Gobekli Tepe's Cosmic Blueprint Revealed Links Events News Books Cygnus Meonia QuestCon Articles Email Report by Andrew Collins author of From the Ashes of Angels (1996), The Cygnus Mystery (2006) and Beneath the Pyramids (2009)On a hilly ridge called Göbekli Tepe in the Taurus Mountains of southeast Turkey, near the ancient city of Sanliurfa, archaeologists have uncovered the oldest stone temple complex in the world. Constructed most probably during the second half of the tenth millennium BC, some 7,000 years before Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid, the site consists of a series of rings of enormous T-shaped pillars, many bearing carved reliefs of Ice Age animals, strange glyphs and geometric forms.But what exactly were these stone enclosures used for, and were they aligned to the stars? Already there have been claims they reflect an interest in the constellation of Taurus, the Pleiades and Orion, but what is the real truth? What is the true key to Göbekli Tepe? What exactly was its function, and did its greater purpose involve a synchronization with the celestial heavens?In the knowledge that megalithic monuments worldwide have been found to possess alignments towards celestial bodies, it is reasonable to suggest that something similar might have been going on at Göbekli Tepe, with the most obvious candidates for orientation being the various sets of twin pillars. These could well have acted as astronomical markers of some kind, especially in the knowledge that in the past a clear view of the local horizon in all directions would have been available from the position of the various enclosures, which grace the summit of a mountain ridge visible for miles around.Plan of Göbekli Tepe created by the German Archaeological Institute. Enclosures A, B, C, D and F are in context, with Enclosure E shown as a satellite due to the fact that it lies outside of the main group of structures. However, please note that the orientation of the various enclosures shown here differs very slightly from those on original survey plans (Pic credit: German Archaeological Institute).Finding the OrientationIdentifying the potential stellar targets of the twin pillars in the various enclosures is hugely important, for it could reveal two very significant pieces of information. Firstly, it can allow us to better understand the cosmological beliefs and practices of the Göbekli builders and, more importantly, it might well offer potential construction dates for the various enclosures due to the effects of precession (again, below).Establishing the orientations of the enclosures' central pillars was put to chartered engineer Rodney Hale, who for the past fifteen years has made a detailed study of stellar alignments at prehistoric and sacred sites around the world. He examined published and unpublished survey plans of the monuments at Göbekli Tepe and determined that the central pillars in Enclosures B, C, D and E (the "Felsentempel", or "rock temple", located to the west of the main group) are all aligned just west of north, and, equally, just east of south, in the following manner:Enclosure B 337°/157°Enclosure C 345°/165°Enclosure D 353°/173°Enclosure E 350°/170°The twin pillars marking the entrance to an apse-like feature at the northern end of Enclosure A were turned much further west. Indeed, they were orientated 312°/132°, just three degrees off northwest-southeast.The Effects of PrecessionThe slight differences in the mean azimuths of the central pillars in Enclosures B, C, D and E is telling, for it could suggest that each set might have targeting the same stellar object as it very gradually shifted its position against the local horizon due to the effects of precession. This is the slow wobble of the earth, which results in a slow drift in the stellar background across a period of around 26,000 years. Since stars rise in the east and set in the west, this tells us that the enclosures could have targeted a celestial object that set each night on the north-northwestern horizon. Equally, the enclosures could have been aligned towards a potential astronomical target on the southern horizon.Example of the NNW-SSE alignment of the enclosures at Göbekli Tepe. Here we see the central pillars of Enclosure D, and their mean azimuth bearing, which is slightly west of north, or east of south. Pic credits: Left, Andrew Collins; right, German Archaeological Institute.As viewed from the northern hemisphere, the southern celestial pole is never visible. It remains beneath the horizon, causing a plethora of stars to rise in the east, arch across the southern sky and then set in the west. In the tenth and ninth millenniums BC, the effects of precession were causing stars on the southern horizon to rise and set ever further away from due south. This raises the question of whether or not the central pillars in the main enclosures at Göbekli Tepe targeted a stellar object on the south-southeastern horizon that was gradually rising ever more east of south.An Orion