Archaeologist Argues World's Oldest Temples Were Not Temples at All

Another opinion on Gobekli Tepe

Ancient structures uncovered in Turkey and thought to be the world's oldest temples may not have been strictly religious buildings after all, according to an article in the October issue of Current Anthropology.

Link to article

"It is … likely that some of these buildings were the locus for a variety of rituals, probably including feasts, mortuary rites, magic, and initiations," he writes. "Yet there is generally no reason to presume a priori, even when these are as impressive as the buildings at Göbekli Tepe, that they were not also people's houses."

reply to post by Hanslune


You know I've was thinking about the site just the other day. There was an article in National Geographic which started me thinking about the possibility of the site/sites were used as pitfall traps. The whole purposely being buried started me thinking that maybe they were always buried around the outside. with a false weak roof and maybe the people would chase a herd or whatever over the spot and what ever fell in would be harvested and or sacrificed.

This following image got me thinking. Notice how the entrance on the right has two slabs that slide closed? They appear to only really be opened and closed from the outside not the inside.



So if they were buried level with the surrounding terrain and had a false roof any animal that was chased over the top would fall in and be trapped.

Just a thought

reply to post by SLAYER69


And a good thought too. I can't think of a much better way to catch and contain a large beast myself. That would make it a simple job.

reply to post by wtbengineer


I was thinking of what Native American plains Indians would do when they chased Buffalo over a small ridge or crest. Then harvest as much as they needed from the herd that fell off.

reply to post by SLAYER69


Wow that is thinking outside the box! That would be a interesting use for the site. My only issue is that it seems to be a bit grandiose. Unless it was planned for use over many years if not generations of hunters. It would make a great trap for dangerous game.

reply to post by hangedman13


Well then there you go.
The site was in use for not hundreds but a couple of thousand years.

The corridor was once a lush migration route 8 to 10 thousand years ago.

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by Hanslune

 

You know I've was thinking about the site just the other day. There was an article in National Geographic which started me thinking about the possibility of the site/sites were used as pitfall traps. The whole purposely being buried started me thinking that maybe they were always buried around the outside. with a false weak roof and maybe the people would chase a herd or whatever over the spot and what ever fell in would be harvested and or sacrificed.

This following image got me thinking. Notice how the entrance on the right has two slabs that slide closed? They appear to only really be opened and closed from the outside not the inside.

So if they were buried level with the surrounding terrain and had a false roof any animal that was chased over the top would fall in and be trapped.

Just a thought

edit on 7-10-2011 by SLAYER69 because: (no reason given)

Brilliant observation!

I too think labelling any ancient site as an "important religious temple" is ridiculous.

If our ruins survive thousands of years into the future, they will be saying "yes, this ancient site, Chase Bank, was surely some type of very important religious area, I mean, just look at the size of it! It was built with stone and metal, a sure sign of it's surpreme importance in the daily spiritual rituals of the people who worshipped there."

Just think of how many places there are like that in the modern world. Just think of all the "corporate art" sculptures in every downtown area all over the world, which has absolutely no significance to practically anyone. They will later be the stonehenges of our time.

Originally posted by hangedman13
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

Wow that is thinking outside the box! That would be a interesting use for the site. My only issue is that it seems to be a bit grandiose. Unless it was planned for use over many years if not generations of hunters. It would make a great trap for dangerous game.

Or... for the most dangerous game of all... lol

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by wtbengineer

 

I was thinking of what Native American plains Indians would do when they chased Buffalo over a small ridge or crest. Then harvest as much as they needed from the herd that fell off.

They'd harvest EVERYTHING of any possible use.

That was a practice that was very popular in many places, which is why old school UK people will tell you how delicious Haggis is and encourage you to engage in "nose-to-tail" dining. Old habits die hard, especially good ones.

reply to post by DieBravely




Sure use every bit of it. Let nothing go to waste but you can keep the haggis

reply to post by DieBravely


Now there is another interesting thought, using it against a invading army. In the Chase bank example you gave, isn't money "god" for some? So in a sarcastic way it would be a correct assumption. Vaults for the temple offerings and the teller windows as alters. It is all in your perspective and we know very little of the in's and outs of ancient civilizations. Most of what we think we know is based on guess work with what information we have.

this is so interesting!! I like how you think out of the box. What will remain of us in a thousand years...how accurate will the historians and archeologists be??

reply to post by SLAYER69


Yes Slayer, bravo for thinking outside the box... however, I still don't think that's it. Not that I have any better of a suggestion.

It's because of the elaborate carvings. I can't imagine why the use of the elaborate carvings for an "animal pen". Also, wasn't there some sort of "alter" discovered there?

