ScienceLandslides may have swept human remains into Göbekli Tepe
Science reports that a new analysis of the first intact burials at the 10,000-year-old site in southern Turkey offers an alternative to earlier speculation about a hunter-gatherer “skull cult.”
TLDR
Hundreds of bone and skull fragments found around Göbekli Tepe led early excavators to suggest a hunter-gatherer “skull cult” or a temple where birds picked apart the dead, Science reports. A new analysis of the site's first intact burials offers another possible explanation: Landslides may have swept human remains into the complex, mixed with debris from collapsed structures.
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Landslides may have swept human remains into Göbekli Tepe
Science reports that a new analysis of the first intact burials at the 10,000-year-old site in southern Turkey offers an alternative to earlier speculation about a hunter-gatherer “skull cult.”
TLDR
Hundreds of bone and skull fragments found around Göbekli Tepe led early excavators to suggest a hunter-gatherer “skull cult” or a temple where birds picked apart the dead, Science reports. A new analysis of the site's first intact burials offers another possible explanation: Landslides may have swept human remains into the complex, mixed with debris from collapsed structures.