Carvings at Göbekli Tepe are the World’s Oldest Calendar, Created to Commemorate the Comet Impact that Gave Rise to Civilization

Carvings on a stone pillar at the 12,000-year-old archaeological site of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey may represent the world’s oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet impact, according to experts. These intricate carvings, which adorn a site thought to have functioned as an ancient temple complex, suggest a sophisticated understanding of astronomy among early humans. This discovery has significant implications for our understanding of how ancient societies observed celestial phenomena and tracked the passage of time.

Göbekli Tepe, located in southeastern Turkey, is renowned for its series of large, T-shaped stone pillars covered in carvings of animals and abstract symbols. Recent analysis suggests that some of these carvings may have served as a form of calendar that recorded the sun, moon, and stars’ positions, marking the seasons and tracking significant celestial events.

This finding proposes that ancient people used these carvings to record observations of the cosmos, potentially indicating an early form of a lunisolar calendar—combining lunar and solar cycles to account for the passing of years and seasons.

Recent research focused on V-shaped symbols carved into the stone pillars at Göbekli Tepe reveals that these symbols could represent individual days in a solar calendar. Researchers have proposed that these carvings represent a calendar year of 365 days, consisting of 12 lunar months plus 11 additional days to align with the solar year.

One particular carving, featuring a V around the neck of a bird-like creature, may symbolize the summer solstice, highlighting its significance in their calendar system. Nearby statues, possibly depicting deities, bear similar V-shaped markings around their necks, further supporting this interpretation.

The potential existence of such a sophisticated calendar at Göbekli Tepe predates other known examples of lunisolar calendars by thousands of years. This challenges our understanding of early human capabilities in astronomy and their ability to track celestial cycles with precision.

Researchers believe that these carvings at Göbekli Tepe may commemorate a comet impact that occurred around 10,850 BCE, nearly 13,000 years ago. This cataclysmic event is thought to have triggered a mini ice age known as the Younger Dryas, lasting over 1,200 years and leading to the extinction of many large animal species.

The comet impact is also speculated to have initiated significant lifestyle changes, including developments in agriculture, which are often linked to the rise of civilization in the Fertile Crescent of Western Asia.

Another pillar at Göbekli Tepe seems to depict the Taurid meteor stream, which is believed to have been the source of the comet fragments that impacted the Earth. This stream, lasting 27 days, appeared to emanate from the constellations of Aquarius and Pisces, providing further evidence of the ancient people’s astronomical knowledge.

The findings at Göbekli Tepe suggest that ancient humans could record astronomical events with remarkable accuracy, even employing the concept of precession—the wobble of the Earth’s axis that affects the movement of constellations across the sky. This insight predates the known documentation of precession by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus in 150 BCE by over 10,000 years, illustrating a profound understanding of the cosmos long before it was officially recorded.

The carvings at Göbekli Tepe appear to have remained significant to the people of the region for millennia, indicating that the comet impact may have spurred the development of new religious practices or cults, which played a role in the evolution of early civilizations. This event likely inspired innovations in agriculture and societal organization, as communities sought to adapt to changing climates and environmental conditions.

Dr. Martin Sweatman from the University of Edinburgh, who led the research, stated, It seems that the inhabitants of Göbekli Tepe were keen sky-watchers, which is to be expected given that their world had been turned upside down by a comet impact. This event could have kick-started civilization by initiating a new religion and motivating developments in agriculture to cope with the harsh climate. Perhaps their attempts to record what they saw are the first steps towards the development of writing millennia later.

University of Edinburgh

Sweatman, M. B. (2024). Representations of calendars and time at Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe support an astronomical interpretation of their symbolism. Time and Mind, 1–57. doi.org/10.1080/1751696X.2024.2373876

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