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Two gigantic T-shaped stone blocks faced one another at a distance of two metres in the centre of a circular chamber with a diameter of five or six metres. The weight of the stones is an estimated 20 tons, and they will probably measure four metres in height when the lower sections have been uncovered. Going up close to one of the stones I examined the extraordinarily smooth unflawed surface. Right in the centre was an exquisitely carved animal figure. I had entered the chamber with the permission of Professor Dr. Klaus Schmidt, who explained that several such chambers had been found adjoining that in which I stood.
I
was at the settlement mound of Gobeklitepe, a 25 minute drive from the
city of Urfa in southeastern Turkey. In the unexcavated parts of the mound
there may be many more such chambers, or perhaps other completely different
structures. My first question and the one which I was most eager to have
answered was about the date of the stones and the building in which they
stood. Professor Schmidt told me that at present they were unable to date
them, the tone of his voice expressing not disappointment, but the excitement
of someone witnessing a landmark in archaeological discovery. He went
on to explain that at some point after the chamber had been built it had
been filled up with earth, and that carbon dating of some fragments of
charcoal in the soil had been carried out. I waited with suspense to hear
what the results of these tests had been. It was 9000 BC! This was astonishing.
It meant that the date of construction must have been even earlier.