Correlation? Among the southern star groups and constellations looked at by Hale were the Hyades, Taurus, the Pleiades and Orion (more specifically its three "belt" stars), all of which have been put forward as matching the orientations of the twin pillars in the various enclosures at Göbekli Tepe during the epoch of their construction, c. 10,000- 9000 BC (see, for instance, Dr Robert Schoch's latest book Forgotten Civilization, 2012). Out of these, just one potential candidate emerged as perhaps playing some role at Göbekli Tepe, and this was Orion, the celestial hunter.Rodney Hale charted the risings of all Orion's principal stars between the dates 9500 BC and 8000 BC, and then matched this information against the window of opportunity created by the orientations of the central pillars in the various enclosures at Göbekli Tepe. This brought out a massive problem. Although there were potential alignments between one or other of these stars and Enclosures B and E, the mean azimuths of the central pillars in Enclosures C and D did not target any of Orion's stars during the epoch in question, as you can below:Top, chart created by engineer Rodney Hale showing the rising azimuths of the Belt stars of Orion and Messier 42 from 9500 BC through till 8000 BC, the time frame of construction at Göbekli Tepe. Then, below, you can see correspondences between the mean azimuths of the various sets of twin pillars in the different enclosures, against the rising date reflected for the star or stellar object in question.The pillars of Enclosure E would have targeted the rising of the fuzzy object known as Messier 42 in the sword of Orion in 8840 BC, but the suggested date of 8430 BC for its synchronization with the central pillars of Enclosure C makes no sense whatsoever. With respect to the risings of Orion's three belt stars, although one or other of them synchronize with the twin pillars in Enclosure B (Al Nitak in 8630 BC, Alnilam in 8800 BC and Mintaka in 9100 BC), none of the stars align in any way with the remainder of Göbekli Tepe's main enclosures. Orion's other key stars (Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Saiph and Rigel) fared even worse than the belt stars, making it clear that Orion is extremely unlikely to have been the target of the various sets of twin pillars at Göbekli Tepe.North or South?In fact, there is a fundamental problem in even assuming that the enclosures face south, for even though the central monoliths are all turned in this direction, there is no reason to assume they are observing the southern sky-line. More likely is that they face the entrant approaching from the south, in the same way that statues in churches face the entrant approaching the high altar. Church altars are placed in the east, since this is the direction of heaven in Christian tradition. Just because Jesus or the Virgin Mary face in the opposite direction doesn't mean they are gazing out towards the western sky-line.In Göbekli Tepe's case, if its enclosures did have a high altar, it would have been in the north, the direction of darkness, where the sun never rises. It is, however, the direction of the celestial pole, the turned point of the heavens. Northerly orientations of early Neolithic cult buildings have been determined in Anatolia at Çayönü, Nevali Çori, and Hallan Cemi. Thus it seems likely that Göbekli Tepe's enclosures are oriented towards the north, not the south. Indeed, the T-shaped termination of Enclosure D's eastern central pillar is tilted downwards in order to greet the entrant, like some kind of god-king receiving his subjects. Assuming that Göbekli Tepe's central pillars face south without taking into account the significance the north plays in Anatolia's early Neolithic tradition, and even later among the Sabian inhabitants of Harran, the city down on the Harran plain, overlooked even today by Göbekli Tepe, would be very foolish indeed. With this in mind, Hale now turned his attentions to the northern sky to identify any potential stellar targets here.Target RevealedJust one star emerged as a potential candidate, and this was Deneb, the brightest star in Cygnus, the celestial bird or swan, also known as the Northern Cross. Before 9500 BC Deneb was circumpolar, in that it never set, although after this time it began extinguishing each night on the north-northwestern horizon. As the centuries went by, the effects of precession shifted the star's setting position further and further west of north in a manner that not only made sense of the alignments of the various sets of twin pillars at Göbekli Tepe, but also provided realistic construction dates for the enclosures in question, as we can see here:Enclosure D @ 353° = 9400 BC(1)Enclosure E @ 350° = 9290 BCEnclosure C @ 345° = 8980 BCEnclosure B @ 337° = 8245 BCThese dates should not been seen as absolute, since we do not know what level of accuracy the Göbekli builders employed in their building construction. Even an error of just one degree could alter the proposed alignment date