Göbekli Tepe: NEW EXCAVATIONS Begin Under the Former Olive Trees

Hello everybody and welcome to Ancient Architects. Please subscribe to the channel for regular content on ancient architecture as well as all the latest news from the world of archaeology. New excavations have begun at the world-famous pre-pottery Neolithic site of Gobekli Tepe, in a patch of land directly north of the famous oval buildings, yes, the land previously covered by the controversial olive trees. The trees were planted on the land by the original landowners, and this was to increase the value of the land before being sold to authorities. And, as many of you will know, the trees were relocated quite recently. Without going into the controversy of the tree saga, today I just want to focus on the excavations, and they're taking place in the southeastern corner of this newly opened patch of land, which, in the early days, has already revealed stone structures. According to the excavation director, Dr Nestmi Karel, archaeologists began working on an area of roughly 1,500 square metres, excavating horizontally across a broad surface, as they gradually moved down to deeper archaeological layers. This strategy is intended to reveal how buildings were distributed across this part of the settlement. Starting from one edge of the area and continuing northwards, almost immediately remains of buildings were discovered at shallow depths. Due to their rectangular shape, they're believed to date to the pre-pottery Neolithic B, which is the second phase of occupation at the site, when rectangular buildings were favoured over the oval structures that came before. Basically, the shape of the architecture evolved. The shallow depths of the buildings were somewhat of a surprise, but a welcome one, because it allowed archaeologists to identify the ground plan and site organisation much faster than expected. In several cases, the floors of the buildings have already been reached. The unusually shallow depth is partly the result of erosion. The upper sections of the ancient walls have been worn away long, long, long ago, leaving the surviving portions of the structures close to the present ground surface. These buildings belonged to the slightly later time when the famous T-shaped pillars were being used less in construction, and that's why there's been a lack of T-shaped pillars uncovered so far. The arrangement of the interiors of the new buildings leaves the experts to believe that these are likely to be places where domestic activities took place, i.e. they may have been dwellings, the places where the people lived. It is a preliminary interpretation, but it fits in with what we already know about Gobekli Tepe, that rectangular domestic buildings were built around the oval structures which are found sunk in a hollow at the heart of the settlement. Of course, right now there's still so much work to do for the archaeologists, such as examining soil and sediment, especially from floor level, to see if the science fits with the interpretation. Such analysis of microscopic material may provide traces of food preparation, plant material, and other residues, and will give us an indication of the activities that took place in these buildings. But on first impressions, to Dr. Carroll they do look to be the homes of the people. To some people, the lack of T-shaped pillars and large oval buildings may be disappointing, but these new finds represent an important part of the Gobekli Tepe story. Yes, of course, we do love to find intricately carved T-shaped pillars and monumental architecture, but that's just one part of what's clearly a more complex settlement. With both communal and domestic buildings, cisterns, water channels, a quarry, and so on, we do need to see the bigger picture. People were living at Gobekli Tepe. It wasn't a ceremonial centre where people gathered at certain times of the year. No, it was a large settlement and long-lived, a place where people stayed all year round. The old interpretation of Gobekli Tepe was offered when archaeological exploration was not very advanced, and so with excavation and continual analysis, of course, the Each Tashtipela site in southeastern Turkey was a settlement, with Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe being two of the largest, and the excavations will be able to tell us more about the people that lived there. Work this season will involve removing the surface layer across the wider excavation zone, and this is to reveal what's directly underneath, giving us a plan of the structures. And for those that want to see more T-shaped pillars and oval communal buildings, we are expecting to find more, because the land does contain another large hollow, and as far as I'm aware, geophysics indicates that more oval buildings are waiting to be found. On Twitter this week, Dr Lee Clare also said that new special buildings are to be expected. According to the media, archaeologists have also found out that the olive trees that formerly grew here caused far less damage than initially feared. Away from the new excavation zone, there are also other projects ongoing at Gobekli Tepe, including excavation and conservation of the famous oval buildings, with a focus this season on the famous building D. Work that will ensure that this building remains stable, and this is important because of the landscape. Just look at this picture that was shared by Lee Clare on Twitter. It shows how the land slopes towards the famous oval buildings. In pre-pottery Neolithic times, the people apparently built a retaining wall, and it's clear why experts believe that slopeslide events were the main reason for the demise of the famous oval buildings. And without conservation, the same could easily happen again, especially after an earthquake. So of course conservation is critically important at Gobekli Tepe, but of course the new excavation zone is what's most exciting right now, because we don't know what's waiting to be uncovered in the near future. The picture of Gobekli Tepe is changing, and will continue to change for many years to come as excavations continue. What was once viewed as a landscape of monumental pillars is now being viewed very differently, as a thriving Neolithic community. A settlement comprising domestic and communal buildings, and one of the largest ever discovered from this time. Before I finish, I will just mention that work has also begun at another pre-pottery Neolithic site, and this is known as Yogan Burj. It's said to be another large sister site to Gobekli Tepe, covering a massive 22 acres of land. It's a joint Chinese-Turkish project, and already stone tools, beads, ornaments, the teeth of wild boar and other ancient artifacts have been uncovered, and I expect there's so much more to come. 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