Editing Göbekli Tepe (section)

==Research history==
[[File:Klaus Schmidt Monumento 2014 5.jpg|thumb|right|Klaus Schmidt delivering a lecture in Salzburg, 2014.]]
Before being documented by archaeologists, the hill Göbekli Tepe stands on, known locally in [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] as {{lang|ku|Girê Mirazan}} or {{lang|ku|Xerabreşkê}} ({{lang|ku|Girê Mirazan}} meaning 'Wish Hill'{{sfn|Kosen|2019}}), was considered a sacred place.{{sfn|Zekîoğlu|2020}}{{sfn|''Hürriyet Daily News''|2018}}

The archaeological site was first noted in 1963 as part of an [[archaeological survey]] directed by [[Halet Çambel]] of [[Istanbul University]] and [[Robert John Braidwood]] of the [[University of Chicago]].{{sfn|Benedict|1980}} American archaeologist Peter Benedict identified the [[stone tool]]s collected from the surface of site as characteristic of the [[Aceramic Neolithic]],{{sfn|Schmidt|2011|p=917}} but mistook the upper parts of the T-shaped pillars for grave markers.{{sfn|Batuman|2011}} The hill had long been under agricultural cultivation, and generations of local inhabitants had frequently moved rocks and placed them in clearance piles, which may have disturbed the upper layers of the site. At some point, attempts had been made to break up some of the pillars, presumably by farmers who mistook them for ordinary large rocks.<ref name="Smithsonian2008" />

In October 1994, German archaeologist [[Klaus Schmidt (archaeologist)|Klaus Schmidt]], who had previously been working at [[Nevalı Çori]], was looking for evidence of similar sites in the area and decided to re-examine the location described by the Chicago researchers in 1963.<ref name="Smithsonian2008" />{{sfn|Dietrich|Dietrich|Notroff|2017}} Asking in nearby villages about hills with flint,{{sfn|Dietrich|Dietrich|Notroff|2017}} he was guided to Göbekli Tepe by Mahmut Yıldız, whose family owned the land the site was situated on.{{sfn|''Hürriyet Daily News''|2018}} The Yıldız family had previously discovered finds while ploughing there, which they reported to the local museum.{{sfn|''Hürriyet Daily News''|2018}}{{sfn|''Hürriyet Daily News''|2021}} Having found similar structures at Nevalı Çori, Schmidt recognized the possibility that the stone slabs were not grave markers as supposed by Benedict, but the tops of prehistoric [[megalith]]s. He began excavations the following year and soon unearthed the first of the huge T-shaped pillars.<ref name="Smithsonian2008" /> Ultimately he found only three tombs on the eastmost hill-group, which were a pilgrimage destination.{{sfn|Beile-Bohn|Gerber|Morsch|Schmidt|1998|p=45}} Yıldız went on to work on the excavations and serve as the site's guard.{{sfn|''Hürriyet Daily News''|2018}}

Schmidt continued to direct excavations at the site on behalf of the [[Şanlıurfa Museum]] and the [[German Archaeological Institute]] (DAI) until his death in 2014. Since then, the DAI's research at the site has been coordinated by [[Lee Clare]].{{sfn|Clare et al.|2017|p=87}}{{sfn|Clare|2020}} {{As of|2021}}, work on the site is conducted jointly by Istanbul University, the Şanlıurfa Museum, and the DAI, under the overall direction of [[Necmi Karul]].{{sfn|''Tepe Telegrams''}}{{sfn|Kazanci|2020}} Recent excavations have been more limited than Schmidt's, focusing on detailed documentation and conservation of the areas already exposed.{{sfn|Kazanci|2020}}