If we were to reduce the dawn of civilization down to a single point, that point would undoubtedly be Göbekli Tepe... Because, as we discussed in our video on it, Göbekli Tepe represents the very first steps our hunter-gatherer ancestors took to transition from a nomadic lifestyle to a settled one. That's why we call Göbekli Tepe, whose construction began 11, 600 years ago, the "zero point in time." But what if the zero point in time didn't start in just one place? What if we actually need to say the zero pointS in time? New studies show that Göbekli Tepe might not actually be as alone as we thought. It seems our ancestors built many similar temples all around Göbekli Tepe... Or did they build shelters?... Or maybe something else?... Because the one we're talking about today isn't dedicated to animals or nature like Göbekli Tepe, but is adorned with statues directly depicting humans. For example, unlike Göbekli Tepe, the site we're discussing today, Karahan Tepe, has yielded plen ty of human statues, along with numerous pillars carved to look like giant penises. Yes, I'm serious! And more importantly, again unlike Göbekli Tepe, the people of that era might have actually lived at Karahan Tepe year-round! If Göbekli Tepe excites you, let me tell you, you haven't seen anything yet. Meet Karahan Tepe, one of the most magnificent archaeological mysteries of our time... Every great discovery begins with curious, and trained, eyes looking at the right place in the right way. The story of Karahan Tepe began in 1997 when Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahattin Çelik, a Harran University researcher conducting a cultural inventory in Southeastern Anatolia, noticed T-shaped pillars poking their heads out of the soil just 45 kilometers east of Göbekli Tepe. T-shaped pillars... If you recall, these are the very same stones that have been springing up from the ground at Göbekli Tepe for centuries. If you go to Karahan Tepe today, these weathered, white stones you'll see scattered around the hill are actually the tops of the pillars of a mysterious structure waiting to be excavated underground. When you dig them up, orangey-brown pillars and city walls emerge from underneath them. Only the parts left above ground erode and turn white after being exposed to rain, wind, and water for 11,000 years. So, even though the archaeological significance of these stones at Karahan Tepe was discovered in 1997, excavating the hill only became possible in 2019 through the efforts of Istanbul University. An interdisciplinary team of dozens of Turkish and international scientists used the most modern archaeological techniques to slowly start excavating this hill, whi ch is actually a "tell"—a mound formed by sand and stone covering an ancient city. It would reveal that it's not Göbekli Tepe's twin, but its sibling. Despite many similarities, the striking differences already discovered would show that these two hills are just two pieces of a much larger archaeological puzzle. Today, we call that entire puzzle the "Taş Tepeler Projesi," or Stone Hills Project. I'll come back to this at the end of the video, but first, let's take a quick look at how Karahan Tepe is similar to Göbekli Tepe. First of all, Karahan Tepe, located 45 kilometers southeast of Şanlıurfa's city center, is also situated within our Tek Tek Dağları National Park. If we take a bird's-eye view, we see numerous rooms and clearings, just like at Göbekli Tepe. Archaeologists name these structures with various letters like AA, AB, and AD, exactly as they do at Göbekli Tepe. To give you a better sense of scale, that AD structure in the middle is about 23 meters in diameter and 4.5 meters deep. Since Karahan Tepe, like Göbekli Tepe, was built on limestone terrain that's incredibly easy to cut and work with, our ancestors built these structures by carving right into the limestone bedrock. We know this because the entire area is covered in the remains of chisels and axes that could have been used in this carving process. I'll get to that in a bit. If you look at the "hill" where Karahan Tepe sits from a distance, you can see there are still sooo many mysteries waiting to see the light of day. Underground surveys using tools like ground-penetrating radar and magnetometers show that only about 5 to 6 percent of the structure has been uncovered so far. In fact, if you visit Karahan Tepe today, you'll find archaeological remains everywhere you step. I've even seen videos of the site where visitors try to help researchers by lining up obsidian tools, chisels, bones, and other remains they found outside the excavati on area onto large stones. Even though this is done with good intentions, it's incredibly dangerous for such a sensitive and unique excavation site, so I strongly urge you to just admire this beauty from a distance. And at Karahan Tepe, there are hundreds of those T-shaped pillars we talked about in detail in our Göbekli Tepe video. Remember, these aren't just randomly erected stones. The top line of that "T" represents a human head, while the bottom line represents the human body. We can tell this from the drawings of clothes and drapes carved into the T-stones, and the hand