Modified human crania from Göbekli Tepe provide evidence for a new form of Neolithic skull cult

Abstract

Archaeological excavations at Göbekli Tepe, a transitional Neolithic site in southeast Turkey, have revealed the earliest megalithic ritual architecture with characteristic T-shaped pillars. Although human burials are still absent from the site, a number of fragmented human bones have been recovered from fill deposits of buildings and from adjacent areas. We focus on three partially preserved human skulls, all of which carry artificial modifications of a type so far unknown from contemporaneous sites and the ethnographic record. As such, modified skull fragments from Göbekli Tepe could indicate a new, previously undocumented variation of skull cult in the Early Neolithic of Anatolia and the Levant.

Keywords: Anatolia; Human skull; Pre-Pottery Neolithic; carving; ritual; taphonomy.

Fig. 1. The site of Göbekli Tepe.

(A) Location of Göbekli Tepe in southeast Turkey (Upper Mesopotamia). (B) Overview of excavated areas, showing find locations of skull 1 (a), skull 2 (b), and skull 3 (c). Credit: Erhan Küçük, Göbekli Tepe Archive, German Archaeological Institute (DAI). (C) Impression of the monumental round-oval buildings with their characteristic T-shaped monolithic pillars. Credit: Nico Becker, Göbekli Tepe Archive, DAI.

Fig. 2. Schematic drawings of Göbekli Tepe skulls.

Gray, preserved elements; red, modifications. (A) Frontal, superior, and posterior view of skull 1. (B) Frontal, superior, and lateral view of skull 2. (C) Frontal, superior, and lateral view of skull 3.

Fig. 3. Macroscopic details of artificial skull modifications.

(A) Skull 1: Fragment of frontal bone with carvings. (B) Fragment of left parietal bone with drilled perforation. (C) Skull 2: Fragment of right parietal bone with carvings. (D) Skull 3: Fragment of frontal bone with carvings. Credit: Julia Gresky, DAI.

Fig. 4. Anthropomorphic depictions from Göbekli Tepe.

(A) Intentionally decapitated human statue (height, 60 cm). Credit: Nico Becker, Göbekli Tepe Archive, DAI. (B) The gift bearer holds a human head in his hands (height, 26 cm). Credit: Dieter Johannes, Göbekli Tepe Archive, DAI. (C) Pillar 43 (building D) with low relief of an ithyphallic headless individual, one arm raised (bottom right). Credit: Klaus Schmidt, Göbekli Tepe Archive, DAI.

Fig. 5. Skull 1: Tentative reconstruction.

Drilled perforation at the top of the cranium is used to suspend the skull with a cord (red). Carvings were used for stabilization purposes, preventing the cord from slipping. Credit: Juliane Haelm, DAI.