12,000-Years-Old Çakmaktepe: 2024 Taş Tepeler Update

Precisely 60 km due west of Karahan Tepe is one of the 12 Tas Tepeler sites of SE Anatolia, a site with origins older than Göbeklitepe, Karahantepe, Harbetsuvan Tepesi, Sefer Tepe and Sayburç.

This is Cakmaktepe, an early Pre-Pottery Neolithic A site that was discovered using satellite image analysis in 2021. In the same year it was discovered, excavation work began, a joint project by archaeologists from Çukurova University and Şanlıurfa Museum, part of the Tas Tepeler Project. In 2022, the University of Tsukuba, Japan, was also included in the excavations.

I made a video on this long-lost settlement 2 years ago, but with more excavation and new published information, I thought it was time to re-visit Cakmaktepe, and give you an up-to-date overview of this very important site.

All images come from Google Earth, Google Images and the below sources for educational purposes only. Please subscribe to Ancient Architects, Like the video, and please leave a comment below. Thank you.

Contents:
0:00 Introduction
2:59 Çakmaktepe: Location and Size
4:33 Ancient Dwellings & Enclosures
5:46 Special Purpose Buildings
7:26 Wooden Pillars not Stone T-Shapes
9:07 Animal Skull Rituals
9:43 Finds and Artefacts
11:22 Concluding Remarks

Sources:

#ancientarchitects #gobeklitepe #tastepeler

[bmj]

I’m always fascinated by the Anatolian archaeological sites

[Pbavtor]

Your work is aggregated proof that the deeper we dig, the more we find and our ancestors weren't primitive chimps. They shared many of our own social structures. They loved, laughed, lived and died just as we all do. They appreciated beauty and wondered 'Why?' I found one of your "stone age Swiss army knives in the PNW. I've used it for several purposes, and you were right, it has many uses. It's vaguely diamond shaped, is worked on three sides with different edges. Anything scraping or pounding. It also fits perfectly in your palm and has a smooth, worked groove for your thumb to improve grip. Plus, you're armed all the time. Thank you for making my small life brighter.

[JMMRanMA]

Fascinating! You never disappoint Matt. To think I lived so close to all of this, and didn't know it. I was teaching in Gaziantep, and a few sites were known in the 1970s, but they were inaccessible. Gaziantep, I was told, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities, but the citadel was a ruin, fenced off and with no access. An organized trip to Turkey would have far more available sites and the advantage of group planning.

Don't forget to try the various Turkish food choices, and there are many regional variations. Kebab is always great, and Turkish Meze, like Spanish Tapas, is an assortment of small dishes, this is a good choice for groups to share more different items.

Best wishes for a successful trip!

[tomlindsay]

I think if we could see what ancient peoples were *really* doing with wood, it would blow our minds. Furniture, tools, art, who knows?
The burnt skulls found sends my mind to wondering about ancient food, too. Humans love their food, and it seems like they always have. There must have been some awesome feasts at these sites, because humans love their parties, too! 😃
Thanks for posting!

[scrubber]

Thank you for your time and effort. Always interesting.

[MichaelRisman-be]

Fabulous vid. that is so interesting.I get a chill most the times at the beginning of your content.Your work and following it is so exciting Matt. Thanks again!

[PaulArtman]

Another example of great work. Keep it coming!

[jimmyzbike]

What an interesting site. Please keep us updated

[boba]

This is a civilisation, there can be no doubt

[barrywalser]

I’m sure I don’t fully understand what their lifestyle was like, but it’s fascinating to imagine. Thanks Matt!

[jimfulbrook]

Great job as usual, Matt! Not long ago, you did a video on a site in Syria, and there are others in the Levant, including Israel. Maybe you could do a video where you lay out a map wth the numerous sites with dates to see if there is any alignment. Sch an effort would also possibly reveal where other sites in any given period may be located. Obviously, there are many sites yet to be discovered, but at least a few of these by dates should be given priority for excavation, methinks. There must be sites created during the Younger Dryas and even before, which could be overlaid on the map and dated locations currently known. I wish I had the time and talent to contribute, but alas, that's not me...Regards, JimF, Fairfax, VA USA

[kaarlimakela]

Very exciting stuff. 😊 Nice details.

[TWOCOWS]

Thank you for continuing to record and show the new Mirazan sites (the original, local local name for the recent official government name). Mirazan means a "miracle maker". The local, childless women give offerings at the hill, hoping for a child. The fertility myth of the hills, still lingers. Mirazan is the meaningful, local name for this entire super old civilization/culture. A lot better than the silly name of Gobekli ("potbelly")-- given to it by the ruling government there . I hope you continue showing us more and more of the Mirazan sites as they get dug up

[ooomooo]

Great video. This is so interesting, all these ancient sites

[supernova-]

I posted a few videos you have to see, Matt. The last one was "Why the Debate Over a Roof at Gobekli Tepe is a Waste of Time". I'm part of this community now!

[TheAdeybob]

I think the transition vector is more along the lines of storage. The more you gather, the more you store, sure - but you gather more if you ideate and plan ahead. This can only mean involved and deliberate planting and husbandry. The more storage there is, the more likely there has been farming.

[johnswindale]

Many thanks for the information. If you come up with a theory, you are not afraid to change your mind and t6why you have changed tact. Love your content, makes my day..

[douginorlando]

Regarding ancient roof design, we should realize Rope and cloth are likely key components along with stone and wood. Twine has been discovered in a southern France Neanderthal cave (3 strands spun around each other with the opposite twist direction as the twist direction of each of the 3 strands which were also individually spun to make a strand). Rope and twine is so useful, it must have been applied so solve many problems.
The ancient roofs likely had some form of oculus which could be covered by cloth. 12, 000 years ago the cloth was likely animal skins woven together. My guess is the ancient roof opening was closed or opened with a cloth covering that would have been pulled with ropes and a suitable frame structure for the ropes. I picture a large cloth attached to 2 parallel poles. One pole is permanently affixed to the roof. The other pole is pulled by ropes to pull the cloth over the oculus opening or off the opening.
Note the common misconception about the Roman Colosseum … it also had a cloth awning over the bleachers that could be pulled on or off.

[TasTepelerMedeniyet]

It’s mind-blowing how ALL the world’s 12-13, 000 year old settlements and Earth’s Lost Civilization are all in tiny Urfa province, Türkiye

[FrancisFjordCupola]

Amazing as always. I wonder when you mention pre-pottery, how often did humans invent pottery? I can imagine it happening multiple times. Have we uncovered the first pottery bakers?