and arm motifs on their sides. Of course, it's not yet clear whether these stones represent regular people like you and me, or the mythological ancestors, spiritual beings, or even gods revered by the builders of Karahan Tepe themselves. Regardless, the use of this shared symbolism in both sites points to these communities sharing the exact same culture. Because another similarity between the two structures is about time. We know Göbekli Tepe was built between 9600 and 8200 BC. Radiocarbon analyses done at Karahan Tepe show that this structure was built between 9500 and 8700 BC, meaning Göbekli Tepe's second... ...layer, dating between 9500 and 8700 BC, was built at the exact same time. And considering it's only 36 kilometers as the crow flies between the two sites, it's highly likely our hunter-gatherer ancestors roamed these lands for centuries and built multiple similar structures. Naturally, the architecture of these two sites is also very similar: Both Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe feature monumental structures—usually circular or rectangular, and built partially underground—that were clearly used for communal and ritualistic purposes. These structures were built according to a specific plan, supported by T-pillars, and designed as special spaces where the community could gather. And remember, as we saw in the Göbekli Tepe video, not only the construction of thes e sites, but also their sealing up when people were done with them, wasn't just rand omly leaving them to the mercy of nature. It was done with immense care, labor, and meticulousness: When our ancestors were done with Karahan Tepe, they purposefully filled the rooms they had built over centuries with soil, stone fragments, animal bo nes, and broken tools, sealing them up and abandoning the structures just like that. We don't know exactly why they did this. Maybe, just as they believed the deaths of humans and animals were as meaningful as their births, they believed the "death" of a structure should be just as meaningful as its birth. Who knows? So, as you can see, there are many fundamental similarities between these two sites. And these similarities beautifully demonstrate how, even 11,000 years ago, culture could be passed down by word of mouth, from parent to child. In that sense, these structures represent the very point where the story of humanity stopped being fleeting and started becoming permanent across millennia. But despite all these similarities, thinking of Karahan Tepe merely as Göbekli Tepe's twin would be doing it a huge injustice. Because if Karahan Tepe had happened to be discovered before Göbekli Tepe, all the fame that Göbekli Tepe enjoys today would probably belong to Karahan Tepe. So rather than seeing this as a "popularity contest," we need to see them as pieces of a puzzle that will help us lift the veil of mystery surrounding our ancestors. And the differences between those puzzle pieces are just as important as the similarities. Chief among these differences is the glaring divergence in who or what the structures were dedicated to. If you remember, I mentioned we saw an incredible number of wild, dangerous animal motifs at Göbekli Tepe: Foxes, wild boars, snakes, vultures, and leopards... There, we either don't see humans at all, or if we do, they're very much in the background. But when we move from Göbekli Tepe to Karahan Tepe, we see the spotlight has been officially turned onto humans themselves, like an "anthropomorphic revolution" took place. In the statues unearthed from the region, we see humans are clearly placed front and center. Take this head motif discovered during the excavations, for instance. We don't know if this used to belong to a body and got separated by succumbing to the forces of nature over 11,000 years, or if it was intentionally severed for symbolic reasons. But the details are extraordinary: just look at its carefully decorated eyebrows, its eyes and ears, and its individually carved teeth! And here is another example. But the most spectacular proof of the anthropomorphic revolution at Karahan Tepe is undoubtedly this 230-centimeter-tall seated male statue [https: //dar.vin/wDz0d and https: //dar.vin/DP09k]. I don't even know if I should say "holy cow" or what to say.:D I really don't. But jokes aside, can you look at the attention to detail people showed 11,000 years ago? take a closer look. Even the foreskin looks as if it were carved yesterday. They even sculpted the band of tissue under the head of the penis, what we call the frenulum. It's just mind-blowing [ https: //i.imgur.com/LjIGn0c.png IF YOU WANT TO SHOW IT: https://dar.vin/3LeG3]. And take a look at these ribs! From what I can count, they carved 12 pairs of ribs—and humans do indeed have 12 pairs of ribs. Granted, the bottom two aren't in the front like on this statue, but still, it's amazing! We don't know who or what this statue represents either. It's likely a monument our ancestors dedicated to their own ancestors, but such a realistic human statue represents an incredible artistic and conceptual leap for that era. And this statue's isn't the only penis we see at Karahan Tepe. Look, out of the 11 statues erected in the