Göbekli Tepe: Prehistoric Evidence for Animism?

Bibliography:
Dušan Boric, "Theater of Predation: Beneath the Skin of Göbekli Tepe Images," 2013
Oliver Dietrich, "Shamanism at Early Neolithic Göbekli Tepe," Praehistorische Zeitschrift, 2023.
O. Dietrich, Notroff, Walter, and L. Dietrich, "Markers of 'Psycho-Cultural' Change," in "Handbook of Cognitive Archaeology Psychology in Prehistory," 2020.
Anne Porter, "Beer, Beasts, and Bodies: Shedding Boundaries in Bounded Spaces," Routledge Companion to Ecstatic Experience in the Ancient World, 2021.
Gesualdo Busacca, "Places of Encounter," 2017.
Nerissa Russell and Kevin McGowan, "Dance of the Cranes: Crane Symbolism at Çatalhöyük and beyond," 2003.
Hodder and Meskell, "A Curious and Sometimes a Trifle Macabre Artistry," Current Anthropology, Vol. 52, No. 2 (April 2011).

00:00 Introduction
1:39 Animal iconography overview
4:00 Animism Explained
6:59 Neolithic Animal Personhood
11:00 Predatory, Male, Aggressive Iconography

Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images

[wrestlersmith]

You said "they may have assumed animals were persons" but I think more accurately "we weren't yet so removed from other animals".
It's easier to remember you're a part of nature when predators are still one of your biggest worries

[thecomprehensionhub]

The Northern Mexican indigenous group known as "The Yaquis" highly esteem the deer as their saving grace, since their history says that they were a nomadic group that moved north to the Sonoran desert. They were in a survival situation, and they would observe and follow groups of deer that would know exactly where water and vegetation was at. And the deers would provide meat as well. Animals have always been seen as conscious intelligences that human have learn much from, and I understand why Animism is a central root for ancient religions and ceremonies.

[TechBearSeattle]

I took some cultural anthropology classes in college back in the late 80s. One professor talked about "the great god Mayco" as an example of how easy it was to misinterpret archaeological artifacts. The story is that, in the far future, a group of archaeologists uncover a building filled with things such as porcelain figurines, clothes, and metal sculptures. After some work, they translated the name on the building as Mayco. So, naturally, they assumed that Mayco was a deity of some kind, the building was a temple, and the artifacts were votive offerings left by worshipers seeking favor. The size of the building and the quantity of artifacts clearly showed that Mayco must have been very important. The point being that May Co is a department store.

[DneilB]

If I may throw in some context for Gobekli Tepe: Djoser’s pyramid (the step pyramid) is the oldest known pyramid in Egypt, and dates to around 2650 BCE, or about 4800 years ago, give or take. The site at Gobekli Tepe is from around 9500 to 8000 BCE, or about 10, 000 to 11, 000 years ago.

Djoser’s pyramid was built closer in time to today than to the time of Gobekli Tepe.

That’s mind-blowing old.

[daenerys]

I think if there was more animism in modern society, we would treat the environment with a lot more respect

[lbjcb]

Those carvings are so beautiful and so well preserved after thousands of years.

[MJ-cvye]

Did you visit Kaharen Tepe too? Much more obscure, only discovered in 2019 & barely excivated due to Covid. Its 13, 000 years old at least. Very cool place. Hope you knew to see it

[Bellesmells]

I am an Indigenous Australian, the Brolga is my Totem. In cultures around the world, the Crane is a symbol of wisdom, science, record keeping, and planning. It is often the totem of a person who is involved in some way in governance but not specifically a leader. The people who built this were obviously capable of planning and likely had a system of governance, each symbol representing a member or position in the semi-religious governing body, these were likely semi-religious/semi governmental buildings intended to be generational, maybe even to facilitate the generational transfer of power as many tribal traditions around the world have very similar structures and themes

[wongar]

One of my favorite tubers talking about my favorite topic in the world, today is a very good day

[fawziekefli]

I wonder what future archeologists will think of us if they ever get their hands on a Bat-Man comic.

[jakobfromthefence]

Animism is a very wholesome life attitude. And it doesn’t necessarily exclude any other understanding

[nebulan]

I love trying to imagine a day in the life of someone so ancient

[epsilonjay]

You should do a video on the religion of the Harappan Civilization. I haven't found many videos about that and I'd love to learn more about it, especially its connection to Hinduism.

[BeautifulHestia]

This was one of the better videos on Gobleki Tepe that I’ve seen in a while!

[hedgehog]

I'm definitely looking forward to more content about both pre-historic and indigenous religion.

[sirlancelot]

As a long time turkish fan of yours hopefully you had a pleasant time in Turkey and I wish that I could’ve come across you while visiting the site. Maybe you can come once again to do a video about Ephesus or something of that kind down the line.

[kenziedayne]

Some Native American tribes had groups within the tribe that were associated with an animal for that group. For example the Wolf Clan, a group of warriors of the Cherokee tribe. Is it possible the animals were representing different groups within the tribe, or perhaps different tribes. If it was an annual gathering place for many tribes in the region, perhaps it was a way to say "this is snake clan space, this is scorpion clan space", etc. I can see small groups of people coming together yearly, or bi yearly, to share food, rituals, find new mates, etc. Perhaps those animals weren't worshiped per se, so much as the totems were designating what area of the site belonged to what group. And of course they had a relationship with animals, they were hunters. You pray to the spirit of the animals to provide a good hunt, to thank them for their sacrifice, to protect your tribe, etc.

[alexanderren]

Great video! I’m confident that as more and more of these ancient sites are excavated and studied, there’s going to be significant revisions made to our understanding of the complexity and timeline of human civilizations across the world

[josephpaulduffey]

Now, THIS is a great video and the absolute best discussion of Gobekli Tepe I've seen yet. Dr. Henry is hitting the exact nail on the head. What did any of this mean in the real lives of these people? Look at just how vital this issue of defining "human" versus "animal" is in the history of life.

This work, plain and simple, exposes masterful artwork at these sites which I haven't seen put in its true context by any other researchers. Incredible.

[DaveLopez]

I really enjoy these videos as I have a fascination for the different topics discussed in the channel. Thorough and informative. Thank you so much!