{"id":613,"date":"2016-05-08T11:09:24","date_gmt":"2016-05-08T09:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tepetelegrams.wordpress.com\/?p=613"},"modified":"2023-02-06T10:30:14","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T09:30:14","slug":"the-current-distribution-of-sites-with-t-shaped-pillars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/2016\/05\/08\/the-current-distribution-of-sites-with-t-shaped-pillars\/","title":{"rendered":"The current distribution of sites with T-shaped pillars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Current distribution of sites with T-shaped pillars and with simple limestone stelae (modified after Schmidt 2006; Copyright DAI).<\/p><\/div>\n

The characteristic element of G\u00f6bekli Tepe\u00b4s architecture are the T-shaped pillars. In the older Layer III (10th millenium BC) the monolithic pillars weigh tons and reach heights between 4 m (pillars in the stone circles) and 5.5 m (central pillars). The T-shape of the pillars is clearly an abstract depiction of the human body seen from the side. Evidence for this interpretation are the low relief depictions of arms, hands and items of clothing like belts and loinclothes on some of the pillars. Often the pillars bear further reliefs, mostly depictions of animals, but also of numerous abstract symbols.
\nLayer III is supraposed by layer II, dating to the 9th millenium BC. This layer is not characterised by big round enclosures, but by smaller, rectangular buildings. The number and the height of the pillars are also reduced. In most cases only the two central pillars remain, the biggest measuring around 1,5 m.<\/p>\n

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The large pillars are so far only known from G\u00f6bekli Tepe. This may change over time however, as there now are several sites that show smaller pillars, resembling those of G\u00f6bekli Tepe\u00b4s younger layer. T-shaped pillars resembling the smaller examples from G\u00f6bekli Tepe\u2019s Layer II were first recorded at the settlement site of Neval\u0131 \u00c7ori. Several more sites in the near vicinity of G\u00f6bekli – Sefer Tepe, Karahan, and Hamzan Tepe – are known to have similar pillars, but no excavation work has been carried out so far. With the Neolithic site of Urfa-Yeni Yol, which seems to have revealed a small T-shaped pillar in the course of construction work in that area, with Ta\u015fl\u0131 Tepe, and with Gusir H\u00f6y\u00fck three more related sites were added to this list recently. A further addition to the sites with T-shapes is the so-called Kilisik statue, that closely resembles the general pillar form but has more naturalistic features [find a text by Marc Verhoeven on this find here –\u00a0external link<\/a>].<\/p>\n

While most sites concentrate in a rather small radius around G\u00f6bekli Tepe, Gusir H\u00f6y\u00fck in the Turkish Tigris region [more information – external link<\/a>] has considerably widened the distribution area of circular enclosures, however the pillars discovered there are slightly differently shaped \u2013 they seem to be missing the bar of the T. Similar stelae have been discovered in Cay\u00f6n\u00fc and Qermez Dere. As only Gusir H\u00f6y\u00fck has been excavated, nobody can tell at the moment what the other sites might hide.<\/p>\n

Further reading
\n<\/strong>\u00c7elik, Bahattin. 2011a. \u201cKarahan Tepe: a new cultural centre in the Urfa area in Turkey.\u201d Documenta Praehistorica 38: 241\u2013253.<\/p>\n

\u00c7elik, Bahattin. 2011b. \u201c\u015eanl\u0131urfa\u2014Yeni Mahalle.\u201d In The Neolithic in Turkey 2. The Euphrates Basin, edited by Mehmet \u00d6zdo\u011fan, Nezih Ba\u015fgelen and Peter Kuniholm, 139\u2013164. Archaeology & Art Publications, Istanbul.<\/p>\n

\u00c7elik, Bahattin, G\u00fcler, Mustafa, G\u00fcler, G\u00fcl. 2011. A new Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlement in southeastern Turkey: Ta\u015fl\u0131 Tepe. Anadolu \/ Anatolia 37: 225-236.<\/p>\n

Hauptmann, Harald. 1988. \u201cNeval\u0131 Cori: Architektur.\u201d Anatolica XV: 99-110.<\/p>\n

Karul, Necmi. 2011. \u201cGusir H\u00f6y\u00fck.\u201d In The Neolithic in Turkey 1. The Tigris Basin, edited by Mehmet \u00d6zdo\u011fan, Nezih Ba\u015fgelen and Peter Kuniholm, 1\u201317. Archaeology & Art Publications, Istanbul.<\/p>\n

Karul, Necmi. 2013. \u201cGusir H\u00f6y\u00fck\/Siirt. Yerle\u015fik Avc\u0131lar.\u201d Arkeo Atlas 8: 22\u201329.<\/p>\n

Moetz, Fevzi K. and Bahattin \u00c7elik 2012. \u201cT\u2011shaped pillar sites in the landscape around Urfa.\u201d In Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, edited by Roger Matthews and John Curtis, 695\u2013703. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The characteristic element of G\u00f6bekli Tepe\u00b4s architecture are the T-shaped pillars. In the older Layer III (10th millenium BC) the monolithic pillars weigh tons and reach heights between 4 m (pillars in the stone circles) and 5.5 m (central pillars). The T-shape of the pillars is clearly an abstract depiction of the human body seen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[24914,1260267,588658,489839847],"class_list":["post-613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-archaeology","tag-gobeklitepe","tag-neolithic","tag-t-pillars","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7756,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions\/7756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}