middle of this room archaeologists call "AB," 10 of them are structures carved to be "phalluses," or human penises [https://dar.vin/wUL6m and https://dar.vin/jUGg3 THESE: https://i.imgur.com/x1tNYvZ.jpeg OR VIDEO: https://youtu.be/8EaKFKYPXVk 04: 38]. This group of 10 was carved directly into the limestone bedrock... ...carved right into the bedrock, while that wonkier shape you see in the middle is a snake-like statue that was carved somewhere else and later moved among them. If you look closely, a human figure watching over these penises has also been placed in the prime spot on the room's western wall [https: //i.imgur.com/pCbVccB.jpeg THERE'S A CLOSER SHOT HERE: https://dar.vin/GttLh]. So... Why do you think the people of Karahan Tepe were so obsessed with the penis? Looking back at those days with our modern mindset, it's very easy to interpret this as an absurd "obsession with sex." But remember, these people lived right in the lap of the wild. The rules that applied to them weren't things like modern laws or human rights. They might not have lived in a literal jungle, but they were still subject to "laws of the jungle" far harsher than anything we're subject to today. And those rules were built on two foundations: survival and reproduction... Whoever could do both of those kept on going. Whoever failed at even one of them disappeared forever. And when you factor in the importance our ancestors placed on resisting extinction, you can easily understand just how crucial it was for them to emphasize sexuality, remember it, and make it the center of their lives. On the contrary, if they had placed less importance on survival and reproduction than this, that's when we should think there was a problem. I mean, in an age where 8 billion humans are overflowing the planet, telling people to have 3 or 5 kids might sound funny. But when your tribe only has 150 to 200 people, producing as many healthy offspring as possible truly was a matter of life and death. The Terror Management Theory we've discussed before beautifully builds the bridge between us modern humans and our ancestors who built Karahan Tepe and Göbekli Tepe. We put so much complex effort into distancing ourselves from the terror of death—which our ancestors were increasingly realizing back then—and from our animalistic drives like sex. From the mythologies we build to our narratives about our place in nature, everything we do can be explained by this terror we feel toward our biological roots. If you want to better understand what I mean, be sure to watch our video on Terror Management Theory. But to sum up, the things we stubbornly run away from today were the very core of our ancestors' daily lives—and these totems and monuments show exactly that. Anyway, let's put the penises aside.: D Another obsession of the people who built Karahan Tepe, aside from penises, was leopards. We see there were leopards. You might ask, "What on earth is a leopard doing in Turkey?" but again, don't think anachronistically. Today, leopards only live in the green ar eas on this map, but before modern humans slaughtered them and destroyed their habit ats, they roamed across all these yellow and orange areas. As you can see, our present-day Şanlıurfa region was a standard habitat for leopards, meaning the people of Karahan Tepe were wrestling with leopards, bears, wolves, and snakes every single day. Naturally, they reflected this in their artwork too. For instance, in this statue unearthed there and currently exhibited in the Şanlıurfa Museum, we see a leopard on top of a human [https: //dar.vin/FNolD and https://dar.vin/itJr5 and https://dar.vin/zB33Z and https://dar.vin/kRVAI and https://dar.vin/L9Q6Y]. We aren't entirely sure what this means either. It's possible to interpret it in a few different ways: The most obvious possibility is that this scene shows a leopard pouncing on a person. Like I said, since survival was the main issue for people back then, it's highly likely they heavily featured the elements that threatened them in their art and stories. After all, we also come across more standard leopard drawings at Karahan Tepe. Because people depicted the things they feared and respected in their art, and they still do. But because the leopard was carved more like it's riding on the person's back rather than pouncing on them, and because we see more artworks reflecting humanity's desire to dominate nature throughout the rest of Karahan Tepe, another possibility is that this is a leopard hunted by the person... Meaning that person might be carrying the leopard they killed on their back. If this interpretation is right, we can say that the depiction we saw at Göbekli Tepe of a "human who fears nature and wants to live in harmony with it" started to give way at Karahan Tepe to a depiction of a "human trying to dominate and conquer nature." So, in a sense, we see humans beginning to discover themselves. This could be a sign that people were starting to see themselves as special beings, separate from the animal kingdom. Another statue that reinforces this is this one right here. We see a person here, but what on earth are those dots drawn on them, right? The most widely accepted