by as much as one hundred years. Having said this, the suggested construction dates of the various pairs of central pillars offered by the proposed Deneb alignment correlate well with available radiocarbon dating evidence relating to the different enclosures.Left, chart showing the setting azimuths of Deneb during the epoch in question. Right, reconstruction of the view from Göbekli Tepe towards the stars of Cygnus (for visual purposes only, not to scale).The Deneb AlignmentsFor instance, loam taken from wall plaster found in Göbekli Tepe's Enclosure D has provided a radiocarbon age of 9745-9314 BC,(2) which corresponds pretty well with a suggested date of c. 9400 BC offered by the proposed Deneb alignment of its twin pillars. Strangely, bone samples taken from Enclosure B have provided a radiocarbon age of 8306-8236 BC,(3) which also coincides with the implied construction date of c. 8245 BC suggested by the Deneb alignment. However, according to radiocarbon specialist Oliver Dietrich of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), these dates for Enclosure A could refer to late burials made shortly before the structure was abandoned.(4) Other radiocarbon dates have been obtained from organic materials found in the fill used to cover the major enclosures, and these range from the late tenth through to the late ninth millennium BC, the time of the site's final abandonment.(5)So we can see that the dating evidence emerging from Göbekli Tepe is in no way contradictory to the possibility that the central pillars in its main enclosures were erected and aligned to reflect the precessional shift of an astronomical target such as the star Deneb in Cygnus. There is evidence also that cult buildings at other Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites in southeast Turkey might also have been aligned to the star Deneb. For instance, the Flagstone Building, Skull Building and Terrazzo Building at Çayönü, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic site located northwest of the city of Diyarbakir, are all aligned north-northwest with entrances toward the south. Rodney Hale checked their orientations, based on available plans, and established that they reflected alignments towards the setting of Deneb during the eighth and ninth millenniums BC.(6)Section of the 1987 plan of Çayönü, showing the basic alignments of the three cult buildings.Structure - Azimuth - Deneb setting dateFlagstone building - 345.35° - 8780 BCSkull building - 345.86° - 8820 BCTerrazzo building - 336.20° - 7930 BCThese dates accord with recent revisions of existing radiocarbon dates obtained at Çayönü during the 1960s, which almost all fall within the late eighth and ninth millenniums BC.(7) Having said this, we simply have no real idea of what degree of accuracy the Çayönü builders might have been aligning their monuments towards the celestial horizon. so these dates should be treated with some caution.Which is the Oldest?On the subject of which enclosure uncovered so far at Göbekli Tepe is the oldest, lead archaeologist Professor Klaus Schmidt of the DAI is in no doubt-it is Enclosure C. If so, then this would make it older than the 9745-9314 BC radiocarbon date range offered for Enclosure D. His reasoning behind this conclusion is that Enclosure D's outer perimeter wall abuts that of Enclosure C.(8) Yet a counter argument against Enclosure C being older than Enclosure D is easily made. If the former was constructed after the latter, then it is possible that Enclosure D's pre-existing boundary wall was partially dismantled and reconstructed in order to allow the completion of C's own boundary wall.Overhead shot of Enclosure C (left) and Enclosure D (right), showing their abutting outer walls, which archaeologist Professor Klaus Schmidt says provides evidence that C is older than D. However, it might easily be argued that part of D's perimeter wall was reconstructed to accommodate the building of C's slightly later outer wall. Moreover, from the picture it seems apparent that the two walls abut each other without actually overlapping. Schmidt's full argument will, hopefully, be published in due course. Pic credit: German Archaeological Institute.If Enclosure D was built first, then there is every possibility that its central pillars do target Deneb as it extinguishes on the north-northwestern horizon, and that the stellar alignments proposed for the other monuments are valid. Based on these dates, Enclosure E. where only the slots in the pedestals remain to show where the twin pillars were once placed, was constructed some 110 years after Enclosure D, around c. 9290 BC. Its central pillars targeted Deneb, although by this time the star was setting three degrees further west than it was when Enclosure D was built. According to Hale's calculations, Enclosure C's central pillars reflect a construction date of c. 8980 BC, suggesting that they were turned even further west in order to target the setting of Deneb at this time.Having said this, the rectangular