Göbekli Tepe Part 1

Astonishing Legends vor 8 Jahren

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In 1963, archaeologists from the University of Chicago and
Istanbul University examined a site known by locals as Göbekli
Tepe, or "Potbelly Hill." They dismissed the site at the
time as merely a medieval cemetery due to the numerous slabs of
stone thought to be grave markers. However, in 1993, German
archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, who was doing work at another
Neolithic site in nearby Nevalı Çori, heard about the report and
decided to investigate it for himself. What Schmidt and his
team would eventually discover would turn out to be one of the
most astounding, mysterious and important archaeological
discoveries in history. Laying just below the surface was
the earliest known sanctuary structure ever built by
humans. Somehow, a group of prehistoric hunter-gathers had
managed to quarry massive slabs of stone from nearby
outcroppings, some weighing as much as 7 to 10 tons with lengths
of up to 18 feet. They then moved them hundreds of feet
into numerous circular configurations. This was done
without the use of wheels or animals and before the invention of
metalworking, pottery or writing. The earliest works found
at the site date to over 11,000 years old, or around 9600 B.C.,
predating Stonehenge by at least 7000 years. While we may
not know yet what belief system would motivate these ancient,
primitive peoples to undertake such a monumental task, the result
of their unbelievable efforts may have led to a ground-breaking
theory. Instead of the previous view that the invention of
the domestication of plants and animals led humans to develop
civilization and with it, religious belief systems, the human
desire to worship as a community may have led to farming and thus
sparked civilization. As researchers are still seeking
answers as to what these people believed, there are those that
think the answers may be far more mystical than what many are
willing to imagine.

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