{"id":7146,"date":"2018-07-11T14:58:19","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T12:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tepetelegrams.wordpress.com\/?p=7146"},"modified":"2018-08-22T11:51:06","modified_gmt":"2018-08-22T09:51:06","slug":"gobekli-tepe-added-to-world-heritage-list-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/the-tepe-telegrams\/2018\/07\/11\/gobekli-tepe-added-to-world-heritage-list-turkey\/","title":{"rendered":"G\u00f6bekli Tepe Added to World Heritage List (Turkey)"},"content":{"rendered":"

(After the announcement<\/a> of the forthcoming decision on the World Heritage status of the site, <\/em>culturalheritage.news<\/strong>, the\u00a0<\/em>Archaeological Heritage Network’s (ArcHerNet) [external link]<\/a><\/em> blog, has just published another article by Eva G\u00f6tting [external link]<\/a> on the final addition of the archaeological site of G\u00f6bekli Tepe to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. We are gladly sharing it here.)
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View of G\u00f6bekli Tepe’s so-called main excavation area, Enclosure D in the front. (Photo: Nico Becker, DAI)<\/p><\/div>\n

On July 1 the World Heritage Committee in Bahrain added the Stone Age site of G\u00f6bekli Tepe to the World Heritage List. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On the hill of G\u00f6bekli Tepe, stone pillars stand tall against the Turkish summer sky. People first came here more than 11.000 years ago. These men and women, who lived as hunters and gatherers, achieved a great deal with very little. Without metal tools, the highly skilled artisans of G\u00f6bekli Tepe carved the T-shaped pillars from the local limestone. These pillars \u2013 some of which were up to 5.5 metres high and weighed several tons \u2013 then found their way from the nearby quarry to the site, where the communities incorporated them into round-oval, semi-subterranean stone buildings. Fox, crane, boar, snake and scorpion arise from the light-coloured stone, leaving a vivid testimony of Neolithic art. For thousands of years, the monumental structures were forgotten, covered by a mound of earth and rubble. However, in 1994 researcher Klaus Schmidt recognised the importance of the place. A Turkish-German collaboration of archaeologists undertook first excavations at G\u00f6bekli Tepe. Today, the stone buildings still stand where they were once erected \u2013 in the hilly landscape of south-eastern Turkey.<\/p>\n

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The mound of G\u00f6bekli Tepe. View from south. (Photo: Klaus Schmidt, DAI)<\/p><\/div>\n

In a climatised hall in Bahrain, archaeologist Dr Lee Clare of the German Archaeological Institute [external link]<\/a> awaits the verdict of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee [external link]<\/a>. Every year the Committee selects the sites to be included in the World Heritage List. In 2018 the representatives from 21 State Parties meet for the 42nd time. Dr Clare coordinates the international team of archaeologists that investigate G\u00f6bekli Tepe and has worked together with the State Party of Turkey on the application process. Over the past two decades, research at G\u00f6bekli Tepe has seen the successful collaboration of German archaeologists with the Turkish authorities, first and foremost the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey and the \u015eanl\u0131urfa Museum. Current research at the site is undertaken in the frame of a DFG [Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft<\/em>] long-term funding project.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re extremely pleased that we can make an active contribution to the Turkish UNESCO nomination of G\u00f6bekli Tepe. The significance of the site for our understanding of the Neolithic transition in this key area of the Fertile Crescent can\u2019t be stressed enough,\u201d<\/em> says Lee Clare.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

G\u00f6bekli Tepe \u2013 A site of Outstanding Universal Value<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dr Clare knows that it is a long process to build a good case that stands up to scrutiny. The \u2018Outstanding Universal Value\u2019 of a cultural heritage site must be recognisable. A convincing management plan is also one of the criteria of the\u00a0UNESCO [external link]<\/a>. World Heritage Committee. During the last 20 years, the team of archaeologists has carefully uncovered just enough of G\u00f6bekli Tepe to gain an insight into the possible functions of the site and its significance for contemporaneous hunter-gatherer communities. Two permanent shelters now protect the Neolithic T-pillars, walls and terrazzo floors from wind and weather. The aim of the archaeologists is not only to gain a better understanding of the past but to preserve the site for future generations.<\/p>\n\n\t\t