A Discovery that Rewrote History

One common saying in archaeology is that we never find the actual oldest things that existed. Because preservation only occurs under a very rare set of conditions, and the places where we actually dig are also limited, it is highly unlikely that we will ever find the actual oldest piece of something. This also means that sometimes a discovery completely changes the way we think about history, and that's what happened in 1994 when Klaus Schmidt started examining Göbekli Tepe, a set of ruins in southeastern Turkey, more closely.

The ruins of Göbekli Tepe were actually discovered much earlier, in 1963. But at that time, they were mistaken for a medieval graveyard due to the visible stone slabs. Decades later, Klaus Schmidt took a closer look, and with the help of modern archaeological techniques, particularly radiocarbon dating, he revealed that the site dated back to around 9600 BCE. This places it very close to the end of the last glacial period and predates Stonehenge by over 6,000 years, challenging multiple concepts that we thought occurred later in history.

First, it suggests that large-scale, complex construction was within the capabilities of hunter-gatherer societies, long before the advent of agriculture and permanent settlements. This contradicts the earlier belief that complex societal structures only emerged after the development of farming. The second aspect it challenges is the claim that religions only emerged after the development of permanent settlements and agriculture, as the complex appears to be a temple, and Göbekli Tepe is thought to be a religious or ritual site.

Göbekli Tepe serves as an important reminder of how sometimes a simple discovery can change opinions we were quite certain about. It invites us to stay open to the possibilities and pushes us to keep discovering and exploring this world to learn more about ourselves and our past.

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