Taşlı Tepe
Taşlı Tepe · Taşlıtepe · Taş Tepeler Taşlı Tepe
PPNA·Taş Tepeler PPN·🇹🇷 Şanlıurfa Province, Tektek Mountains, Turkey
About
About Taşlı Tepe
Tektek Mountain slab-hill where Taş Tepeler survey recorded dense surface scatters of Byblos- and Nemrik-points, fox-sculpted pillar fragments and two large rectangular buildings with stone-door sockets — the 'missing' domestic side of Göbekli culture. The ridge controls the Harran–Suruç waterless steppe route, suggesting why Göbekli was sited where pilgrims could actually walk.
Why it mattersShows Taş Tepeler was not 'temples without towns' — villages and shrines together.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Relation of rectangular domestic footprints to circular shrines
- 02Water management on waterless ridge
Theories
- 01Karavan stop hypothesis: ridge way-station for basalt and obsidian caravans
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.9500–8500 BCE
- Period
- PPNA
- Culture
- Taş Tepeler PPN
- Builders
- Tektek hunter-foragers
- Purpose
- Ridge-top settlement with ritual architecture and steppe trade control
- Abandoned
- c.8500 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 2015 Bahattin Çelik Tektek survey; 2021 Taş Tepeler expansion
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
2015
PPNA lithic and pillar fragment collection published
On the ground
Structures & features
37.2000° N · 39.5500° E · 780 m · 3 mapped features
Rectangular Building 1
house8×6 m slab building with pillar socket and door pivot
37.2005° N · 39.5505° EFox pillar fragment scatter
sculptureLimestone fox-head carving among surface debris
37.1998° N · 39.5498° ERidge lithic scatter
scatterPPNA point and debitage carpet
37.2000° N · 39.5500° E
Gallery