AI Insight
Researchers discovered the first two intact burials at Göbeklitepe, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic site in southeastern Turkey dating to 8,700-8,000 BCE. Previously, only fragmented human bones from various individuals had been found scattered throughout the site's monumental buildings. The intact burials suggest that dispersed bone fragments likely resulted from slope deposits washing down from higher areas of the mound where original burials were located, though additional mortuary practices cannot be ruled out.
Why it matters
These findings provide crucial insights into Early Neolithic burial practices in Anatolia and help explain the previously puzzling distribution of human remains at one of the world's oldest known monumental sites. The discovery demonstrates the diversity of mortuary rituals during this pivotal period of human cultural development.
Understand the Science
by Julia Gresky, Lee Clare
Since the beginning of excavations at Göbeklitepe, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) site in southeastern Türkiye, fragmented human bones have been recovered from the fill of the special (monumental) buildings. These fragments derive from males and females of all age categories and exhibit various taphonomic alterations. Compared with contemporaneous Anatolian burial customs, certain parallels exist; however, the seemingly random distribution of human bone fragments at Göbeklitepe remains enigmatic. Recently, the first two intact burials were discovered in Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8,700–8,000 BCE) contexts. The taphonomic evidence from these burials could explain the presence of the dispersed human bone fragments. It appears that lower-lying parts of the site became inundated by slope deposits from higher areas of the mound, which contained human remains from originally intact burials. Nonetheless, this explanation does not rule out the possibility of additional mortuary practices, thereby underscoring the considerable diversity of burial rituals in Neolithic Anatolia.
Source: First burials give insights into mortuary rites at Göbeklitepe, Early Neolithic Türkiye