The earliest portion of Göbekli Tepe is Layer III, assigned to Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA).

Time Periods Layer IIIĪ map of the currently excavated area at Göbekli Tepe with locations of samples used for dating. Claims regarding ritual structures at other similar sites in the region have also been made, though the sites always exhibit the same differentiation between residential space and religious space as seen in Nevalı Çori. The purported shrine at Nevalı Çori demonstrates 'significant differences in design and internal features between these buildings and 'ordinary' houses', in contrast to the structures present at Göbekli Tepe. Nevalı Çori gives an interesting comparison to the enclosures at Göbekli Tepe the structures at Nevalı Çori are evidently residential, with one religious structure. Nevalı Çori is a similar site located east of Göbekli Tepe, though it is slightly more recent than Layer II. įour circular enclosures have been excavated, and a number of rectangular enclosures from a later time period have also been excavated. None of these are domestic, aligning with the theory that these were hunter-gatherers. The humans inhabiting or visiting the site left some refuse that has been discovered thus far, including the remains of plants and animals. Klaus Schmidt began to excavate the site in 1995. In 1994, Klaus Schmidt visited the site and began to excavate. The 'cemetery' noted in this survey refers to the large T-shaped pillars in the site, which were partially exposed but not yet excavated. The ridge-top site and grassy W slopes are littered with flint artifacts. The ridge lies at the end of a steep- sided grassy gully 2.5 km NE of village of Karaharabe. The two highest knolls have small cemeteries covering the top. The overall diameter of knolls is 150 m and the rocky red soil rises to 20 m above the limestone top. The site was initially described in a 1963 survey as follows:Ī complex of round-topped knolls of red earth with slight depressions between, located on a high limestone ridge trending SE.

Gobekli Tepe by Andrew Collins