Turkey’s Karahantepe Reveals 12,000-Year-Old Diet Rich in Gazelle and Legumes

Karahantepe archaeological site, Turkey. Credit: Mahmut Bozarslan / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Lab investigation of remains from Karahantepe, a Neolithic tract successful Turkey, has shed caller airy connected what radical ate determination astir 12,000 years ago, with fare patterns pointing to a dense reliance connected gazelle nutrient and legumes.

Prof. Dr. Necmi Karul, who heads the Tas Tepeler Project and oversees excavations astatine the site, said the plant-based findings came arsenic a surprise. Researchers had anticipated that grains would relationship for astir works consumption, but legumes turned retired to beryllium a important dietary staple instead.

Animal remains told a parallel story. Gazelle dominated the nutrient supply, a signifier that besides appeared astatine adjacent Gobeklitepe. Both sites are comparable successful property and are considered the oldest known monumental settlements connected record. Karul noted a cardinal difference.

At Gobeklitepe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, carnal remains reflected a broader ecological range, drafting from lowland plains and higher upland terrain alike. Food sources astatine Karahantepe were much concentrated by comparison.

Gobeklitepe and Karahantepe shared a sensation for gazelle

Located astir 46 kilometers (28.6 miles) from the metropolis of Sanliurfa successful Tek Tek Mountains National Park, Karahantepe covers astir 12 hectares (29.7 acres).

The tract contains much than 250 T-shaped Neolithic pillars with a ocular resemblance to those astatine Gobeklitepe, on with carved carnal reliefs and three-dimensional quality figurines recovered crossed the grounds.

Göbeklitepe-style T-pillars. Credit: Beytullah eles / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Fieldwork astatine the tract has tally for 7 years nether the Tas Tepeler Project, a multi-site inaugural considered 1 of the astir thorough archaeological undertakings successful Turkey.

Excavated crushed presently totals 6,000 quadrate meters (64,583 quadrate feet), though Karul said deeper unexplored layers stay beneath the progressive excavation zone. He added that caller worldly surfaces each season, making a completion day hard to estimate.

Karahantepe fare findings adhd to Turkey’s Neolithic record

Karul said the property spread betwixt the 2 sites is not the point. Both bespeak a level of architectural and creator accomplishment that acold surpassed thing produced elsewhere during the aforesaid period.

That standard, disposable successful the stonework, craftsmanship, and symbolic imagery, extended crossed Anatolia good beyond this aboriginal phase.

Human carved faces successful the Karahantepe archaeological site. Credit: Vincent Vega / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Research has besides expanded successful scope. A abstracted ecology inaugural is documenting the existent scenery and geology of the portion to assistance reconstruct the biology conditions of the era. The effort besides captures accepted practices inactive contiguous successful the country today.

Construction of a protective operation implicit parts of the tract is moving guardant arsenic conservation and nationalist entree go shared priorities.