetimes i dont think. It's really sad what they cover up and how much corruption is in humans wanting to know more about the history of man. At least in Turkey there are several of sites like this from what i understand and maybe they will do a complete excavation one day and answer some questions we all want to know the answers of.

[@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895]

No “or” on who owns it. A private business is very different from a corporation, or state owned corporation

[@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895]

And this content creator is one of the gatekeepers, surprised he didnt comment to refute you, he has any excuse he can think of to refute what weve seen, that theyre trying to stop excavation.

[@chrisrose_krii_lun_aus]

@@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895 I'm not sure what you're on about. They turned it on a tourist destination. I'm pretty sure there's not much digging being done anymore.

[@chrisrose_krii_lun_aus]

I guess you've never heard of the WEF. All they're doing is turning what is already excavated into a tourist destination. All digs have been postponed. So explain to me what I said is wrong.

[@chrisrose_krii_lun_aus]

I guess you've never heard of the WEF. They have halted all excavation of the site and they are building a tourist destination. They said they are leaving all further digging to future generations. So tell me what I said that is wrong please. In plain English if you can.

[@malhumor2522]

PPNA, PPND was not fully explained….

[@glennwoods2462]

Pre Pottery Neolithic A Pre Pottery Neolithic B Not sure what the A and B are.....

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

My apologies. I use those terms so often that I sometimes forget to explain them. As another commenter notes, PPN stands for Pre-Pottery Neolithic, and it's conventionally divided into an earlier A and later B phase (and sometimes C too). Very roughly (as they vary regionally and with new evidence), PPNA is ~10,000 to 8,000 BC, and PPNB ~8,000 to 6,800 BC. The big buildings at GT would likely be around 8,200-7,800, although they're still not as well dated as we might like.

[@themaddgamer2112]

As others have asked,why plant orchards over top of the site?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

I actually just dealt with this issue in my latest video. The landowner did that to increase the land values so he'd get a better price when the government expropriated his land.

[@JefferyYoung-g5u]

I am leaning towards this being an ancient zoo. Feeding time shows $4.99

[@joe8256]

enorme misterio.

[@ThomasStanUnidentified]

Imagine what else is buried there

[@TWOCOWS1]

Thank you for continuing to record and show the new Mirazan sites (the original, local name for the recent official government name). Mirazan means a "miracle maker". The local, childless Kurdish women give offerings at the hill, hoping for a child. The fertility myth of the hills still lingers. Mirazan is the meaningful, local name for this entire super old civilization/culture. A lot better than the silly name of Gobekli ("potbelly"), or Karahan ("black tribal chief", instead of the meaningful local name of Sederi ,”three gates”)-- given to it by the ruling government there . I hope you continue showing us more and more of the Mirazan sites as they get dug up. The name for the entire culture that created these wonderful structures around 12000 years ago is the MIRAZAN CULTURE. Then the local native names should used for individual hills and sites.

[@wolfgangamadeus2873]

Keep that bs away from this page. We've seen enough of fake/pseudoscience based bombardment in social media. There was no such thing as Kurdish or anything related to nation etc. 10.000 years ago. The people who passed through Mesopotamia-Anatolia is literally countless and the earliest records that with possible information about the Kurdish people belongs to Hecataeus of Miletus (he's marking Zagros Mountains as Gordii, as being a part of Median dominion before Achaemenids they simply overrun native Edessan people (Semitic origin) who was living in the Edessa (Urfa nowadays)).

[@arinoz2307]

Thank you for your informative videos.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thanks. I'm glad you like them!

[@JimBone-v2u]

There's a gift shop there?! Jesus.

[@jamesraymond1158]

Great armchair traveling, and I don't have to suffer the long stops the buses make at gift shops

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thankfully, it was only a short stop to allow people to pee. Presenting an alternative to peeing and defecating on archaeological sites is one aspect of preserving any site that attracts tourism.

[@Rkekoke485]

13:35 Man have 6 fingers !

[@Nurse_Diesel]

I would think that planting orchards over one of the most important archaeological sites in the world would be pretty idiotic. Also a nice touch to support visitor structures in the middle of the dig. As always nowadays, its money before science.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

The visitor center is well off-site. Of course the roofs have to be on-site as the whole point is to protect the ruins from rain while still keeping the monuments viewable. As for the trees, they were planted by the original owner and lots of sites have trees on them (Rome, Athens, Palenque, ...).

[@Nurse_Diesel]

@@thearchaeologistslaborator6591 Are you supported by the World Economic Forum by chance?

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Hardly.

[@Nurse_Diesel]

@@thearchaeologistslaborator6591 I just don't understand how an archaeologist would consider the growing and burrowing of orchards into one of humanities most important sites in the world, not a complete travesty? How can an archaeologist like you, not be in total disbelief that one of the most important sites in the world is being used to support a structure so tourist don't get wet. You actually seem to be defending these actions. I guess I just don't see how going through all the schooling and sacrifice you must have went through to become an archaeologist would lead you to these views and beliefs.

[@Tregrense]

Cynicism before understanding?

[@s.l.taylor4057]

A gift shop! Welcome to the modern world!