I love the collaborative minds of ATS.

I think that Slayer has an interesting theory, however the article says that the site is on a hilltop. Wouldn't you think that a valley would be a more suitable place for game to be traveling, and there bye, being able to be driven over the trap.

One thing about the site that I find striking is what seems to be a very narrow entrance. I wonder why it would be so narrow. I also wonder about the "T" shaped stones. Do they have any celestrial alignment. Could this be some sort of astronomical observatory?

reply to post by lonegurkha


There are dozens and dozens of these enclosures still buried. I'm, sure some were used for various things like temples and having an alter in one of them doesn't negate the possibility of they being used as Pitfalls not animal pens.

The elaborate carving could be symbolic reference to animals to fear, eat and watch out for.

Who knows?

Shrugs shoulders....

reply to post by SLAYER69


I think that we really need to keep an eye on this site. The age of it I find most unusual. Please don't think that I negate your theory.I believe it to be quite possible.

Originally posted by hangedman13
reply to post by DieBravely

 

Now there is another interesting thought, using it against a invading army. In the Chase bank example you gave, isn't money "god" for some? So in a sarcastic way it would be a correct assumption. Vaults for the temple offerings and the teller windows as alters. It is all in your perspective and we know very little of the in's and outs of ancient civilizations. Most of what we think we know is based on guess work with what information we have.

when looking at buildings with a sence of humor, like banks, the more they are a sales jobs, the more impressive they are.

our sky scrapers are white elephants, useless phalic symbols of corporations on their way to excesses induced bankruptcy like ENRON.
golf courses would be incromprehensible to an intelligent, logical future society.
a field for religeous rituals?

we have armored vehicles hauling paper money.

who knows what trinkets our ancesters coned themselves into thinking important.

I think possibly a seasonal stopover on the migration pathway that was previously mentioned.

No doubt part of it would then have a religious connotations while other parts would be for housing the tribe.

Probably there's another one or two somewhere on the migration route.

Could be they buried it every time they left, and uncovered it when they returned - maybe to keep the place safe from occupation by rivals.

One day they just didn't come back.

Harte

reply to post by Harte


Mr Harte have you seen the argument for why they believe it was buried deliberately?

That was an interesting picture. I noticed that it has only one door on it though and that door connects a long hallway that goes in a circle around the enclosed part. I think that is big enough for one person to go through at a time. Maybe it was used as a type of sporting arena. I remembered from a movie I watched once about villages that had a champion fighter in each one and these fighters would go from village to village to challenge others. Sometimes too, the champion fighter was the one who got to be the chief of the village.

Maybe this structure is that kind of place where the ancients went to watch the fighters. But there are no seats in it so perhaps that was just for the elders or high ranking men of the villages to stand and watch. Maybe it was a practice arena.

I think people associate the birth of the sports spectacle with the Romans, but they just knew how to do it in a big way.Here is a link to the MesoAmerican Ballgame...www.ballgame.org...

And here is one about ancient Nubian wrestling..wysinger.homestead.com...

I don't know, this is just my theory.

What's interesting about your herd idea, is that evolutionarily speaking, humans aren't designed to run fast, but what we are designed to do, is run for a really long distance/period of time. There's a certain amount of evidence that suggests that early man hunted in groups, chasing animals down over vast distances, into a variety of traps - some relatively simple ones, such as a very large V shape that would be made of a relatively small wall, or perhaps natural terrain.. Herds would be chased into these traps, then caught and killed by the people waiting at the far end. It didn't matter how fast the humans ran, so much as their ability to keep running and herding the (eventually very tired) animals towards their deaths..

I'm paraphrasing based on this book - www.amazon.com... if you're curious as to where I got this particular set of information about running/hunting...

It's completely plausible that a civilization would herd and chase animals into traps like that one, especially given that you could use the structure to sort the animals and keep them alive until you actually need to kill them, one by one..

I noticed also the middle T columns along with the side columns. What if those were there for some type of roof, say thatch or animal hides? I think there could have been wooden seats or a walkway that went around it. I don't think we give the ancients enough credit for being intelligent and sophisticated. Archeologists have painted us a picture of the ancients being super-religious and very devout. There isn't really any proof that shows how devout any group of people really were. I don't think the ancient Egyptian people really believed their pharaohs were gods, just because there are hieroglyphics that represent worship, usually that worship is performed by a very small group of people.

And maybe think about this, if it is big enough for a human to get through but not a bear or saber-tooth tiger, then it could be this is where the village went to hide in if there was a bear or a tiger loose. Maybe not tigers, I think the doorway is big enough for that, but definitely not bears.