Karahan Tepe

Karahan Tepe
Karahan Tepe in 2023
Karahan Tepe is located in Turkey
Karahan Tepe
Location in Turkey
LocationŞanlıurfa Province, Turkey
Coordinates37°05′33″N 39°18′13″E / 37.09250°N 39.30361°E / 37.09250; 39.30361
TypeSettlement
History
Foundedc. 9750 BCE
PeriodsPre-Pottery Neolithic A to B
Site notes
Discovered1997

Karahan Tepe (Kurdish: Girê Keçel) is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic archaeological site in Şanlıurfa, Turkey. The site is in the same geographical region as Göbekli Tepe and archaeologists have also uncovered T-shaped stelae there and believe that the sites are related. Additionally, the site may be the earliest known human village, predating the construction of Göbekli Tepe by several centuries, dating to between 10,000 and 9500 BCE.[1]

The site is located near Yağmurlu and roughly 46 kilometers east of Göbekli Tepe, which is often called its sister site.[1][2] It was discovered in 1997 by Bahattin Celik (University of Harran).[3] It is part of the Göbekli tepe Culture and Karahan tepe Excavations project. The area is known as “Keçilitepe” by local people. It is part of a group of about 12 similar sites now being investigated, known as "Taş Tepeler".[1][4][5] Reseearch is being made to better understand the organization of the worforce and the degree and nature of the specialization involved in the construction of these monuments.[5]

History

The ancient structures at Karahan Tepe were discovered in 1997 by "researchers near the Kargalı neighborhood in the Tek Tek Mountains National Park."[6]

Necmi Karul, an archeologist at Istanbul University, told Anadolu Agency in 2019, “Last year, excavation work restarted in Karahan tepe [Kectepe] – around 60 km from where Göbekli tepe is located – and we encountered traces of special structures, obelisks, animal sculptures, and descriptions as well as similar symbolism”.[7] The site was filled with dirt and rubble at some point, preserving T-topped columns carved into bedrock.[8] These structures have been described as 'phallic totems'.[1]

Site

The Karahan tepe archaeological site covers almost 10 hectares, which increases by another five hectares if the quarries for the T-shaped columns are included.[9]

As of 2023, only around 5% of the site has been excavated.

Figural artifacts

Front view
Side view
Karahan Tepe anthropomorphic statue (2.3 meters), naked and holding phallus with both hands. There is a V-shaped collar around the neck, and the fingers and ribs are marked with deep incised lines. Broadly similar to the Urfa Man).[10]

In September 2023, Turkish and German experts discovered further sculptures from the so-called Tepeler cultures: a statue of a vulture and a 2.3 meter high anthropomorphic statue were found. The naked figure, which is probably depicted as sitting, holds his phallus with both hands. The fingers and ribs were marked with deep incised lines, and a kind of V-shaped collar around the neck. This same motif is also known from other finds, such as the so-called Urfa Man, an approximately 1.8 meter high sandstone statue that was discovered in 1993 during construction work near the city of Şanlıurfa.[11]

Site images

The site contains numerous T-shaped pillars similar to those of Gobekli Tepe.[5] More than 266 pillars were observed as of the year 2000.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Thomas, Sean (8 May 2022). "Is an unknown, extraordinarily ancient civilisation buried under eastern Turkey?". Spectator Magazine. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  2. ^ Spray, Aaron (31 October 2021). "Karahan Tepe is Called The 'Sister Site' Of Gobekli Tepe In Turkey (And Is Just As Old)". TheTravel. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  3. ^ a b Çelik 2000.
  4. ^ "Karahantepe on way to be new face of Turkey". Hürriyet Daily News. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Richardson, Lorna-Jane; Reinhard, Andrew; Smith, Nicole (20 June 2024). The Routledge Handbook of Archaeology and the Media in the 21st Century. Taylor & Francis. p. 341. ISBN 978-1-040-02301-3.
  6. ^ "Karahantepe excavations start in Şanlıurfa". Hürriyet Daily News. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  7. ^ . The site was preserved in part by being filled in with dirt and rubble at some point preserving columns and carvings such as a large human face.Kazanci, Handan (8 March 2020). "Turkey: Conservation, not excavation, focus in Gobeklitepe". Anadolu Agency.
  8. ^ "Arkeoloji Dergisi". Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  9. ^ Karul, Necmi (2021). "Buried Buildings at Pre Pottery Neolithic Karahantepe / Karahantepe Çanak-Çömleksiz Neolitik Dönem Gömü Yapıları 2021". Türk Arkeoloji ve Etnografya Dergisi 86 (86): 22. ISSN 1302-9231. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  10. ^ Ayaz, Orhan; Çelik, Bahattin; Çakmak, Fatma (27 December 2022). ""STATUS SOCIETY": SOCIOLOGICAL THINKING OF GÖBEKLI TEPE AND KARAHAN TEPE IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION". Karadeniz Uluslararası Bilimsel Dergi. 1 (56): 132. doi:10.17498/kdeniz.1186376. Another striking example at Karahan Tepe is the sculpture of the seated man with his phallus extended almost down to his knees
  11. ^ Altuntaş, Leman (30 September 2023). "New discoveries in Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe: A Human statue with a realistic facial expression found in Karahantepe". arkeonews. Retrieved 1 October 2023.

Further reading

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