slots cut out of the raised pedestals sculpted from the bedrock in order to support Enclosure C's twin monoliths are in actuality twisted slightly further north than the pillars themselves. They are askew only by a degree or so, although the difference between the stones and their slots is noticeable. This might indicate that the pillars are aligned to Deneb at a date slightly after the construction of the slots, which could reflect the position of the star at an earlier date. If so, it implies that the enclosure is in fact older than the 8980 BC date suggested by the proposed alignment of its twin pillars towards Deneb, perhaps by as much as 100 years. It is even possible that the monoliths were repositioned when it was realised that they no longer synched with the setting of Deneb determined when the pillars were first erected. So were they shifted slightly further west of north in order to reflect the star's new setting position on local horizon sometime around 8980 BC? It is very possible. Other structuresOther structures at Göbekli Tepe were built perhaps with different considerations in mind. Enclosure B's central pillars are unlikely to have targeted Deneb during the epoch in question. The twin pillars marking the entrance to the apse in Enclosure A were orientated almost exactly northwest to southeast, while those in Enclosure F (a smaller, much later structure west of the main group) are aligned east-northeast or west-southwest, very close to the angle at which the sun rises on the summer solstice and sets on the winter solstice.On top of this there are a number of other cell-like structures at Göbekli Tepe, and these are orientated all over the place. They are much younger in age, being built in the ninth millennium BC, and so quite possibly the motivations behind their construction had changed by this time. No longer, it seems, was it necessary to adhere rigidly to the ways of the ancients.Sighting Stone DiscoveryFurther evidence of Göbekli Tepe's proposed astronomical alignments comes from Enclosure D. A small stone pillar standing around five feet (1.5 m) in height has been found in its north-northwestern perimeter wall, exactly behind and in line with its central pillars. The stone is rectangular in shape and, unlike the rings of radially oriented pillars in the various enclosures, has one of its wider faces turned towards the centre of the structure.The significant point about this stone is that it has a large hole some seven to eight inches (18-20 cm) in diameter, located about four (1.2 m) feet off the ground, making it a perfect sighting post. Covering the stone are a series of curved lines, which flow in pairs and come together just beneath the hole and then trail off, at a slanted angle, towards the stone's right-hand corner. Very likely they are a naive representation of the human torso with legs coming together and bent towards the right-hand edge of the stone. If so, then this would make the hole synchronous with the vulva, or human birth canal.Left, Rodney Hale's reconstruction of Enclosure D's original appearance, complete with sighting stone visible. The stone wall would have been higher, although how much is not known. Right, the holed sighting stone, which perhaps represents an abstract female torso and legs, the hole signifying her vulva. Pic credits: left, Andrew Collins/Rodney Hale; right, Andrew Collins.If the enclosure's twin pillars were indeed orientated towards Deneb during the epoch in question, then a person, a shman or priest perhaps, would have been able to look through the stone's sighting hole in order to see Deneb setting on the north-northwestern horizon.The vulture stone (Pillar 43) at Göbekli Tepe. Note the scorpion in the register below the bend winged vulture (Pic credit: German Archaeological Institute).Göbekli's Vulture StoneConfirming the Göbekli builders' apparent interest in Cygnus is Pillar 43. Located in the north-northwestern section of Enclosure D, it stands just a few yards away from the holed stone.On the stone's western face are two vultures, one of which is a juvenile. Also visible is a scorpion and two wader birds-flamingos perhaps-and between them and the head of the adult vulture in the upper register is a line of small squares, abutting which on either side are a series of V-shapes, possibly signifying the flow of water.There are other strange features depicted on this stone, including three rectangular forms in a line with loops that make them resemble handbags, with a bird, quadruped, another bird of some sort, and a creature of indeterminate species close by. Exactly what this scene represents is currently unknown.Yet this is not why Pillar 43 has been singled out as important. It is the vulture positioned at the end of the line of small squares that draws the eye. It stands erect, with its wings articulated in a manner resembling human arms. It also has slightly bent knees (or it is pregnant) and bizarre flat feet, in the shape of overs… truncated (16,886 more characters in archive)