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Pillar in Gobekli Tepe (Deriv.) ( sebnemsanders) with a starry night sky. ( CC0) What can be discerned about the site from Gobekli Tepe archaeoastronomy?

Global Roundtrip Of Zodiacal Dating Of Ancient Artifacts

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Archaeologists agree, Gōbekli Tepe changes everything. This hilltop sanctuary in southern Turkey, probably the world’s first megalithic temple, is like a time capsule dating back to nearly 13, 000 years to the most extraordinary time in human history; the Younger Dryas impact event. Pillar 43, also called the ‘Vulture Stone’, at Gōbekli Tepe is especially important, as it reveals a forgotten astronomical code that opens a window into the minds of ancient people, going back perhaps over 40,000 years. A code that allows one to read about catastrophic events, like the Younger Dryas impact, that perhaps formed the corner stone of nearly all the world’s religions. It could hardly be a more important discovery.

Gōbekli Tepe, southern Turkey (Haluk / Adobe Stock)

Pillar 43 Prehistoric “Rosetta Stone”

Pillar 43 is like a prehistoric Rosetta Stone. It shows that the people who constructed Gōbekli Tepe were, among other things, astronomers who understood how the position of the stars changed very slowly over many millennia, a process now called ‘precession of the equinoxes’. Conventionally, Hipparchus of Ancient Greece is credited with this discovery in the second century BC. Furthermore, the people of Gōbekli Tepe used their astronomical knowledge to encode a date, very likely the date of the Younger Dryas impact, on the pillar. Essentially, Pillar 43 can be interpreted as a memorial to this catastrophic event, which potentially sparked the origin of civilization itself.

While this discovery is profound, by uncovering this ancient astronomical code one is able to decode much more than just Gōbekli Tepe. This is because it appears it was used for many tens of thousands of years across Europe and the Near East, from ancient prehistoric times right through to the first millennium AD in Pictish Scotland. It seems to cover a quite incredible span of time and geographic boundaries.

Indeed, it appears to be the key to understanding Palaeolithic cave art, Neolithic shrines, Bronze Age artworks, Egyptian Gods, and Iron Age symbolism. Amazingly, it seems this astronomical code uses the same set of star constellations, more-or-less, that is used today in the West, although most of the animal symbols corresponding to each constellation have changed.

Copy of Pillar 43 in Sanliurfa Museum (Image: Courtesy of Alistair Coombs)

Copy of Pillar 43 in Sanliurfa Museum (Image: Courtesy of Alistair Coombs)

The journey of the evolution of this code, covering examples from the earliest of times right through to the last known case, Pictish symbols stones, is remarkable.

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Dr Martin Sweatman is a scientist at the University of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.  He is the author of the book  Prehistory Decoded.

Top Image: Pillar in Gobekli Tepe (Deriv.) ( sebnemsanders) with a starry night sky. ( CC0) What can be discerned about the site from Gobekli Tepe archaeoastronomy?

By: Martin Sweatman

 

Martin

Martin Sweatman is a scientist at the University of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. His research, which involves statistical analysis of the motion of atoms and molecules to understand the properties of matter, has helped... Read More

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