The Turkish press noted it:
"Professor Klaus Schmidt, a pioneer of excavations in Göbeklitepe, known as the “zero point in history” in the eastern Turkish province of Şanlıurfa, died of a heart attack while swimming in Germany at the age of 61.
"Schmidt had been working at Göbeklitepe for 20 years for the German Archaeology Institute. Through his works, he proved that the Neolithic-age ancient site was the world’s oldest temple.
"He had published books on the Göbeklitepe excavations in Turkish, German, Italian and Russian, along with countless scientific articles and work on exhibitions and conferences across the world.
...
"The archaeological remains in Göbeklitepe, which date back to 10,000 BC and are considered one of the most exciting recent archaeological findings, show that hunters and gatherers of the Stone Age, while struggling to survive and meet their basic needs, also tried to understand nature, believing in superpowers and/or gods and came together to worship. Built thousands of years before previously known temples, Göbeklitepe has changed the way scientists think about the Neolithic Period and the birth of civilization.
"Since 2008, Schmidt had been working with a team of German archaeologists. His schedule was two months of excavation in the spring and two months in the fall. In 2011, Schmidt was interviewed and revealed that roughly 5 percent of the site has been excavated..."
The picture revealed by Klaus's excavation was of a world where large pillars were decorated with fauna, representations which included lions and possibly leopards. The results of carbon dating suggest Gobekli Tepe was older than Stonehenge, older than Catalhoyuk and the buildings more sophisticated than those at the Jericho of that era. One site summarizes is significance in these words: "The earliest sanctuary for communal ritual activity known to date, the Göbekli Tepe ruins have led scholars to reconsider the origins of religion and human civilization."
"Schmidt had been working at Göbeklitepe for 20 years for the German Archaeology Institute. Through his works, he proved that the Neolithic-age ancient site was the world’s oldest temple.
"He had published books on the Göbeklitepe excavations in Turkish, German, Italian and Russian, along with countless scientific articles and work on exhibitions and conferences across the world.
...
"The archaeological remains in Göbeklitepe, which date back to 10,000 BC and are considered one of the most exciting recent archaeological findings, show that hunters and gatherers of the Stone Age, while struggling to survive and meet their basic needs, also tried to understand nature, believing in superpowers and/or gods and came together to worship. Built thousands of years before previously known temples, Göbeklitepe has changed the way scientists think about the Neolithic Period and the birth of civilization.
"Since 2008, Schmidt had been working with a team of German archaeologists. His schedule was two months of excavation in the spring and two months in the fall. In 2011, Schmidt was interviewed and revealed that roughly 5 percent of the site has been excavated..."
The picture revealed by Klaus's excavation was of a world where large pillars were decorated with fauna, representations which included lions and possibly leopards. The results of carbon dating suggest Gobekli Tepe was older than Stonehenge, older than Catalhoyuk and the buildings more sophisticated than those at the Jericho of that era. One site summarizes is significance in these words: "The earliest sanctuary for communal ritual activity known to date, the Göbekli Tepe ruins have led scholars to reconsider the origins of religion and human civilization."
One thing the literature does not stress about the significance of this site: scientists had blindly assumed that religion was an aspect of urbanization. Gobekli Tepe opens the possible horizon that man's religious concern was not just epiphenomenal, but a dimension of his nature.
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