[@jimbob8973]

Souvenir shops existed in ancient Egypt. This is no modern development

[@Reziac]

I've been saying those pillars are roof supports since I first saw one, mumble-years ago. Look at it with an architect's eye, it's obvious.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

It was my impression as well, even though I'm not an architect. They're simply aligned in ways that suggested to me that they would have supported beams.

[@ScooterDoge]

Karajan Tepe had crocodile bones buried there. Hmmm.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Really? Do you have a source for that? Crocodiles certainly occur in Egypt, and I think they once lived in Syria as well, so it wouldn't be out of the range of possibility.

[@ScooterDoge]

@ According to guides at the site. I’m interested in when mainstream historians say that area last had rivers running through the area.

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thanks. I'll look into that. It wouldn't be impossible. And there would have been more streams around there 10,000 years ago, before most of the springs dried up.

[@bardmadsen6956]

Seven birds in a row, under Pillar 18, the ones Dr. Lee Clare told me are not on site, with bullet points, and on video. Pillar 33 has "The Fox" aflame, Dragon, I say, compare to Babylonian Dragons. Pillar 18 holds one of these Dragons, very similar to Gilgamesh holding a lion, and it stands on the symbol of The Pleiades just like Babylonian art of standing on Bulls, Dragons, and Felines, indicating domination. I'm really curious as to how the Seven Birds in a Row are muddied up in the museum, seems there is a active conspiracy to obfuscate The Pleiades from the record, including modern text of Mesoamerica.

[@tedbanning9090]

The row of birds is on the south face of Pillar 18's pedestal, so they're not very visible from the walkway and I wasn't able to get a good picture of them. You can just glimpse them a bit about 10:21

[@bardmadsen6956]

@@tedbanning9090 Yes, one has to stand adjacent to Enclosure B and use a telephoto lens. I've been working on this quest for 55 years and I have to watch all the videos to gather images as I can't get into the data bases. The mock-ups in the museum used to be clear, yet seems nobody looks down, and then they changed, obscured, so now the bottom shelf is even less desirable to shop from, alike in retail shops. What really gets me is that The Story of Mankind - Archaeologists don't even know the symbology of The Pleiades. The cave art people do... But most won't go there. One would think that our most recent meteor stream that is deeply embedded in all of our traditions would be well known. Ask an Astrophysicist, except the guy from Queen, and they don't know either! It is a monument to The Festival of the Dead, those who died in the space falls from The Taurids, just after the fact. I think it is even strange that spellcheckers don't know the word "Taurid"!

[@Royalty12345]

@@bardmadsen6956 Can you please explain who died in the space falls from the Taurids, just after the fact? I’m not sure what that means 🤔

[@bardmadsen6956]

@@Royalty12345 Mother Earth, look at Blackwater Draw, the Pleistocene has a nice rich darkness to it, the Holocene is much lighter. All the late Pleistocene megafauna that didn't make it and the Clovis, this is why there are stories of being down to one woman and man. They are in cycles, as in The Ages of Man / Suns (4 of them), not uniformitarian, destruction and long periods of impact winter, this is why worshiping The Sun is so ubiquitous, not diurnal and or seasonal. There are papers that prove space falls ~12,878ka and the Tas Tepeler Culture is right afterwards, the symbology reads like an open book to me. IIRC, I'm up to around five examples that they venerated The Pleiades, everyone would know when the big event was, to gather there and contemplate if it will happen again, while the meteor storm raged for nights. This is what the Five "Days of Doom" is about, added to the 360 day year, making Halloween the real Ancient New Year. Another big event was ~4.3ka. The Festival of the Dead is universal. I'm thinking that the Bon Festival, in August, shows when they forgot the connection to the meteors, which would be about 6ka. and for Gobekli Tepe the pre-perihelion crossing would be mid April, via The Precession of the Vernal Equinox. With The Sun in Virgo, Spring... Plus, The Sky Bull Symbol is not about virility, life giving, and rejuvenation, it is about the most recent visitor to the inner solar system, diametric in meaning. Same with snakes, total opposite of life transcendence, cause it sloughs its skin. There are many examples, that they are Sky Serpents, as the meteors would look like traveling downward through the different moving air masses. I caught a video of this long ago on Space Weather. Like the latest Doctor F. Dibble video about Delphi, "It is." and Pink Elephants, nothing about the battle between Apollo (The Sun) and Typhon (The Comet debris / Superbolide), sound familiar? Universally we all recorded attributes of this phenomena, every anciently derived tradition has a deity from, and or, symbolism of its radiant. I think one of the best is the Japanese Sun Goddess's horse being killed by her warrior brother from this star cluster and she hides in a mountain, long term darkness.

[@whatilearnttoday5295]

Obviously it's a multi-antenna WIFI router. ;)

[@PirateRo333]

I think those are ants, not spiders.

[@mariusmarius4832]

Fascinating

[@aarondoughty3752]

The procrastination of this site is ridiculous

[@Malcontender]

Did you know it's location?

[@fungalbob]

Great sensation of the spaces

[@thearchaeologistslaborator6591]

Thanks! I found it's a bit difficult, since I was almost always looking down, and sometimes had to get my lens to peer through a chain-link fence.