Editing Göbekli Tepe (section)

==Architecture==
[[File:The archaeological site of Göbekli Tepe - main excavation area.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Aerial view of the main excavation area, showing circular enclosures A, B, C and D and a number of rectangular structures.]]

===Large enclosures===
The first circular compounds appear around the latter half of the {{BCE|10th millennium}}. They range from {{cvt|10|to|30|m}} in diameter. Their most notable feature is the presence of T-shaped [[limestone]] pillars evenly set within thick interior walls composed of unworked stone. Four such circular structures have been unearthed so far. Geophysical surveys indicate that there are 16 more, enclosing up to eight pillars each, amounting to nearly 200 pillars in all. The slabs were transported from bedrock pits located approximately {{cvt|100|m}} from the hilltop, with workers using flint points to cut through the limestone bedrock.{{sfn|Schmidt|2000b|pp=52–3}} The pillars are the oldest known [[megalith]]s in the world.{{sfn|Scham|2008|p=23}}

Two taller pillars stand facing one another at the centre of each circle. Whether the circles were provided with a roof is uncertain. Stone benches designed for sitting are found in the interior.{{sfn|Mithen|2004|p=65}} Many of the pillars are decorated with [[Abstract art|abstract]], enigmatic [[pictogram]]s and carved animal reliefs. The pictograms may represent commonly understood sacred symbols, as known from [[Neolithic]] [[cave paintings]] elsewhere. The reliefs depict mammals such as lions, bulls, boars, foxes, gazelle, and donkeys; snakes and other reptiles; [[arthropod]]s such as insects and arachnids; and birds, particularly vultures. Vultures also feature prominently in the iconography of [[Çatalhöyük]] and [[Jericho]].

Few humanoid figures have appeared in the art at Göbekli Tepe. Some of the T-shaped pillars have human arms carved on their lower half, however, suggesting to site excavator Schmidt that they are intended to represent the bodies of stylized humans (or perhaps deities). Loincloths appear on the lower half of a few pillars. The horizontal stone slab on top is thought by Schmidt to symbolize shoulders, which suggests that the figures were left headless.{{sfn|Schmidt|2010|pp=244, 246}} Whether they were intended to serve as surrogate worshippers, symbolize venerated ancestors, or represent supernatural, anthropomorphic beings is not known.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Some of the floors in this, the oldest, layer are made of [[terrazzo]] (burnt lime); others are bedrock from which pedestals to hold the large pair of central pillars were carved in high relief.{{sfn|Schmidt|2010|p=251}} Radiocarbon dating places the construction of these early circles {{circa|{{BCE|9000}}}}.

Later enclosures were rectangular in shape, perhaps to make more efficient use of space compared with circular structures. They often are associated with the emergence of the Neolithic,{{sfn|Flannery|Marcus|2012|p=128}} but the T-shaped pillars, the main feature of the older enclosures, also are present here, indicating that the buildings continued to serve the same function in the culture,{{sfn|Schmidt|2010|pp=239, 241}} during the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]] (PPNB). The several adjoining rectangular, doorless, and windowless rooms have floors of polished lime reminiscent of [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] terrazzo floors. Carbon dating has yielded dates between 8800 and {{BCE|8000}}.{{sfn|Schmidt|2009|p=291}} Several T-pillars up to 1.5 meters tall occupy the center of the rooms. A pair decorated with fierce-looking lions is the rationale for the name "lion pillar building" by which their enclosure is known.{{sfn|Schmidt|2009|p=198}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
Urfa_Göbeklitepe_Building_B_5326.jpg|Enclosure B
File:Göbeklitepe_Şanlıurfa.jpg|Enclosure C
File:Göbeklitepe.jpg|Enclosure F
</gallery>

=== Slope slide events ===
The enclosures, lying over {{Convert|10|m|ft}} below the highest areas of the settlement, were subject to several slope slide events during the occupation period of Göbekli Tepe.{{Sfn|Schönicke|2019|p=217-219}} A particularly severe one occurred at the end of the early PPNB. which inundated enclosure D with rubble of domestic structures and sediments, including burials and [[midden]] deposits. This caused severe damage to the enclosure, which led to repairs and stabilization works to be conducted. At a later point, in Building Phase 5, terrace walls were erected, likely to prevent future damage from such events. These measures, however, proved futile, when a second major slope slide probably caused the enclosure to the abandoned during Building Phase 6, around the late 9th millennium BCE. Other enclosure suffered a similar fate, which might have led to new enclosures being constructed to replace them.{{Sfn|Kinzel|Clare|2020|p=32-33}}

Previously, it had been assumed that the large enclosures were intentionally back-filled, an interpretation that has fallen out of favor since Klaus Schmidt's death.{{Sfn|Schönicke|2019|p=217}}

===Domestic structures===
In the earliest occupation phase, round-oval domestic structures were built alongside the large enclosures, which indicate a (semi) sedentary lifestyle. Over time there was an increasing tendency of these buildings to have a rectangular floor plan. In the final settlement phase only small structures were erected.{{Sfn|Kinzel|Clare|2020|p=32-33}}

=== Burials ===
Before any burials were found, Schmidt speculated that graves could have been located in niches behind the walls of the circular building.<ref name="Smithsonian2008">{{harvnb|Curry|2008b|}}.</ref> In 2017, fragments of human crania with incisions were discovered at the site, interpreted as a manifestation of the widespread [[Neolithic skull cult]].{{sfn|Gresky|Haelm|Clare|2017}} Special preparation of human crania in the form of [[plastered human skulls]] is known from the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]] period at Levantine sites such as [[Tell es-Sultan]] (also known as [[Jericho]]), [[Tell Aswad]], and [[Yiftahel]], and later in Anatolia at [[Çatalhöyük]].{{sfn|Stordeur|2003}}{{sfn|Kenyon|1965}}{{sfn|Meskell|2008}}

===Other structures===
At the western edge of the hill, a lionlike figure was found. In this area, [[flint]] and limestone fragments occur more frequently. It was, therefore, suggested that this could have been some kind of sculpture workshop.{{sfn|Schmidt|2006|pp=109–11}} It is unclear, on the other hand, how to classify three [[phallus|phallic]] depictions from the surface of the southern plateau. They are near the quarries of classical times, making their dating difficult.{{sfn|Schmidt|2006|p=111}}

Apart from the tell, there is an incised platform with two sockets that could have held pillars and a surrounding flat bench. This platform corresponds to the oldest parts of the tell. Continuing the naming pattern, it is called "complex&nbsp;E". Owing to its similarity to the cult-buildings at [[Nevalı Çori]] it has also been called "Temple of the Rock". Its floor has been carefully hewn out of the bedrock and smoothed, reminiscent of the [[terrazzo]] floors of the younger complexes at Göbekli Tepe. Immediately northwest of this area are two cistern-like pits that are believed to be part of complex&nbsp;E. One of these pits has a table-high pin as well as a staircase with five steps.{{sfn|Schmidt|2006|p=109}}

===Later structures===
The uppermost layer of the tell is the shallowest but accounts for the longest stretch of time. It consists of loose sediments caused by erosion and the virtually-uninterrupted use of the hill for agricultural purposes since it ceased to operate as a ceremonial center.

Around the beginning of the {{BCE|8th millennium}}, Göbekli Tepe lost its importance. The advent of [[history of agriculture|agriculture]] and animal husbandry brought new realities to human life in the area, and the "Stone-age zoo" apparently lost whatever significance it had had for the region's older, foraging communities.