interpretation is that this is a person wearing a leopard skin... Which again means it's a depiction of humans dominating nature and bending it to their will... If you think about it from this angle, Karahan Tepe might just stand as the oldest monument to the human ego becoming self-aware and our tendency to put ourselves at the center of the universe. If that's true, what an iconic discovery this is, don't you think? can you see it? Of course, a 3rd alternative to all of these... ...is the possibility that this statue depicts a symbolic event rather than a real one. Meaning that leopard might be emerging from inside that person and representing their soul. This can also be taken as an indicator that the people of Karahan Tepe were starting to develop mythological narratives. Because remember, the people at Göbekli Tepe were far more literal; they didn't do much of anything that could be called mythological storytelling. It's hard to know for sure which of these interpretations is right, so our conclusions shouldn't be seen as absolute facts. But there is one last point about Karahan Tepe that leaves much less room for interpretation, clearly setting it apart from Göbekli Tepe. Remember, one of the most debated topics after Göbekli Tepe's discovery was who the builders of these monumental structures were, and more importantly, **why** they built them. Our Göbekli Tepe video... ...basically revolved around this very topic. As I explained there, the current consensus is that it was a cult center where noma dic hunter-gatherer groups gathered at specific times of the year to hold rituals. In other words, Göbekli Tepe seems to have been built more like a "pilgrimage cente r" rather than a permanent settlement, or at least used primarily for that purpose. But Karahan Tepe is very different. Because here, right next to the monumental structures, there are houses where people of that era went about their daily lives. Inside these structures unearthed during the excavations, there are elements we'd expect to find in a settlement, like household pots and pans—things we never found at Göbekli Tepe. Also, unlike anything we've seen at Göbekli Tepe, we see numerous water channels carved into the rocks at Karahan Tepe, with water being transported along these channels into pools [https: //youtu.be/8EaKFKYPXVk 06:08 WATER CHANNEL; 04:15 FOR A POOL EXAMPLE]. In fact, these water channels are so prominent and dominant at Karahan Tepe that some even think the structure was built to perform water-related rituals. There are also public spaces like the one you see here. Just like the other rooms, they were built to follow the slope of the hill, and along their walls, there are the same two-tiered seating areas we see in the other rooms. The space also features carefully arranged sections, cylindrical stone slabs on the floor, niches set into the walls, and stone vessels. The people of Karahan Tepe probably gathered in these rooms to socialize or perform their rituals. And after 11,000 years, we are uncovering these rooms once again. As you can see, what's been discovered so far at Karahan Tepe shows that this wasn't just a temple or ritual site, but that people might have actually lived here year-round—or for months at a time, at the very least. Kind of like a village... This makes Karahan Tepe an extraordinary discovery all on its own. Because prior to this, a widely held view in archaeology was that agriculture was invented first, then villages were established, and only then did monumental structures and complex societies form. Göbekli Tepe had already shaken this view to its core, but Karahan Tepe forces us to completely reshape the classic Neolithic Revolution model by showing that, at least in certain regions, this order could be flipped on its head. Science doesn't get any better than this! So there you have it... We don't yet know what Karahan Tepe will tell us in the years to come. But what we do know is this: Framing this structure as Göbekli Tepe's "twin" might be a good intro to the story, but as the current discoveries already show, there are also serious differences between Karahan Tepe and Göbekli Tepe, and these differences are key to shedding light on the cultural evolution of ancient humans. If we can manage to place the similarities and differences between these structures on a timeline, we can illuminate exactly what our ancestors experienced during the transition to a settled lifestyle, which is one of the most important turning points in human history. And the fact that the key to this veil of mystery is found right here on Turkish soil is truly breathtaking—I can't even begin to explain how lucky we are! And as I said at the beginning, it's not just about Göbekli Tepe or Karahan Tepe. So far, we've discovered at least 12 different ancient settlements that we think are interconnected like this. What are the other structures on this map whispering to us? Well, that's a topic for another video. If you're interested in these topics, don't forget to turn on channel notifications now, and be sure to watch our Göbekli Tepe video to gain a deeper understanding of the significance of these discoveries. See you in the next video, take care.