We live in cities—50% of humanity is urbanised—be that Örnsköldsvik, Umeå, Tokyo etc. But a new site in Anatolia called Göbekli Tepe has pushed the origins of the city and civilization—aka the Neolithic—itself to new, inextricably early dates. At 9,700 BC, Göbekli Tepe defies logic as its megalith stone pillars are 6,000 years older than Stonehenge. Its ice age hunter gatherers—much like the ones in Scandinavia—erecting possible cosmological alignments and the world’s first temple.

But why did the builders of Göbekli Tepe use the site only to bury it ritually, as if a time capsule for the future? Does Göbekli Tepe contain information about the younger Dryas interstadial glaciation and even the yearly Taurid meteor shower that caused massive climate change at 14,500?  

Former professional paleoethnobotanist Sam Coleman recently visited Göbekli Tepe’s Turkish site in 2024 as well as Tell Sabi Abyad in Syria.

The lecture will be held in English and is free of charge, but you must reserve a seat: https://oviks-museum.ungapped.io/Events/a4c30edc-dd67-4461-834a-9249d728a4b9