Göbekli Tepe: What’s behind the image? A brief summary of research (2015-2019)
Abstract
Upper Mesopotamia, which today includes modern-day southeastern Turkey, northern Syria and northern parts of Iraq, was one of several core zones that contributed to the emergence of Neolithic lifeways in the 10th and 9th millennia calBC. It was from these areas that subsequent centuries saw the dissemination of the Neolithic into adjacent parts of Anatolia, the Middle East and beyond. Today, the tell site of Göbekli Tepe (~9.300-8.000 calBC), located some 90 km east of the Euphrates River in Şanlıurfa, is a key archaeological site for studying the manifold processes in the run-up to plant and animal domestication and the emergence of Neolithic lifeways in the region. Research undertaken in the period 2016-2019 has included small-scale archaeological excavations and the re-evaluation of more than two decades of excavation records. This work has questioned former interpretations of the site which still fuel the popular media image of Göbekli Tepe as home to the world’s first temples
About the presenter
Dr. Lee Clare is based at the Istanbul Department of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) where he is responsible for the coordination of the Göbekli Tepe Project. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Cologne in 2005, majoring in prehistoric archaeology. Following the completion of his PhD in 2013, which looked at Early Holocene climate-culture interactions in the Eastern Mediterranean, he joined the DAI as a post-doctoral fellow. Since 2015, he has been coordinating research and fieldwork at Göbekli Tepe.
About Archaeology Working Papers
The Working Papers in Archaeology seminar series provides a forum for dissemination of archaeological research and ideas amongst UQ archaeology students and staff. All students are invited to attend the series and postgraduate students, from honours upwards, are invited to present their research. The aim is to provide opportunities for students, staff and those from outside UQ, to present and discuss their work in an informal environment. It is hoped that anyone interested in current archaeological directions, both within and outside the School and University, will be able to attend and contribute to the series.
